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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Jehovah’s Witnesses are back knocking on doors in Boston after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I have been looking forward to the day that we could go back and talk our neighbors for several months now, so once we found out we were able to do that I was excited," Chibu Chikere, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses told WBZ's Suzanne Sausville.
Greater Boston Jehovah's Witnesses made the decision to pause door-to-door ministry for 30 months due to COVID-19 concerns for the community and the congregants.
“We believe that the early decision to shut down all in-person activities for more than two years has saved many lives,” Robert Hendriks, United States spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses said in a statement, “We’re now ready and eager to reconnect with our neighbors once again – person to person, face to face. It’s not the only way that we preach, but it has historically been the most effective way to deliver our message of comfort and hope.”
While they are back knocking on doors, some residents are hesitant to answer the door to strangers.
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"I usually look out the window, I'm not going to lie, I don't tend to open the door much for anybody... even family sometimes," Josh from Quincy said.
Though, when he is outside and someone approaches him he changes his tune.
"Man, I think I'm caught at that point, I gotta listen to it cause I'm just too nice so I'm going to listen to what you have to say for at least a minute or two and then say 'oh I got something in the oven' and then get right back to it," he said.
Chikere said he doesn't take it personally when people don't want to open the door and speak with him.
"We know they're not rejecting us they just don't want to hear the message that we're bringing," Chikere said.
The hiatus was the first time in over a hundred years Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped in-person preaching. They continued preaching door-to-door during an economic depression and both world wars, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses of the United States.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (wbzSausville) has more:
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