When Dirk and Victoria Clark moved from Los Angeles to Arkansas after retirement, their friends teased them about the culture shock awaiting in the Ozarks. The Clarks, longtime Jehovah’s Witnesses, weren’t concerned. They had family waiting for them - fellow Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall.
“We go to a congregation, we find where the Witnesses are, and we feel at home,” said Dirk Clark.
The black couple found a similar welcome at an all-white congregation in Los Angeles in the late 1960s.
“We just stepped right in. We were the only blacks and it [the welcome] was just unbelievable,” Clark said. “We decided this was not something to miss out on.”
Through the years the Clarks have always found themselves welcome at Kingdom Halls as members of the racially and ethnically diverse denomination. Unlike traditional evangelical churches and mainline denominations which have historically been predominantly white, Jehovah’s Witnesses are racially diverse.
According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the denomination is 48 percent white, 22 percent black and 24 percent Hispanic with a smattering of other races and ethnicities included in smaller percentages. In contrast mainline and evangelical churches are 91 percent and 81 percent white, respectively.
“The first time I attended one of the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I’ll never forget it. I said to myself, ‘I’ll never miss another,’” Clark said. “It was so refreshing to be accepted.”
Herb Wight, a member of the West Fayetteville congregation, said the Witnesses are following a biblical mandate to love their neighbor.
‘HAVE TO CHANGE’
“Just as a natural consequence of trying to do what the Bible says, we don’t have racial biases,” Wight said. “I think all of us bring a certain amount of baggage with us when we become Christian, because we have to make over personalities. We have to change, but we do our best to be just like Jehovah God. He is unbiased toward people.”
Wight said his congregation is an example of the diversity found within the denomination. Members are American, but also from El Salvador, Brazil, the Philippines, Belize, Canada, Mexico and more. They are black, white and Hispanic, as well as other races and ethnicities.
Wight said the diversity of the Witnesses can be attributed to their efforts to reach people of all nations in their own languages. The Witnesses produce publications in 500 languages, and those evangelizing door-to-door use the booklet, Good News for People of All Nations, when they run across someone who speaks another language. The publication includes a short explanatory note in 91 languages that Witnesses can share with those they visit to help get past the language barrier.
“That’s one aspect of why we’re so diversified,” Wight said. “We’re trying to be like God. God is not partial. So we call on every house. If we find somebody that speaks a different language and they would like some information about the good news of God’s kingdom in their language wecan get it for them.”
LANGUAGE LESSONS
Not only do Witnesses reach out with printed materials, many also learn another language, or several, so they can share their message with others. The denomination estimates 80 percent of its members speak more thanone language.
The Clarks, for example, are learning to speak Spanish so they can communicate with Hispanic residents and teach them the faith. It hasn’t been easy learning another language at retirement age.
“Our strategy is, we’ve basically gone back to school, but we’re at home,” said Victoria Clark. “We’re trying to learn the rules, just from step one.”
Dirk Clark said they continue to struggle with the language even after a year of study and practice but they have learned enough to share their ministry with the Spanish congregation in Fayetteville.
“They are very receptive and they really enjoy the fact that there are people wanting to learn their language,” he said. “It’s a joy to see that.”
Don and Judy Siebels of Springdale are learning to speak Marshallese so they can minister to Marshall Islanders in the community. Judy Siebels said she began trying to learn the language after encountering several Marshall Island residents while going door to door in Springdale.
“I came across them and was wanting to teach them,” Siebels said.
The couple helped establish a Marshallese group that meets at the West Springdale Kingdom Hall. Although they are still learning the language, the couple rely on Witness publications to communicate and teach the small group.
“I wish I knew the language as well as some do, but we are progressing,” Siebels said. “I feel like I’m in first grade when it comes to speaking their language. I keep it simple and so they keep it very simple.”
Clark said the diversityof the denomination and the ability to unite people of various races is one of its biggest strengths.
“I know there have been efforts in other churches tounite people, but it is one of the strong, powerful, inviting conditions that exist with Jehovah’s Witnesses and it is just a welcoming, wonderful experience,” he said.
Religion, Pages 27 on 12/24/2009