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Welcome, dear brothers and sisters!
I’m so happy to share with you this update.
It has been amazing
to see the Kingdom work move ahead,
even during this pandemic.
Various branches are reporting all-time peaks
in the number of publishers, pioneers,
meeting attendance, and Bible studies.
Many have reported peaks
in the Memorial attendance.
For example,
the Philippines branch reported
that over 739,000
attended the Memorial this year!
That is more than three times
the number of publishers.
One hundred congregations,
mostly in urban areas,
reported a Memorial attendance
of at least 500.
That means that 50,000 attended the Memorial
in just those 100 congregations!
In various parts of the earth,
many struggle to obtain food.
With the assistance of hundreds
of Disaster Relief Committees,
we continue to help our brothers.
For example,
in Venezuela, each month,
we are providing
an average of 130 tons of food
to 25,000 brothers in need.
One 90-year-old pioneer sister said:
“I know that the aid comes from Jehovah,
“but he uses brothers
that I do not even know,
“and yet they love me and help me.
Thank you, dear family.”
It is heartwarming
to see how Jehovah is helping
our brothers and sisters in Venezuela
and around the globe.
We thank all of you for making that possible
by means of your donations.
In our last Governing Body Update,
Brother Herd mentioned
that “about 50 percent
of the worldwide Bethel family
have been vaccinated so far.”
Initially, it seemed impossible
to obtain vaccines
in some countries of the world.
But it has been amazing to see
that now more than 80 percent
of our worldwide Bethel family
—that is, more than 19,000 Bethelites—
are vaccinated,
and we are doing what we can
to assist the branch offices
that have not been able to obtain vaccines.
As you know,
by keeping the Bethel family safe,
we protect the flow of spiritual food
and support spiritual activities worldwide.
On behalf of the Governing Body,
thank you, dear brothers and sisters,
for your tremendous cooperation
with all the arrangements
during the pandemic.
There have been many adjustments
in a short time,
but you have done so well.
We truly love you for your fine spirit
in working “shoulder to shoulder” with us.
While we all have had changes in our routine,
some of our circuit overseers
who serve in foreign lands
have had major changes.
They had to return to their home countries
during the pandemic.
Even so, some continue to serve
the congregations in their circuits via Zoom,
despite being in a different country
and in a different time zone.
Let’s hear from one.
A few months into the pandemic,
my father’s health was failing.
So we made the decision
to return to the States
and assist my mother.
Although in the beginning
we didn’t think we’d be here so long,
it turned out that the surge in the pandemic
prevented us from going back
to our assignment in the circuit in Bolivia.
Well, being displaced,
we just weren’t sure
if we were going to be able to serve
and complete our assignment effectively.
We felt that we needed to make
the necessary adjustments
to have the right attitude.
So fervent prayer really helped us
to get the right mindset.
And being able to see
how Jehovah answered those prayers
is very faith-strengthening.
Jehovah is blessing this arrangement.
It’s the arrangement
that has been put in place,
and it’s what we’re using.
We’re making the best of it.
But we’re having success
because Jehovah is behind it.
We’ve had brothers who are now qualified
to be publishers
—unbaptized publishers.
There are brothers
who’ve dedicated their lives
and gotten baptized during this pandemic.
One brother in particular
has so much enthusiasm for phone witnessing
that last month he was able
to report over 100 return visits,
and he was able to show
over 200 videos to different ones.
One Bible student loves her study so much,
and also attending meetings,
that she’s willing to walk one hour each way
in order to have a good signal on her phone
so that she can tie in to her study
and also to the meetings.
Throughout this past year,
I’ve learned that Jehovah has never left us.
He’s been in total control
of every situation.
He’s been able to direct
his organization, his people,
exactly to the place that we need to be.
This has all been proof
that Jehovah will never abandon us.
How encouraging to hear how our brothers
are remaining united and spiritually active!
But we do have to continue
to guard our unity.
What is unity?
It has been defined as “oneness,”
“a condition of harmony.”
Note how the apostle Paul describes our role
in maintaining unity at Ephesians 4:3.
There we read:
“earnestly endeavoring to maintain
“the oneness of the spirit
in the uniting bond of peace.”
Note that it takes effort
to maintain our unity.
Paul said that we must “earnestly endeavor,”
or work hard, at it.
What could pose a danger to our unity?
What if we
became too emotionally involved
in issues that are divisive?
The Bible foretold at 2 Timothy chapter 3
that men would be “lovers of themselves,
“. . . not open to any agreement,
. . . [and] fierce.”
We see this in the world today.
People are “not open to any agreement.”
They quickly become “fierce,”
taking strong positions
on all types of issues.
As Christians,
we are “no part of [the] world.”
We stay out of those debates.
For example,
who would have thought
that wearing a mask
to prevent the spread of disease
could become an issue?
From the time when we were little children,
our parents taught us to cover our mouth
when we coughed or sneezed.
In his precious Word,
Jehovah outlined many practical measures
that would prevent the spread of disease.
So how could wearing a mask
become controversial for some?
Where is that thinking coming from?
We have to be careful.
All of us are exposed to worldly thinking
on television, on the Internet,
at work, or at school.
There are many websites
that promote conspiracy theories.
If we’re not careful,
we could become emotionally involved
in these debates.
We could allow ourselves to be guided
by “the voice of strangers”
instead of listening to Jehovah’s channel,
“the faithful and discreet slave.”
As we face the end of this system of things,
this will become more and more essential
to our safety and spirituality.
That’s why we appreciate
you dear brothers and sisters so much.
As soon as you discern that Jehovah’s spirit
is directing the Governing Body
to go in a certain way,
you are quick to follow.
And as a result, we enjoy precious unity.
This reminds me
of the Bible example of Naaman.
