A lesson in persistence…

[Friend of Peace]

I met a man on door to door on a Monday afternoon. He seemed nice and has a belief in God. I wanted to go back on him so I tried at different times on different days for months but it was always his wife I had in. I preached to her when I met her and she listened well and she agreed with many scriptural points in raised. Then after about 4 months of trying every week, I found the man in! It was an evening on a Friday and he’d just got back in from work. He said “Would you mind calling back tomorrow at 12pm?” I said “sure.” I kept my appointment and he was in! He said “come on in.”
 

He said that his wife had told him about every time I called when he wasn’t at home and he felt bad for keep missing me, so he was super pleased that I called when he was in. It turns out he is a born-again Christian and became one in his twenties. He had a few bibles open on his table when I went in and he tries to spend a bit of time that he has when he’s not working. He’s also dyslexic so he says he was able to get better at reading because of reading the Bible regularly. I just listened to what he was going through. A lot in his family is going through illness at the moment, including his wife. I mentioned that I would keep him in his prayers. That first visit, I spent three hours there. We exchanged numbers and arranged another day at a specific time.
 

One of the issues he raised was the blood issue. I mentioned about recent clarifications on use of your own blood during medical procedures and I also added “I think you’d benefit greatly by seeing bloodless surgery in real time, rather than me talking about it. It’s really eye opening when you see it yourself.” So the next visit, I took the blood alternatives DVD and we watched it all together at his home. He would pause and ask questions on certain procedures and he added “This is phenomenal. I was quite ignorant about blood, but seeing this is amazing and how doctors are specialising in surgeries like this. It’s opened my eyes. Is there a chance I could write out my own DPA that I could use if I had to go into hospital?” I explained that he could write his wishes on what procedures he wanted on paper, sign it and date it and to keep it on his person. That way, doctors have to view that as a legally binding document. That was another 4 hours with him. 
 

On the next visit, I invited him to my house. We spent time talking about his religious background, talking about what hopes there are for the future and the divine name. He left his religion due to mainly the hypocrisy he could see compared to where the Bible was point in to. I got the website on my TV and we read scriptures from the NWT that spoke about those who had the earthly and heavenly hope. When I read scriptures in Romans 2, he said “Do you know, this is my favourite book of the Bible? And yet all the times I’ve read it, I’ve never seen that about what it really means to be a Jew. That is phenomenal.” I highlighted that the divine name is preserved in this translation and we watched the video of Geoffrey Jackson explaining the reasons why and the history behind how translators of the past took that name out. He said “What gives people the right to take his name out when he wanted people to remember it according to Exodus 3?” I agreed with him. We arranged that the next time we get together, we’ll have a look at the history of the organisation and how Jehovah has used them through the years. That was another 5 hours we spent together.

 

Today, he came round and we watched Part 1 of the history of the organisation from Russell to Rutherford. He loved the title “Bible Students,” he said that really captured where they were getting their teachings from. He was shocked at the long sentences Judge Rutherford and his associates had when “The Finished Mystery” was published. Many times, he was ahead of where the video was concluded that “some of those Bible students were worshipping the creature and not the Creator” when Russell died. I commended him for seeing that. He was amazed that Russell had been writing about the year 1914 40 years before it happened as a time of anarchy! He wasn’t offended by the brothers finding out that the trinity, hellfire and the immortality of the soul were false teachings. He agreed! He said “You’ve got to go where the Bible is taking you.” He was also impressed with the Photo Drama of Creation. He asked a few questions about the year 1914 and how the brothers got to that date, which I said we could look at for the next visit. We also agreed to watch Part 2 of the history on the next visit. That was another 5 hours together. 
 

He said to me “Tom, I’ve had interactions with witnesses in the past and didn’t think much of them but I remember the first time you called at my door and I could see something different in you. I can see your light shining for Jesus. The knowledge you have of the scriptures is unbelievable, and do you know what impressed me too? You let your yes mean yes. You came at the times I asked for and honoured. That really impressed me because you make the time to visit me and that makes me make time for you. You’ve been able to open my eyes to things that are new to me and I’m able to process them, thing’s I’d never seen in the Bible more. I’ve told people at work about you and they’ve said ‘so are you going to become a JW now?’ I said to them ‘well, you can’t be dismissive of these people. It’s blatant ignorance if you do.’ You’re a real friend to me.” I pray for him and his family every night to help them endure but also to open their heart to the truth even more.This has all happened without even starting in the book yet! I said that the all credit goes to Jehovah and the training through his organisation that have helped me see the truth. 
 

But, why does Jehovah use me? He could use anyone, why me? I’m just pleased that he can see the value in the truth through how I’m able to preach and teach. One thing it teaches me though is that persistence pays off. Any good we see in a person, keep going back. Even when they aren’t there, keep going. Only stop going when they tell you to stop. For as long as they want to talk, stay. If it’s 5 minutes or 5 hours, stay as long as they want to talk.
 

I thank the angels for directing me to him and for Jesus for helping me reflect the Father to people and becoming real friends to the people I preach too. 

[Tia]

Brother Tom,

 

How beautiful -Oh the angels - may Jehovah continue to bless you -

I will re-read your rv experiences, so encouraging -  while out in service today, and I thank you for sharing!

 

[Friend of Peace]

So another update on the study.
 

We started in the book, we’ve got to lesson 9 so far. He loves what he’s learning. The second part of the organisation’s history really touched him as we finished it together. And today, he came to his first ever meeting for the special talk and WT. He was super engaged with it all. He loved how much we used God’s word and how the love between the brothers was really refreshing. He said how different it was from what he’s used to but he was impressed how ones on ZOOM could comment during the meeting. I said about the benefits of preparing our WT before hand and going in deep and then bringing those points out when discussed as a congregation which he liked. He felt at home, talking with various brothers and sisters and sharing a coffee with us after. He’ll be regularly attending meetings now also. Can’t wait to see how Jehovah continues to make him grow.