Jehovah’s Witnesses resume public ministry two years after going virtual |30 July 2022

Jehovah’s Witnesses have resumed their global public preaching work some 24 months after putting it on pause due to the pandemic

If you happen to be in Victoria this week, you may notice that a pre-pandemic fixture is back on the sidewalks: smiling faces standing next to colourful carts featuring a positive message and free Bible-based literature.

Thousands of these carts will be rolling down the streets of communities like in Victoria all across the world this week as Jehovah’s Witnesses recommence their global public preaching work some 24 months after putting it on pause due to the pandemic.

The Christian organisation will return to its public ministry for the first time since March 2020 when all in-person forms of their volunteer work were suspended out of concern for the health and safety of the community.

The local congregation(s) will also resume free in-person Bible studies along with personal visits to those who have invited them back to their homes. This comes two months after the organisation began gathering at their Kingdom Halls once again for in-person meetings.

“While we understand that the pandemic is not over, we are entering into a phase of learning to live with Covid,” said Franck Duthuit, spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “We are sensitive to the risks that still face our communities and our volunteers, which is why we will not resume door-to-door ministry at this time.

Mobile displays of Bible-based literature have been part of Jehovah’s Witnesses' public ministry in the U.S. since 2011. While “cart witnessing” began in large metropolitan areas around the world, they quickly spread to the tens of thousands of smaller communities, becoming a fixture in rail and bus stations, airports, harbours and main streets.

To learn more about Jehovah’s Witnesses, their history, beliefs and activities, visit their official website jw.org featuring content in more than

1,000 languages.

Contributed