Jehovah’s Witnesses will be out and about at Sunday’s World Triathlon Series event, carrying their distinctive Bible-based literature carts.

“It’s exciting because I love people,” said Marco Lopes of Paget. “With all we have gone through these last two years, our community needs comfort and hope. It is a joy being out there again speaking with our neighbours.”

Witnesses all over the world halted their public, in-person preaching in early 2020 due to the pandemic and only recently resumed it again.

“We believe that the early decision to shut down all in-person activities for more than two years has saved many lives,” said Robert Hendriks, US spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“We’re now ready and eager to reconnect with our neighbours once again – person-to-person, face-to-face. It’s not the only way we preach, but it has historically been the most effective way to deliver our message of comfort and hope.”

Alexander Mosley, the Bermuda spokesperson for the religious group: “We are hoping to help our fellow Bermudians as well as our international visitors. We try to do as Jesus says at Matthew 22:39, ‘Love (our) neighbours’. And that includes our international friends as well.”

The time is right to reach out again to people in person in Bermuda, he added.

“The visitors come from many backgrounds and even different countries. Our website, jw.org, is in over 1,000 languages. So, being able to share that with people from different language groups is very encouraging.”

The Bible-based literature is free and will be located opposite City Hall and also the athlete registration area, adjacent to the bus terminal.