AHHHH...the love from Bethel!

by LDH 32 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  LDH

  James,

  There is a scripture that talks about "entertaining angels." --some in the cong decided this is what we had done. My parents cared for these young men like they were their own kids. My parents have a track record of helping out any who need them, this I know is in spite of being a JW not because of being a JW.

  And I remember asking Dad why Bethel wouldn't accept the call/help out. To the best of my knowledge he said they probably didn't "want to start a pattern, some might take advantage of the arrangement."

  Talk about selfish bastards!

  You know, they went to the Sunday meeting with us, and everyone was baffled at the Mysterious Bethelites in our midst. As they told some their plight, they received "green Handshakes" JT knows what I mean. Now I don't begrudge them anything. What a bizarre experience.

  Lisa
• 

  amccullough

  I have to say that my time at Bethel was a blast! Me and my friends partied non-stop! I was 19 and hung out with about 20 other guys from 19 to 25. We did everything you can think of from skateboarding through the Office building at night to squirting unknown bethelites with supersoakers from a corner room at 107 (was that what the building across from the Home building was called?) I had a killer room in the Towers building and got to watch the sun set across the Manhattan skyline everynight. Despite the tedious, boring work and problems I had with my supervisor, it was worth the stay.
• 

  Room 215

  LDH,

  Your parents sound like great people; God bless them. However, so many have attitudes like your Dad; i.e. always giving the boys at Bethel the benefit of the doubt wheneer they hear of something so obviously callous as the refusal to take an emergency collect call from one of their own.

  I recall when the Italians in NYC used to use the Bethel Kingdom Hall in the 107 building for their small circuit assemblies. They wer refused use of the Bethel baptismal pool, because the brothers in charge didn't want to be bothered with assigning anyone to open it up on the weekend and supervise. That's how idealistic you men turn cynical, one incident at a time.
• 

  JT

  "green Handshakes"

  U R BAD for letting out the secret- smile

  I bet everyone at the hall was like "her Dad just ordered 3 men from bethel"

  smile
• 

  ozziepost

  Bureacracy kills this instinct in people very quickly.

  So very true. And can you imagine a god who rules the earth through a corporation? The modern-day Baal worshipers perhaps?

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "If our hopes for peace are placed in the hands of imperfect people, they are bound to evaporate."

  
  - Ron Hutchcraft Surviving the Storms of Stress
• 

  Pathofthorns

  Your parents were good people Lisa...

  I think alot of Witnesses were generous when it came to helping out other Witnesses in situations like you mentioned. Many preferred to do things that way than to throw money into the bottomless "worldwide work" box.

  Path
• 

  LDH

  Path, Thanks for the compliment. They are good people.

  JT, well let's just say my sister and I dropped in popularity--until the other girls in the hall figured we could be used as "contacts." heh heh.

  My parents became overnight heroes with the Bethelites, having already been well known. This was just the icing on the cake, and we began hosting Bethelites regularly.

  Jesse Washington
  Eddie Clark
  Gilbert Lopez and his brother Leo
  Ted and Connie Adams

  and the list just goes on. So many more I can't remember.....

  All of the aforementioned are quality people who are just being taken advantage of, IMHO>

  Lisa
• 

  MoeJoJoJo

  Great post LDH!! I enjoy hearing all of the Bethel stories.

  BTW, it just about breaks my heart everytime I see your pic-you look so much like my best friend in the org. - she no longer speaks to me much anymore since I have 'apostate thinking'.
• 

  Room 215

  LDH,

  Thanks for initiating this thread. Without doubt there are so many quality people trapped inside the narrow, stultifying world of Bethel.... so sad. While I fully sympathize with those who post here who've found the place insufferable, and can personally say that my idealism was dented beyond repair, there is for me a residue of fond memomries, in large part just because of the company of the type of people you describe. If I wer to make lists of the ten finest and ten worst people I've ever met, Bethelites would figure prominently on both.

  However, I have to credit the place with having been the source of several life-long friends, some still there, others who've left Bethel and Borg, stil others active JWs on the outside. Comraderie, the sense of a shared mission, the commiseration and sharing with friends over facing a common challenge together, good work habits and personal organization are all dividends paid by the Bethel experience.
• 

  LDH

  You know, I am shocked at the response I have received from this thread!

  I've gotten a TON of emails from people who, apparently, are lurkers. It seems like a lot of people knew that they treat their volunteers like slaves!!!

  It has occurred to me that with Russell/Rutherford's fascination with "classes"--they have turned Bethel into a Socialist / Communist Experiment. Where everything is for the "good of the Org." Nothing is for the good of the person.

  I couldn't have survived a day there. Knowing that there are some STILL there who are sleeping on the floor after all this time, and after how much money they have--it is so sad. It shocks me that they don't treat these human beings like gold. It really does.

  Lisa