Witnesses share religion door to door

Behind each door Elder Chris Snyder knocks on is a person he thinks can benefit from hearing about Jehovah's Witnesses in the same way he has benefited for almost 30 years.  

Snyder is one of about 60 congregation members of Kingdom Hall, the church for Jehovah's Witnesses in Kirksville. Snyder said Jehovah's Witnesses is a "non-mainstream" Christian denomination, known for its door-to-door witnessing. Every week, he knocks on strangers' doors, hoping to relate what he and other members consider Biblical truth to anyone who will listen. Many don't.

More than 25 years ago, Snyder was someone who was hesitant to listen. Snyder, who was raised without religion, said he never felt comfortable in any of the Christian denomination churches he visited. He brushed off the Jehovah's Witnesses the first time they came to his door, he said, when he was a Northeast Missouri State University student. 

After the Jehovah's Witnesses' frequent visits to his home, Snyder said he became impressed with their dedication of personal time and resources to witness to him, and their consistent use of the Bible in answering questions about their beliefs. He said his conversion took a few years. He studied the Bible and regularly began attending services — which the Jehovah's Witnesses call meetings — until he made the religion his own by being baptized into the church. 

"Back then, when they first started coming to my door, I never thought I would do that," Snyder said. "But realizing that someone did that for me, I owe it to the next guy. It became a pretty strong desire to witness."

Randy Cowan, a car salesman at Jim Robertson's, said he does not give time to Jehovah's witnesses and shuts the door after informing them he has a bible. Cowan said thinks the Jehovah's Witnesses is just another religion, but maybe a bit stranger. 

"They go door-to-door pushing it on people," Cowan said. "But I don't give them the opportunity to push. But neither does anybody else."

Jehovah's Witness and Elder Jerry James called witnessing a "response," rather than a requirement. He likened the situation to finding out about an incredible deal: The most likely response would be to take part in it and tell everybody. 

James said there are two main reasons they witness door-to-door. The first, he said, is they find it consistent with the practices of the early Christians in the Bible. The second is people are the most relaxed and have more free time at home.

James said the more they remember that their news is going to benefit someone, the more confident they feel. They don't take it personal if the response is harsh. 

"All we can see is someone slams the door in our faces, and we don't know if they're having a bad day, or anything, so we don't take it personal," James said.

When Jehovah's Witnesses first came to alumnus Ian Madrigal's door, he said he didn't want to be rude, so he tried to appear interested. Madrigal, raised Catholic and now an agnostic, said he didn't want the witnesses to feel "defeated," so he agreed to meet with them to talk about the Bible, but put it off perpetually. 

"I didn't really want to meet with them," Madrigal said. "They seem a lot like Christians — well, I guess they are Christians — but they're just strange."

James said they don't face rejection often. Some people they witness to simply are content with their own beliefs, he said, some are inquisitive and some are "looking for something more."

James said living according to the Bible is central to being a Jehovah's Witness. The Bible is like a guidebook to life, he said — to not read it would be like buying an appliance and immediately throwing away the manual. 

"People are very frustrated with the world, but we have a guidebook that has been given to us," James said. "We're just there to help [people], if they want to know more."