let me tell you how an elder in one congo I was in "cared" for an "older" one in his flock:
In the last congo I "served" {gag} as an elder, the Service Overseer was (is) in a telephone multi-level marketing (MLM) scam (lets call it MLM Phone). He had an elderly sister in his morning book study (of mostly elderly ones) group. One day she received a telephone bill from the regular phone company (lets call it BIG Phone Co). There was a charge she didnt understand. So she called him since he sold phone service. He happily came over to "explain" it to her. Of course, what this really meant was an opportunity to sucker her into to taking his phone service (since obviously she was no good to actually recruit more salesmen), at least get some commission off her phone bill.
He had her sign some paperwork. He basically slammed her. She thought she was signing up for information about his company...not actually switching providers. A few days later, Her regular phone company (BIG Phone) calls her to verify that she had indeed switched carriers. Of course, Sister Elderly had no idea. Nothing BIG could do, she signed the paperwork. Then Sister Elderly gets a bill from the MLM phone company...even higher than her regular bill...so much for saving money. ..she even lost her Lifeline (special rate for low income elderly) rate.
Because I had been looking out for Sister Elderly (the only elder that bothered to visit on any kind of regular basis), she called me all upset. I came over and sure enough she had signed a contract. And since it was beyond the 3 day cooling off period, it was a done deal. I called the elder and told him to fix it. He said there was nothing he could do. REALLY? I informed him that "dont worry about it, Brother {Snakes} will take care of things." When he wanted to know what that meant....since he knows my hatred for his MLM scam and his hypocrisy in being your friend as long as you sold MLM phone for him, he was worried...., I said "Brother Service Overseer, it doesnt matter...you cant fix it, I can" and I hung up.
I then proceeded to call MLM Phone company and explained the situation to them They were horrified. They said they will immediately suspend payments to Mr. Service Overseer's distributorship...and this guy makes a killing in it.... thousands every month from what I understand.
I knew MLM Phone did it because I got a copy of the email they sent him.... and because I got a panicked call from Brother Service Overseer within a couple of days.......begging me to call off the dogs. I told him "As soon as MLM ports her phone number back to BIG Phone Co, and as soon as MLM reverts the account back to zero...NOT adjust it, NOT credit it...REVERT as if it never took place, and as soon as Sister Elderly gets her first BIG Phone Co. Bill showing everything is fixed...and as soon as she gets a letter from MLM and a ZERO bill.....then and only then will I tell MLM to release your account." He offered to pay her phone bill, I said...NOPE....back to the way it was or no deal.
I thought he was going to die. After many hours (over the course of a week or two) of me being on the phone with MLM Phone and BIG Phone, I finally got it sorted out. If it wasnt for the fact that Brother Service Overseer was married and it was basically their primary source of income, I would have made the ban permanent and hung him out to dry. Once it was sorted, I called MLM and told them everything was fine, let Mr. Service Overseer stay in business.... they told me they warned him not to let them hear about something like this again....lol
***sigh*** you see, Sister Elderly..who is probably 90 now (and her 60 something daughter that lives with her) have no money. So they are of no use to the elders. Just a burden. Even though they were the foundation of that congregation for years and years. They outlived their usefulness and will probably outlive some of those elders.
BTW...I had to stop visiting Sister Elderly after I started my fade....it broke her heart every time I visited and she would cry when she found out I wasnt making meetings at my new congregation.... word got around.... and it broke my heart that I would get calls from the hospital every time she would go in because they couldnt get hold of her second person on her DPA card ....who, ironically, was....drum roll please........Brother Service Overseer...I hated to fade from the old sister, but it was hurting her so much...
those who know me know who I am talking about. Brother Service Overseer is a regular pioneer elder who uses you if you are in his MLM scam... but as soon as they find out it is not selling phone service but really recruiting others to recruit.....and they drop out of MLM Phone.,.,,,,Brother Service Overseer drops them...hmmmm....just like the Watchtower Society....freaking imagine that...
by the way blondie...great review as always...can you tell I hated the subject .... ?
Snakes ()