The "30 Other Lands" in the Worldwide Report - revealed!

by cedars 116 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • cedars
    cedars

    steve2 - don't get me wrong, I agree with slimboyfat that it is remarkably candid of the Society to publish these figures at all, especially given that many of them are "embarrassing" as you put it. I actually think it's counterproductive to their agenda to publish these statistics. It really wouldn't surprise me if they soon stopped printing this report altogether, and instead printed their own doctored "summary" of the worldwide preaching work with flattering figures cherry-picked to put a positive spin on things. I actually think they will start doing this in the near future, as they have done with the KM reports.

    When that happens, I think it's fairly safe to suggest we have entered "negative growth". However, in the meantime, the Society are to be commended for their candor in publishing figures that, despite creating an overall positive impression on the surface, reveal deep problems when examined in any detail.

    My point was that whenever the worldwide preaching work is referred to anywhere other than the worldwide report, the impression is given that we are undergoing remarkable increase in all nations of the world thanks to God's blessing of the work. The quote I gave from the very next page on from the worldwide report is just one example, but as you and slim know, I could provide countless other similar quotes if pressed to do so. This is what I mean by an inflated or exaggerated impression being given. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that the Society over-states the effectiveness of its preaching work whenever commenting on the subject in its publications. Slim feels otherwise.

    Cedars

  • Joker10
    Joker10

    There no reports that came in from Afghanistan, North Korea or Somalia during the last service year.

    There are very few publishers in Muslim-majority countries. The 2,600 publishers in North Africa are mostly concentrated in Egypt, Djibouti and Eritrea. Publishers who work abroad and college students make up a considerable percentage of all publishers in the 'other' African countries. Growth is slow in this part of the continent because of restriction on religion. Last year growth was only 1%, although it has been higher in the past. Elders are very careful here not to just baptize anyone, waiting for at least one year, sometimes two or even more.

    In Egypt, JWs are now able to gather in larger groups. Things seemed to be going very good. JWs sometimes do street work with little interference. But with the new political climate, it is now uncertain if there will be any additional progress.

    There is a sizable group of JWs in Jordan and Syria, and smaller groups in Iran and Iraq. Most of the other Arab nations have a far less number of publishers. The 23,600 publishers in the other countries in Asia are mostly found in the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan, and in the southeastern countries. There are a couple of thousand publishers in Vietnam and Laos with over 60 congregations and growing in double digits (%) each year. JWs conduct many Bible studies there. Things are only getting better as the countries are getting more tolerant.

    It is really tough for JWs to break into China, but they are doing it thanks to publishers who are returning to the country. The number of Chinese Witnesses is growing fast, numbering 4,000 in the U.S alone. Excluding Hong Kong and South Korea, there would still be over 500 congregations and groups in the rest of the world. Chinese Witnesses are putting effort to preach to their relatives that are back home. Thanks to the success that has been taking place, there are now publishers spread out in many parts of China. In the northeastern part, there are some buildings that serve as Kingdom Halls.

    JWs grew in Asia by 14% last year and have an average of 1.7 Bible studies per publisher.

  • jookbeard
    jookbeard

    Joker10; there is a stat circulating that it takes almost 6000 hours of Field Circus to produce 1 single baptism, I noticed you don't usually quote stats like this in your posts.

  • cedars
    cedars

    Joker10 - I'd love to know your source for all these stats about banned countries. None of what you've written is in the worldwide report.

    Is there a document you'd care to leak?!

    Cedars

  • wasblind
    wasblind

    Joker10,

    stats please

  • steve2
    steve2
    I don't think it's unfair to suggest that the Society over-states the effectiveness of its preaching work whenever commenting on the subject in its publications.

    Many thanks for clarifying cedars. I pretty much have no argument with your well reasoned overview

    I would also agree with you on the following:

    Away from the annual published figures, the publications are cunningly selective in the kind of statistics presented to the rank and file. In an upcoming Kingdom Ministry they report a high percentage increase in return visits in the USA for the month of February 2012 (compared to the previous February). I did a double take because initially when I read it, I thought it was reporting a huge percentage increase in US publishers for that month - until I realized it was for return visits. Then I realized it was referring to return visits, I thought it's actually hard to know what to make about such an increase, especially if return visits had been low the previous February so any seeming increase is not that impressive. A king of meaningless "positive" report.

  • cedars
    cedars

    Steve2 - precisely. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy for people to disagree with me, but I'm glad we're on the same page! The picture painted of the worldwide work in the Society's published rhetoric is an exaggeration of the printed statistics, to say the least (especially given the Society's aspirations).

    As regards return visits - another factor is that your idea of a "return visit" and someone else's idea may be very different. Some count them for simply posting mags through the letterbox when nobody's at home, whereas others count them for having actual (albeit brief) conversations with people. I know at least one regular pioneer who counts return visits simply for leaving the magazines in a laundrette! Crazy stuff.

    Cedars

  • Bangalore
    Bangalore
  • cedars
    cedars

    Thanks Bangalore - I love those Italians! They also jumped on the toxic waste scandal as soon as that came out.

    It's nice to know the word is getting out in different languages.

    Cedars

  • truthlover
    truthlover

    Cedars:

    How can I print this off? Its a great report, many thanks for the clarity of the info.. but I have tried to print it off and cannot do so

    thanks

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