Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations worldwide will be hosting “Where Can You Find Real Hope?” a 30-minute in-person program.
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“At first it was hard to even say ‘cancer’ out loud without crying,” Stephanie Boyette remembered. The 38-year-old wife and mom from Lakeland, (GA) was diagnosed with an invasive and aggressive breast cancer less than a year ago.
“I dealt with anxiety and depression,” related Boyette. “Some days I just wanted to go to bed as early as I could so I didn’t have to think about cancer anymore. And even though I’ve gone through treatments and surgery, I still deal with anxiety regularly about my cancer returning.”
Her life-altering experience has made Boyette cling tighter than ever to the hope from the Scriptures that she’s always cherished as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “It is comforting and motivating to know with a certainty that one day soon there will be complete relief and healing from my cancer, my anxiety, my scars, and my side effects,” she said. “That hope helps me to keep going, stay positive, stick to my normal routine as close as possible, and not to give up.”
This spring, after two years of holding religious services in a virtual format, Boyette joins millions of Witnesses worldwide, including the hundreds in local area congregations, inviting all to hear about that hope in a Bible-based lecture to be held at a local Kingdom Hall during the week of April 4, 2022.
“The Bible describes a future without pain, without suffering — even without death, right here on earth,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “While many religious people look to a better future in a heavenly place, God’s original purpose has never changed: perfect people living in a paradise on earth. While it is difficult to conceive, there’s sound reason to have faith in this promise.”
Faith in that coming reality proved life-changing for Las Vegas teen Hailey-Ann Seavey.
By her sophomore year of high school, painful memories of past trauma left Seavey unable to envision a future worth living for. “I kept cycling through the same negative feelings over and over,” she said. “I thought, ‘If this is how my life is going to be, what’s the point?’”
Seavey confided in a classmate, who comforted her with the Bible’s promise of a future time when pains of the past will plague no one.
Hope began to rise in Seavey’s heart. She started an in-depth study of the Bible and accepted her schoolmate’s invitation to attend congregation meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses; soon, she was sharing her newfound hope with others.
“Learning what the Bible teaches gave me something to look forward to,” said Seavey, now 18. “I feel refreshed and uplifted, and I want others to have that too.”
Mike O’Connell, 70, of Marietta, Georgia, finds comfort in the same Bible promises. His wife, Dee, contracted COVID-19 last year while hospitalized with a stroke and died just days before their 39th wedding anniversary. “I miss everything about her,” said O’Connell.
Picturing how he will welcome her back in the global resurrection to life on Earth as described in Scripture helps O’Connell endure the pain of Dee’s absence.
“I have no doubt I’ll see her again,” he said. “Staying focused on that time keeps my hope alive.”
The 30-minute program “Where Can You Find Real Hope?” will be hosted worldwide by congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in person at local Kingdom Halls. The public is also invited the following week to the annual Memorial observance of Jesus Christ’s death on the evening of Friday, April 15, 2022.
Admission to both programs is free, and no registration is required. Information on attending locally is available at www.jw.org.
“In times like these, we need hope more than ever,” said Hendriks. “Hope helps a person look ahead with courage and confidence to the fulfillment of God’s beautiful promises.
That’s why attending one of these special programs can be life-changing.”
