1-2. (a) How the elder dem can help us? (b) How Jehovah na make sure da we get the help we need? (Also see the box “ Wetin the Bible Say About Shepherds?”)

 YOU can remember anytime in your life da the elder dem na help you before? Maybe they give you advice from the Bible when you wor taking the wrong step. Or maybe they comfort you when somebody die from you. Or maybe they remind you da Jehovah really love you, even though you wor feeling da Jehovah not really love you. One sister from Spain name María a say: “When the elder dem visit me to encourage me, it can convince me da they really care for me. It can show da they really want know me and understand the best way to help me.”

² Jehovah know da we need the elder dem to help us. Da the reason why he promise to give his people “shepherds who will really shepherd” them. He wanted to use men dem “after [his] own heart,” who will use wisdom and knowledge to take care of his people. (Jer. 3:15; 23:4) God fulfill da promise by sending Jesus, the best shepherd he ever na send on the earth. Later on, Jesus make arrangement for the elder dem to take care of the Christian congregation. (Eph. 4:​7, 8, 11) In this article, we will first talk about the example Jesus set to be good shepherd. Then, we will talk about some quality and some other thing dem elders can do da will help them to be good shepherds. Finally, we will talk about the blessing the elder dem can get when they work hard to take good care of Jehovah sheep.

WETIN THE ELDER DEM CAN LEARN FROM “THE GOOD SHEPHERD”?

3. Why Jesus call hisself “the good shepherd”? (John 10:​11, 14)

³ Jesus call hisself “the good shepherd.” (Read John 10:​11, 14.) Why? Da because he really love his disciple dem da he wor  “willing to give his life to save the sheep.” Jesus say: “I know my sheep dem and my sheep dem know me.” He knew what each of his disciple dem needed and he promise to help them. (Matt. 11:​28, 29) Because of da, they use to trust him and they draw close to him.

4-5. (a) Why Martha and Mary ask Jesus to help them? (b) Wetin Jesus wor willing to do to help them?

⁴ In John chapter 11, we see how Jesus show da he good shepherd the time he go visit Martha and her sister Mary, in Bethany. This women dem needed Jesus help because their brother Lazarus, jeh die few days ago. Jesus really use to love their family because they wor close to each other in their family. (John 11:5) He use to stay in their house most of the time and he knew them good-good. They wor also his close friends. Even though Martha and Mary wor feeling sad because Jesus not heal Lazarus before he die, they wor sure da Jesus wor coming comfort them. Da the same way today, when the elder dem follow Jesus example and be close to their brother and sister dem, they can be able to help them to get strong friendship with Jehovah.

⁵ It wor coming take Jesus about two days to reach to Bethany. Beside da, it wor dangerous for him to go there because the people in da area, try to kill him before. (John 11:8) But Jesus wor willing to go there. Da the same way today, good shepherds can be willing to make sacrifice to help their brother and sister dem who need help.

6. How Jesus comfort Martha?

⁶ When Lazarus die, it make four days before Jesus reach near Bethany. Maybe Martha wor thinking why Jesus not come soon to save her brother life. (John 11:21) Jesus knew da she wor really feeling bad. So he wor kind to her and he help her to take her heart from on what already na happen and think on what will happen in the future. Jesus tell her say: “Your brother will come back to life.” (John 11:23) Then Jesus listen good-good to Martha. From there, he encourage her by telling her da God na give him the power to stop death and bring people who na die back to life. (John 11:​24, 25) Da the same way today,  the elder dem too can encourage people by listening to them good-good and by helping them to get more trust in the thing dem da God na promise.

7. How Jesus wor feeling the time he see Lazarus relative and friend dem looking sad? (Also see the picture.)

⁷ Before Jesus resurrect Lazarus, he look at the people dem who wor standing near the grave. Lazarus sister Mary and the other people dem wor crying. How it make Jesus to feel? The Bible say, “He feel it deep inside him.” Then he “started crying.” (John 11:​33, 35) Jesus really understand how the people wor feeling. The way Jesus act, really touch the people heart. (John 11:36) Yes, good shepherd can try their best to understand how their brother and sister dem feeling.—Rom. 12:15.

8. How Jesus make sure da he wor always coming be having men to take care of his sheep after he go back to heaven?

⁸ Jesus love his sheep and he help them to remain close to Jehovah. And he teach his disciple dem to do the same thing. After Jesus came back to life, he tell Peter and all the other apostle dem to continue taking care of his sheep. Jesus tell them how it wor important for them to continue to take care of his “young sheep.” b (John 21:​15-17) Peter never forget about what Jesus tell them. Plenty years after da, Peter beg his friend elder dem to continue to take care of the sheep because Jesus value them.—1 Pet. 5:​1, 2.

SOME THING DEM ELDERS CAN DO TO BE GOOD SHEPHERD

9. Why we can say da the work the elder dem get to do, da not small work? (Acts 20:28)

⁹ The apostle Paul encourage the elder dem in Ephesus to take their shepherding work very serious. (Read Acts 20:28.) Today, da the same important work the elder dem get to do. One elder name David say: “It looking jeh like Jesus telling me say: ‘You see this young sheep dem? They for me, but I want for you to help me to take care of them.’” This one da not small work. Sometime, some elder dem can be thinking whether they really able to comfort somebody who bereave, who faith getting weak, or somebody who depress. (1 Thess. 5:14) The elder dem mon remember da only Jehovah able to give them the strength to do this work. (Phil. 4:13) But each elder need to do some thing dem da can help them to be good shepherd. Let talk about some of this thing dem.

