Christie Mattaliano & Madie Cairns

Experience: A women came up and said she talked to two sisters last year at GR airport, and they set her up with a Bible study in Colorado where she lives. She has been studying for a few months now and attends meetings there. She wanted to let us know that.

Phanta & Dionne

Date: 7/11/14

Experience: Dionne and I was holding up the July sign and Watchtower on why bad things happen to good people. A gentleman came up and pulled up a chair to ask us a question. He either has a 30 yr old daughter or daughter in law who has cancer. He wanted to know why she is sick. I asked him if he thought God was to blame. He said no. So Dionne grabbed the July mags to give to him. I had him read Romans 5:12. I explained sickness comes from Adam sin. He said the scripture made sense and he could see why there is suffering in the world. Dionne mention the website and we said that God's Kingdom in which we pray for will end all sickness and suffering. He gladly accepted the mags and started to read them. He said he was Catholic. And his name was Dick. He wanted to give us a donation but we explain we couldn't accept it. He thanked us for our work.

Name: Opal Fowler & Cindy Blackburn

Date: 4/1/14

Experience: Soon after we arrived, a young man came up and asked for the magazines. About a half hour later he came back with a friend, and asked if he could ask us some questions. He told us he grew up in Brooklyn, across from the Headquarters. His first question was: "I haven't had Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door in a long time, but I see you in the subways, here - is this your new form of proselytizing? And why aren't you approaching people at the tables?" His next question was "I read the magazines and there was an article in there about prejudice. Now, I don't want to be confrontational, but I'm just curious - are there any instances in your organization's past that you regret?" We told him no, although in cases where the government required segregation we had to comply. "But you always preached to black people?" Yes! He continued to ask very thoughtful questions and listen carefully to our answers for about 20 minutes. They included questions about disfellowshipping, our view of premarital sex, drinking, and drugs, how we explain our high member retention, whether we are affected by the 'crisis of faith' he has heard the news discussing due to people reading information on the internet, and how we build Kingdom Halls so quickly. We focused on studying the Bible and the website. They were very interested in the website and asked about the content. When we mentioned the free bible studies, they asked lots of questions about the length of the course, the cost, and the location. They were impressed that no one in the organization was paid. When they had to leave to catch their flight, we offered them both Teach books. The one who had accepted the magazines took the book, but his friend declined. He said he was more technology oriented and wondered if he could access the magazine and book online and download them. We assured him he could. We are positive that they had an interesting conversation on the plane discussing our conversation and that they will both check out the website.

Name: Michael & Susan Richardson

Date: 2/24/14

Experience: Takes place on 2/7/14 This is a follow-up to an experience we had in December and January. The female Skycap (Bev) once again sat at a table near us to take her break. When we asked her if she'd had a chance to look at the Bible Teach book she said yes but didn't seem to want to talk anymore about that. However, since it was very quiet at the airport we just kept chatting with her about her family and other things. After awhile, Bev asked us a question, i.e., what were the services of JWs like and how we finance them. She was impressed that we do not require donations at our meetings, contributions are anonymous, and that our elders do not get paid. Then Bev told us that after attending her friend's church a few times, she received a letter from the church stating they had seen her at their church a number of times and would like her to donate! Bev said that she had put a little in the plate each time. Needless to say, she was shocked and never went back to that church. She also kept the letter. We will see what develops.

Name: Patty and Brooke

Date: 2/12/14

Experience: We noticed a lot of people gathered together with cameras and directors and scripts by the dining section and it looked like they were setting up to film! The director and a crew member walked by us and approached us. We first talked about what they were doing and they said that they were going to multiple places in the US and filming. They said that Joan Cusack is going to be in the film. Then they asked what we were doing. We were offering the awake on 'how to invest your time wisely' and he took them! He was very interested and said he loves reading new things! He even asked if we were in the airport regularly because it would be cool to get us in the background of some of his shots in his film! :)

Name: Duane and Tom

Date: 1/21/14

Experience: Takes place on January 17. We had not been there very long before we were approached by a young woman who seemed curious about what we were doing. As she got closer and saw the magazines she recognized us as Jehovah's Witnesses and told us that Witnesses had visited her home. She explained that she attends a non-denominational church, but that she has enjoyed discussions with others about their religious beliefs.

