The Librarian

Preaching in rural territory in Jutiapa, Honduras. Photo shared by @katrachito_keiichi View the full article

Public witnessing in Brazil. Photo shared by @as_guedes View the full article

Even after a long day of work at Bethel Zambia, volunteers end the day with happy smiles. Working for Jehovah brings great joy, all the time! Photo shared by @idachungu View the full article

By LAURIE GOODSTEINAPRIL 4, 2016 LORETTO, Pa. — By the age of 12, Maureen Powers, the daughter of a professor at the local Roman Catholic university, played the organ in the magnificent hilltop Catholic basilica here and volunteered in the parish office. But, she said, she was hiding a secret: Her priest sexually abused her for two years, telling her it was for the purpose of “research.” By her high school years, she felt so tied up in knots of betrayal and shame that she confided in a succession of priests. She said the first tried to take advantage of her sexually, the second suggested she comfort herself with a daily candy bar and the third told her to see a counselor. None of them reported the abuse to the authorities or mentioned that she could take that step. So when a Pennsylvania grand jury revealed in a report in March that the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, which includes Loretto, engaged in an extensive cover-up of abuse by as many as 50 church officials, Ms. Powers, now 67, decided to finally report her case. She called the office of the state attorney general and recounted her story, including the name of her abuser, a prominent monsignor who was not listed in the grand jury report. “I just felt like now, someone will believe me,” said Ms. Powers, who retired after 30 years in leadership positions at the Y.W.C.A. in Lancaster, Pa. Photo As a child, Ms. Powers played the organ at St. Michael the Archangel in Loretto and volunteered in the parish office. When she told other priests she had been sexually abused, she says, one tried to take advantage of her sexually, another suggested she comfort herself with a daily candy bar and a third told her to see a counselor. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times She was not alone. Ms. Powers was among more than 250 abuse survivors and tipsters who called a hotline set up by the Pennsylvania attorney general, Kathleen G. Kane. Twenty agents were needed to answer the phones, and a voice mailbox was set up to handle the overflow. Nearly 15 years after Boston suffered through a clergy abuse scandal dramatized in the recent movie “Spotlight,” Pennsylvania is going through its own painful reckoning. From the State Capitol in Harrisburg to kitchens in railroad towns, people say they have been stunned to read evidence that priests they knew as pastors, teachers and confessors were secretly abusing children — findings the grand jury report called “staggering and sobering.” Victims are coming forward for the first time to family and friends, and alumni of parochial schools are pulling out their yearbooks, marveling at how smiling faces hid such pain. Multiplying the outrage, the grand jury report supplied evidence that the police, district attorneys and judges in the Altoona and Johnstown area colluded with bishops in the cover-up, quashing the pleas of parents who tried to blow the whistle on priests who sexually abused children. Some of those officials are named in the report, and some still hold public office. READ MORE http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/us/pennsylvania-clergy-sex-abuse.html?emc=edit_au_20160404&nl=afternoonupdate&nlid=60657855&_r=0

50 years of serving Jehovah together. Photo shared by @__evergreen_soul__ View the full article

Public preaching in Dallas, Texas, USA. Photo shared by @gerardolovesmary View the full article

Australasia Bethel is on the countdown with 10 days of printing work remaining! The large printer has been an ever constant part of both creating the spiritual food for us to use and amazing the thousands on tour we have each year. The majority of the work is moving to Japan, but a small amount will still be printed here on the three smaller presses; namely the languages we coordinate translation for in our region. Photo shared by @featherdcrow View the full article

Preaching in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo shared by @sir_ono View the full article

A group of young people from Pesanggrahan congregation in Jakarta, Indonesia, performed song 142 in our farewell luncheon. The congregation is expanding and half of us is moving to a new one. Thanks for sharing @supercalligraphylistic View the full article

My Sudanese bunch of children here in Uganda. Only two of them speak English. But with the help of Priscilla we are able to say some important things about God to the rest. And of course the videos help. Photo shared by @patka728 View the full article

For a kids project they made or drew something that a prophet did. Photo shared by @stephenlaubscher View the full article

Friends Alexis, Valerie, and Stephanie cart witnessing in California, USA. Photo shared by @stephanie.hernan View the full article

My friend and I are from different congregations in Florida and she was surprised to see the couple from my invitation was different from hers. She then remembered a visit to Bethel where it was explained that the picture on the cover of some of the publications within certain cultures will reflect the majority of the people in the area to avoid offending anyone and to make it more personal to the person. I thought it was just great how Jehovah provides for everyone in every way imaginable. Photo shared by @gorbakovsky View the full article

English Circuit Assembly? It’s so beautiful here at Stanley Theatre Assembly Hall❤️ @juju_eliz_07 thank you View the full article

In the ministry on Sunday in Kekaha, Hawaii under our favorite tree that makes us think of the Paradise. Photo shared by @makalapua1 View the full article

The challenges of the ministry on a wet and windy day in the UK. Photo shared by @jules_goodwin View the full article

New friends found in Catol Congregation in the province of Zambales, Philippines @jackiecabar thank you View the full article

While visiting a rural territory in the Dominican Republic we found some sisters with a bamboo public witnessing cart..it was beautiful! @albanyyelitza thank you View the full article

@vanscheerleader shares: “We invited some of the friends over for dinner and played Bible Pictionary afterward. We got out the dry erase board so everyone could see, and the only rules were no letters or numbers and it had to be a topic covered in the Bible Story Book. That way small children would still have a good chance of guessing.” ? thanks! View the full article

Cortona, Italy. Thank you @marcello_gavioli #jw #jwonly #jwfriends #jwfamily #jwpreaching #jwservice #jwpioneer #jwministry #jworg #jwglobal #jehovah #jehovahswitnesses #jeova #testemunhasdejeova #jehova #testigosdejehova #publicwitnessing #testemunhopublico #predicacionpublica #cartwitnessing View the full article

Dallas, Texas, USA. Thank you @gerardolovesmary #jw #jwonly #jwfriends #jwfamily #jwpreaching #jwservice #jwpioneer #jwministry #jworg #jwglobal #jehovah #jehovahswitnesses #jeova #testemunhasdejeova #jehova #testigosdejehova #publicwitnessing #testemunhopublico #predicacionpublica #cartwitnessing View the full article

Brazil. Thank you @maria.alice.lemos #jw #jwonly #jwfriends #jwfamily #jwpreaching #jwservice #jwpioneer #jwministry #jworg #jwglobal #jehovah #jehovahswitnesses #jeova #testemunhasdejeova #jehova #testigosdejehova #publicwitnessing #testemunhopublico #predicacionpublica #cartwitnessing View the full article

A young sister in my hall in Bristol, England was so excited to show everyone what she did for family worship. She wrote Jehovah’s name in Hebrew on some clay. It’s so nice to see that at such a young age they really know the importance of Jehovah’s name. Photo shared by @olikatwist View the full article

April 3, 2016 - Bible study party after the special meeting talk “Are you on the road to everlasting life?” We had such a good time! I thought I would share! We love Jehovah! From the Welch, West Virginia JW congregation! @wv_dude @simplycandie @faithful_2_jehovah @bev_lester @secondstar2the_right thank you View the full article

We are sisters from Slovakia and Czech Republic and we were on a holiday in Rome, Italy. We met these lovely brothers and sister when public witnessing. Great experience. Photo shared by @sonulin View the full article