106 year old sister auxiliary pioneers

Honesty

Does the car group take turns changing her DEPENDS?

I was there (in the K-hall) when it was discussed. The service-department is writing this stuff, the local elder was using it to blame us who do not pioneer. They don't understand that content like this will drift away thinking witnesses. Every evening in the hall makes it more clear for me: this is a well created system for building property and selling books, with a sauce of american way religion.

Fader Ozner

jayhawk1

Looks like Outlaw's "Stuff-A-Dub" is really catching on.

"Stuff-A-Dub" is when a JW dies and is stuffed. They're placed on park benches and street corners holding Watchtower and Awake magazines. "Stuff-A-Dubb" is a registered trademark.

wildfell

Does anyone remember the sister in the iron lung? Articles about her appeared in the mags in the 80's I think?

If she could informal witness, conduct bible studies, paint pictures of paradise by holding the paint brush with her mouth . . . .? She was used extensively to guilt trip us. We able-bodied people were always being shamed by people with a disability who were doing more, more, more.

Ah, that old phrase, I remember it all too well . . . . "can you do more?"

Emma

My daughter recently got a letter from my sister that included an "article" and photo about my mother going out in service with an oxygen tank. Toward the "end" she couldn't get out of the car and go d2d but sat in the car and kept track of placements. ugh My sister wrote the "article" and told the bro's to feel free to use it in the asleep mag. The writing was like an fifth grader - so much for that college education from reading the Awake. My mother would have hated the photo; it was morbid. But what an example! (she was only 82, though)

wha happened?

I remember during one of the campaigns this sister who is known for talking too much, about too many people, too often, went on to elaborate about an older sister and how she put in more time than the rest of us in the campaign. Someone piped up, (I can't remember who), that he didn't realize it was a competition. She was awfully quiet after that

blondie

*** g93 1/22 pp. 18-21 Not Even an Iron Lung Could Stop Her Preaching ***

Sometimes it takes courage just to keep living. This is the story of one who had such courage. Her name was Laurel Nisbet.

BORN in 1912 in Los Angeles, Laurel became a vibrant young woman who loved life and her family. Having a husband and two children to take care of was an easy task for her under normal circumstances, but in 1948 her love of life was tested almost beyond comprehension. She was stricken with the deadly polio virus.

After suffering flulike symptoms for some days, she eventually became unable to move. Her husband took her to the county hospital. There she was among many who had contracted polio. Fear engulfed her as overcrowded conditions necessitated that she lie on the floor in the hallway and wait for an iron lung. Every breath was an enormous effort. When an iron lung was finally available, she was relieved to be placed in it. Now she could catch that precious breath of life nearly taken from her!

Iron lungs were invented to help people whose chest muscles have been paralyzed by polio. Originally it was thought that this would be a temporary measure while a patient’s muscles recovered, enabling him to breathe on his own. But to Laurel’s surprise and to the horror of the world, these iron breathing machines became the permanent homes of many victims. Laurel survived flat on her back for 37 years inside the confines of one. She holds the world record for the longest surviving polio patient in an iron lung.

Was this her only claim to fame? Absolutely not. Laurel was a young woman in her 30’s when she was placed in the lung. She had two children to raise and a husband to care for. At first she was sad beyond despair. Then, after about a day of self-pity, she decided to make the best of her situation. Eventually, her husband brought her home, and she began to rebuild her life. She learned to manage her home, right from the iron lung.

Now, you must picture what this was like. Only her head protruded from the respirator. A plastic collar and a metal bar, which held the collar tight to her collarbone, were used to keep the cylinder airtight. A bellows below the tank changed the air pressure inside the tank. About 15 times a minute, the bellows, acting as a pump, withdrew air from the tank. This caused the patient’s chest to rise as air entered through the nose or mouth. When the bellows contracted and air was forced back into the tank, pressure was exerted on the chest, and the patient exhaled. So you can see why the collar had to be airtight since changes of air pressure made the iron lung work effectively. Laurel could move her head, but that was all. She was totally paralyzed from the neck down. She viewed her world from a mirror mounted above her respirator that reflected another mirror placed across the room on the opposite wall. This made it possible for her to see her front door and anyone who approached it.

Enter

Jehovah’sWitnesses

One day she had a visitor, Del Kuring, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She marched right into Laurel’s living room and began to teach her the wonderful truths of the Bible. Laurel had respect for God’s Word and listened with an open mind and an open heart. A Bible study was started, which led to her dedication to God in 1965 as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now she had even more to live for. One day she would walk again on the earth and enjoy the Paradise that God intended mankind to have! What joy she felt, too, as her daughter Kay embraced her new faith.

