WESTLOCK — You may soon hear a knock on the door you have not heard in a while.
Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world have resumed their signature door-to-door ministry for the first time since the pandemic began. A global campaign offering the public a free interactive Bible course kicked off Sept. 1. The in-person ministry follows the reopening of Kingdom Halls earlier this year on April 1 after Jehovah’s Witnesses, shut down ministry in March 2020 and shifted to sharing their message through letters and phone calls.
“Our meetings went online, and we decided to do (our ministry) without meeting people face-to-face,“ said Joel Ramcharan, local spokesperson for Region 2, which includes the Westlock region. “Now that there’s a high vaccination rate, we’ve received direction from our organization that it’s OK for us to cautiously meet with people at their doors, because we’re then able to have meaningful conversations with them.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses have preached for about 100 years without interruption,” he added. “Now that we’re going back (to in-person ministry) to coincide with that, there is a global campaign to advertise an interactive Bible study program that was developed during COVID-19.”
Last year, Jehovah’s Witnesses conducted an average of five million Bible courses around the globe each month. Ramcharan pointed out that ministers present what the Bible teaches and allows people to determine their own beliefs and life choices, and there is no obligation to participate when they knock on your door.
Although there is much excitement around the return of in-person meetings and door-to-door ministry, they will be careful in their approach to residents, with some ministers opting to wear a mask and maintain social distancing, noted Ramcharan, adding that Westlock and area families will be sharing their message via a regular schedule.
“Perhaps those families are working, and kids are back in school, you’ll likely see them on the weekends and that’s the same as before,” explained Ramcharan. “Families generally like to get out at least once on the weekend if they can. In some locations we have portable carts that we set up, where people are able to approach us and have discussions … there’s usually a question or a topic that is being focused on along with literature that people can pick up for free.”
Coming out of the pandemic, people may not be as welcoming to strangers at the door and Ramcharan wants people to know that Witnesses sharing their message will be “very sensitive to how people react when they come to the door,” and pointed to their strong faith as a major factor that keeps encouraging them to share the ‘good news’.
“We appreciate that some people don’t want to open their doors to strangers,” said Ramcharan. “But for us, our motivation first of al, is concern and love of neighbour as the scriptures say. We feel it’s a mission for Christians to speak to people or share the message from the Bible. Having the good news that is found in the scriptures, that’s a great motivation for us to go and speak to people face-to-face again.”
“If they decide they don’t want to speak with us, we completely understand and we never try to force our beliefs or force a visit on anyone,” he added. “We’re volunteers and we do this because we care about people, and we want to spread good news.”
The Kingdom Hall in Westlock covers a 100-kilometre area including the communities of Jarvie, Pickardville, Clyde and Rochester. The Westlock location was built in 1984 and recently underwent major renovations, which were completed June 1.
