2021 Governing Body Update #10
in ITALIAN
In this update, we’re going to talk about how we can make good use of our time during the pandemic. But first, we’d like to share a few updates. We’re sad to report that, as of December 10, we have lost 25,658 brothers and sisters to COVID-19. Our prayers are certainly with all who have lost loved ones.
Recently, the new Omicron variant has received a lot of news coverage. At this point, there are still many unknowns. Brothers and sisters, we don’t need to panic. Keep following the same basic precautions that have worked well: wearing masks, physical distancing, frequently washing our hands, and getting vaccinated, if possible.
In the 2021 Governing Body Update #7, Brother Lösch mentioned that over 80 percent of the worldwide Bethel family was vaccinated. We are glad to inform you that now over 99 percent of our worldwide Bethel family is vaccinated, and so are over 95 percent of our special full-time servants in the field.
Many of our brothers and sisters have had good results from being vaccinated. For example, in some parts of Bulgaria, the local clergy say that vaccines are “poison from the Devil.” So there is much pressure in the community not to get vaccinated. Despite this, one sister and her husband watched the Governing Body updates and made their personal decision to get vaccinated. Later, the sister’s employer called her and said that in order to comply with government regulations, she couldn’t return to work if she had not been vaccinated. How surprised the manager was to learn that the sister was already vaccinated! In fact, she was the only employee who was vaccinated. Everyone else had to be laid off. The manager asked our sister if she had any vaccinated friends who could replace the employees who had been fired. The manager then called other Witnesses that she knew to see if they had any vaccinated friends who needed employment. That evening, nearly all the positions were filled. The head of staff asked our sisters, “How do you know so many vaccinated women?” A fine witness was given. In the end, 14 sisters and 1 Bible student were employed because they followed the good guidance and Bible principles that have been shared in our various Governing Body updates.
Now, let’s get back to our topic of putting our time to good use during the pandemic. It’s been exciting to hear how many of you have reached out to pioneer, started new study projects, and refined your telephone and letter-writing skills. That is time well spent. In this month’s update, we will discuss two additional ways we can use our time wisely: helping inactive ones and improving our reading and writing skills.
It has been wonderful to see so many of our brothers and sisters who were inactive begin associating with us again during the pandemic. If that describes you, please know that the Governing Body warmly welcomes you back! Imagine the joy that Jehovah, Jesus, and all the angels in heaven have experienced at seeing you return.
But what about those who have not yet returned? They might feel like the psalmist, as recorded at Psalm 119:176. There we read: “I have strayed like a lost sheep. Search for your servant, for I have not forgotten your commandments.” Right now, some inactive ones may be praying to Jehovah, saying: ‘Search for me. I need help to come back.’ They haven’t forgotten Jehovah, but for various reasons, they haven’t been able to come back on their own. How does Jehovah feel about such ones? Ezekiel 34:15, 16 says: “I myself will feed my sheep . . . The lost one I will search for, the stray I will bring back, the injured I will bandage, and the weak I will strengthen.” Can Jehovah use you to find his lost sheep? Absolutely! Many of you have reached out to inactive ones.
In the following video, notice how publishers took the initiative to help others return to Jehovah.
Gary - USA
I didn’t know what my brother was ever going to do about the truth. As a teenager, he was a publisher in the congregation. By the time he was 16, sadly, he decided to leave home, and then he no longer served Jehovah.
But then, when we came back to Seattle and settled down, then we had more contact with him. My wife and I had been providing meals for him because his wife had a brain tumor. But the beautiful thing is that our congregation started taking him meals. When my brother’s wife was hospitalized, they even assisted at the hospital to visit him and give him encouragement.
That had a big impact upon him. He could see the closeness of the congregation, and I think that built a desire that he would really like to do more.
When my brother went to the Kingdom Hall, he was only able to do that for two weeks and then COVID-19 struck. But an elder talked to him the first time he went to the Kingdom Hall, and they exchanged phone numbers. And so they were able to communicate. And that elder helped set him up on Zoom, and he was able to attend the meetings then.
And he went to all the meetings. Then I encouraged him to have a personal study, and he said, “Well I’m doing my study.” Of all things, it was a terminology issue. He didn’t know about having a personal Bible study with someone. He had some more encouragement from a family friend that found out that he was coming to meetings, and then he started to have his own Bible study. And that’s when he really started to make progress.
It took 59 years! I had the privilege of actually performing the baptism for my own brother.
Eric and Leisl - USA
At the beginning of the pandemic, we knew that our ministry was going to change. And so we thought about what to do, and we came up with this little project, making a list of all the inactive people that we could think of that we’d been with in other congregations —lots of young people and others. And when we did that list, there were about 40 people on that list. So we’ve emailed, we’ve called, we’ve texted, and we’ve written lots of letters.
Some of them, we haven’t heard anything from, but nobody has rejected our efforts.
I contacted one man whom I had met almost 40 years ago when I was 19 years old. We re-established contact. He began to attend all the meetings on Zoom, and now we’re studying the Bible in the Enjoy Life Forever! book. We contacted one brother who’d been inactive for many years.
Now he attends all the meetings on Zoom. He has been reactivated, and all of this despite some very serious health problems.
Patience and persistence are required when reaching out to these dear ones. We love them, and so we contact some on that list every week.
We’re so happy. Three of the persons that we’ve contacted are now regularly attending the meetings. Two of them are studying the Bible. It’s really been encouraging for us to see these ones that we love so much return to Jehovah. And really, if Jehovah is drawing them, they’re going to respond.
I’m sure you agree that Jehovah blessed these efforts to reach out to his lost sheep. What a wonderful way to use our time during the pandemic!
