Special to the Leesville Leader

Jennifer Taylor still remembers the first time she had a grand mal seizure. This type of seizure causes violent convulsions and loss of consciousness.
“It’s one of the worst seizures to me because you can’t breathe,” said the 42-year-old from Alexandria.

After having dealt with seizures for 10 years, Taylor was also recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Hardly a day goes by when Taylor is not suffering or inhibited due to her health condition. “It’s hard when you can’t do the things you want to do. I can’t drive or do normal things other people get to do,” she said.
Since her diagnosis, Taylor has clung tighter than ever to the hope from the Scriptures that she’s cherished since becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses some 20 years ago. The promise of life in an earthly paradise is what keeps her going.

“That hope is the reason I’m still here. It helps me to fight through everything that I’ve gone through,” Taylor shared. “We’ll be in a place where there’s nothing but love, peace, and joy. I’ll be able to do everything I can’t do now!”

This spring, after two years of holding religious services in a virtual format, Taylor joins millions of Witnesses worldwide, including the hundreds in Alexandria area congregations, inviting all to hear about that hope in a Bible-based lecture to be held at a local Kingdom Hall during the week of April 4. This special presentation entitled “Where Can You Find Real Hope?” comes at a momentous time for Jehovah’s Witnesses locally, who will be heading back to their meeting places as of April 1 for the first
time in two years.

“We’re overjoyed to be able to come together again in person at this very special time,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “This event takes on a new dimension as we return to our Kingdom Halls and invite our neighbors to join us. It’s very exciting!”

Congregations will also offer a videoconferencing option for all congregants and visitors. Exploring the theme of “real hope” resonates with many who feel hopeless in the face of relentless bad news and mounting problems. For Las Vegas teen Hailey-Ann Seavey, negative thoughts became a vicious cycle before she found some relief. By her sophomore year of high school, painful memories of past trauma 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,” said Seavey, now 18. “I feel refreshed and uplifted, and I want others to have that too.”

Mike O’Connell, 70, of Marietta, Ga., finds comfort in the same Bible promises.

His wife, Dee, contracted COVID-19 last year while hospitalized with a stroke and died just days before their 39th wedding anniversary. “I miss everything about her,” said O’Connell. Picturing how he will welcome her back in the global resurrection to life on earth as described in the Scriptures 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 in person at local Kingdom Halls. 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.

Admission to both programs is free, and no registration is required. Information on how to attend locally
is available at www.jw.org.

“In times like these, we need hope more than ever,” said Hendriks. “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.”