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Welcome!
In this update, we’ll discuss
why we must feed ourselves
spiritually every day.
We will also hear about some
exciting upcoming preaching initiatives.
But now here are some updates.
Since our last report,
nine “Eternal Happiness”
International Conventions were held in
Douala, Cameroon;
Bucharest, Romania;
Curitiba, Brazil;
St. John’s, Canada;
Warsaw, Poland;
Stockholm, Sweden;
Kaohsiung, Taiwan;
Panama City, Panama;
and Porto, Portugal.
Over 32,000 delegates came
from 77 countries
to support these conventions.
The combined peak attendance
was over 251,000,
and 2,440 were baptized.
During August, seven more
international conventions will be held.
What can we look forward to
in September 2026?
As previously announced,
there will be a worldwide campaign
in September
featuring the Enjoy Life Forever! brochure.
Publishers who decide to serve
as auxiliary pioneers during the month
may choose either the 15-hour
or 30-hour requirement.
Additionally, a special talk
with the theme
“How Can the Bible Help You?”
will be presented
in congregations worldwide.
Also, we’re pleased to announce a special
arrangement for the circuit overseer’s visit
from September 2026
through February 2027.
In place of the circuit overseer’s
public talk,
Part 1 of Episode 2 of The Good News
According to Jesus will be shown!
We encourage everyone
to invite interested ones and Bible students
to attend this special presentation.
To help us introduce the public
to The Good News According to Jesus,
a new video has been prepared
for use in the ministry.
It will soon be available on jw.org.
Also, a new landing page on jw.org
has been designed to motivate visitors
to watch the Good News series.
It can be accessed from the home page.
A trailer video for the series
will whet their appetite.
And brief summaries of each episode
will help them find Gospel accounts
that especially interest them.
As a result of these new initiatives,
we hope that many more
will come to know
and love Jesus Christ
and our loving Father, Jehovah.
Now we’d like to update you
on the situation in Venezuela.
As previously announced on jw.org,
two major earthquakes
struck just seconds apart
on June 24, 2026.
The larger quake
had a magnitude of 7.5
—the strongest
to hit Venezuela since 1900.
Tragically, 46 of our brothers
and sisters died,
35 more were injured,
and 807 were displaced.
Hundreds of homes and Kingdom Halls
were either damaged or destroyed.
Can you imagine enduring such a trial?
Our hearts ache
for those suffering from this tragedy.
Within just 48 hours of the quakes,
two Disaster Relief Committees
were appointed
and five Branch Committee members
visited the area
to shepherd the affected families.
Food, water, shelter, hygiene supplies,
and emergency medical care
were provided.
In one touching example,
when hygiene supplies began to run low,
the brothers knew
that Jehovah would take care of them.
Just hours later,
a man who is not a Witness
came to the Kingdom Hall
with goods to donate.
Relatives had told him:
“Look for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“They’re well-organized
and will make sure
your donation reaches
those who truly need it.”
The man donated about 50 hygiene kits
—the very items
that were urgently needed!
Hundreds of volunteers
are supporting the relief work,
and damaged homes and Kingdom Halls
are being assessed for repair.
The brothers and sisters
are receiving physical and spiritual help.
In-person meetings and shepherding visits
have brought much comfort.
As mentioned in our last update,
a major earthquake
also struck the Philippines
on June 8, 2026.
Sadly, one of our sisters died,
34 publishers were injured,
and 429 were displaced.
The Governing Body
has approved sufficient funds
for humanitarian aid
and reconstruction of homes
and Kingdom Halls in the Philippines.
Please continue to pray
for our brothers and sisters in Venezuela
and the Philippines
and for those around the world
affected by disasters.
We thank you for your generous donations
to the worldwide work,
which enable us
to provide relief and support.
Now we’d like to discuss
feeding ourselves spiritually.
Each year, the Governing Body
selects a yeartext
that provides timely encouragement
throughout the year.
In recent years, we’ve even had
a song based on the yeartext.
