Helping "Foreign Residents" to "Serve Jehovah with Rejoicing"

Comment by River on 2017-07-02 18:39:13

The fear from the WT is that
you as an individual should involve you in another person besides preaching. Only the Society should be honored so don't do anything as a christian.
Why on earth should we treat "refugees" different from other people when for instance that for all people received in Italy only 2.6 percent is in reality refugees. It looks good but I think it smells like something is rotten.
Only to say that what the WT
is dealing with is politics, suddenly not Christianity.
You pinpoint it nicely with the weight on You instead of the collective. Thanks.

Comment by Eleasar on 2017-07-02 19:31:38

I can share a personal experience with you from 2011. We had a couple with 2 young girls aged 5 and 3 years old. They were in London as the father was on a student visa. I was involved in studying with them, within 6 months the parents were baptised. The father had to return to India and came back with 3 days left on the visa. He was arrested at Gatwick and they wanted to deport him. The wife got a stay of execution and the procedure to fight the authorities was put in motion. This would take 5 years to resolve.

The mother has some life limiting health issues and the consultants in London wrote to the Home Office explaining if she returned to India she would face a life threatening situation and that they wanted to study her conditions and learn from it. The father was prevented from working by the authorities.

They were made homeless and were put in temporary accommodation. The congregation were magnificent. Everyday different ones invited them for dinner. Many provided food, clothes and did nice things for the children. The BOE agreed to provide £20 per week to give the father a weekly travel ticket to drop the children at school etc. Everyone felt uplifted and it was like being in a big family.

The local Council housed them and we kept paying the £20. Then an elder (not a Pharisee more like an Essene) wanted a meeting to discuss this use of congregation funds. We had been providing the money for 26 weeks. At the meeting this brother was adamant that this is down to publishers to help and NOT for the BOE to use congregation funds. After much discussion, the majority of elders voted 10-1 to stop the payment. You can guess the who was the 1!

At this point I asked the BOE to read James 2:14-17. I then stated as 11 men in the room now know about this, what could we do to help out individually to set a good lead for the Congregation. I pointed out that each of us could give a certain amount each week and a coordinated effort was better. I asked should we act individually or as a team of christians? There was a very long and awkward silence. I waited on my question.

Someone said, "let's keep on giving them £20 per week from congregation funds. I mentioned this could be for years! Is it a wise use of £20 per week? It was agreed 11-0 to keep paying it.

An elder (who has served for over 40 years) approached me the following day to thank me for drawing out James chapter 2. He had never seen it that way before. I asked how else could we see that scripture. I was shocked that such a mature brother had been an elder for so long and not understood Christian love is about helping the whole person. I said where would James the brother of Jesus have learnt this point. I explained my disappointment with giving congregation funds as I felt the the Holy Spirit was guiding the body to maybe provide £10 each minimum weekly and this might help the family more. But we went against the nudging of the spirit and went backward??

All it takes is to read the scriptures as how to help a person and how would Jesus do it. Then let's apply it fully. All the brothers need is a kindly example

• Reply by Ifionlyhadabrain on 2017-07-03 10:27:32

  I remember showing our body of elders 1 John 3 v 17 and 18 , in order to persuade them to carry on an arrangement to help a sister who was living on her own and had a brain tumor , it made no difference , I remember thinking what type of Christianity is this ?

• Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-07-03 11:01:13

  So the pivot factor was whether they had to cough up the funds themselves. This brings to mind Matthew 23:4

  • Reply by Eleasar on 2017-07-03 11:22:44

    Meleti,
    
    That is right. I was going to approach that one elder and ask me why suddenly it was an acceptable use of "dedicated funds". The other elders dissuaded me.
    
    Another interesting factor is that most of the elders were pretty sound and agreed but they wanted to keep the peace and not get brow beaten! The misunderstanding of humility and meekness means that they were willing to give ground even though they disagreed.
    
    It shows the lack of generosity of spirit, mercy and compassion. In my opinion, there was an element of racism as this brother felt that they should not be here.

