a representative of the Orel administration sympathized with the Jehovah's Witnesses because of the religious persecutions in the country and urged them not to lose heart.

[bruceq]

Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel help clean up city

WHILE LANGUISHING IN SIZO, DENNIS CHRISTENSEN AND HIS FELLOW BELIEVERS RECEIVE THANKS FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 14 June 2017

 

Authorities of the city of Orel awarded recognition to local Jehovah's Witnesses for their active participation in cleaning up trash from the territory of the city. The believers were scheduled to receive thanks from the city administration and a gift book with the inscription: "In gratitude for good work—cleaning up trash for the benefit of people and nature."  The precious gift was signed by the city administration.

 

Wherever they live, Jehovah's Witnesses strive to provide benefit for neighbors not only by distribution of biblical knowledge but also by participation in various forms of socially useful activity. This is also the civic position of Dennis Christensen, one of the Orel Jehovah's Witnesses who participated actively in the clean up. Standing knee-deep in the cold waters of the river Orlik, he used a net to pull trash from the river. All the work was conducted without pay.

 

In view of this, it seems especially paradoxical that Christensen has languished for almost three weeks now in the city SIZO [pre-trial investigation cell] on the basis of falsified charges of organizing an extremist society. Believers are dumbfounded that it was this society that, in the opinion of city authorities, produced a benefit for the city. Cleaning up trash was the last good deed that Dennis managed to do while at liberty.

 

It is noteworthy that a representative of the Orel administration sympathized with the Jehovah's Witnesses because of the religious persecutions in the country and urged them not to lose heart. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 June 2017)

http://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/170613a.html

[JW Insider]

Growing up, I was always taught that our honesty, integrity, conduct, and acts of goodness and kindness were just as much as "witness" as going from door to door. Not that I didn't like going from door-to-door.

At 5 years old, I loved going from door to door, and my mother says I always wanted to keep the house to house records where we would mark down each address, where literature was placed, who was not at home (or suspected to be home but hiding), who was busy, etc. At about 10 years old, I became a bit wary of going from door to door in case I met kids I knew from school, but at about 15, I started to like it again, especially if I met people I knew. By the time I was 16 I had already quit high school to pioneer, and after a couple years of pioneering, I had so many Bible Studies (students) that I had little time left for the door-to-door work, and I missed it again, especially in the city college/university territory and nearby rural "need-greater" territory.

But through all of this, I think the growth of new congregations was based, not so much on the door-to-door work, but on the reputation we had among ourselves for being a happy, loving people who conducted ourselves with honesty and integrity. When someone was out of a job, another Witness would hire them, or help them to get something where he or she also worked. When a Witness started a small business, he hired Witnesses almost exclusively. We all pitched in when a brother or sister had storm damage to their home, or if someone had an emergency, or if a new family moved into the territory. When I look back now and remember who was related to whom, I realize that 90% of the growth in our congregations was from relatives of a core number of families who had been there from 1964, when we first moved into the initial congregation of that territory.

I say all this, not to discourage or minimize the house-to-house work. I think that in some ways, our reputation that is due to the house-to-house work is very valuable, even if no one ever became a Witness through that activity. It defines a purpose and ties us to an idea about the first-century congregation, even if the first-century Christians never actually used this exact method themselves.

So, with that said, I'm wondering if it's possible for the preaching work, the witnessing work, to be just as effective, or possibly more effective, if at least half our time was spent doing good for the neighborhoods and communities we live in. We would no doubt focus especially on those related to us in the faith, fellow Witnesses, but we would not limit it to that. In Hebrews 10:24,25 it says that we should not forsake gathering together at meetings to encourage one another to show love through good works. Perhaps we should even expect elders to make announcements about which specific good works we could join in together.

It's also an idea for compliance with the Russian authorities that would not conflict with our obedience to God. I have wondered how it would change our preaching work if we never preached to anyone that the Russian Orthodox Church was part of Babylon the Great and that all those who have a good heart will desire to join the Witnesses in order to avoid destruction when that church is destroyed along with the rest of this system. The attraction to join the Witnesses would have to be based entirely on positive role modeling rather than fear of destruction. This doesn't mean that we would avoid explaining our beliefs when those related parts of the Bible came up. But that could not be a part of the primary attraction to join the Witnesses, according to the expected Russian regulations on preaching.

Personally, I think that if the Watch Tower Society was willing to tell the Belgian authorities that we had changed our stance on blood, and disfellowshipping/shunning and to tell the Mexican branch to dispense with the "worship" portions of the meetings in Mexico for 50 years -- when the Watch Tower forbid the use of songs, and prayers at the meetings and forbid the use of the Bible in the door-to-door work -- then it would be just as possible to carry on the Russian work with a shift in focus. No one would change their core beliefs, they would just focus on good works, including the support of their own Witness families and friends first, and good works for the community, second. When persons are attracted to what binds Witnesses together, it would still be love for God and love for neighbor, and the rest of the beliefs would be much more palatable to those who would join us.