"We Beg you"

[Beggar for the Spirit]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here below is a beautiful experience of how there are still a "few"

people in the world interested in learning about God and the Bible.

This is an experience from the Branch - from their donation acknowledgement letter.

May this encourage you in your ministry. 

 

 

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To ‘work good toward all,’ Jehovah’s Witnesses have put forth great efforts to reach persons living
in remote areas who desire to serve God. For instance, the branch office in Madagascar received an unusual letter:

 

“We are writing to let you know about our desire to serve Jehovah. However, we live far away. For some of us, it is a 9- to 15-hour walk to get to the meetings.

So, we beg you, please send somebody to help us study the Bible.”

 

These ones felt oppressed by their church leaders, since church fees were high and there
was no real brotherhood. They knew the Witnesses were not experiencing these problems. They concluded their letter:

 

“There are 215 of us from at least three different villages. We belonged to different religions, but now we all yearn to serve and obey Jehovah.”

 

Witnesses from the closest congregation walked nine hours to the first village and were overwhelmed by how many wanted a Bible study. Because of this response, the
Witnesses did not even feel tiredness after the long walk.

 

Word spread of their visit, and so the Witnesses walked another four hours to a second village and held a meeting that more than 80 people attended.

They met others who begged them to come to their village, which was a two-hour walk away. The Witnesses complied. Such efforts reflected their fervent desire to “work what is good toward all.”
This beneficent work is funded through voluntary donations such as yours.

 

[Daniela]

Wow! Very encouraging! THANK YOU for sharing, Neil!

There are still few people with a good heart! For sure Jehovah takes care of them.

Beautiful experience indeed!

[Raindrop]

Could not find the link but I posted my experience working in a remote territory in Madagascar this past summer with pictures here in the forum somewhere.

The territory is where my sister and brother law were assigned as special pioneers after such a letter too.

It was nice to be able to follow up on it and be there to see the interest.

 

Interested ones walk 3 hours on way to attend the meeting.

A progressive Bible study (still really young - 21?) walks on her own for 90mn to the Hall, sleep over at the sister who studies with her then walk back in the morning. She became an unbaptized publisher while I was there. It was really encouraging to me. No one in her family is supporting her. With a little talk, we found out that it is because the parents cannot read or write and are afraid their child is being influenced by something that could harm them. We were able to start a study with another sibling though.

 

But why I meant to write is this: like stated in the OP, people in this area found that their churches is too much about money. So they got together and asked themselves what they could do? Some said, let's go to the Catholic church, then they named other churches but they all agreed that it is not any different. The only one left was the witnesses and this is how they ended up writing to the branch. The weird thing is that in the case of my sister's territory and people, the person who lead the whole thing is a witch or a sorcerer (not sure what is the exact word). Many people who do divination go to church no problem in Madagascar my country of origin. He did listen but is not studying - at least not at the latest news. Several Bible studies were started and the biggest challenge is that many do not know how to write and read but the brothers and sisters have patience.

 

Also, amazing how Jehovah works things out because even in that really remote place, they get the broadcasting...

Before going on my trip, my sister told me that they need a laptop and asked if I could look for an affordable used one.

Shortly after that, a sister tells me that she is selling her lap top because now that she has a tablet, she is barely using it!

I tell her right away that I will buy it for my sister and brother in law. When she heard what it was for, she donated the laptop - I insisted on buying it but she did not want to.

It is not until getting there that I realized how much it would help!

There is no electricity there, they use solar panels by the way.

But the laptop is used for showing videos to the congregation, to the village when they study, they also watch and download the broadcast on it which is already translated in Malagasy. They also use it for the songs - before they sang accapella. Also, my brother in law uses it to type things needed in the congregation. He  bikes one way about a little over 4 hours then take a car/bus for another 2 hours to get the videos on a monthly basis.

 

For me it was proof that Jehovah takes care of everyone. They might be only 11 and far away from civilization but they are not forgotten. Here is a picture of the village watching a video this past August,

and also my sister outside watching the rice so it does not get eaten by chickens while everyone watch the video.

For many, that is the very first video they have seen in their lives!

 

[Raindrop]

I posted this because it is also an experience from Madagascar that I lived first hand ... hope it is OK to post it here, if not please let me know!