One circuit overseer in the United States recently reported that 76 individuals in his circuit have been reactivated. That’s the equivalent of an entire congregation!
We encourage you to prayerfully think of inactive ones that you might know. It could be a family member or friend. Can you give them a call or send them a letter or a text message? And if they respond and attend a meeting, make them feel welcome. We hope that many more lost sheep will return to Jehovah before the end.
Another good use of our time is improving our reading and writing skills. Reading and writing has always been important for Jehovah’s people. Remember, the kings of Israel were told to “write [out] . . . a copy of [the] Law” and “read from it all the days of [their] life.”
Jesus was raised by a poor family, yet he was able to read. We remember the time when he went into the synagogue in Nazareth. He was able to open the Isaiah scroll — which had no chapters and verses — and locate and read the correct scripture.
And let’s not forget what Paul told Timothy. Timothy was already an elder. Yet, Paul said to him: “Continue applying yourself to public reading.”
So in view of the Bible’s emphasis on reading, it is not surprising that God’s organization has a wonderful history of helping people all over the world to learn to read. Over the past 70 years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have taught thousands of people worldwide to read and write. For example, in Mexico, we have helped more than 156,000 people to learn to read and write. We’ve received awards in several countries for our efforts.
What about today? It’s true that now in many languages we have technology that enables us to listen to our publications. But we don’t want to be content to rely on audio publications alone. We want to be able to read and to study the Bible for ourselves and to dig into the wonderful information provided by “the faithful and discreet slave.”
What are some other benefits that come from learning to read well? A new article was recently published on jw.org entitled “Why Reading Is Important for Children.” This was prepared with you dear parents in mind. But, really, reading is something that all of us should view as important. Why? The article explained that reading stirs the imagination. It builds character and helps us to reason on our problems. It helps us develop qualities such as patience, self-control, and empathy. And reading promotes deep thinking.
During the pandemic, some of our brothers have been making good use of their time by learning to read and write. Let’s hear how they have benefited.
Stephen - Ghana
When the coronavirus broke out throughout the country, schools were shut down and many parents either couldn’t go to work or they had to work from home.
One circuit overseer set a goal to encourage the parents in his circuit to take advantage of the opportunity to carry on teaching their children to read and write with the objective of assisting them to become publishers.
Many parents responded to the encouragement, and this resulted in 37 young ones becoming proficient in reading and writing.
Patrick - Mozambique
A sister named Sara had been trying for some time to learn to read and write. At home, her husband tried to help her, but they just couldn’t find enough time because of their day-to-day activities and many responsibilities. Now, when the pandemic limited their activities, her husband, who is an elder, took advantage of the extra time. He began to help her several times a week to learn to read. Now she has the joy of reading the Bible and other publications on her own. She also loves to sing the Kingdom songs using her own songbook.
Stephen
One Bible student named Comfort earnestly longed to be able to read the Bible. She became downhearted when the pandemic began and wondered who was going to help her read now that she couldn’t physically attend a literacy class. A local congregation elder gave her some excellent practical suggestions, and he encouraged her to continue practicing on her own. With determination and persistence, Comfort applied the suggestions. She made steady progress, and she now reads well. She conducts five Bible studies. She is also assisting her own 14-year-old daughter to learn how to read and write.
Comfort was baptized at the 2020 “Always Rejoice”! Regional Convention.
Edward - Central America
Maria is our 69-year-old sister in Nicaragua, and she’s been a regular pioneer for over six years. She never had formal schooling, and so she learned to read as she studied the Bible with our sisters, but she didn’t learn to write.
When the pandemic started, Maria was very discouraged because she didn’t know how to use her cell phone to preach, and she didn’t know how to write letters. But some of her fellow pioneers offered to help. So Maria would dictate her words to her field service partner who would then write the letter. Her field service partners would send Maria photographs of the letters they wrote in her behalf. And using the photographs, Maria would then copy them so as to write her own letters.
This helped Maria to start developing writing skills. She now writes her own letters. If you could see the letters that she writes, what neat handwriting she’s learned to have, and how well she expresses herself! Obviously, she has Jehovah’s blessing, but it’s certainly an encouragement to all of us to try to continue to improve.
What a beautiful way to use our time during the pandemic! But let’s not —even for a minute— think that literacy is an issue in only a few parts of the world. Really, literacy is an issue everywhere! And, if we’re being honest with ourselves, probably most of us would say that we could improve in our reading and writing. So why not make the effort to do so?
Note what the Governing Body said in a recent letter to all Branch Committees: “We want our brothers and sisters to progress spiritually and grow to maturity. In large measure, this requires that they be able to read and study God’s Word along with our publications. Many of the ways in which we serve God involve the ability to read. For example, all Christians have the weighty responsibility of teaching vital truths to others. And appointed men have many responsibilities that involve reading. . . . In general, Christians should be able to read.”
So how could we learn to read or improve in our reading? Here are two ways: Ask a friend, a family member, or someone in your congregation to help you.
● An excellent tool to assist is the Apply Yourself to Reading and Writing brochure. It is available in 123 languages. Why not ask your congregation elders about how to obtain this brochure?
● If you already know the alphabet and you can recognize words, audio recordings of our literature may also help. As you listen to the recording, read along in the written publication. Work to imitate the pronunciation as you hear each word.
Improving our reading and writing is a great way to use our time during the pandemic!
You brothers and sisters have shown that you can thrive spiritually and build others up during a time of adversity. You have made good use of your time. May all of us continue to do so by assisting inactive ones and by improving our reading skills.
Be assured that the Governing Body keeps all of you in our prayers. From the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is JW Broadcasting