  • Reply by Yehorakam on 2017-07-03 22:08:50

    That is often the case Meleti. I can remember 2 occasions in 2 different congs where I had to fight with the "presiding overseer" as to how to handle the needs of a sister with breast cancer and another brother with a failing liver. In both congs, the PO was trying to insist we shouldn't use contributions to help those involved. Then I proposed that we set the lead as elders by taking turns taking out of our own pockets to help. Neither PO liked that idea either. In the case of the sister dying of breast cancer, the PO objected to using cong contributions, and then later called an elders mtg to express his displeasure when he heard the dying sister's husband was approaching the brothers and sisters individually to ask for help on a personal level. Boy did I let him have it. He didn't want to help the couple on a cong level, nor personally, so the husband got closed doors there..and then the PO wanted to go further to prevent the brother from approaching others, using the only avenue left to help his wife. And yet he continues to serve as an elder, "special" pioneer and receives more "privileges." He is having his reward in full!

    • Reply by Thaddeus on 2017-07-05 21:50:38

      Yes brother, he is having his reward in full. Sad situation. Some Congregations are sicker than others.

Comment by LVReyes on 2017-07-02 19:45:10

Good points brought out, Meleti, I can say that I've seen this happen with my own eyes.
A single-mom with three teen-age sons was in dire need of a roof for their family home, it leaked and the trusses were getting ruined and moldy in the attic.
Some brothers from her congregation and mine (we shared the KH) pitched in for materials and helped with putting on a new roof.
As a ministerial servant in those days I was appalled to overhear a conversation among her congregation elders that they were going to ask the sister to donate her meager savings and give what she could extra every week to the Worldwide Work so it could be sent in to "the Society" because Jehovah had helped her and they wanted her not to feel like it was a "freebie" and start depending on the congregation for everything. This was shocking to me, not only because of the way these elders spoke about the sister but also because they turned a good deed by brothers in the congregation as a means of gain for "the Society".
Years later, as an elder in the congregation, another elder shared with me about his trip to New Orleans to help after Hurricane Katrina. He related how after the organized JW construction crews helped a family rebuilt, a representative of the RBC would tell the family head that it would be advisable to send any insurance money to the Watchtower, again it struck me that the work was all done by volunteer brothers and the materials and other resources had been donated by businesses and FEMA. Somehow the "0rganization" (that never cries enough when it comes to money) always benefits from whatever charity is expressed to those in need.

Comment by Ifionlyhadabrain on 2017-07-03 09:39:34

I remember years ago going on a trip with a large group of witnesses , that the presiding overseer became incensed and irritated because me and my family ended up with a (free) meal given to us by hotel staff , so much so that he made a public display of it , insisting that I had to put the money for the meals , when we got back as a contribution to the worldwide work , for goodness sake it was a private hotel , needless to say we never went to anything like that again ,my wife who wasn't a JW was disgusted , I was even an elder at the time as well .

• Reply by Thaddeus on 2017-07-05 21:39:35

  Thanks for sharing your experience. My family and I went to the "Don't Give Up" Regional Convention. As Regular Pioneers my wife and I work only part time, making just enough to cover our needs.As a result we didn't make our Hotel reservations until last month. We called the Hotels on "the list" that was in our price range and was informed that all rooms set aside for Convention Delegates were taken. My wife then checked booking.com for a room and found one that was actually on "the list" AND within walking distance of the Convention Center, as a bonus it provided a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs! Naturally, we rejoiced! The cherry on top was that the price was $20 BELOW "the list" price!
  In innocence I shared this with my Group Overseer. Mistake.
  He brought my families loyalty, integrity, and Christian obedience into question. He said I was undermining the Organization’s/God's "arrangement" in providing the rooming list.
  I reminded him that "the list" is but a RECOMMENDED Lodging List, of course this fell on deaf ears.

  • Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-07-05 23:34:17

    I have heard similar experiences. It seems that the Org gets a kickback because often one can book rooms at lower prices on one's own.

  • Reply by Eleasar on 2017-07-06 04:49:55

    Normally when this happens it would be claimed that Jehovah provided. Here the Organisation's prices were higher and Jehovah "must" have provided for your needs where the Organisation could not! So Jehovah gave his Organisation one deal but you got a better deal. Shows it is always better to cut out the middle man.

Comment by Ifionlyhadabrain on 2017-07-03 12:49:56

I read the article and have come to exactly the same conclusions as you meleti , the fact is the witnesses are not really taught to be charitable , the main focus for the most part is all about preaching . You may get the odd brother and sister who are , but in my experience this was not the norm .

