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Disasters often strike when least expected.
But Jehovah’s people
have done well in preparing.
Their obedient preparation has saved lives.
Let’s hear from a few
who lived through the unexpected.
We’ll start
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
where our brothers have endured decades
of political unrest and violence.
We had spent three and a half years
in the refugee camp.
Then the authorities told people
to leave the area.
War was coming.
We were very worried about it.
We wondered what life would be like
in the new place we would be going to.
The counsel from the elders
helped me to realize the seriousness
of what was happening.
I gave it a lot of thought,
especially what I should do for my family.
After much prayer,
we decided as a family
to leave the refugee camp.
Our parents had instructed us
to prepare go bags.
They had told us to pack important things.
One of the benefits of this was
that when we left, our phones
had enough battery power,
and we had other people’s phone numbers.
This helped us to call and inform them
about the progress of our journey.
A short time after we left,
things got much worse.
Many people died.
Disasters can be war,
fire, or any other distress.
But if we apply the advice given
by Jehovah’s organization,
we will preserve our lives.
In other parts of the world,
it wasn’t violent conflict,
but natural disasters
that tested our brothers’ preparedness.
Notice how our brothers in the United States
were affected by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
It lulls you into a false sense of security
when you live in an area
that doesn’t typically get
certain types of natural disasters.
So I didn’t expect a hurricane
to really be that much of a threat
in the mountains where we live.
But it was a very different reality,
obviously.
It was so widespread,
and the devastation was like nothing
that I’ve ever even experienced.
And so at that point, we did
start to feel desperate because
it wasn’t just us but also it was our moms.
Jehovah has reminded us
so often through the organization
and the meeting parts
and different experiences.
So even though we had just moved
and we still had things in boxes
and things in storage,
what wasn’t in storage were our go bags.
When we tried to venture out,
and we saw that it wasn’t going to be safe,
we were able to return
because we had what we needed.
In hindsight, there were a couple of things
that we could have shored up a little bit.
For example, I had plenty of flashlights,
but I hadn’t checked my batteries in a while.
All of them had corroded or expired,
so they weren’t working.
I knew there was something off
when he started to open the go bags
to get our flashlights,
and he just got really quiet,
and I was, like: “What happened?”
So that is definitely a lesson learned.
Jehovah continues to remind us
to prepare for these disasters.
Then the loving thing to do
is to be obedient to that
and take care of our families
by doing just the practical things
that we can control, that we can prepare for.
At Matthew 11:19,
Jesus said:
“Wisdom is proved righteous by its results.”
Like our brothers and sisters,
how can we prove to be wise?
(1) Prepare go bags in advance,
(2) have evacuation plans
and keep contact information up-to-date,
(3) pay attention to warnings,
and (4) trust in Jehovah
and follow organizational direction.
May Jehovah continue
to bless your preparations
as you expect the unexpected.

Disaster Preparedness—Expect the Unexpected