Jehovah's Witnesses door-to-door visits still on hold; outreach done via Zoom

Cheryl Cox can't remember the first time she knocked on a neighbor's door as a Jehovah's Witness. That's because she was still young enough to be held in her mother's arms.

Her husband, Gerald, was also a toddler the first time his parent brought him along on a ministry visit, but he does remember the first time he participated by saying a Bible verse when he was 6 years old.

"It was really simple, and it helped because people thought it was cute." Gerald said.

Both sides of the Cape Girardeau couple's families have been Jehovah's Witnesses going back a century. Visiting homes in their community to share Scripture with people is just part of who they are as a family and as Christians.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, however, all Jehovah's Witness church congregations were instructed to suspend their in-person public ministry, meetings and large conventions.

But that wasn't the end of their ministry. Like the rest of the world, they turned to technology to keep in touch with friends and family, as well as reach out to their community. Using the video-conferencing platform Zoom, the Coxes have continued to give free Bible lessons.

"It was very different," Cheryl Cox said. "We've adjusted to it. We'd only used Zoom briefly before. Now we use it regularly to conduct Bible studies, and that's been amazing. To still be able to be face to face with our Bible students. And to be able to share videos with them just like we would in person. We've not missed a beat with any of that. It's the next best thing to being in person."

Along with the latest virtual forms of communication, they've also had to go old school. Rather than knocking on doors, they now write letters. Each Jehovah's Witness congregation has a territory of their community for their ministry. Small groups within each congregation meet over Zoom to encourage each other as they write letters of encouragement to people in their community.

"These letters are reaching people who possibly would not have been home when we called at their door," Gerald Cox said.

"Even though we're not able to go in the door-to-door ministry, it seems like we're busier than ever," his wife added.

With words of encouragement, Scripture and an invitation to contact them personally, the Coxes put a lot of thought into what topics may be of particular concern to individuals living in their community.

"I've heard several examples of individuals who've received some of our letters," Cheryl Cox said. "They put them up on their refrigerator because they're just not used to getting letters and they've appreciated the encouraging message that they've received."

Gerald Cox works at a local auto parts store and met a man who was helping his son work on his first car. Gerald learned the son was terminally ill.

"He told me about the circumstances with his son," he explained. "And as you can imagine, he was emotional, and it just broke my heart. I stepped outside and talked to him a bit, and I was just motivated to write him. I just wanted to write some encouragement for him."

The man wrote back saying he was able to share the letter with his son before he passed away.

While the Coxes will continue to write letters and conduct Bible studies over Zoom, one thing they are particularly excited about is, as of April 1, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been able to return to in-person meetings with their congregations.

"There is a collective shout of joy among Jehovah's Witnesses around the world right now," said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Coxes expressed their eager anticipation at being able to reunite with fellow congregants as meetings at their local Kingdom Hall commence.

"I am looking forward to getting hugs from all our friends," Cheryl Cox said. "I'm also looking forward to hearing everyone sing together again."

"I am extremely excited about going back to in-person meetings," her husband agreed. "It's important to me because of the encouragement of being physically around our friends."

According to a news release, "As of now, Jehovah's Witnesses have no plans to resume their public ministry, though their 'alternative' ministry continues. In fact, since the start of the pandemic through November 2021 in the U.S. alone, Jehovah's Witnesses spent more than 400 million hours in virtual Bible studies, writing letters of comfort to their neighbors and making phone calls."

"No time was wasted in the past two years," Hendriks said. "Our congregants have been busy and productive helping each other and their neighbors through this most challenging time. That's what love and unity are all about."