You may ask, ‘What about her baptism?’ Well, there couldn’t be one. Having no ability to breathe on her own, immersion in water was impossible. She was never able to go to a Kingdom Hall. She never attended an assembly. She never saw her daughter get baptized. But she accomplished more in her service to Jehovah than many Christians who are not handicapped.

You see, Laurel was a preacher of the good news. During her 37 year confinement, she was able to help some 17 people come to an accurate knowledge of the Bible. How did she do it? Of course, she could not go from door to door as most Witnesses have the privilege of doing. But she could witness to her many attendants. I had the privilege of being such a one.

I was a nursing-school student in 1972 and started to work for her as an attendant. Laurel and I had time at the end of my shift to talk and get to know each other. One day she said: "Now, I would like you to read to me." As I agreed, she instructed me to pick up a little blue book entitled TheTruthThatLeadstoEternalLife. I asked her where to start, and she simply said, "Start at chapter 1." Thus a Bible study was started, and I too became a dedicated Witness of Jehovah.

Laurel’s respirator was visible through the large picture window at the front of her house. She lived on a busy street, so anyone in the town of La Crescenta who passed by could see the respirator. This created a lot of sympathy and curiosity in passersby, and strangers would frequently stop in to meet her. She was always delighted to meet people and developed many friendships this way, and she would witness to these people. Her bold witnessing for Jehovah and her hope for the future impressed people and gave a good witness for Jehovah’s name.

Laurel slept very little. It was difficult to become tired like the rest of us, since she could not move. The noise and constant movement of the bellows under the respirator kept her awake. What did she do with these hours? She talked to her heavenly Father, communicating to the fullest in heartfelt prayer. I’m sure she prayed for strength and endurance, but more often than not, she would pray for her Christian brothers and sisters. She had great compassion for others and thanked Jehovah daily for her blessings.

When a traveling representative of Jehovah’s Witnesses came to her area, he would always visit Laurel. Many of these men would say that after being with Laurel, they were the ones that had been upbuilt! That was her way. She was always positive and joyful and looked for every opportunity to witness for the truth.

She had many harrowing experiences, too numerous to tell. Once she had to have an emergency appendectomy, and the van came from the county hospital to pick her up. Because her appendix had burst, she was quickly rolled into the van and rushed to the hospital, where the doctor had to perform this surgery without anesthetic. You see in the 1950’s, they did not know how to give general anesthetic to an iron-lung patient.

Many

SurgeriesbutNoBlood

She endured cancer, major surgeries, and chronic skin disorders. It was very frustrating for her when she needed to scratch and couldn’t and had to have her attendant do it for her. Even though her muscles were paralyzed, she had feeling over her entire body. This served her well, as it kept her from getting bedsores. She was very conscientious about her skin care. It took four of us to turn her and give her a complete bath once a week. This ordeal was trying for Laurel, but she managed it like everything else in her life.

These times with her were fun and pleasurable in spite of the difficulty of the task. As we would turn the collar up around her neck to last another week, making this contraption as airtight as possible, she would grit her teeth and say: "Oh, the Devil’s own invention!" Yes, Laurel knew where to put the blame for such a terrible condition. It began with Satan, who induced the first humans to turn their backs on Jehovah, bringing sin, sickness, and death to mankind.

Laurel may have been paralyzed physically but obviously not spiritually. She used each opportunity to teach people about her hope of Paradise. Even near the end of her life, when she was facing emergency surgery, she was able to take a stand for righteousness. It was 1985, and Laurel was 72 years old. As her surgery approached, her doctor came in to tell her that they could not do the surgery without blood. Her daughter Kay explained her mother’s wishes to abstain from blood because by this time Laurel was so weak she could hardly talk. She had tubes down her throat and could barely whisper. Her whole body was poisoned from a bowel obstruction, and she looked almost dead.

But the doctor said that he needed to hear this stand on blood from Laurel. We whispered in her ear: "Laurel, you need to tell the doctor yourself about the blood." All of a sudden, to my astonishment, her eyes opened wide, her voice got loud, and she spoke to the doctor about her stand on blood. She cited scriptures, explaining that Jehovah’s Witnesses feel that to accept a blood transfusion would be a sin against God. I’ll never forget what she said next. "Doctor, if you save my life and I wake up and find that you have violated my body, I’ll wish I was dead, and you would have worked for nothing." At this, the doctor was not only convinced of her stand but amazed at her strength and agreed to abide by her wishes.

Laurel underwent a four-hour-long operation with some success. After the surgery, the doctors removed her from the lung for the first time in 37 years and placed her on a hospital bed. They attached her to a modern respirator using her tracheostomy. This had been her worst fear. Now, because the modern respirator was attached to the tracheostomy tube in her throat, she was unable to speak. She was panic-stricken as she felt that she was not getting enough air. She died three days later, on August 17, 1985, from complications related to the surgery.

