Informant, February 1950
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INFORMANT
FEBRUARY, 1950 "Preach the word.”—2 Tim. 4: 2. BROOKLYN, N. Y.
“Separating to the Right” Testimony Period Watchtower Campaign Enters Second Month
Follow Up All Interest with Pleasing Witness
There is no doubt in the minds of Jehovah’s consecrated servants that we are now in that peculiar time when the King is separating his "sheep” to the right. Our text for the month of February foretells this: “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand . . . Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come . . . inherit the kingdom.” (Matt. 25 : 33, 34) And reports prove it, as 48,889 more regular publishers reported service in the field world-wide in 1949 than in 1948. What a blessing to be on the King’s right hand in this “time of the end” at the threshold of the new world!
The Lord knew the “sheep” would be scattered throughout all religions and nations, blinded and oppressed by Satan’s “wolves”, but ready to hear his voice when sounded to them. He knew they would follow this true voice out of bondage and to the service of the King, at his right hand. So he provides for these “sheep” to hear and be separated.
But how does the King-Shepherd separate the “sheep” to his right? Why, by having the message of his kingdom proclaimed in their hearing by his witnesses; and one of the chief instruments they use today to relay the voice of the Shepherd is The Watchtower. This magazine, being solely for the Kingdom and free from all falsely religious and political schemes, offers vital counsel that directs men of good-will to true worship. Logically, then, in February Jehovah’s ministers will continue voicing the King’s invitation to life by participating in the second big month of the twelfth Watchtower campaign.
Present Pleasing Witness
We should strive to exercise tender care when aiding the Lord’s “other sheep”. Every sheeplike person needs help, so be helpful. Approach each house with a positive attitude and regard it as the home of a prospective “sheep”. Have as your purpose the aiding of that individual to better appreciate the provision of God for his benefit.
Be tactful. Watch the householder’s reaction to the message, watch for sheeplike traits, and then tactfully and pleasingly point out that undoubtedly he wants life for himself and his loved ones; he wants to live in peace, in a world free from worry, etc. You are there to aid him in his search for these things. Take the view that he has read the Bible and is sincere in his endeavor to serve God. Your purpose is to aid him further.
The Watchtower is what he needs to aid him, and we use it in our ministry to bring him this vita] information. We know the value of The Watchtower and how it has aided us, so we will present it with conviction, offering a year’s subscription for $1, with a premium of eight booklets. If some already take The Watchtower, or if Atcake! is preferred by them, then Awake! may be presented at the regular rate of $1 a year, but without the premium of eight booklets.
Feed the "Sheep”
The meek, sheeplike attitude manifested by one obtaining a subscription does not mean that he is now completely separated to the King’s right hand. That is determined by what follows, whether he absorbs the information therein and applies it. We have the privilege and obligation of patiently and lovingly aiding them to accurately understand the Shepherd’s voice and to appreciate what it means to be on the side of his favor.
How can we do this? By regularly calling on them to aid them in Bible study. This point cannot be overemphasized. All Interest in the field should be followed up. Not only will we call on subscribers to supply them with issues until they receive them through the mail, but we will continue to call thereafter. Call and talk to them and get acquainted. Ask for their questions, discuss the Lord’s purpose, a prophecy or a doctrine from the Bible. Demonstrate where you obtained your knowledge, from The Watchtower and kindred publications, thus enhancing their interest in the literature. Determine those points which interest them most and talk on these, using the Bible and The Watchtower where possible.
Regular calls each week or every two weeks will convince them of your desire to aid them and dispel any idea they may have had of your being a peddler. Many times, after you get acquainted and gain their confidence, they will talk more freely, and the result may be a home Bible study in The Watchtower or a book.
Be careful not to overstay your welcome. Feed them properly but not too much at a time. Remember, separating to the right is a process that requires time and patience and regular calls. Continual and regular feeding gradually separates them to the right, where they will be spared Armageddon’s storm to live in the new world. What a joy to be thus used by the Good Shepherd!
So, as we enter the second month of the 1950 Watchtower campaign, let us be determined to spend time profitably In the field so as to reach or exceed the subscription quota. Bear in mind the commission to aid others to the right hand of Christ’s favor before the great battle of Armageddon breaks and destroys all those not so located. We can do this by following up all interest, getting acquainted with them, patiently aiding them to a knowledge necessary to “inherit the kingdom prepared” for these “other sheep” who love the King.
The Outstanding Event of 1950!
