A year ago, Los Angeles resident Barbara Morris had gone to the doctor for pain in her hand. Instead, she left with a lung cancer diagnosis. And before the day was over, she received the news that her sister had died. “I think I cried for a whole week,” she said.
In the seven weeks of radiation and chemotherapy that followed, Morris went on to lose weight, her hair and even her speech. But even now, after nearly a year of treatment, she has not lost her hope. “Going through what I’ve been going through, you spend more time reading the Bible, and you appreciate what you read. It actually has an answer to whatever your problem is,” said Morris. “You’ve got to put all your faith in God. There’s nowhere else to go.”
This spring, Morris joins millions of Witnesses worldwide, inviting all to hear about that hope in a Bible-based lecture held 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 had 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,” Seavey said, 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 after suffering a stroke and died just days before their 39th wedding anniversary. “I miss everything about her,” O’Connell said.
Picturing how he will welcome her back to life on earth during the global resurrection 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. 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 registration is not required. Information on attending locally is available at jw.org.
In times like these, we need hope more than ever,” Hendriks said. “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.”