I remember her final words to me, probably the last words she spoke, just before she was put under anesthetic. She said: "Chris, don’t ever leave me." Now as I look forward to the end of this old system of things and the coming resurrection, I dream of the day when I can hug my friend Laurel Nisbet and say: "I’m here. I never left you."—AstoldbyChristineTabery.

*** g93 9/22 p. 9 Loneliness—Are You Determined to Fight It and Win? ***

WhereYouTendaRose,aThistleCannotGrow

Fill the soil of your mind with seeds of beauty and positive purpose; leave no room for the seeds of negative despair and bleak loneliness. (Compare Colossians 3:2; 4:2.) Difficult to do? Under certain circumstances, seemingly impossible. A poet noted: "Where you tend a rose, . . . a thistle cannot grow," which again requires positive effort and determined exercise of willpower. But it can be done, is being done.

Take the case of Laurel Nisbet. She contracted polio and at 36 years of age was placed in an iron lung, where she lay flat on her back for 37 years. Totally paralyzed from the neck down, she could move her head, but that was all. At first she was sad beyond despair. Then, after about a day of self-pity, she decided, ‘Enough of that!’ She had two children to raise and a husband to care for. She began to rebuild her life; she learned to manage her home from an iron lung.

Laurel slept very little. How did she pass the long nighttime hours? Giving in to loneliness? No. She prayed to her heavenly Father, Jehovah. Prayed for strength for herself, prayed for her Christian brothers and sisters, and prayed for opportunities to witness to others about God’s Kingdom. She devised ways to preach and impressed many by her witnessing for Jehovah’s name. She allowed no thistles of loneliness to grow; she was too busy tending the roses.

And the milk it for what it is worth.

*** km 8/96 p. 1 par. 3 No Letup in Declaring the Good News ***

3
Modern-Day Examples of Preaching Without Letup: One sister, a victim of polio, was confined to an iron lung. She was not able to go to the Kingdom Hall or attend an assembly. But she was intensely occupied with declaring the good news. During her 37-year confinement, she was able to help 17 people learn the truth! How did she do it? Although unable to go from door to door, she found a way each day to witness informally to those who came in contact with her.

*** w01 9/15 pp. 17-18 par. 10 Jehovah’s Blessing Makes Us Rich ***

Consider the example of Laurel, who was stricken with polio and lived in an iron lung for 37 years. In spite of her extremely trying circumstances, she served God zealously until her death. Over the years, Jehovah’s rich blessing overtook Laurel. For instance, she was able to help some 17 individuals to come to an accurate knowledge of Bible truth, even though she was confined to her machine 24 hours a day! Her situation calls to mind the apostle Paul’s words: "When I am weak, then I am powerful." (2 Corinthians 12:10) Yes, any success we might have in preaching the good news stems, not from our own ability and power, but from God’s help by holy spirit, which he gives to those who keep on listening to his voice.—Isaiah 40:29-31.

There are 2 individuals:

*** w57 11/1 p. 655 Preaching Despite Handicaps ***One of the regular ministers of the Bell Gardens, California, congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses is undergoing trying experiences. He was stricken with a very bad case of polio about four years ago. He was kept in an iron lung for nearly one year following his attack of polio, and since coming out of the iron lung he has spent day and night on a rocking bed, and, with the help of a respiratory machine, he manages to stay alive. More important, he is very much alive spiritually. He is married to a loyal wife, who is assisting in rearing their small son in a theocratic manner. The service center of that community is located in his small apartment and the brother takes a lively part in the book study held there. He also takes his turn in giving instruction and student talks in the local theocratic ministry school by means of tape recordings. When he is frequently given service meeting assignments he does not say he is not feeling well or is too hard pressed but, rather, he tapes his assignment and sends it down to the Kingdom Hall with punctuality. In his field service he has good results. With the co-operation of the brothers he has a supply of names of persons to whom he sends letters (written by obliging witnesses) and a fine witness is given telling the persons of the kingdom of Jehovah. There is not a more cheerful brother in that congregation and he does a great deal to strengthen many of the publishers by his fine counsel. As his bed rocks back and forth day and night and his respiratory machine drones on, aiding him to breathe, instead of just lying there pitying himself this brother keeps his mind progressive and cheerful by feeding it daily on the truth Jehovah provides.

i said "yup, she placed 2 readers digests and a womans weekly "

ok so i exaggerated a tad for my aunts benefit but it was worth it for the expression on her face.

106 year old sister auxiliary pioneers - Jan KM

Honesty

Ozner

jayhawk1

wildfell

Emma

wha happened?

blondie

justhuman

Nosferatu

nelly136

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