International Convention the Destination of Thousands
Of all the events scheduled for 1950. undoubtedly the most outstanding is the international convention of Jehovah’s witnesses in New York city, July 30 to August 6. In these momentous times what servant of Jehovah will lightly dismiss this great event or fail to put forth every possible effort to attend? What is there that could more profitably occupy eight of your days? Are you determined to be at this great assembly of Jehovah’s people?
Already hundreds of our brethren from foreign countries have obtained visas to travel to the United States. More frequently than not, it has required great sacrifice and strict planning for these brethren to undertake such a long journey. But they are coming! You will know of their problems and their service after reviewing the Yearhook reports. You will also want to see and talk to these faithful fellow servants.
Too, you will want to see and will rejoice to aid others to see the Bethel home from which the preaching work world-wide is directed, and the factory -where millions of books, booklets and magazines roll off the presses to supply the needs of spiritually hungry people.
Preliminary replies from the companies relative to convention transportation indicate that a big majority of the brethren in this country are diligently planning and arranging their affairs so as to be in New York. In many places entire companies have expressed a determination to come!
But the diligent publisher will not be satisfied to prepare only to par-
UN1TED STATES QUOTA FOR 1950 91,254 Publishers
Monthly Field Service Report
December
Pubs.
Report
Av.
Hrs.
Av.
B-C
Av.
Bl. St.
Sp’l Pios.
134.4
56.9
8.2
Pioneers
4,487
91.3
33.8
5.8
Co. Pubs.
90,287
8.6
3.2
.5
Total Pubs. 95,086
Another goal reached! A December peak realized by a wide margin! Yes, 1949 closed with its fifth all-time peak! Jehovah blessed your diligent, faithful effort.
Less than 5,000 more publishers now needed to meet our goal by convention time!
Can we do it?
Distributing Older Booklets
Some companies have found the public meetings a good place to dispose of some of the older booklets which they have in stock. Many of these older booklets have not yet been read by persons recently associated with the truth or even some of the newer publishers. In some cases persons of good-will may be given 4 or 5 booklets to distribute among friends and relatives. take of this feast himself. He will be enthusiastically informing the people of good-will about the assembly and personally inviting them to come also. In what better way can others come to an appreciation of the magnitude of the Lord’s work and purpose than by viewing first-hand the thrilling spectacle that this convention will present?
To properly advertise the 1950 convention each servant of God must think convention, talk convention, advertise convention from now until the awaited day of assembly arrives. At least once each month the service meeting should feature something about the international convention and the benefits that may be expected from attending it. Circuit servants should keep the convention before the minds of the publishers in the companies that they serve; and is not the circuit assembly an excellent place to advertise?
If your circuit is to have an assembly before the 1950 convention, endeavor to take your people of good-will to it so that they will have a taste of the greater blessings that the international convention holds. Undoubtedly many will be stirred to join with you in proclaiming the Kingdom, thus taking their places among the hoped-for 100,000 publishers in the United States by convention time! Only six short months remain in which to accomplish that goal, then the convention will be here. Will your company contribute its share? Think of what it will mean! 100,000 men, women and children extolling Jehovah’s name! 100,000 advertisers for 1950’s feature event, the international convention in New York city!
Correspond in English When Possible
Many brethren in the United States speak other languages better than English, and when occasion arises to correspond with the Society they prefer to write in their native tongue. The Society does not have foreign correspondence departments, so these letters must be translated into English, answered, and the answer translated back into the language in which the letter was written. Obviously, this involves additional work in the Society’s office and the reply will be delayed, with possible inconvenience to the writer.
It is requested, therefore, that whenever possible your letters to the Society be in English. If you cannot write English perhaps someone else can write the letter for you. In the event that you cannot write English and there is no one to write for you, and it is necessary for you to correspond with the Society, then do not hesitate to write in the language which you read and understand. The Society is glad to correspond with those who must write in another tongue when it is necessary, but we can serve you better and more promptly when letters are in English.
“Happy the Merciful” Watchtower Offer Continues for March
Magazine Work to Be Stressed
Are you glad that you are alive? All the things you enjoy and every precaution you take to remain alive prove that you are. Do you know why you are able to be alive? Only because Jehovah has exercised his matchless quality of mercy. Those who benefit from such mercy should display this same godlike quality toward their fellow creatures. For persons who accept and faithfully extend that mercy to others, he promises unending life in his new world.
