Compare this calculations with pre '75 and after 75 numbers! Now preaching one JW more than in the pre75 campaign, and less convert than after75 (/JW).
The most inefficient workers in history
by RunningMan 32 Replies latest jw friends
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NameWithheld
MrSlate: That's funny because I too have yet to have a single visit - and they don't know where I live so I doubt my house is 'marked'.
concerned mama: I'd venture a guess that a great many of these kids leave because they don't truely 'believe' in JWisms, but end up in a limbo state - as they are very ill equiped to go forth and discover new thoughts, especially regarding religion. This leaves them ripe to return to JW-hood as soon as life deals them a blow - they run screaming back to JW thinking "They were right, the 'world' offers nothing". As for pressure to be baptised? You'd better beleive it! Parents, friends, elders, etc. I remember I did it to a) get attention, b) please parents, c) boost self-image. Kind of a "All the cool kids are doing it" type of thing. Did I really have any idea what type of 'contract' I was signing? Yea, right. An 11 year old? I don't think so! Kids that don't get baptised by the time they are in their late teens are often viewed as 'spiritually weak' and most people think they are not getting baptised so they can 'do bad things' and not be punished (at least not DF'ed).
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outnfree
concerned mama,
yes, the kids are pressured. Starting about ages 10-12 they start to get pressured. Why? Because the religion teaches that if a child is born to a couple with at least one believing (that means JW) mate, the child is protected by that parent's faith from destruction at Armageddon. Also, should the child somehow die young in a catastrophic situation, the resurrection hope would hold if one of the parents were true Christian. HOWEVER, once the child is of an age to 'make a stand for Jehovah' him/herself, this protection evaporates and the children are in the terrible (to the parents who worry for their eternal welfare) position of not necessarily being protected from certain destruction. (Of course, only JEHOVAH truly KNOWS if they were yet ready to make a stand and deliberately chose not to, or just were still spiritually immature.)
So the pressure's on. The kids, AND on the parents!
By 12, most JW parents are strongly encouraging their children to get serious and get their own personal study done (the minimum one [presently the Knowledge] book and the Require brochure) so that they can prepare themselves for baptism. When those requirements are met, then they approach the elders and prepare to answer the questions put forth at the back of the Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry book, which is only given out to unbaptized publishers who have expressed an interest in baptism.
So, yes, JW youths who are NOT baptized by 16 or so are looked upon as spiritually weak and likely up to no good.
outnfree,
who never made a convert in 12+ years of door-to-door work! Only Bible studies I ever had were with informal contactsEdited to add "and my own kids!!! lol"