Jehovah’s Witnesses prepare to meet
Fueled by a belief that the end times are near, Jehovah’s Witnesses from throughout the region will gather this weekend to discuss God’s plan for the world.
“Jesus said nobody knows the hour or the day, except his father, Jehovah,” said Rex Neher, of Chewelah, Wash., an elder in the town’s Kingdom Hall and one of the event’s organizers. “Not knowing the date requires faith and obedience.”
Beginning Friday, about 5,000 Witnesses from the Inland Northwest will travel to Kennewick for Deliverance at Hand, the annual district convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They’ll join about 25,000 others from throughout Washington, Idaho and Oregon for the first of five conventions that will take place in the Tri-Cities this summer. The gatherings are among 255 Witnesses conventions that will happen in 73 cities nationwide.
In preparation for these meetings, members of this international religion based on first-century Christianity have been knocking on doors, inviting non-Witnesses to join them and learn more about their faith. “Basically, what we’re trying to do is share God’s promise of deliverance,” said Neher.
Known for their fervent evangelism and their religious publications, Jehovah’s Witnesses number about 6.6 million worldwide. Many have walked the streets to preach their faith, often offering free Bible study sessions or copies of “The Watchtower” and “Awake!” magazines.
Although they consider themselves Christians, some denominations consider them to be heretical, particularly because they reject the belief in a Trinity and ascribe only to “Jehovah God.” Some of their practices – including their opposition to blood transfusions and shunning “sinners” as a means of punishment – have also been criticized.
As a religious organization, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the Bible is the “infallible word of God” and that evil in society will be destroyed through Armageddon. Neher and other Witnesses say that current events – wars, food shortages, and worldwide disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis – are proof that the apocalypse is at hand.
During the convention, which includes a baptism ceremony and a Bible-based drama presentation, organizers will focus on what they believe to be the urgency of the moment and on biblical passages describing, as Neher puts it, “the hope of survival during God’s fast-approaching day of reckoning.”
Until that day comes, believers must work hard to know God and develop their faith, said Neher, who became an adherent in 1982 after befriending a Jehovah’s Witness at school.
“We need to get to know God and change our lives,” he said.