Do you remember our yeartext for 2026?
It’s Matthew 5:3,
as displayed in our Kingdom Halls:
“Happy are those conscious
of their spiritual need.”
The Bible compares God’s Word to food.
At Matthew 4:4, Jesus said:
“Man must live, not on bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from Jehovah’s mouth.”
Just as physical food
keeps us alive physically,
spiritual food keeps us alive spiritually.
Who decides
what physical food you’ll eat?
Usually, you do.
Now, what about spiritual food?
Who chooses what you will eat?
Jehovah generously provides
an abundance of spiritual food.
Through “the faithful and discreet slave,”
we receive a “banquet of rich dishes”
right on time.
At our meetings, assemblies,
and conventions,
we are served a delicious,
well-prepared spiritual feast.
However, just as the Israelites
had to collect and eat the manna,
we each need to consider
an important question:
What is my personal responsibility
when it comes to being well-fed
spiritually day to day?
Or to put it another way,
‘What will I eat today?’
Of course, family heads are responsible
to help care for their family spiritually,
but each day, we individually
need to feed ourselves.
This is not something
others can do for us.
Philippians 2:12 reminds us:
“Keep working out your own salvation.”
Galatians chapter 6
gives us a helpful balance.
Verse 2 says: “Go on carrying
the burdens of one another.”
But verse 5 says: “Each one
will carry his own load.”
A “load” is our personal
responsibility before Jehovah
—something we must carry.
Although Jehovah and others
can help us with our burdens,
no one else can carry
our load of responsibility before God.
That’s why we should ask,
‘How can I fill my spiritual need today?’
Jehovah’s organization
has provided many tools to help us.
We have resources
like Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY™,
the Research Guide,
and Scriptures for Christian Living.
One of the most important ways
we can fill our spiritual need
is by reading a portion
of God’s Word each day
and by taking time
to think about what we read.
We should also
read and meditate on the daily text.
Let’s see how two publishers
have benefited from doing so.
There was a daily text
that really touched my heart.
It was the one from February 12, 2026,
based on Psalm 94:19.
So I was raised by a single mother,
and there were five of us children,
so she made sure that every day
we could go through the daily text
and discuss it as a family.
And I just carried that same custom
in my own family.
To make sure I read the daily text every day,
I prepare the night before.
I switch on my cell phone,
open the JW Library® app
to the correct section,
and then I turn it off again
so that it’s ready for the next morning.
Early in the morning, my wife Sihle
gets the children ready for school.
She prepares Mikayla,
and then after they have
their breakfast,
at 6:30 a.m.
we sit together as a family,
and then we go through the daily text.
I find it helpful
to regularly ask myself these questions:
‘What does this account
teach me about Jehovah,
and how can I apply this in my life today?’
Asking myself these questions
helps me to see the bigger picture,
to see Jehovah’s qualities,
and to make the application more personal,
especially for someone who is single.
I speak to my children,
so in those chats I try to pick up
things that help me now to see
what they’re going through,
and when I see those things,
I try to then tailor them to the text,
so that when we discuss it,
we’ve got information
that can help them as well in dealing
with their challenges much better.
I like to summarize the daily text
into a single sentence that is easy
to remember throughout the day.
I take some notes
—notes that come from the comments
from the discussion that we’ll be having.
So, interesting enough, most of these
notes that I find very encouraging to me
come from my own children.
So later in the day,
I revisit these notes and read them.
They remind me
of what we have discussed,
and it really builds me up.
I have a friend who lives far away,
and we keep in touch
by sending each other text messages
about the daily text.
There are days
when a particular daily text
reminds us of each other
or of something
that touched our hearts.
There was a time we had a consideration
of the daily text early in the year,
and it was discussing
about being bold and speaking up,
and I could see that this
really had an effect on Mikayla.
She was just itching to say something.
I remember a day when we were
doing the daily text in the morning
that spoke about being bold
and speaking up,
and then I went to school
and told this bully who loved bullying others
that Jehovah wants us to be kind and loving.