This mercy being extended to humankind, despite the ungratefulness of the majority of this world, ■was not meant to continue for all time. Those willfully spurning such mercy will have to pay the penalty that his justice requires of them, namely, death.
God’s mercy and long-suffering were due to end when the days of tribulation began upon Satan’s organization with the enthronement of Christ the king in Kingdom power in 1914. “And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved,” God’s Word ominously warned. (Matt. 24:22, A.S.V.) But God has mercifully shortened those days of tribulation. Yes, a merciful interlude has now been provided for a gospelpreaching work as a final witness and an opportunity for us to benefit everlastingly by accepting and in turn extending God’s mercy toward our fellow creatures.
The Watchtower magazine is the means that the Lord is now using to inform good-will persons of his merciful provision for life. The
The 1950 Public Meeting Campaign
New Series Begins in April
“Preach the word”! These impelling words, our yeartext for 1950, capture the attention of each individual servant and each organized company of Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the world. To them these three short words carry a wealth of meaning, setting the pace for service for the coming year. Since our public meeting activity so closely harmonizes with the injunction that “Preach the word” sets forth, does it not seem that 1950 should be a banner year for public meetings?
If the pattern of last year’s activity can be accepted as an indication of continued effort, 1950 should certainly be outstanding in this respect. In 1948 a satisfying total of 133,634 public meetings was conducted throughout the world. During the 1949 service year the number increased to 174,404, an increase of 30.5 percent! This is an average of 13.9 public meetings during the year for each of the world’s 12,535 companies.
Public-meeting-minded servants of God will rejoice to know that a new series of talks has been provided for 1950. Their titles are:
“It Is High Time to Awake!” Who Is Your God?
Have Christendom’s Religions Failed?
Hell Used as a Scare
The Pathway to Peace
Preserving Godliness amid World Delinquency
Surviving Global War
“The Truth Shall Make You Free”
“Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” has constantly provided us with comfort through the columns of The Watchtower. Who of us will deny that same comfort to others, by failing to bring this invaluable magazine to them?
Magazine Work Stressed
Warmer weather in March in many parts of the country should mean more and longer participation in street magazine work, as well as magazine work from store to store and house to house and in building up magazine routes. With the Watchtoicer subscription campaign entering its third month, all publishers will be fully Watchtower subscription conscious and will take advantage of every opportunity to present the subscription offer.
Wherever The Watchtower is already being received endeavor to place Awake! Remember, however, that the premium offer of 8 booklets goes only with the Watchtower subscription for one dollar a year. No premium is offered with Awake! which is also one dollar for a year's subscription. Keep The Watchtower foremost in the eyes of the public through all features of magazine work, as well as by the regular door-to-door offer. Advance preparation of appropriate slogans and talking points will aid in this.
Be gracious in your invitation to all persons to obtain The Watchtoicer so that they may learn and take advantage of God’s present extension of mercy for them to get life. We have received God’s mercy. Let us be happy to extend it to others.—Matt. 5: 7, Roth.
Enclosed with this Informant are three sets of the outlines for the above talks for each company and one set will be sent to each male pioneer with his Informant. Of the three sets sent to the company, one should be preserved in the ministry school library and the remaining two sets distributed among the brethren assigned to prepare the different talks.
Every company should now make plans for a public meeting on April 2, 1950. This talk will not necessarily be one of the new series; it may be the circuit servant’s public talk if he is serving the company, or it may be one of the old talks if a series is then in progress. However, do not start a series of the old talks after April 1, 1950; rather, the new series should be inaugurated after that date. Further details relative to the Memorial week-end activity will be given in the March Informant.
Throughout 1950 companies and pioneers should arrange for public meetings at every opportunity. Many companies have had excellent results by holding a continuous series at the Kingdom Hall in addition to those given at outlying points and at company book studies. If, as the year progresses, it is found advisable to continue a series longer than the eight talks for which outlines have been provided, it will be permissible for companies to use other subjects in harmony with chapters in “Let God Be True”, “The Truth Shall Make You Free” and “The Kingdom Is at Hand”. If this arrangement is used, however, it should be remembered that the company itself will need to provide for advertising, as
The Key to Successful Pioneering
Are You Ready to Start?
It takes real faith to be a pioneer. How often this has been called to our attention through invitations to enter pioneer service! Yes, faith is the very foundation for successful pioneering. The apostle Paul shows that without faith it is impossible to please God, and he lists many splendid examples in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Consider Abraham, who, on being invited to leave his homeland and enter a strange country, counted the forsaking of his past life as nothing, realizing God’s full measure of favor and blessing would be his only if he obeyed. He had faith in the God of the universe to provide his needs; he entered a far-off country. Taking Jehovah at his word and displaying faith in God brought Abraham service privileges as well as assurance of life in the new world—true riches indeed.