Through a messenger,
the prophet Elisha told Naaman
he would be healed from his leprosy
if he bathed seven times in the Jordan River.
How did Naaman react?
Let’s read together
2 Kings 5:11, 12:
“At this Naaman became indignant
“and started to leave, saying:
“‘Here I said to myself,
“‘“He will come out to me and stand here
“‘“and call on the name of Jehovah his God,
“‘“moving his hand back and forth
“‘over the leprosy to cure it.”
“‘Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar,
“‘the rivers of Damascus,
“‘better than all the waters of Israel?
“Can I not wash in them and become clean?’
With that he turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman had his own idea
about how he was going to be cured.
He felt strongly about it.
But Jehovah had a different idea.
To be cured,
Naaman would have to humble himself
and follow direction from Jehovah’s channel.
Naaman was struggling,
but his servants got the point.
What did they tell him to do?
And what was the result?
Let’s read verses 13 and 14:
“His servants now approached him and said:
“‘My father, if the prophet had told you
“‘to do something extraordinary,
“‘would you not do it?
“‘How much more, then, since he
“only said to you, “Wash and be clean”?’
“At that he went down
“and plunged into the Jordan seven times,
“according to the word
“of the man of the true God.
“Then his flesh was restored
“like the flesh of a little boy,
and he became clean.”
Do we get the point?
Like Naaman,
we might struggle a bit at times,
especially if we have
our own strong viewpoint.
But one thing is certain:
If we follow direction
coming from Jehovah’s channel,
we will be blessed
and, more important,
we will remain united.
Of course, the Devil is not happy
to see this cooperation
—this beautiful unity that we enjoy—
so we have to be on guard
so as to maintain it.
This reminds me of an event in my life,
many years ago,
when this lesson was impressed on my mind.
At that time,
some of the brothers did become divided
and it led to so many problems.
You may remember
that we had a video about those events.
Let’s watch a clip from that video.
A lot of pressure was
on the brothers in Romania.
The Communist Party tried
to sow distrust among the brothers,
meeting with them separately
and telling some brothers one thing
and telling other brothers something else.
Sometimes it happened
that an official posed
as an interested person
and was clever enough to disguise that
and pretend to make progress in the truth
—not only to the point of getting baptized
but even to the point of becoming an elder.
But he was in reality
an agent of the secret police
with an aim to find out everything
about the organization.
So it did lead to, in one case,
the brothers starting to distrust someone
that was actually appointed by headquarters.
And these brothers then separated
from the organization that Jehovah used,
and some of them were separated
for not just a few years but for decades.
And they were a large number,
up to 5,000 publishers.
They continued to meet together.
They were preaching and using material
that they had left over from earlier years,
but they hardly got any new material to study
because they were not in touch
with the organization
that was used by headquarters.
Attempts to bring the brothers back
into the organization
were made from time to time,
but it seemed that the brothers
from the separated organization
did not have sufficient trust.
But when we presented
to the leader of the separated group
that one from the Governing Body would come,
he was happy about that
and he had enough trust in that case
to agree that we should have a meeting
and seriously talk about reunification.
And so from the separated group,
there were Brother Albu, who was the leader,
and four of his main elders.
And from our side,
there was Brother Jaracz, our translator,
and I was part of that group.
Also, there were
several from the Country Committee of Romania.
I remember that the first night
there were a lot of accusations
about what the others had done or not done,
which did not create the best spirit,
and we mainly listened.
But everybody agreed to meet another night.
And the second night,
Jehovah obviously wanted
the brothers to unite again
because the whole spirit was different,
and the brothers talked the matters over
and clarified some misunderstandings.
And at the end of the second evening,
I remember
that the leader of the separated group,
Brother Albu, said,
‘Let’s do it because if we don’t do it now,
we may never have another opportunity again.’
And so the decision was made.
That doesn’t happen every day
that 5,000 brothers
come back to the organization.
From then on,
all the practical things
were put in place
to accomplish this reunification.
They were asked to merge
with our congregations.
And that also took
a lot of humility on their part,
but they were willing to do it.
So they were really brothers
in their heart
and loved the truth.
And so the reunification was accomplished,
and that was a wonderful victory for Jehovah
and against Satan.
Reflecting on the experience
with the brothers in Romania,
we can see
that there could always be
misunderstandings among humans
and there could always be
even legitimate complaints
about the misconduct
of some responsible brothers.
But the important thing is
never to lose trust
that this is Jehovah’s organization.
That’s where Jehovah’s blessing is.
Jehovah sees it all.
Jehovah uses his holy spirit
to keep the organization together,
and what he wants to have accomplished
will happen.
If we work with the holy spirit,
then Jehovah will bless our efforts
and it will be successful to his praise.
Of course,
these challenges were not unique
to the brothers in Romania.
Similar challenges
occurred in other countries
that were behind the Iron Curtain,
including Czechoslovakia,
Russia, and Ukraine.
So, what have we learned in this update?
Jehovah’s organization is on the move.
Even during this pandemic,
we see strong evidence
that Jehovah’s spirit is blessing
and moving ahead
the preaching and disciple-making work.
Despite many challenges,
you dear brothers and sisters
are working hard
to maintain our precious unity.
As a result,
we are enjoying a spiritual paradise
as we work unitedly together.
Satan will continue to try
to stir up division,
even among Jehovah’s people.
What can we do
to successfully resist his efforts?
Listen to the channel that Jehovah is using,
“the faithful and discreet slave.”
Don’t allow yourself
to become emotionally involved
with the causes of this world,
whatever they may be.
There is no doubt
that Jehovah will richly bless
all those who support our King, Jesus Christ,
and the channel that he is using today,
“the faithful and discreet slave.”
From the World Headquarters
of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
this is JW Broadcasting®.

2021 Governing Body Update #7