Monroe, Wisconsin, will be one of the thousands of communities around the globe that will receive a powerful message of hope this November as Jehovah’s Witnesses embark upon a special campaign focusing attention on the Bible’s hope for a better world.
The goal of the campaign is to distribute a special edition of The Watchtower magazine containing the cover series, “A Better World is Near.” More than 36 million printed copies of the magazine are expected to be distributed in some 230 languages to communities in 240 lands around the globe. In addition, the digital publication is available on various platforms in nearly 400 languages.
The magazine addresses the age-old “doomsday” question “Is this world going to end?” with a comforting answer that may surprise many readers. While many religions have predicted the “end of the world,” the magazine reveals the Bible’s clear message: The earth is here forever and will never end! However, the magazine also explains the powerful truth that wickedness will soon be gone, quoting the Bible book of Psalms where it promises that the “lawless one” will be no more. (Psalm 37:10, Rotherham translation)
This positive message has been the hope of millions around the world who have prayed for ‘God’s Kingdom to come,’ a familiar refrain of many Christians taught by Jesus in what some refer to as the Lord’s Prayer.
Charles McKenzie of Madison is one Christian who was able to break free from addiction by responding to the Bible’s message. A party lifestyle led to a reliance on alcohol and drugs, causing him to drop out of college. Those addictions followed him into adulthood.
“My life revolved around escapism in one form or another,” he said. “I had to have some sort of escape, usually through drugs every single day.”
McKenzie was troubled because few people seemed to care about the global environmental problems that weighed on him. He felt as though not enough answers were coming from governmental efforts.
“I found that really distressing and depressing,” he said. “It really robbed me of any hope for the future.”
“People are longing to hear a positive message and this is the best news possible,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “A better world is not just a dream, it’s inevitable. In fact, it is the central theme of the entire Bible.”
A study of the Bible helped McKenzie break free of the addictions that had followed him for years.
“I was able to quit those things that I had been trying to quit daily for years,” he said. “Studying the Bible — that started to give me hope. It just turned my whole life around.”
McKenzie credits the Bible’s message for saving his life, as well as for transforming his outlook. “They’ve given my life meaning, purpose, satisfaction and joy,” he said of the positive changes the Bible helped him achieve.
The Bible’s message also gave McKenzie confidence that the problems mankind now faces will soon be addressed — by God. “He’s the only one who knows how to fix it and has the ability to fix it,” he said.
The Watchtower has been carrying a similar message about God’s Kingdom for more than 100 years and remains the most widely translated and circulated magazine in the world. The No. 2 2021 edition is available free online at jw.org, where anyone can also request a free printed copy by scrolling down on the homepage to “Request A Visit.”
For more information, please call 718-560-5600.
