Have You Served as a Pioneer in the Past?
1 In the United States alone there are on record the names of some 75,000 publishers who have served as regular pioneers in the past, but who are not pioneering at present! Are you one of them? If so, we venture to say that you look back on that time as one of the happiest periods of your life. Do you recall what a pleasure it was to speak with people about Jehovah and his kingdom almost every day in field service? Do you recall the feeling you had frequently as you saw the faces of interested persons light up in response to your explanation of Kingdom blessings? Do you recall, too, how skilled you had become in your use of the Bible?
2 It is true that you still experience those joys as a congregation publisher, but probably not to the extent you did as a pioneer. Jesus said: “My Father is glorified in this, that you keep bearing much fruit.” The full-time service truly offers abundant opportunity to ‘bear much fruit.’—John 15:8.
MORE PIONEERS NEEDED
3 Has the need for pioneers lessened since you left the ranks? To the contrary! The quickening pace of events calls for more and more workers as the end of this system approaches. It reminds us of what happens when men harvesting a field of grain see a heavy rainstorm approaching over the horizon. As the lightning flashes and the thunder claps, they work feverishly to get the crop in before the storm strikes. Jesus said: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.” (Matt. 9:37) As the storm of the “great tribulation” approaches, over 113,000 persons responded to the work of the harvesters and got baptized last year! Does that not add emphasis to Jesus’ words!
4 How many more honest-hearted persons will respond to our message and learn God’s righteous requirements for survival? We do not know. But Jehovah is still drawing honest-hearted people to himself, and as he does, we have the grand privilege of being used by him to find and feed them. (Compare John 12:32.) By pioneering one lends oneself to Jehovah in an enlarged way. Yes, we are encouraged to find the sheeplike ones and to “be at it urgently.”—2 Tim. 4:2.
5 Was it economic circumstances that necessitated your giving up the full-time pioneer service? It is not difficult to understand how this could happen under the pressures of the present system. It may have been family responsibilities that interrupted your pioneer work. If so, that would certainly take priority over full-time service if you are not in a position to accommodate both. Many have left the pioneer ranks due to health problems, and, of course, there are other important reasons why some have had to give up this joyous privilege of service. But circumstances do change. Has this been true in your case?
CAN YOU RETURN?
6 Rarely does one stop pioneering because he wants to. Changes in circumstances cause an interruption of his joyful, full-time service. Was that not true in your case? But on the other hand, are the circumstances that caused you to leave the pioneer ranks still an obstacle? If so, we know you will continue rendering whatever service you can.
7 If you left the pioneer service for economic reasons, have you examined your situation recently and considered the possibility of reentering the full-time service? You will no doubt recall that it took a considerable measure of self-sacrifice and determination for you to enter the pioneer work the first time. Could you make that same noble effort work again?
8 Was it family responsibility that took you out of the pioneer work? Or did you leave because of problems with your health? Were there perhaps other problems of a personal nature? Remembering your life as a pioneer and reflecting on the joys it brought should keep you alert to recognize any change of circumstances that would make it possible for you to pioneer again. If you have kept the pioneer spirit alive, no doubt you continue to work for a change in your personal circumstances that will open the way to resume pioneer service.
9 Pioneering may have to stop temporarily due to any number of problems as we have already indicated, but that does not mean the pioneer spirit is lost. One sister has had to leave the regular pioneer work twice, but is now back on the list for the third time. She stopped the first time for health reasons and the second time because of her child’s health. After those problems were resolved and the child started to school, the sister wrote: “I seriously started thinking of pioneering again.”
10 Then, too, there is the auxiliary pioneer service that you may share in as your circumstances permit. One sister wrote: “May I take a moment to thank you for the auxiliary pioneer arrangement. I feel this is truly a provision from Jehovah for many who are in my situation. I regularly pioneered in the forties and fifties. Then children came along and I was unable to continue. But since the auxiliary arrangement, I have been able to have a regular part.”
11 Have you noticed that the number of regular pioneers has increased rapidly, especially during the past year and a half? Much of this increase has come from the return of former pioneers to the pioneer ranks. Do you at times long to return to that joyful work that brought you so much satisfaction in the past? Why not think it over? Take the matter to Jehovah in prayer. Give careful thought to your circumstances as they are now. If you are in a position to reenter the full-time service, why not send us your application.