Campaign of hope with Jehovah’s Witnesses strikes close to home for Chattahoochee man

“I have been shot, stabbed, robbed and left for dead,” said Franklin Thames, who currently resides in Tallahassee.

His life was in shambles, and he felt he needed the help that only the Bible offers.

Tallahassee will be one of the thousands of communities around the globe that will receive a powerful message of hope this holiday season as Jehovah’s Witnesses embark upon a special campaign focusing attention on the Bible’s hope for a better world.

The goal of the campaign is to distribute a special edition of The Watchtower magazine containing the cover series, “A Better World is Near.”

More than 36 million printed copies of the magazine are expected to be distributed in some 230 languages to communities in 240 lands around the globe.

In addition, the digital publication is available on various platforms in nearly 400 languages.

“People are longing to hear a positive message and this is the best news possible,” said Robert Hendriks, a United States Spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “A better world is not just a dream, it’s inevitable. In fact, it is the central theme of the entire Bible.”

The magazine addresses the age-old “doomsday” question “Is this world going to end?” with a comforting answer that may surprise many readers.

Franklin Thames, a native of Chattahoochee and current resident of Tallahassee, is pictured with his son, Hudson. Thames became a member of Jehovah’s Witness after turning from a life of drugs, alcohol, criminal activity, and violence.

While many religions have predicted the “end of the world,” the magazine reveals the Bible’s clear message: the earth is here forever and will never end! However, the magazine also explains the powerful truth that wickedness will soon be gone, quoting the Bible book of Psalms where it promises that the “lawless one” will be no more (Psalm 37:10, Rotherham translation).

This positive message has been the hope of millions around the world who have prayed for ‘God’s Kingdom to come,’ a familiar refrain of many Christians taught by Jesus in what some refer to as the Lord’s Prayer.

However, such hope was sorely missing for Franklin Thames, who grew up in Chattahoochee, and now resides in Tallahassee.

“I felt like the world was closing in to consume me,” said Thames.

What had brought him to this point of despair? With no father to guide him and a mother who sometimes worked three jobs to keep food on the table, Thames felt alone, both emotionally and physically.

He turned to drugs and alcohol as a way to cope when he was just 11-years-old.

As his involvement in the world of drugs escalated, Thames quickly found his life spiraling into what seemed like a hopeless pattern of violence and criminal activity with no way out.

It was studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses that gave Thames the hope he needed.

“When I would apply the principles in God’s Word, I found meaning to life - one that did not include drugs or violence,” Thames said.

Still, making changes was challenging for him.

In Thames’s pivotal moment of despair, he poured out his heart to God in prayer.

“As broken as I was, I asked if He still wanted me. From that point on, I dove into the scriptures,”

Learning Bible truths has introduced Thames to a loving Father he can imitate as he now raises his own son.

Thames feels that the Bible’s message about God’s Kingdom is one of hope and faith.

“It motivates me to face any trial that this world has and gives me comfort in knowing that Jesus has conquered this world.”

The Watchtower has been carrying a similar message about God’s Kingdom for more than 100 years and remains the most widely translated and circulated magazine in the world.

The 2021 number two edition is available free online at jw.org where anyone can also request a free printed copy by scrolling down on the homepage to “Request A Visit.”

For more information, please call (718) 560-5600.

Chris Poppell - Jehovah Witness United States of America - Special to the Times

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Campaign of hope with Jehovah’s Witnesses strikes close to home for Chattahoochee man

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