Comment by Joseph Anton on 2017-07-03 13:24:55

Your comments on the trials of the working class Witness fall right in line with the new video drama 'Remember The Wife Of Lot' we just watched at this year's convention. As is the case with most counsel coming from Bethel work and Christian life are presented as binary concepts in the drama. If you do one well, the other instantly suffers. Ignoring that two things can be true at the same time - IE that we can hold down a great job and still be a Christian - doesn't really fit with the philosophy of the culture. In the same drama 'worldy' business owners are presented as a constant source of emotional coercion - greedily trying to pry Witnesses away from their strange "church" and families. It's been my experience that this kind of pressure is plied from inside, and not from without.

This is a tactic they employ to incessantly reinforce in Jehovah's Witnesses that they are the quintessential "outsider." "They think you're weird. They think you're antiquated. They think you're a prude." Which is a way to make us feel special - important. Chosen by God on high himself. As outsiders of course we need to take care of only our own. Who else is going to rescue Witnesses if not Witnesses? The world hates us.

This illusion came crumbling down a few years ago when I went and vented to my peers in the written media for help with issues I was having at the Kingdom Hall. Until then I had kept my private life private. So I confessed my religion, and my oddball beliefs and upbringing, and then winced and waited for the colorful commentary on how weird and ridiculous it all was to commence. But the opposite happened. Aside from caring about what I was going through, they didn't care I was a Jehovah's Witness at all. Not even one little bit. In fact, few had never heard of us before, and those that did never really formed any serious opinions on Witnesses. Instead they became a great resource of solace for me. This was another moment in my life that felt like a true awakening. Worldly people don't match the script the Watchtower Society writes for them to follow.

Comment by lazarus on 2017-07-03 14:40:30

Thanks Meleti for highlighting that the Organisation is set up to preach and teach people. That's its focus. Charity amongst each other is evident. And helping others is primarily on a spiritual level. That's true.

Just reading the comments and observations. It's possible for A congregation to foster a spirit of being charitable to include non-witnesss and open the field wider into their own community. This would be done on a local level with the majority of Elders encouraging this behaviour through talks and action.

My experience in one congregation I was associated with was just like that.

When I came along to this congregation they were providing 2 meals a day to an elderly lady. She did qualify for meals on wheels and was having them to deliver on the weekends, we provided for her 5 days mid week. Now this arrangement was going on for years prior to my arrival and at least many years while I was associated in the Cong.

I also helped or went on the roster to provide 2 meals, lunch and dinner for her. And this was Out of our own pocket and she was a grumpy lady. But she appreciated it.

This lady never came to a meeting and never became a JW.

So, I believe the direction by the local body can make the difference.

Comment by Yehorakam on 2017-07-03 21:13:16

Excellent article Meleti. So true when you say "Then Jehovah—because the Governing Body claims this direction comes from God—dropped one of the meetings because (according to the letter at the time) of rising gas prices and travel distances in some countries." Just to show how wrong the meeting change was, just think, they dropped the meeting that was 1) easier to get to because it was in the neigbourhood, 2) the meeting that most closely resembled the meetings of the first century Christians(small groups in private homes) and 3) the meeting that allowed for more personal expression and the forming of closer Christian bonds between brothers and sisters. Smell a fish here?

The fish that I smell was that the "book study arrangement" was harder to watch and keep tabs on what was being taught and said in the personal comments. Of course, I cannot say for sure for that would be judging their motives, and I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist. But if the spiritual, emotional and economic benefits of the brothers was the motive, then the book study would have been the LAST meeting to eliminate. Rather they would have eliminated the mid week meeting. But, 'oh the fear of what might be going at the book studies.' Better to force everyone to make the long trek to the hall where everything can be more closely monitored.

Just my thoughts...

Much love,

• Reply by wild olive on 2017-07-03 21:50:46

  Hi Yehorakam
  I think you have hit the nail on the head,the abandoning of the book study was the last true semblance of the 1st century arrangement,the org is following the rest of Christendom by compelling people to go to a place to worship,all of this "centralisation"actually very much mirrors the policy's of left wing government,I don't want to make a political statement,but the similaritys of the compartmentalisation of people is strangely similar to WT practise,and also to keep any dissedents under surveillance.
  I also think it's nesessary for those of us who are going to make up the heavenly kingdom,to understand and recognise "social engineering" to prevent it happening again.

  • Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-07-05 08:52:42

    Insightful, Wild Olive.

    • Reply by wild olive on 2017-07-09 05:30:41

      Thanx Meleti
      Just a bit further on the comparison.
      In reality the JW religion is a corporate religious government. This is the way all the "American" religions have gone, ie the Mormons,Scientology,The Unification Church and JWs to name some of the common ones,under the guise of non profit organisations, and also to get tax exemptions, they are all a 501 c3 corporation.( this is a subject on its own, and I won't go into the detail).
      What is really strange is that none of them need to claim tax exemption,because the constitution gives them a pass,but because they all make vast sums of money they have to set up corporations to manipulate it,I believe the WT has at least 30 of these subsidiary corporations,then by moving money back and forth between all these corporations it gets "laundered " and profit gets hidden,all the above mentioned religions practise these financial shenanigans and the government is aware that not all is as they make out,that is to say non profit charity's,it seems for the time been they are turning a blind eye,I can't see that lasting,Rev 18 comes to mind.
      This shows how they are all materialistic to the eyeballs,if you want some specifics,look up Jason Zelda on YouTube,he's a financial investigator,he estimates the WT turns over around $950,000,000 a year from donations, shares,trust funds etc, I don't see them spending much of that on the " foreign residents " ,they don't spend much on the members to start with.
      I think Jesus is going to need more than a whip of rope to clean this mess up, I think an iron scepter will definatly be neeeded.
      Sadly the WT is as much a part of the world and its corporatisation that seems to be the way that people are going to be ruled in the near future,giant multinationals almost do now,and the WT is right in there with them.

• Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-07-05 08:51:48

  I think you've nailed it, Yehorakam.

• Reply by Lone Survivor on 2017-07-05 19:23:23

  Yeah I think that's exactly right

• Reply by Eleasar on 2017-07-06 04:45:58

  Hi Yehorakam,
  I agree with your thoughts. It struck me that if they had dropped the midweek CLAM meeting and kept the home groups, the brothers in Russia would not be in as bad a state.
  
  Control and a shallow controlled programme seems more important.

Comment by Lone Survivor on 2017-07-04 15:46:31

Hello, and best wishes to everyone. It seems that as time goes on that the true nature of these men are clearly evident, that they are sociopaths which has become evident in just the last few years by their gross hypocrisy and it continues marching on even though so many of us pray for true justice. We will wait on Jehovah. I hope this is not to strong, its just that so many have been truly damaged over many years. We're looking forward to the time when Jehovah makes all things right

• Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-07-05 09:06:21

  Welcome, Lone Survivor.
  
  I looked up the definition of "sociopath"; it means: "a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience."
  
  I can see where your coming from. For example, the uncaring attitude toward our most vulnerable "little ones" that was made manifest during the Australia Royal Commission is clearly antisocial--to say the least. However, I do think they have a conscience, but that it has become so distorted as to be unusable. I think that 1 Timothy 4:2 apply applies:
  
  “However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, whose conscience is seared as with a branding iron. 3 They forbid marriage and command people to abstain from foods that God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth.” (1Ti 4:1-3)
  
  In our past history, we did strongly discourage marriage as a recent Watchtower demonstrated, and we continue to demand brother and sisters abstain from consuming the most important food there is, the bread and wine that represent out salvation through Christ. So the hypocrisy you so correctly highlight is the result of a conscience that has been "seared as with a branding iron". The scar tissue does not go away. It is of interest that Paul says that the origin of these "misleading inspired statement and teachings" are the demons.

  • Reply by Lone Survivor on 2017-07-05 19:10:40

    Thanks for your response, my friends and I live in central USA and we all decided on our own to leave about the same time and have been a true friend in a time of need for one another. We all help each other stay grounded. We like so many others went through all the emotions and like I said we kept each other from straying off course. We meet and study often and it has been a great blessing, we are working hard to understand and follow Jehovah's direction and maintain a humble attitude,and we want you to know that we appreciate all your hard work and the hard work of others as well. Thanks again brother and best wishes to all.

    • Reply by Yehorakam on 2017-07-05 21:53:24

      Lone Survivor, its good news to hear that you left the org, but haven't left Jehovah and his invaluable word. And how nice that you are not alone, that you have a small group to meet together and support one another. So very encouraging to hear. You will be in my prayers. Take courage, your group is not alone. There are other groups like yours!
      
