Transcripts: Learn From Them.

Transcript: Learn From Them: Philip the Evangelizer.
[In a library auditorium a couple wearing badges laugh and chat with another sister]
Chairman: Please find your seats. It’s time to start our graduation program.
[They wave to her then take their seats smiling]
Brother1: We never dreamed this would happen.
[Both look eagerly at the chairman]
Chairman: This is a very special day all of us have been anxiously waiting for. We’re happy to see all of you here.
Brother 1: It all started a few years ago.
[Flashback to the brother in the audience at a meeting]
Brother 2: If you’d like to have the circuit overseer and his wife for a meal . . .
Brother 1: It was during that visit and this question.
Brother 2: His theme on Tuesday is “What Lessons Can We Learn From Philip the Evangelizer?”
Brother 1: Hmm.
[He purses his lips]
Brother 1: What could we learn from Philip? Honestly, we were already busy with the right things. Lilly and the girls helped out wherever they could.
[His wife and two grown daughters sit beside him. Outside the Kingdom Hall the three women trim hedges and rake the lawn. The brother at home]
I worked on Kingdom Hall maintenance projects.
[He types on a calculator then writes on a piece of paper. Another day he and his wife walk in field service]
And we had a regular schedule for the ministry.
[They approach an intercom; he types on the keypad]
But like in a lot of places, when someone showed interest, it was tough to find them again.
[Squinting he looks up at a set of windows with the blinds drawn. As they wait, he glances over at his wife fidgeting with her bag]
I wondered if our spiritual routine needed an update.
[He looks down thoughtfully. They walk away from the intercom and continue down the sidewalk. At night the family sits in their living room together]
Looking forward to that talk, I decided we’d research Philip for family worship
[With open Bibles and Bearing Witness books they chat over snacks and juice]
Acts chapter 6.
[They imagine Philip in a bustling marketplace. At a vendor’s stall he slings a filled skin bag over his shoulder]
Philip was one of seven brothers selected to distribute food to Christian widows in Jerusalem.
[Receiving his change from the vendor he checks it carefully then puts it in a small leather pouch with a drawstring. At home he pushes beads on a wooden abacus with one hand a writing stylus in the other. He pauses thoughtfully]
That was an important assignment, but he did so much more than that.
[Back to the family. One daughter wearing a pink sweater looks intently at an Insight book then makes a note in the margin. The other daughter with her hair in a ponytail highlights in a Bearing Witness book. On her tablet his wife makes a note in her JW Library App. The daughter wearing pink looks up from the Insight book]
Daughter 1: Hmm, this is interesting. Because of the persecution, Philip had to flee from Jerusalem to Samaria.
[Back to Philip. At night in their home Philip quickly packs a bag as his wife holds an oil lamp. They look at each other then at the door. As men with torches run by outside, they stand motionless. He closes the bag and picks it up. Locking eyes, they step toward each other, he puts his arm around her as she leans her head on his shoulder. Closing his eyes he prays]
Samaria hadn’t accepted the word of Jehovah yet.
[Philip and his wife enter the city through massive wooden doors. Dusty from travel and carrying multiple bags they look around the unfamiliar market. Staff in hand Philip watches people busily setting up stalls, buying goods, loading a cart, then looks down with a thoughtful gaze]
But Philip saw that trial as a spiritual opportunity.
[At home he puts on a stripped tunic picks up a leather satchel then walks down a crowded street]
Samaria was largely untouched by the preaching work. Philip declared the good news zealously,
[With gestures he begins to speak to people in a busy city square]
and many believed and got baptized.
[One man listens from an upper storey window; others gather around Philip]
But sometime later,
[At night outside of Philip’s house]
an angel spoke with him.
[Bright light beams out of the upper storey windows]
He told Philip to get up and go to the south.
[Inside the house Philip furrows his brow as the light disappears. Later he strides through an arid landscape. Walking with a wooden staff he looks straight ahead. Back to the family in their living room]
That led him to find the Ethiopian eunuch and preach in other cities.
[A picture of the eunuch’s baptism on a tablet]
Philip was willing to serve wherever there was a need. And he always kept that evangelizing spirit. Some twenty years later, he was still known as the evangelizer.
[Smiling the brother’s gaze turns from his daughters to his wife]
Wife: By that time, his life had changed.
[She imagines Philip’s family at home having a meal]
He was a family man with four daughters.
[Philip brings a plate of flatbread then joins the group sitting on the floor]
But that didn’t stop him from showing hospitality when Paul and his companions came to visit.
[Paul sits across from him laughing heartily. Two of Philip’s daughters join in looking at Paul then each other]
Visits like that must have been full of spiritual lessons for his daughters.
[Back to the family in their living room. The brother smiles sweetly at his wife then at his daughters]
Brother 1: That night, we came up with a few things we wanted to do.
[Later in their kitchen the wife garnishes a dish]
Wife: We started by having the circuit overseer to lunch. We hadn’t made time for that in a while.
[She brings it to the table where the circuit overseer and his wife laugh with her daughters]
Brother 1: Alex and Carla’s experiences made the girls excited to reach their own spiritual goals.
[In the kitchen the brother and his wife slice cake and pour coffee. They smile as they look over at their daughters visiting with their guests, then back at each other. The brother’s eyes twinkle with joy]
But like Philip, changes came that we didn’t expect.
[In front of a mirror the brother ties a necktie]
I was out of work for a few months.
[He steps away and puts on a suit jacket then picks up a leather satchel]
It was a stressful time
[Out in the ministry with his wife and daughters]
but also, a spiritual opportunity.
[Arm in arm the brother and his wife approach the same intercom as before, he types on the keypad]
I could visit people at different times of the day.
[Then looks up at the same set of windows this time with the blinds open. A man slides open the window and motions for them to come inside]
We tried to make the most of the situation and preach zealously
[Smiling they enter]
like Philip.
[Back in the library auditorium. The brother and his wife beam with joy] And here we are, watching our girls graduate from the School for Kingdom Evangelizers.
[Sitting side by side they clasp each other’s hands. Holding their diplomas the daughters smile radiantly from the stage]
Those few lessons made a big difference for this family of evangelizers.
[A happy tear rolls down the brother’s cheek]
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