Door To Door? Not At Heathrow!

Englishman

All this talk about whether door to door work is fruitful or not has really got me thinking.

So I was wondering, (a) How many JW's or ex's here were actually converted on the door, and (b) How many JW's or ex's here ever obtained a convert on the door?

I made 2 converts whilst a JW, but 1 was the son of an interested person, the other was a wayward son of a weak sister so I get a zero.

My dad worked at London Heathrow as an air traffic controller, he got 6 other controllers to join up, so if you're arriving in the UK, don't fly Apostasy Airways! For all his frequent bouts of vac pioneering, I don't think that he ever pulled a live one off the doors, so he gets a zero too.

My mum was quite a puller in her time but they were all friends of friends who came to sit in on Bible studies etc, so, sorry mater, you get a zero also.

As a matter of fact, I'm wondering if the door to door work isn't completely pointless!

Englishman.

uncle_onion

Same here. I pioneered for a long time and so did the missus. Zero here although I have scored 2 in the "get em out" ministry!

UO

outnfree

Wasn't converted at the door.
Never converted anyone at the door. (Actually, never converted anyone, not even my own kids. Which is sort of a relief...)

outnfree

BadAssociate

As a matter of fact, I'm wondering if the door to door work isn't completely pointless!

dunno e-man - maybe not pointless - lets just say

actively achieving nothing

BADASSOCIATE

e-man u are very

joelbear

During my time as a pioneer I had probably 30 bible studies. One Sunday I actually had 7 of them at the meeting at one time, 4 of whom I picked up in my horrible pioneer car (We called it Myrtle the Turtle and the accelerator would stick and cause the car to go full throttle unexpectedly, it was quite an adventure).

I had 3 of my studies get baptized. One was a guy whose whole family were witnesses and who was in love with a pioneer sister in our congregation. She broke it off right after he was baptized, however he stayed a witness as far as I know. One other was a study I took over from someone else right at the end of the truth book, so I don't know if I should count him or not, but he was the result of door to door work.

The third was an elderly lady who I called on myself. She had studied with the witnesses as a young woman but had never become associated. She was about 80 years old. We baptized her in the whirlpool of a local health spa since she was unable healthwise to make it to an assembly. Her family later put her in a nursing home.
She called me one day to tell me she couldn't be a Jehovah's Witness anymore since her family was going to force her to take a blood transfusion. She was broken hearted. I told her not to worry about it, that she knew she loved Jehovah and that he loved her. She died shortly after that and her family wouldn't allow her to have a witness funeral. Irene epitomized why I wanted to be a pioneer. I brought her hope and gave her some comfort during the last years of her life. I will always count my time with her as some of the most cherished of my life.

hugs

Joel
www.joelbear.com

battman

IMHO I feel the D2D has a point, a very sharp point.
It is about the size of a rafter and it is
blinding the eye of the R&F. I finally pulled one
out of my blind eye and "I can see, I can see, I can see.

Also it is not even scriptual. Check out the Kingdom
Interlinear vs Emphatic Diaglott at Acts 20 and see the
different renderings. For $um reason the FDS choose
the King James version of house to house.

The point here is that yes the "Truth" will set you free
but you must get rid of that splinter/rafter.

Thanks to all for your excellent, insightful and often very
humorous posts.

battman

Duncan

Hi again Englishman,

As you say, very few come in via the door-to-door work, but there is a multiplier effect once they're in.

My mum was cold-called at the door in 1959/60 sometime. She was baptised in 1961, and then, like dominoes: my Dad in 1968, my older sister and me in 69, younger brother in 73. Two kids were never baptised but involved at times nonetheless.

Now, apart from my folks, only one sister is left in, but she has brought up 3 kids all dubs, and now they are producing grandchildren.

That's a ratio of more than 10 to 1, original to follow-on converts, as soon as you snare that first one at the door.

I guess that's not unusual, and I guess that's one of the
reasons they do it.

Duncan.

bjc2012

Hi Englishman,

My parents became JWs as a result of the door-to-door work. This was in 1948. In the southern USA at that time, this was the only way to gain converts. Almost no one had relatives who were witnesses as there were so few of them. I did aid two people to become JWs that I met in the door-to-door work. Of course, I have conducted many, many studies with individuals. I eventually realized that for every 10 or so Bible studies you conduct, you might get one convert. It was a very time consuming way to attract people as it would sometimes take two years of study with them before they made a decision to get baptized.

outnfree

Fourteen years (as a publisher) x 12 months x 7 hours (avg.)= 1176 hours publicly + almost always more than the 4 hours allowed to be counted for family study each month = over maybe 1500 hours and NO CONVERTS and now, actually minus ONE convert = [:l?] not an efficient method at all!

outnfree

tergiversator

My mom was contacted at the door in the late 70's/early 80's in California. Several times, in fact, since she kept moving around and losing contact with the witnesses. The last time, when I was a baby, she was left the Live Forever book to read over the weekend. She fully intended to give it back when the witnesses returned, but I got ahold of it and scribbled on it.

Moral 1: Never underestimate the power of the crayon as a weapon of mass destruction.

When they returned, she offered to pay for it, and they said that as long as she already had the book, she should at least learn how to get the best use out of it...

Moral 2: Never underestimate the creativity of pioneers desparate for a study, any study, especially for those hot summer afternoons.

She's the only one left from our family. My dad was involved for only 6 months or so before he disassociated himself (and got divorced, but that's another matter), my brother has been inactive for some time now, and I'm out. 1 loyal witness, 20 years - not such a good show for their investment. And she was one of a very, very few in our congregations who had come in from the door-to-door work.

Door To Door? Not At Heathrow!

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