Are there any ex-missionaries here??

fulano

I have been a missionary in the Dominican Republic for almost 10 years and I was wondering if there were any ex-missionaries on this forum.
I am back in my country now for 3 years and totally inactive.
What I noticed in those missionary-years was the lack of spiritual interest among the missionaries.
Discussions were about rooms, cars and greater responsibilities, the bad territory
and the local c.o.s and d.os.
Was this only in the DR or are there other experiences??
ere other experiences??

Perfection Seeker

I have no answers to what you are asking, but I do have a question for you- when you were in the height of your service, did you truly believe in the organization? I mean, I believe in Jehovah & God- but do not & have not ever believed in the organization. What led you to leave? Do you have any regrets or doubts? Just curious :-)

TheOldHippie

Whether a missionary or not, whether in the Dominican Republic or not, there is in so many parts of the Earth such a total lack of spiritual interest. Try to start a spiritual dscussion or raise a point at a gathering, and the silence is close to roaring. The talk is about cars, beer and whiskey brands, soccer, clothes, gossip, COs and DOs and rumours and who knows what - ah! I forgot - and houses and furniture. Strange; the people who once became Witnesses because of their spirituality and interest in the Bible and in spiritual things or the supernatural and prophecy and voices and who knows what, and who were so eager to read and study and investigate and discuss and talk - WHERE HAVE THEY ALL GONE? Now they have become people of the other sortI wrote about. The spiritually minded ones are hard to find, they are few. And everybody is watching each other, afraid of uttering some false words, some words of doubt or critisism; no, better keep to the party line, being in front, never looking depressed or anything but smiling.

Strange ....................

zenpunk

I "served" in Ireland for two years (the only missionary hope for sisters who didn't want to marry and go to Gillead with their husbands). I think the entire country wasn't interested. And, talk about "God Will never leave a servant begging for bread", I was actually hospitalized for malnutrition and even resorted to begging for food at times. It was the begining of the end of my time as a JW.

Mister Biggs

I'm no former Missionary but...

I wanted to know if you knew Marilyn Perreira or a Sister Epps?

Room 215

Old Hippie, Fulano:

Your comments about JWs being basically unspiritual despite their slavish adherence to a brutal, unremitting schedule of meetings, service, assemblies, etc. is apt. When, for example, one files out of a theater after having seen a movie or play, the deprating crowd often comments about what they've just seen, etc. In contrast at the Kingdom Hal, once the closing prayer is finished, the last thing JWs want to talk about is what they've just sat through. The talk reverts immediately to mundance interests of house, car, sports, vacations, etc. Everyone is glad to have gotten through one more installment payment on their New World domicile.

Whether meeting attendance of field service, it's become a meaningless, mechanical going through the motions for more and more JWs, an empty chrade or ritual.

Kaiser Stuhl

Fulano, I am sorry to hear you are worn out. Missionary work is very hard and people who have never done it will never know how hard it can be, especially if it isn't overseen well. burnout is a big problem.

I served in one of the remotest places on earth and bear scars to prove it.

I sincerly hope your batteries recharge.

k.s.

TweetieBird

Fulano, thank you for a very interesting post. I hope that many more will see this, as it has been my experience with ex-missionaries, CO's and DO's and especially the rank & file, that their lives are concerned with personal things or gossiping about others in the congregation.

Room 215 brings out a very good point and sooooo true. Only once in a blue moon did I ever hear anyone come out of the hall talking about the talk. I do remember some excellent talks being given at the hall or assemblies, but the majority of the time it was the same old drizzle that I had heard for years and years. Usually, I left the meetings feeling destined to die at Armageddon because I would never measure up.

fulano

@ Kaiser stuhl.

Thanks for your understanding. That was really the problem in the DR, there was no understanding of the needs of the

missionaries. Oh yes we had nice missionary-homes but the ambience in the home was rotten many times. Fights at the morning worships, my wife even got attacked by a missionary (yes they were send away, in fact now they live on Columbia heights).

And serving in terrotories were we went every three weeks through, I told them...I could have done that at home!!

And always additional works, guests who had to be treated as kings, especially when they were from Brooklyn.

Than my wife had an accident on her motorcicle, and got stressed because of the situation in the home. We were send to Brooklyn and Patterson for treatment.

The end of the story was that we had to go back to our home-country...guess who had tp pay the tickets??

Yes, me. Well I refused to do so, so finaly they told me they would borrow the money. Yeah right I never paid back.

Back "home", I mean what is home after 9 years, nobody was interested in if my wife could get further treatment, if we could get a house, job and so on.

We felt all alone, and made me quit.

fulano

@ Mr. Biggs, no I am sorry I do not recognize those names.

Are there any ex-missionaries here??

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