After a while, she stopped bullying,
which made me so happy
because I knew Jehovah
gave me the courage to speak up.
I was so happy to see that this daily text
discussion that we’re having
is really having an effect,
a positive effect, on her.
I was so proud of her.
When my brother and his wife
were invited to attend
the School for Kingdom Evangelizers,
it affected me quite deeply.
I felt sad.
I had personally applied twice
to attend the same school,
and I couldn’t help but wonder:
‘Why wasn’t it me?
What am I doing wrong?’
This daily text helped me
through that experience
because it reminded me
that we are valuable to Jehovah.
Those words were exactly what I needed.
I’m self-employed,
and so sometimes as a parent
it’s easy to worry about things.
So there was this particular time
when business was not doing so well,
so I did find myself concerned.
So, interesting enough,
we had read in the morning the daily text,
and it was taken from Matthew 6:33
about not being overly anxious.
And Jesus made a promise there
that Jehovah will take care of our needs.
And just having that thought helped.
It had a very good calming effect on me,
because it made me relax,
realizing that I don’t need
to worry excessively
because Jehovah will always care for us.
I realized through this experience
how important it is
to read the daily text every day.
Situations can arise that discourage us,
but this experience helped me realize
that the daily text can help us
at different moments throughout the day.
Jehovah is always there for us,
and through the daily text,
he’s speaking to us every morning.
As a family, through his Word,
he’s giving us the support we need.
We all can benefit
from carefully considering the daily text.
Mariely mentioned that she summarizes
the daily text in one sentence.
Another sister
summarizes it in just one word
and keeps that word in mind
throughout the day.
Doing that can help us
remember and apply what we read.
Why mention this topic
in a Governing Body update?
Because, as 1 Corinthians 7:31 says:
“The scene of this world is changing.”
And our personal circumstances change.
So now more than ever
we want to feed ourselves
—and our families—
every day with spiritual food
from God’s Word.
A touching example of this is
in a letter we received
from a brother performing
alternative civilian service in South Korea.
He wrote:
“After finishing
our daily responsibilities,
“the brothers in our room
set aside time each evening
“to read the daily text together
and share encouraging thoughts.
“At times when we feel discouraged
“because of difficulties that arise
among inmates or with prison staff,
“it is remarkable
“how the daily text
contains exactly the scripture
“or thought we need at that moment.
“Those occasions give us
great strength and encouragement
and help us feel Jehovah’s loving care
through the brotherhood.”
To all who are imprisoned for their faith
or for performing
alternative civilian service:
We have not forgotten you.
We’re encouraged
by your faithful endurance.
And your brothers and sisters
around the world are praying for you too.
So as we navigate these critical times,
may we all stay spiritually strong
by feeding ourselves daily.
Jehovah also provides something else
that can strengthen us
—the gift of music.
We are pleased to share with you
an exciting new initiative!
In the coming months,
we will provide a greater variety
of spiritually upbuilding music
for the worldwide brotherhood.
It will be called “International Music.”
These songs will be added to jw.org
and JW Library®
and will reflect the local flavor of music
enjoyed by our worldwide brotherhood.
These songs will not be translated
into other languages,
and no videos will be created.
While this music
will certainly be appreciated
by Jehovah’s people as a whole,
it’s especially intended
for younger Witnesses.
Would you like to hear a sample?
The first two songs are available now.
More will be added later this year.
We’re excited to provide
additional heart-stirring music for use
as we go about our daily activities.
In this update, we’ve discussed encouraging
initiatives in our field ministry,
including the global campaign
in September.
We’ve seen how Jehovah
is comforting our brothers and sisters
in Venezuela and the Philippines
after the earthquakes.
And we’ve discussed
our personal responsibility
to feed ourselves spiritually every day.
Brothers and sisters,
please know that we have
tender affection for you
and we keep you in our prayers,
including those who are affected
by disasters and persecution.
From the World Headquarters
of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
this is JW Broadcasting®.

2026 Governing Body Update #5