10. What the elder dem need to do to be good shepherd, and why? (Proverbs 27:23 and footnote)

¹⁰ The elder dem mon know the sheep good-good. (Read Proverbs 27:23 and footnote.) In one Bible translation, this verse say: “Learn everything you need to know about your sheep.” c But we know da not everything about somebody we suppose to know or ask about. Like da, we will be showing da we respect them. (1 Pet. 4:15) But David who we talk about before say, “The only way we can be able to use the Bible good-good to help our brother and sister dem, da to understand the problem dem they going through.”

11. How the brother and sister dem can benefit when the elders listen to them good-good?

¹¹ The elder dem mon listen good-good. The only way the elders can know what their brother and sister dem really need, da to listen to them good-good. (Jas. 1:19) Let see how the elder dem help one sister name  Catherine. Her husband abandon she and their three children. She say: “The elder dem ask me questions and they listen to everything I say. This one make me to see da they really love me and care for me. They really wanted to understand what I wor going through. It wor looking jeh like they wor trying to feel the pain I wor feeling. The way they talk with me, help me to remember da Jehovah wor still with me and my children.”

12. How the elder dem can use the Bible the right way when they go for shepherding visit?

¹² The elder dem mon use the Bible verse da alright for each person situation. (Titus 1:​7, 9) When the elders know the problems their brother and sister dem going through, it can be easy for them to help them. d One elder name Andrew say: “I can try to show my brother and sister dem some thing dem from the Bible da will help them with the problem dem they going through. I can always use the brochure Scriptures for Christian Living to help me.” Another elder name Elihú say da he can use the same brochure. He say: “When I doing my research, I can look for word dem like ‘Anxiety,’ ‘Disappointment,’ and ‘Discouragement’ to prepare for my shepherding visit. Da some of this thing dem our brother and sister dem can be going through every day. And I na find some Bible verse dem da can really encourage them and help them.” Catherine, who we talk about before say: “One elder read Isaiah 26:3 with me. After da, me and my children dem use to read this Bible verse over and over. And someday when we really feeling bad, this scripture use to comfort us.”

13. How elders can make it easy for people to talk with them? (Also see the pictures and the box “ All of Yor Da Brothers.”)

¹³ The elder dem mon make it easy for people to be free to talk with them. Even though Jesus da wor busy man, he use to find time to talk with other people, even children. (Luke 18:​15, 16) What the lesson? Good shepherd can always be happy when people want talk  with them. When the elder dem take time before and after the meeting to talk with people even if da jeh for short time, it can make them to feel da the elder dem da their friend. One sister name Lauren say, “It can be easy for me to talk with any elder who can always ask me how I doing and who na promise to help me. Then when something serious happen, I can feel free to go to him because I know da he care for me and he want help me.”

14. Wetin you learn from Juan experience?

¹⁴ The elder dem mon show love. Jesus say da people wor coming know his disciple dem by the way they can show love to each other. (John 13:35) So when the elder dem love Jehovah sheep, it can show da they good shepherd. Joe benefit from the way one elder help him. He elder now. He say, “When I started studying the Bible, sometime I use to feel sad and feel da I not close to Jehovah. But the way one elder show me love, it help me to continue studying and attending meetings. It also help me to not stop serving Jehovah. Because da elder show me love and he wor patient with me, it help me to see da Jehovah understand me and really love me. And it encourage me to never give up.”

THE ELDER DEM CAN BE HAPPY WHEN THEY TAKE CARE OF THE SHEEP

15. Why the elder dem can be happy when they take care of the sheep? (Acts 20:​31, 35)

¹⁵ The work the elder dem can do to take care of the brother and sister dem, can be hard sometime. Paul say da because he love Jehovah sheep and he use to worry about them, he not use to sleep sometime. (2 Cor. 11:​27, 28) But when he think about all the thing dem he do for the brother and sister dem, he remember what Jesus say. He say:  “You will be more happy when you give to people than when people give to you.” (Read Acts 20:​31, 35.) Javier, who being elder for more than 30 years, explain why he can be happy when he take care of the sheep. He say: “The work I can do to take care of my brother and sister dem na make me to get more love for Jehovah and it na make my faith more strong. When I visit them, it can remind me da Jehovah love everybody who love him and who serving him with their whole heart.”

16. Why Paul compare the work he do to take care of the brother and sister dem to the work baby ma can do to take care of her baby?

¹⁶ Good elder can take care of the brother and sister dem the same way baby ma can take care of her child. Paul compare hisself to baby ma when he think about the way he take care of the brother and sister dem in Thessalonica. (1 Thess. 2:​7, 8) The baby ma can work hard to take care of her baby, but she can be happy when she do it. Jeh how the baby ma can be happy to see her child growing, da jeh how Paul wor happy to see the brother and sister dem in Thessalonica making progress. (2 Thess. 1:​3, 4) Da the same way today, the elder dem can be happy when they see somebody who they na use their time and strength to help, making progress. For example, Miguel the elder who help Joe, say: “I wor really happy to help Joe to learn some quality dem da help him to continue serving Jehovah. And I happy to see da Joe hisself serving as elder now.”

17. Why we grateful for the elder dem da Jehovah na give us?

¹⁷ We grateful for the elder dem da Jehovah na give us to help us in this last days! They can follow Jesus, the good shepherd example by working hard to help the brother and sister dem. And we happy for the way they can work hard to get the quality and the idea dem they need to advise us, comfort us, and help us get the strength da we need. Jehovah really value them and we value them too!—1 Thess. 5:​12, 13.