CAGAYAN DE ORO – July 7, 2022 - If you happen to be in the Bulua Integrated Bus Terminal this week, you may notice that a pre-pandemic fixture is back on the sidewalks: smiling faces standing next to colorful carts featuring a positive message and free Bible-based literature.
Thousands of these carts will be rolling down the streets of communities like that in Bulua 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.
“I was so excited that I found it hard to sleep before the day our public ministry will resume,” says Racsiel Arlique, a resident of Cagayan de Oro City and one of the local volunteers of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She adds, “I am very happy to return to the work I so loved—the in-person ministry.”
The Christian organization 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.
In response to the global decision, congregations in the local area are now beginning to reopen their cart locations like at the 2nd floor, vegetable section of Cogon Market and just below Unitop store of Carmen Market.
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 organization 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 James Morales, 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, harbors and main streets.
“It has been more than two years since we last visited our deaf friends in the area,” says James Econg, a volunteer from Dipolog City, who teaches the Bible in sign language, He adds, “when they saw us again after a long time, some went running to us in excitement. We can now share the Bible’s message more clearly to them.”
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.