Jesus, our perfect exemplar was “the faithful and true witness” and he gladly accepted his Father’s invitation to full-time service. While pioneering he invited others to “follow me” in making Kingdom service of first importance. A few responded to the invitation and took up the pioneer work, but most, like the rich young ruler, preferred to place their faith and trust in worldly possessions rather than have all faith in the Creator of the universe.
Unlike the world-loving young ruler who did not have enough faith in God to rid himself of worldly ties, Jesus devoted his all to pioneer service and did not cling to material riches. This same principle of faith in Jehovah the Provider, so accurately demonstrated by Abraham, the great cloud of witnesses, and the apostles, is now being demonstrated by thousands of men, women and children who engage in full-time Kingdom ministry.
“Seek Ye First the Kingdom"
Those contemplating pioneer service need not be unduly concerned about the necessities of life, for did not Jesus say, “Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” That takes faith, for it does not mean pioneers will be provided with the finest things this old world can offer in the way of food, shelter and clothing, but, rather, they will be provided with the necessities of life. Even as an earthly father knows and provides for the needs of his children, so much more does
Publications Now in Stock
Counsel on Theocratic Organization for Jehovah’s witnesses —Arabic “Be Glad, Ye Nations” —Cinyanja The Coming World Regeneration
—Cinyanja
The Joy of All the People—Cinyanja “The Kingdom of God Is Nigh”
—Cinyanja
Kingdom Service Song Book—Polish handbills (or outlines) will not be available from the Society except for the regular series of eight talks.
As one united body of servants, let us make 1950 outstanding for ‘preaching the word’. Continued public meeting activity will do much to help us accomplish this. May it not also play an important part in helping us to realize our goal of 100,000 publishers in the United States by convention time?
Jehovah our rich heavenly Father know the requirements of his faithful servants, and he provides accordingly.
Will pioneers be cared for in a miraculous way? No, though sometimes in ways unusual. God generally provides in ways requiring initiative on the part of the pioneer, such as through part-time secular work. Paul recognized this as a provision from God to continue in the full-time service, and used it from time to time to meet his needs; but he always kept it in the proper place, realizing it was a means to continue in pioneer service. Uppermost in Paul's mind was, “This one thing I do.” Had his secular employment interfered with his full-time ministry, doubtless he would have sought other part-time work, looking to the Lord to aid him to continue in pioneer service.
The Lord provides for pioneers in many ways. Often brethren and people of good-will, who see the good works of a pioneer devoted to Kingdom service, are moved by the Lord to aid him so that the maximum of service can be performed in the field. With foresight pioneers will be alert to trade literature for food supplies, to can food in season, and in many other ways use wisdom in managing to stay in pioneer service.
Why Not Start Now?
In every respect pioneering is an inestimable privilege. It not only provides a way to praise Jehovah and minister to men of good-will full time, but also affords an opportunity to demonstrate complete faith in and dependence on the Lord. In many places the number of goodwill persons is too great for the publishers to care for. Some companies are in great need of assistance. Other territories have not been covered for years. Pioneers are needed. There is no better way to spend a consecrated life than in pioneer service. Why not start now?
With the life prospects of all men of good-will in view the Society again urges all who possibly can to enter pioneer activity now. Follow the example of thousands who are enjoying the pioneer blessings: sisters whose husbands work, brothers whose wives work, both single and married brethren who pioneer and engage in part-time secular work, young brethren and elderlv brethren, some 70 and 80 years old. In some instances families that cannot all enter the full-time ministry cooperate to assist one or more of their group to do so, and in so doing all are endeavoring to seek first the Kingdom.
Wait a little longer? But why? More favorable conditions seldom come by just waiting. In fact, the longer you wait the harder it will be to start pioneering. Why not rather enter the pioneer work in February, get well established therein by March, reach your full stride by Memorial time, and, by the Lord’s grace, continue therein. Consider, too, the joy and satisfaction of attending the 1950 convention as a pioneer. An application blank aw’aits all who desire to take up this joyous service.
No Literature in Braille
From time to time brethren write the Society requesting publications in Braille for the blind. The Society has no publications in Braille. It is the privilege of those who have sight to study with the blind and to read the Kingdom message to them.