From House to House, From Door to Door....

by individuals wife 26 Replies latest jw friends

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  individuals wife

  I was in the town this morning and saw a little cluster of JWs leaving the kingdom hall, clutching their ministry bags, eager to go out into the field service.... well, maybe eager isn’t quite the right word...

  Anyway, I thought to myself - how many people will they convert today? One, two, a whole family? The more obvious answer is none at all. You only have to look at the negative growth (love that phrase -negative growth - why cant they just call it a decline? Putting the word growth in implies something positive, what is positive about negativity??) Looking at the decline shows that the preaching work is not working, it is ineffective and is well past its sell by date.

  I then began to think about all the members in my local congregation and what it was that brought them into the organisation..... was it the door to door preaching work that they place so much importance and emphasis on? As I recalled faces and histories I realised that there was only one family that I was aware of that came into the organisation purely due to the witnessing work, and that was a case of street witnessing too, not even door to door work... I realised that a large proportion of the congregation had been brought up as JWs. Some others had been introduced to the religion via friendships with JWs, i.e. workmates, therefore this would have been informal witnessing at work, again not door to door... A few families who were relatively new to the congregation were ‘late returners’, they had been in before and had drifted away, they were aware of the religion before.

  So, all this got me thinking.... if this door to door work is so vital - how come it is not working?
  I remember talking to an elder about the ineffectiveness of the ministry and he said even if it is not bringing people in it shows our heart condition to God, it shows our willingness...... he said that it could be possible that everyone in our area that would come in were already in, maybe there wasn’t any more potential witnesses out there....

  My question is - if the door to door work is indeed blessed by God and is under the direction of Jesus Christ - how come it is falling flat on its face? Just how many people are coming into the organisation purely because of the door to door work?
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  joelbear

  No one in my family has ever made a convert through the door to door work. My parents have been witnesses for 55 years and their number is O. They are intelligent articulate people who are very knowledgeable.

  Now, friends and relatives is another matter. Directly and indirectly, they have probably influenced 150 friends and relatives to become witnesses.

  So, in reality, being a witness or becoming a witness is much more a matter of who you know rather than what you know.

  I never saw these miraculous change in people's lives type experience because a witness called at their door type thing. I did see people come in, but almost always through a friend or a relative.

  hugs

  Joel
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  dedalus

  Thanks to the title of this thread, I now have that godawful kingdom melody stuck in my head. "Of course ... it's not ... at every door ... we find ... a hearing ... eeeeeeaar ..." Thanks a lot, IW. [>:(]

  I was in a district convention part in which our P.O. brought out a bunch of people, one at a time, to demonstrate how the witnessing work "branches out," bringing in scores of new converts. It was bogus, of course, since there was only one actual door-to-door conversion -- the one between my mother and her partner, a woman she ultimately left my father for. The rest of us were born into the cult, but that was considered part of the "branching" effect, I guess, which Jehovah was so demonstratively blessing.

  I often wonder what that same convention part would be like if we were using people who exited the Organization instead of those entering it. Let's see ... first my mom left, then my now-fiancee, then me, then one of my brothers, then a friend of mine, then another friend ... and each of these in turn have convinced other Witnesses that the whole religion is a sham ... I guess we have proof that Jehover is blessing the apostate movement, yeah?

  Dedalus
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  lisaBObeesa

  Joel, this is interesting. Got me thinking.

  My mom and dad were brought into the Org through the door-to-door work.

  Over the years, my parents brought in no one that way. However, they raised three kids who were publishers. My JW sister now has two kids who will soon be publishers. They brought in my aunt, and thus her son. They brought in their best friends (a married couple), and thus their two kids, AND this couple brought in their own parents and one of their aunts.

  So all told, that one conversion of a young married couple at the door brought in 16 people to the Org. I don't know if any of the people my parents got in brought anyone else in, but that would raise the total even higher. The word exponential leaps to mind...

  Maybe that is why the door-to-door work is so improtant to the Org, hummm?
  --LisaBobeesa
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  ozziepost

  I wonder why they couldn't arrange for other things to show their loyalty to God but which also are more effective than the door to door ministry? The apostle James spoke of looking after widows and orphans in their tribulation. How about the WTS arranging a charitable organisation to meet these people's needs? Scriptural? Yes Effective? We hope so. Demonstrate Christian love in our lives? Certainly.

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "Evil is the absence of empathy"
  Movie (2000), Nuremberg
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  Seeker4

  One of my pet subjects. I've felt for years that the HtoH work was not only mostly ineffective, but frequently counter productive; ie: I think far more people are turned off by it, insulted by it and made angry by it than are ever converted by it.

  As all these experiences show, the majority of people who become JWs are NOT contacted in the HtoH work, but by informal witnessing to friends and family. I remember a CO asking for a show of hands in the congregation one time about how people were first contacted. It well illustrated this fact, and he was doing it to show the importance of informal witnessing.

  Far from being an indication of Jehovah's direction, or even being a biblical injunction (it can be well argued that the HtoH work really has no scriptural precedent), I think this work is done simply because it's another way to be different. In some lands it can be effective still. Not here in the US or most other first world countries. Here it seems mainly an arrogant, in-your-face insult to the few people who are actually at home now.

  "Let ME show you THE TRUTH, you poor ignorant soul."

  S4
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  Eyebrow2

  Actually, I knew quite a few people that was brought in from door to door work. This includes my own mom, the sister that studied with me, and quite a few others. I do agree that most are from informal witnessing, such as family or friends, etc. But even though most consider the door to door a waste of time, they do still get a lot of interest that way.

  I actually respect the fact that they still go door to door, even though, yes, it can be annoying. It is an important part of freedom of religion, and speech, etc. And even if most nonJWs DO NOT agree with it or appreciate its value, if they are stopped by government, then what freedom of others will be infringed upon next?

  When I went door to door, we all ignored the signs that said, 'no soliciting' because we reasoned we were not selling anything, so it did not apply to us. How arrogant is that, haahaa! I suggested to one nonJW friend a few years ago that she replace her sign with one that specifically referenced JWs. Maybe THAT would stop them, haahaa!
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  its_my_life2001ca

  I was contacted through the door to door to door work also, (wished now I hadn't been home).I never enjoyed doing but like you also I was fed the mantra that it makes onlookers speak Jehovah's name although mostly in a derogatory manner. I agree with Oz that it would have been maybe more effective to assist in charitable works, the homeless, mentoring young people, volunteering at hospitals, etc. It would have provided needed relief for people, still given a witness showing that we cared about others and we would've had some satisfaction for the efforts we put into it rather than feeling like we were spinning our tires.
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  ArgCampeon

  It might be true that the growth has stalled in the U.S. or maybe in Europe, but in many lands it is growing tremendously. The negative figures in the U.S. can be looked at positively. As the last remaining sheep are gathered, the work would slow down. This is another sign that Jehovah's Day is near.
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  Room 215

  It's amazing to me how they boast of their recourse to state-of-the-art techonology in their printing facilities, but eschew the wonders of modern communicaiton in getting out the ``life-saving message'' upon which they say billions of lives hang in the balance.
  Also, I think often of the colossal waste of paper expended on the millions of magazines that are rarely if ever read. I wonder what percentage of these wind up in the trash, hopefully to be recycled.
  It's hard to escape the conclusion that the filed service is little more than a ``feel good' exercise for JWs, the hours spent a sort of installment payment on their New World homestead!