Thai Officials Using Jehovah’s Witnesses Publications To Address Social Issues

This year marks three years since Thai Government officials started using publications by Jehovah’s Witnesses as part of the national initiative to educate the public officials on how to address some key social issues. These issues include prevention of domestic violence, effective parenting, and improving physical and mental health.

These government’s national education initiatives are orchestrated and implemented at over 8,700 regional Community Learning Centers that are spread across the country. The government has also set up 11 Community Development Learning Centers (CDLC), whose main focus is to train the community leaders.

The director of CDLC in Nakhon Nayok province Chaiwat Saengsri, says the goal of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is very clear and aims at helping the people and communities get to know their Creator. This is the same goal that CDLC has; assisting the community in raising their standards in the quest for peace and better quality life.

Mr. Chaiwat also requested the Jehovah’s Witnesses make their publications available during the SMART Leader seminar. This seminar seeks to bring together 20 instructors and 100 community leaders from 28 provinces, who will receive training on community building and leadership.

The spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Thailand Anthony Petratyotin says, “We are happy to know that community leaders are making such good use of the Bible-based advice found in our publications. We will continue to make our literature available to officials, along with our primary means of distribution—our public ministry.”

Some of the publications that have been used include the Awake! Magazine article, “How to Avoid Hurtful Speech”. This article was used to teach the community leaders on how to handle conflict in marriage without unleashing a torrent of hurtful words whenever a conflict arises.

The publication seeks to explain why conflict in a marriage happens, and what can be done to end it without necessarily using words that will end up hurting the spouse. Some of the suggested ways to avoid using hurtful words include showing empathy, being respectful, reviving the feeling the couple once shared, avoiding verbal attacks, postponing a discussion when tempers begin to flare.

Another article, “An End to Domestic Violence” helps the participants in dealing with domestic violence by understanding the prevalence of domestic violence cases, why this happens, and what can be done to stop it.

Thai Officials Use Publications From Jehovah’s Witnesses to Aid Community Development https://t.co/qX63wYvCdY — ️ ️ Zenas™ (@MereZenas) January 31, 2017

The publication offers practical advice that can help violent spouses change their behavior. The education has helped many spouses replace violence with kindness and respect. Violent spouses learn how to treat their better half, and eventually become witnesses that domestic violence can stop.

The publication teaches about honor, mildness, and self-control, and condemns abusive speech in marriage.

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