How do you handle the rejection? I received an earful unexpected response.

Quick, close the blinds. Hide behind the curtain. Turn off the TV. Duck behind the couch. Sh-Sh. Be quiet.

Are those whispered alerts to stave off a terrorist attack? Instructions to foil a burglary? Directions to sabotage an alien invasion? Prevent a police arrest?

Not quite. The formidable intruders are Jehovah’s Witnesses approaching your door.

Oooh! What evil lurks in their foreboding footsteps? What sacrilegious words slide off conniving tongues? What doom and gloom horrors flash from their eyes?

You got me. That’s why I decided to interview the two pleasant, well-dressed, soft-spoken Witnesses who came to my door one summer morning. I wanted to know what keeps them returning time and again, year after year, knocking when few welcome them.

I interviewed Felicia, herself a convert contacted through the door-to-door ministry some 10 years earlier. She serves with a special group of volunteers called “pioneers” who devote from 50 to 70 hours per month to the ministry. And others who devote up to 140 hours a month to the ministry.

“But how do you handle often rude rejections daily?”

Her answer was not the answer I expected.

“The householder doesn’t know me.” They’re not rejecting me. Because…

It’s Not My Message…

I then asked if I could interview her because I had more questions.

She smiled and pulled out an electronic tablet.

First, let me first show you some statistics to summarize our work.

Headquarters of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is in Warwick, NY. It’s the largest publishing company in the world. Our primary magazine, The Watchtower prints 28,578,000 issues monthly in 158 languages; Awake 34,267,000 issues monthly in 81 languages.

Add to that, Millions of books, bibles, and literature for the blind and deaf.

Most information is now digital. Thousands of videos in over 850 languages are available on the jw.org website. Movie-length videos for adults and the fabulously famous Kaleb and Sophia series for kids.

8,480,147 Witnesses worship in 112,247 congregations around the world. And preach and teach in over 1,024 languages.

Currently, 1,255,657 of us live here in the United States.

She held out her hand and said, “I’m glad to meet you. And this is my friend, Pat.”

• In 2021 JWs spent 1,423,039,931 BILLION hours teaching and preaching
• And conducted on average 5,908,167 FREE home bible studies monthly.
• ALL preaching, teaching, and literature is NO COST. This is not a commercial organization. No collection plates, nor merchandise to sell.

We received God’s message FREE from the Bible; we give back FREE as did Christ and his disciples and early Christians.

“We’re busy bees for sure,” they laughed.

“Oh, I forgot to include how Jehovah’s Witnesses have helped to shape history in three areas: Civil liberties, Holocaust, and Medicine. They have won cases before the Supreme Court here in the US and around the world.”

Felicia inhaled and exhaled in a gush before continuing:

We are non-political. Insistence on our right to worship has led us to the U.S. Supreme Court 62 times, more than any other group. We have won 50 cases expanding freedom for many setting Constitutional precedents ranging from free speech and assembly to equal protection.

The court victories won by Jehovah’s Witnesses have ultimately secured the rights of groups whom we would not deliberately support. (Although 2022 has seen reverses).

One recent victory, The Stratton Case: 2002, was considered an important protection of civil liberties/free speech after September 11.

Felicia looked at me and asked, “ready for more?”

“Why not, after all, I asked, didn’t I?”

Through underground printing operations in 1936 and 1937, Jehovah’s Witnesses bravely exposed the criminal activity of the Nazi regime to the world. Their apolitical stance in refusing to fight for Hitler provoked his wrath, and he vowed to exterminate them.

His vicious campaign against them sent 14,000 of 35,000 German Witnesses to concentration camps. At the Holocaust Museum in D.C., you’ll see an exhibit of the purple triangles that identified them.

Ironically, German witnesses were the only ones of all the prisoners including Jews, Slavic prisoners, and Gypsies among others, for whom the Nazis gave a choice. They alone could secure their freedom and walk out of prison camps if they would sign a document renouncing their faith. Most refused.

Today there are 167,328 Witnesses in Germany. (So much for annihilation).

Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions on scriptural grounds. Their uncompromising stand led doctors to seek alternatives resulting in new therapies and surgical techniques that maximize the body’s own blood-producing capacity.

Witnesses willingly agree to these new bloodless surgery advancements. Doctors to date have successfully performed many open-heart and organ transplants on them without blood transfusions. Successfully.

“I have a final question,” I interjected.

“So, are you out here preaching to save the world?”

“Nope,” was her unexpected answer.

“The majority won’t respond. We already know that. How many responded in Noah’s day — only eight souls. Scriptures tell us it will be the same in our day. People will take ‘No Note’ until it’s too late.

“Then why do you keep returning?” I asked. “Don’t you take offense or get discouraged when someone slams the door in your face? I mean, not too many people take rejection well.”

She cocked her head with an (I’m surprised you don’t get it) look and simply stated:

It’s Not My Message…

Perplexed, I waited to hear more. Felicia hunched one shoulder, pointed to herself and continued.

“You see — the householder isn’t rejecting me. They don’t even know me — they’re rejecting Jehovah God himself, the most high over the entire earth. It’s His message I carry — not my own.”

She tapped on a Bible verse (Psalm 83:18) from the King James Bible.

Taken aback I swallowed hard.

“Everything we say, we show from the scriptures. Not a single word from our own originality nor church dogma, nor tradition, nor personal beliefs.

“So when we read God’s purpose, counsel, and warnings from the Bible and people either reject or don’t listen, they’re saying ‘No’ to the author of the Bible — not saying ‘No’ to me.”

“Is this how all 8.5 million of you feel?”

“Pretty much,” she nodded.

Then, like the minister she’s trained to be, she proceeded to explain about a kingdom/government rule in the hands of Jesus Christ that will soon replace human rule with his righteous rulership over the earth and restore paradise back on earth with everlasting life in view.

Instinctively, I tensed up. And looked around hoping for a quick exit but realized I had nowhere to run. After all, I had initiated the conversation.

My shoulders relaxed. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Whether I believed it or not… thought I’d better listen… just in case.

This article deviates from what I generally write. Hope you enjoyed it.

“Struggling with how to date with purpose and direction? Yeah, most of us do. I coach Relationship Education highlighting the value of “ONE” — Couples working together As Team Players. To ultimately enjoy Cinderella-like love.

So you’re invited to get a FREE article so you can follow a smart plan for dating. FREE: “7 Bold Dating Steps”. Click here. < This is a live link for you 😉

Your support makes this possible. Follow me to receive unique skills for relationship success. Become a Medium member. A small part of your membership fee supports my content and many experts on this platform.