Hi, Praiseband, and welcome to the Forum
When I was officiating as an "elder" in the WTS, I had this growing perception that they were distorting the NT Greek record with their singular renderings, including the item you brought up, ie the use of "excercising faith" for the Greek verb "Pisteuo". Several years after leaving the WTS, having done a night course in NT Greek at a Bible College [something I would recommend to anyone] I met a JW zealot and confronted him with that same question. Why "EF" at Jo 3:16?
His answer[s] led me to believe that in a superficial way, the WTS had adressed the issue, at least to the basic satisfaction of their followers.
1 His first answer, [after consulting carefully concealed notes] was that the verb "Pisteuo" CAN mean "believe", however at Jo 3:16, it occurs in a particular grammatical form. This he said, is what "careful" translators should look out for, and thankfully, the NWT has done just that. It was a "Present Active Nominative Participle" Impressive is'nt it? Sounds schorlarly. It was this form of the verb that made it imperitive to "translate" it as "EF"
Problem was that the SAME form occurs in the preceeding verse!! [Jo 3:15] I asked him to read his New World "Translation" It had "Believe" !!
2 His partner [probably his wife] no doubt after consulting some more notes, which because I was speaking to the man, I did'nt see, added:" Ah but you see at Jo 3:16 the PANP is followed by the preposition "eis" that is why it is translated as "EF" at Jo 3:16, something that Jo 3:15 does not have." Well there is another problem, because at Ac 13:39, and 1Jo 5:1, 5, the same thing occurs, even their own interlinear shows this. I asked them to please read these texts. The texts clearly say "Believe"
I further pointed out that if such was the case, then why did their own "Kingdom Interlinear" have "believe" at Jo 3:16, whereas the actual translation had modified this to "EF"
It is obvious then that the JWs must confront the fact that the NWT is a deliberately constructed "version" of the Bible so as to make it say exactly what they want it to say. They trumpet the subject of "consistency" only in those circumstances that serve their own purpose.
Incidently, a JW may point out the Liddell and Scott allow for "Put faith in" as a translation for "pisteuo". But even this is nothing connected to "Excercising" faith
Cheers