She is a university student and when we learned that she had not been contacted since living off campus, we showed her the S-43 form and asked if she would like to have someone call on her. She did not object (she did not exactly seem interested either) but then she asked if there was “an email option” since she traveled and her schedule was unpredictable. We said we would check, and went to the “Request a Bible Study” page on JW.org from a smart phone.

When we showed her the page, she indicated that she would fill out the form right there and frankly we were quite amazed as we handed her the phone and watched as she proceeded to fill out the form - seemingly effortlessly - while continuing to speak with us.

This is a very self-assured young woman. She is looking forward to a military career and was traveling as part of a military program. This probably explains why she was comfortable engaging in a discussion with two brothers, two and three times her age and one from a different race. It helped that one of us had Army experience and was able to relate to her on “basic training” and “boot camp”. She seemed interested in the fact that each of us came from different religious backgrounds.

She is a musician and has a good part of her life planned, hoping to teach music after leaving the military. At one point we talked about possible “occupations” in the New World. She quickly got the point that there could very well be musicians, but that there would be no need for soldiers and armies. Our discussion probably lasted about an hour, which was possible because her flight had been delayed - twice. We were concerned that we were covering everything from “Adam to Armageddon” but she seemed to enjoy speaking with us and none of us really wanted the discussion to end. She got the point of Daniel 2:44 and asked where the Kingdom government would be headquartered. By the time our discussion ended, we had placed with her a set of current magazines, a copy of the Bible Teach book, and a copy of the New World Translation. We mentioned that there would be Conventions held during the summer in her state and suggested that she locate one, find the program on the web site and attend a session that she found interesting. We also encouraged her to visit a local Kingdom Hall. She seemed agreeable and we believe that, because of her personality, there is a very good possibility that she will to follow through on our suggestions.

This was one of the best Bible discussions either one of us has had. We feel that Jehovah directed our encounter with this young woman, and will be praying that he blesses her with the desire to learn about him and his wonderful purpose. This experience has allowed us to see first hand how Jehovah is using public witnessing and technology to reach “all sorts of men” - and young women, and we very much appreciate being able to be a part of it.

Name: Michael & Susan Richardson

Date: 1/21/14

Experience: We have the 6:00-8:00pm shift on Friday evenings. On December 27,by 7:15pm there were just a handful of passengers left in the airport. We felt a bit silly standing there with no one walking by us. However, a few minutes later three of the skycaps came (two men and one woman) and sat at a table in front of us to take their break. One of the men was telling a funny story and we couldn't help laughing along with them. Then they started talking to us and eventually the man who told the story commended us for our dedication. The men began asking us questions about Jehovah's Witnesses and our beliefs. The woman listened attentively and eventually spoke up and told us Witnesses used to bring her magazines when she lived in Kentwood. One of the men asked her why she took the magazines and she said she likes to be informed about things and 'the WT and AW were very informative'. She accepted the current magazines.

The following Friday the skycaps were very busy but one man and the woman made it a point to wave at us, walk over, and say hello. On January 10, the two of them greeted us the same way again. However, this time the woman stopped on her way back from her break and talked to us a long time about her life. We told her we brought her something special that night and offered her the Bible Teach book, which she very happily accepted. We are looking forward to future conversations with them.

Name: Andre and Jacquie West

Date: 12/25/13

Experience: We expected to see a good deal of travelers on 12/24 and were not disappointed. The place was packed with happy, waiting families. We were highlighting the Awake and heard many 'No's to the question Can You Trust the Media as people walked by. A few did stop and allowed us to share the magazine's contents with 3 persons taking sets along with them on their travels.

On 12/25 one woman was pleased to see us though in the past she had a negative attitude toward the Witnesses. Though she did not take literature she said she would be happy to take a look at our website. 