      Much love,

    • Reply by Eleasar on 2017-07-06 04:42:51

      Hi Lone Survivor,
      When you say we, how many are there? What do you study and how?
      Welcome to the forum.

      • Reply by Lone Survivor on 2017-07-06 12:43:18

        Hello to all, our group feels that it is important to keep the groups small of course there is no hard and fast rule about it. We have given a lot of thought and prayer to it and have come to realize how important it is to safeguard an individuals faith. To answer your question there is 5 of us and we study the Bible. Back to what I was saying, in our area there has been some who have learned about the Organization and left Jehovah in some way or another blaming Him or thinking that He doesn't care about people or them personally. We realized early on that we had to be careful about what we said. We could give individuals all the hard and true facts but if they spun off into never never land what had we really done and believe me friends we wanted to talk, why because we believe in truth and wanted justice, we were hurt. All of us in the group have been in the Organization since early childhood or were born into it we are talking half a century. My reason for bringing this point out is that like so many we had a lot of strong emotions to work through. We still have our ups and downs but for the most part we are at peace now. All of us also managed to dodge the DF bullet,there was one elder that went around asking individuals if they knew of anything that we had done that we could be DF for. We didn't go looking for trouble either we continued to show respect to the elders but tactfully stood our ground and didn't give in to their fear tactics. Now when we meet brothers and sisters we control the conversation and tell them to keep their faith in Jehovah strong. We are so thankful that we didn't give In to the strong emotions that we had at first because if would've caused a big mess and served no purpose at all. It's kind of funny now because the elders seem to have respect for us because we didn't cause trouble and this is what it's really all about because we want to help people and we think that in the future we will be able to because we didn't cause any problems. It's truly a great day when one person can help another person spiritually. May Jehovah continue to bless all you dear Brothers and Sisters

        • Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-07-06 13:12:30

          Excellent counsel for all of us. Thank you, Lone Survivor. But you are not alone. :)

        • Reply by caasi notwen on 2017-07-06 14:34:20

          Hi I am so glad to hear that you are doing something productive not just JW bashing. It's hard to resist the temptation when so much is wrong. My wife and I feel so alone since she wrote the branch about beards and I resigned as an elder over it. We are still attending meetings but find it mostly awkward. Keep up the faith!

          • Reply by Eleasar on 2017-07-07 05:19:31

            Hi Caasi notwen,
            What did the branch say about beards? Which branch are you with?

            • Reply by caasi notwen on 2017-07-08 11:01:02

              Hi Eleasar. I'm in the US branch. I wrote Meleti about our experience with the branch on beards and if he sees this am giving him permission to share it with you. I'll give one example of what they tried to use to justify their backpedaling stand since the study article came out last year that said even some appointed brothers have beards. They tried to use Joseph who shaved before appearing before Pharoah as an example of not stumbling others. The account is in Genesis 41.

    • Reply by wild olive on 2017-07-07 07:15:20

      Hi lone survivor
      I really appreciate your fine attitude and actions that you have mentioned in your comment,it is a huge relief to me personally to hear of someone kicking a few spiritual goals.
      When I stop and think what has transpired in my time in the org,which began when I was 5 and I have not long turned 55,there is great potential despite what's happened.
      Using the publisher figures,since I was baptised in 1980,on average around 50,000 have been disfellowshipped every year,that adds up to 1,850,000 that have been removed for what ever reason,and Ime sure some of that number were sinning,it would be hard to believe they all were,of that number around 1 in 3 makes a comeback,that means around 1,233,000 people have the potential to still be followers of Christ without the burden of the org,since they were touched by something,yet were treated wrongly by the scipturally illegal act of a judicial committee,to my way of thinking that's a huge and very real potential harvest that awaits groups like the one you have formed. I pray that Jesus blesses what your doing.

    • Reply by mailman on 2017-07-07 08:01:51

      Lone Survivor, thank you for sharing your touching story. Honestly, it made my eyes wet after reading it. I thought the holy spirit has guided you and our fellow brothers who have left the organization yet have stood strong in the the worship of our Heavenly Father, Jehovah.
      
      It amazes me how you were able to follow God's direction even without the control and guidance of the WT.