Witnessing as a Family During December
1 “Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day of your military force.” Those words of Psalm 110:3 well describe Jehovah’s active organization today as men, women, and children zealously share in proclaiming the Kingdom good news. During the month of December, many family members will have excellent opportunities to expand their ‘willing service’ by increasing their share in the field ministry. If we are to ‘buy out the opportune time,’ we will need to make definite plans and carefully schedule our time in advance.—Col. 4:5; 1 Cor. 9:26.
2 Why not make witnessing a family project? Sit down together and determine the possibilities for increased field service during the month of December. With all family members contributing their expressions, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much good can be accomplished.—Prov. 11:14; 15:22.
3 Many young ones can take full advantage of time off from school to engage in the field service during the worldly holiday season. If you are a student, can you join the many other youths who will be auxiliary pioneering in December? If so, you will enjoy many rich blessings. Mothers may find that having the children out of school provides an excellent opportunity to devote more time to field service with their children. Is it possible for you fathers and mothers to auxiliary pioneer with your children? Or, with all family members working together, can you help at least one or perhaps more members of the family to auxiliary pioneer? Will you make a special effort to engage in field service each weekend during December? How encouraging and unifying this would be for all in your family!
MAKE DEFINITE PLANS
4 After carefully considering the possibilities for increasing your service as a family, you will need to make definite plans and work hard to follow through. Take just a few moments to write down goals for each member of the family and the daily field service schedule for each one. Perhaps this can be noted on your family theocratic calendar. Remember, if you do not schedule it, the time will come and go, and you may not have reached your goal.
5 Of course, the congregation service overseer will want to make plans now for special group witnessing activity during this period. Particularly will this be so in connection with Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, both of which fall on Friday this year. Field service arrangements can be made for all three days of these long weekends. In making these arrangements, we suggest that special consideration be given to householders who may be sleeping late on holiday mornings. A number of congregations have had very good success by scheduling field service on holidays a little later than usual in the morning and again in the afternoon.
6 Experience has shown that December is an especially productive month for preaching the good news. Often, particularly on the holiday itself, more people are at home, and they are in a more relaxed frame of mind. Those who are religiously inclined are often willing to talk about spiritual matters. We want to take the fullest advantage of these circumstances to preach the good news and thus ‘offer ourselves willingly’ as a family ‘on the day of Jehovah’s military force.’