Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times

The apostle Peter was amazed. From infancy he had been taught to avoid uncircumcised Gentiles. Now, God was telling him to visit them and even become their friend. So Peter obediently left the seaport of Joppa and traveled north to the port of Caesarea. There he entered into the house of a Gentile​—Cornelius. The rest of the story is familiar to all of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Cornelius and his household became the first of a long line of non-Jewish converts to Christianity.​—Acts 10:1-48.

Like Peter, Jehovah’s Witnesses today have been willing to spread “the good news” everywhere and to everyone, as the following shows.​—Acts 10:36.

IRELAND: Almost a hundred years ago, the first president of the Watch Tower Society traveled from the United States to expand the preaching of the good news. His first port of call was Ireland. The year was 1891. He reported: ‘Ireland is a field ready to be harvested.’ But how would God’s people fare in planting and cultivating the Kingdom seed in the face of divisions, mob actions, and terrorism?

KOREA: The year 1914 marked the start of printing the true Christian message in the Korean language. But not everyone there appreciated that message. For example, in 1950 one Korean brother was seized and questioned. He thought he would be killed but was determined to give a witness before that happened. Read about him and others who live in a country where one out of every four publishers is a pioneer.

COSTA RICA: Christopher Columbus searched for but did not find a passageway to the Indian Ocean. Instead, he found land and named it Costa Rica, which means “Rich Coast.” The country’s real riches are the people who have become worshipers of Jehovah. In 1918 Costa Rica had the fourth-largest number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the world. Today, it is experiencing one new peak in Kingdom proclaimers after another.

May these accounts be a strengthening aid to your faith and zealous work in Kingdom evangelizing.