Intro

by mavie 71 Replies latest jw friends

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  zeroday

  *** g75 12/22 p. 16 Faithful to God Despite Persecution ***

  Faithful

  to God Despite Persecution

  FOR the fourth time in recent years, innocent Christians are the target of brutal persecution in the African country of Malawi. As reported in the December 8 issue of Awake!, thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses who, in 1972, were allowed to enter neighboring Mozambique after vicious persecution broke out in Malawi been forcibly repatriated to Malawi. There they have once more met horrible, degraded treatment.

  Yet, all of this comes not because of any lawlessness on the part of these Christians. Throughout the world Jehovah’s witnesses are known to be very law-abiding citizens. As Guy Wright noted in the San Francisco Examiner: "You might regard them as model citizens. They pay taxes diligently, tend the sick, battle illiteracy." And it is recognized that among them there are not the crime, corruption and immorality so rampant in the earth today.

  But in Malawi, Jehovah’s witnesses, as elsewhere, consistently maintain their Bible-based stand of neutrality in political matters. Jesus said of his followers, "They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world." (John 17:14) Hence, in Malawi they have refused to buy political party membership cards issued by the ruling Malawi Congress Party, which cards have on them the picture of the Life President of Malawi, Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda, an elder of the Presbyterian Church. This refusal has resulted in terrible persecution, instigated at the highest levels of government.

  I don't know how old you are mavie but I remember vividly the persecution of the brothers in Malawi. How by not buying a .25 cent political card they were robbed, beat, raped and killed. And yet they held fast their neutrality. How did you react when you found out the Watchtower Society voluntairly walked into the United Nations headquarters in 1990 and "ASKED" to join as an NGO. Not only that but had to reapply for membership for 10 YEARS.
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  south african beef

  Welcome Mavie,
  
  You are obviously going through a lot and I'm not going to tell you do do this or to do that.
  
  What I will say is when I was a MS I did find it v v hard to continue to accomplish everything that was asked of me. The pressure seemed immense - I had a wife who never went on field service, never answered up, never prepared for meetings, left all spritual training of our children to me, never had a job, always expected me to earn more and more money to fund her lifestyle - yet the elders said that Jehovah would understand that she was a timid person and that she was probably doing all she could. I was stunned. Whatever I did was never enough - not enough hours on field service, not enough preparation for the meetings, even though I did give very good talks they often gave me 'work ons' to try amd make me do more. Others were amazed.
  
  I eventually started slowing down - rather than trying to find out what was wrong and how they could help me, I just got castigated more and more.
  
  I started to get panic attacks which progressively got worse and worse. I had to take quite a few weeks off work to try and sort myself out, including going to see a psycologist - something my JW mum thought was unwise.
  
  I was very surprised at the lack of love shown to me at the time.
  
  I am no longer a JW, after being a babtised Witness for well over 20 years. I'm not trying to tell you what to do but all I can say is that I have never ever felt better than I do now.
  
  All the best,
  South African Beef
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  SixofNine

  I can tell you, mavie, that I suffered from a bitter depression for many years as a JW. As soon as I did my research, and decided not to associate with such an organization that obviously has no connection to God, my depression cleared.
  
  
  
  
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  candidlynuts

  welcome to the board !

  i'm in my 40s , 4th generation jw..inactive now.

  i suffered from depression and the elders just told me to DO MORE..

  it was like they were deaf to me saying I"M DOING MORE THAN I CAN DO!

  it just wasnt enough.

  when you meet with the elders they will attack your wife with scriptures and they'll repeatedly tell her to DO MORE

  " study more! pray more! get to more meetings! go out in service more! consider pioneering again! give more talks at the theocratic ministry school! if you do more jehovah will bless you and your depression will go away !"

  she'll more than likely leave that elders meeting more depressed... what you can do before hand is tell her that this is likely what they'll say. that they arent mental health professionals so she shouldnt expect them to be educated on her condition. thats not talknig bad about the elders.. that's softening the blows that she'll have to face when you talk to the elders.

  i hope she keeps improving. and you sound like a supportive loving husband. keep that up!
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  mavie

  Thanks for all the response.

  Some have suggested that the responsibility my wife takes on is the root cause of her panic attacks. While this is possible, I know from talking with her it would only be a contributing factor. I don't want to invade her privacy by going into detail, maybe she will tell you guys someday.

