Scarce at the kingdom hall

by justice for all 33 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  gumby

  
  It's a JOB...to have to go to the meetings. I was sitting here trying to think of a comparison of what it is like for a witnesses mindset on meeting night. I really couldn't think of anything other than a" job" for a comparison. Your job is generally something you "have" to or "need" to do to please someone(s), or a performance you do and get paid for it.

  For a dub, it's both. You please Jehovah, you please the various publishers by being there. You please yourself with a good conscience you attended..........( even though in reality you'd welcome the idea of the electricity going out and the meeting being cancelled, or on a Sunday when the talk is cancelled because the speaker didn't show up).

  You also get paid. Your chances are better of making the new system if you go to the meetings regularly so the reward is building houses in lily fields, watching various races of ladies walking down a cobblestone path with wicker baskets and shitloads of fruits and vegetables dangling out of them with various colors of kids playing and screaming in the backround with smiling faces. It really is a job. Most dubs looked forward to non meeting nights.

  Gumby
• 

  justice for all

  Why can't stop grinning

  Yep, makes me grin too.
• 

  Dune

  Last thursday, the meeting attendance was 52, we usually have about 80-100 people. It was snowing earlier in the day, but by the time the meeting started it was just rain, i think they just used it as an excuse to not to come. The spanish congregations are growing very rapidly. In my area, they have to split every 4 or 5 years. Also, alot of the brothers from the english congregations are going to to the spanish congregations to serve were the need is great (AKA You're more likely to be appointed in a spanish congregaion and marry some hot hispanic chick :-d.)
• 

  Soledad

  HAS anyone else seen a rise in the #'s of Hispanics?

  My family and I have always attended a Spanish congregation. For many years the numbers attending stayed the same, but then about 18 years ago the attendance soared and the congregation was split, not once but twice. Many of the new attendees were already witnesses in their countries or were students and attending meetings. Also they had very close knit large families and extended families, so it wasn't uncommon to see 20+ members of the same family going to all the meetings together, even if not all the members were witnesses.

  What I saw happen within time was that the children of these immigrants grew up and did either 1 of 3 things: they got married very young (as young as 15 in some situations) to other witnesses, they married outside of the WTS and only attended meetings sporadically, or they left the WTS altogether. That same 20 member family today may have only 4-6 members left inside the WTS. It still represents growth for the WTS, but when you see things in the wider perspective, the trend among Hispanic witnesses is not at all different than the English speaking witnesses.
• 

  gumby

  The only reason the spanish/mexican congregations are growin is cuz franz made a deal with mexico before he died. He promised he'd buy 5 billion burrito's for the U.S. assemblies if they could get their numbers up......and it worked!!!!

  Gumby
• 

  justice for all

  I cant remember what they call the thursday night meeting anymore isn't that awful???

  Ah no, not at all, looks as if your moving on and don't even care. That's a good thing. Be proud
• 

  Omar S.

  I'm an ex mexican JW.

  I'll tell you why the rise in hispanics.

  My people are easy targets, especially immigrants. They are in a foreign country and need a mental refuge. Most of the immigrants are ignorant when it comes to the bible and do not know the history of the WTs, also do not have resources like the internet. Also most of the brothers I knew had low paying jobs, and I could tell they liked the respect and admiration of the brothers. Also, I met brothers that joined the organization because of the sisters they saw, they saw an opportunity to meet women. They feel they are part of something.
• 

  Omar S.

  I was raised a JW since I was in Mexico, my dad wasn't till we came to the US. He was pressured into it, he was a bad man, but found power and respect in the congregation. I lived with him, so I knew it was only LOOKS.

  Good think I got out in time.
• 

  metatron

  The birth rate is falling in Mexico and South America, so I wouldn't expect the trend of growth to continue indefinitely.

  metatron
• 

  Apostate Kate

  Welcome Omar!

  I have family from South America. The one person that joined, joined for similar reasons you described Omar. Bless her heart she came from a very ancient lifestyle. She could not read or write and lived like the Incas did thousands of years ago. When she immigrated here she looked up to the ladies in the nice four door cars, well dressed, literate.

  The rest of the family did not fall for it. My ex mother in law was from the same ancient lifestyle (her sister) but was wise beyond her years and did not fall for the JWs. I may have had an influence on the aunt that did as I was a JW when she first came but not active. She just knew I believed them, I feel bad for that. I haven't had a chance to talk to her since then.

  con carina~Kate