Jehovah’s Witnesses Around the World​—The Philippine Republic

THE 7,083 rugged tropical islands forming the Republic of the Philippines are the upper portion of a partly submerged mountain chain.a And the 62,000,000 inhabitants of the Philippines love to talk on almost any subject. This affable spirit results in a fertile field for Kingdom witnessing.

Witnessing in School

On the island of Masbate, a young high school student was able to witness to her teacher and class during a true-false quiz. She reports:

“The statement was, ‘If God loves me, he will not give me problems or let me suffer.’ When my teacher checked our papers, she found that all except me answered true. My teacher allowed me to explain to the class why I answered false. I said that it was not God who gave us problems, although he permits sufferings and allows us to be tested. Using my Bible, which I always take to school, I reasoned with the class on the words at 1 John 4:8, ‘God is love.’ After my explanation, my teacher was convinced, tapped her desk, and said: ‘Marilou is right.’ I was the only one who got the correct answer to this question and received the highest mark.”

The Kingdom Message Is Everywhere

While engaging in the house-to-house ministry in another part of the Philippines, a regular pioneer (full-time proclaimer of the good news) met the mother of three small children. The woman showed keen interest in the Kingdom message, and this made it easy to start a Bible study with her. Though her husband was not pleased that she was receiving Bible lessons, especially from Jehovah’s Witnesses, the study continued.

The man moved his family to another city, thinking that this would end his wife’s association with the Witnesses. It was not long, however, before they located this woman, and she resumed her Bible study. Needless to say, her husband was quite upset. He carried his anger with him to his job, where he vented his feelings on a customer whose vehicle he was repairing. The man did not know that this customer was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Witness explained that it would be very beneficial for the entire family if his wife continued with her Bible lessons. She could start to apply the Bible’s principles right in the home. It was also suggested that the husband himself could benefit by learning about God’s Kingdom.

What resulted from this discussion? The man’s wife had more freedom to study the Bible, and he decided to move his family back to their original home. There the woman made spiritual progress to the point of becoming an unbaptized Kingdom publisher. Her husband also accepted a Bible study, and the whole family began to attend Christian meetings.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 8]

COUNTRY PROFILE

1993 Service Year

PEAK NUMBER WITNESSING: 116,576

RATIO: 1 Witness to 549

MEMORIAL ATTENDANCE: 357,388

AVERAGE PIONEER PUBLISHERS: 22,705

AVERAGE BIBLE STUDIES: 94,370

NUMBER BAPTIZED: 7,559

NUMBER OF CONGREGATIONS: 3,332

BRANCH OFFICE: MANILA

[Picture on page 9]

Marketplace witnessing brings fine results

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Watchtower Society’s branch office in Manila