Conclusion of God's Word Prevails in Zealous Workers

In one South American country, the Witnesses traveled down a tributary of the Amazon River to reach people with the truth. However, when civil strife erupted in 1995, civilian traffic along the river was prohibited. Determined to keep supplying interested ones with Bible publications, the Witnesses decided to float the message downstream.  they wrote letters and placed them with copies of The Watchtower and Awake! magazines inside empty plastic bottles.  They then threw the bottles into the river.  This continued for four and a half years until the river was again opened to civilians. All along the river, people thanked the Witnesses for the literature. One lady who had been a Bible student embrace them with tears  in her eyes and said:  "I thought I would never see you again. However, when I began receiving the literature in the bottles, I knew that you had not forgotten me!"  Others who lived along the river said that they had read the magazines repeatedly.  Many settlements had a "post office'-an eddy where floating objects collected temporarily. It was there that interested ones checked frequently for any "mail" from upstream.

The preaching of the good news is directed and backed by Jehovah God and his powerful angels.  (Revelation 14:6)  By just making ourselves available, unexpected opportunities to make disciples sometimes arise. In Nairobi, Kenya, two Christian women in field service had finished working the houses assigned to them.  A young woman suddenly approached them and excitedly said:  "I've been praying to meet someone like you." She implored the Witnesses to come to her home immediately for a discussion, and a Bible study was started with her that very day.  Why did the woman approach the two Christians with such urgency? About two earlier, she had lost her baby in death. So when she saw a youngster carry the tract "What Hope for Dead Loved Ones?"  she wanted it desperately  and asked the boy to give it to her. He refused, but pointed to the Witnesses who had given him the tract. Soon the woman was making fine spiritual progress and was better able to cope with the painful loss of her child. 

Next time: God's Love Must Prevail

From the Watchtower magazine, 2001