Name: Lori Mosher and Ariel Jennings

Date: 12/13/13

Experience: We'll call this experience Three Thumbs Up - Ariel and I work the sunrise shift on Friday mornings and this weeks bible reading reminded me of a conversation we had a few weeks ago. At 6:00 am not that many people are chatty, but this particular gentleman walked up to us wheeling his carry-on, stopped in front of us and said, "I have a question for you" - "Certainly" we replied "That's why we are here"

"Who is the Alpha and Omega?"

"Seriously? At 6 am you want to have this discussion?"

"Who do you say it is?"

"I asked you"

"Yes, you did" we say smiling - "Jehovah God" we answer together "Revelation says, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and I became dead, but I am living forever' "

"So you feel the answer is Jesus Christ -" Here he gives us a thumbs up and walks toward the security gate. 2 minutes later he passes us to go pour out his water bottle on the plant near us, and as he returns toward the security gate, he stops and asks another question - "Who is the Word?" - then he quotes John 1:1, emphasizing that the word WAS god "If you finish reading that chapter" we say, "you will find the most simple explanation of the beautiful relationship that exists between a father and a son." "I have" he says, and walks on giving us another thumbs up :) Another 2 minutes pass and he's back again! Ariel takes this opportunity to commend his spiritual interest and to tell him we enjoyed our conversation. I added that many people in our area have some form of religion but don't really seem to let it impact their lives. He gave us a third thumbs up as he walked away and said, "No, but you guys do!"

Name: Tom & Duane

Date: 12/13/13

Experience: We were approached by a distinguished gentleman in casual clothes. He mentioned how nice it was to see us at the airport. He bent down to pick up a set of magazines and noticed that we had a Spanish set displayed, so he said "Let me take those".

If approached, we always try to engage people in conversation, and I casually asked where he was from. He mentioned Birmingham, Alabama, and then proceeded to tell us he worked at Children's Hospital, apparently a major Southern Medical Center. He is a physician and either is or was at one time the Chief of Anesthesiology at Children's Hospital (he referred to himself as the "Chief gas-passer").

He recognized us as Jehovah's Witnesses and told us that he had worked closely with Witnesses. He expressed high regard for Elders who work with families facing medical challenges. We had a brief discussion about some of the challenges he faces treating children when blood is involved, including when the State gets involved.

He again expressed appreciation for us being at the airport and even offered to buy us a cup of coffee. (We declined).

Name: Paul and Denise

Date: 12/7/13

Experience: On Saturday, December 7th it was very busy with families leaving for warmer destinations, most were in joyus moods and friendly. We had four men and two women take the Awake! magazine entitled "Can You Trust the News Media?" Some tried to get our opinion regarding the question, however we focused their attention back to the magazine so they could formulate their own informed opinion. One man when approaching us exclaimed "are you joking?" regarding the question posed on the front cover of the Awake! We had a nice conversation with him and he took the magazine and said he would read it.

Name: Tara & Carleigh Kinsey

Date: 11/28/13

Experience: On Thanksgiving night it was pretty quiet. But we had the chance to meet a brother who was flying into GR as a pilot. His name is Christian and is originally from Puerto Rico. He said that he has been to a few airports where they are allowing this and how exciting it is. Above is a picture of him and Tara with our sign.

Name: Dillon Meulenberg

Date: 12/5/13

Experience: This was my first time witnessing at the airport, what an experience! I didn't expect a lot of activity but literally within 10 seconds of starting our "shift" a man who was walking by made a remark about the question "Can You Trust the News Media?" From that point on we were able to talk with several people (all of whom clearly did not trust the news media) and placed 5 sets of magazines! Woo hoo!

Name: Emilio & Julie Guzman

Date: 11/27/13

Experience: Local news reporters were at the airport to cover the story that Military Veterans were there with American flags to welcome home any soldiers that may arrive. One of the marine vets came up to us, patted me on the shoulder, and said "It's about time someone was holding up a sign that says, "Moral Values" instead of wrecking them."