  We have tried to be very proactive with this, changing our diet, exercise routine, getting a cute puppy for long walks, visiting different psychiatrists, different health doctors, different medication, and still more things.

  I am currently in my 2nd year attending college, my wife is considering going back as well. She is about 5 classes away from an AA, having taken many college courses during her junior and senior years in high school. Some on this board have encountered trouble from different ones in the congregation when deciding to attend school, to date I have not. Maybe this is because I don't let school interfere with my meeting and field service attendance. I don't plan on letting it either. I feel both are important.
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  blondie

  My wife has a mental illness which will be with her the rest of her life, clinical depression. She is getting as much help as possible for this, in the form or pills, doctors, friends and family.

  mavie, it looks like you have already confided with your friends and family at the KH. My experience is that there is little understanding because the people get the mixed message from the WT publications that if the distressed one "does more" by coming to all the meetings and spending more time in the door to door, that they will feel better. Combine that with some who discourage members from going to a qualified health professional. I have seen it all.

  I'm glad that your wife is going to a doctor and feels that it is not against her religion to take appropriate medications.

  If you get pressured more about staying with your wife, ask then if some from the congregation can sit with your wife so you can get to the meetings; I doubt that many will volunteer though. Ask them if they don't believe you when you say she needs your help. Who comes first, your family or whatever duties you have at the KH. Other people can do those things, but it is your God-given responsibility to take care of your wife, not anyone else's.

  Blondie
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  zeroday

  ***

  w83 7/1 p. 30 Does God Care About the Mentally Ill? ***

  Care Through the Christian Congregation

  There is yet another way that Jehovah God shows his care for the mentally ill, and that is through the Christian congregation. Here God has lovingly arranged for elders to take the lead. They endeavor to follow the counsel: "Speak consolingly to the depressed souls, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all." (1 Thessalonians 5:14) Years of study of God’s Word and practical experience in handling problems have made Christian elders qualified to help all kinds of persons coming to them. They manifest genuine interest, patiently listening to all that the troubled one has to say. Christian elders are aware of the importance of trying to understand instead of being quick to censure a person or minimize the significance of his feelings. Despite their own shortcomings and limitations, elders sincerely try to comfort and help. You might want to direct the elders to this Watchtower.
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  jgnat

  Welcome, mavie. My best wishes to you and your wife. I hope you continue to care for her her as uppermost - above school, and above congregation requirements.

  I agree with Blondie, that it is likely the 0.1% that drew you here. Continue to question, to examine, to explore your own motives.
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  NoMoreMeetings

  Mavie,

  Welcome to the board.

  Six years ago I was presiding overseer in a New York congregation.
  I was "in the truth" all my life. It got to the point that I could no longer teach
  the Watchtower doctrine. What I was taught as a boy, I could not teach as an elder,
  because the teachings had changed.

  I lost my 16 year old son to leukemia 11 years ago. He refused all blood products. Including the
  ones that the Society said were O.K. to take in the June 15, 2000 Watchtower, six years after he died.

  Between the doctrine that changed from my youth, to the blood doctrine changes, to the extreme guilt that I had taught
  my son to deny medicine which was never really wrong to take in the first place, I begged Jehovah for the truth,
  because I realized that what I was teaching from the platform was not really the truth, just changing teachings of men.
  The guilt also devastated my wife and seriously affected her health for some time.

  Much prayer and a serious study of the Bible in various translations led me to resign as an elder and realize that my
  salvation does not come from meeting attendance, field service and association with the Governing Body. Salvation comes
  from accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to the glory of Jehovah. No organization is required.

  The joy that has resulted from understanding the simplicity of Christianity, and being able to have a relationship with God through Christ,
  has enabled my wife and me to fully recover from the damage caused us by false teaching.

  I hope your journey brings relief to you and your wife, as well as a direct relationship with God.

  NMM
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  Double Edge

  So why am I posting here?

  Because in your heart you know there's GOT to be something out there that resembles the Gospel that Jesus taught.

  I grew up in a church where if one of the Elders or Deacons or just anyone were missing and someone was sick, they would send around a calendar for people to sign up and provide meals for the family during the illness. The Gospel was never about brownie points and attendence....it was exactly was Jesus said it was - to LOVE your neighbor and help them get through this life, which can be very difficult at times.