NOT on JW.org. Massive growth of new congregations in Africa? Really?

by Balaamsass2 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Balaamsass2

  5/25/2025 "

  Lady shares her experience attending a "Jehovah’s Witness church after accepting an invitation from one of their members"

  A Nigerian lady shares her unexpected and comically awkward experience attending a Jehovah’s Witness service for the first time after accepting an invitation from a persistent male friend, who was a member of the church.

  A Nigerian lady shares her unexpected and comically awkward experience attending a Jehovah’s Witness service for the first time after accepting an invitation from a persistent male friend, who was a member of the church.

  

  She shared a video detailing her experience, with a caption that read;

  “I finally followed that Jehovah’s Witness guy who kept disturbing me to come to their church”.

  According to the lady, she finally gave in to the persistent invite to follow him to his church, expecting a full congregation and a lively service.

  

  However, what awaited her was nothing close to what she had imagined, especially since she had gone on a Sunday when most churches would be packed.

  The lady and the two other guys were the only members present at the venue where the service was held, an uncompleted classroom.

  

  The service itself was just as disappointing, it was watching a live programme on Zoom, on a smartphone.

  Whether it was a misunderstanding or just an extremely modern approach to worship or a spiritual Zoom call, they couldn’t tell.

  

  Netizens burst into laughter at the twist, admiring the gentleman’s unwavering commitment, while others commended her bravery and openness for giving in to the repeated invites.

  https://www.yabaleftonline.ng/lady-shares-her-experience-attending-a-jehovahs-witness-church-after-accepting-an-invitation-from-one-of-their-members-video/

  This is where all those funds for international expansion are supposedly going folks. :)
• 

  NotFormer

  Is there any chance of backlash to anyone here. Like the inviter being carpeted by some elders somewhere for making the org look silly? Or an investigation into his relationship with the invitee?

  Why isn't a congregation of precisely two people merged with a another one "nearby"*?

  * I assume "nearby" means anywhere within twenty miles away across a crocodile 🐊 infested river or two.
• 

  no-zombie

  While I'm sure that the hope of the Governing Body was a publisher increase, driven through the efforts of their RTOs, digital access in the African continent is quite restricted to regional centers. Even past magazine articles has admitted the cost of have a data plans are beyond most people living in rural areas.

  That being said, the poor and the despite will always look at any floating object to take hold of. Thus we shouldn't write-off the Organization in those countries.

  Although I do expect the churn of people in and out of the congregations to be higher than the west, once they begin to realize that being a Witness is going to hinder putting food on their tables.
  
• 

  TonusOH

  I don't think the organization will look poorly on this fellow. He appears to be a dedicated and loyal True Believer, and in places where there is almost no presence, a local with that kind of drive and dedication is worth his weight in gold. This also shows the potential of Zoom and remote teaching; this is the kind of thing they could not have done in the past, and this poor fellow would be required to walk long distances to attend meetings. That would make it very difficult to recruit others.

  The WTS can't afford to be picky these days, but they're probably seeing it as a double-edged razor. It's nice to get more people to join, but there isn't much cash to wring out of them.
• 

  Biahi

  I had to chuckle at the term, “crocodile infested rivers”. I recall this so well, attending meetings is sooo important, you should risk your life to get there. Disgusting.
• 

  FedUpJW

  JW math at work.

  Two "alleged" JW's get one person to come to a meeting, who IF they became a JW would show a whopping 50% increase! Isn't this proof that god is speeding up the work friends? Now IF that person decided that JW was not what they wanted to be and left that would only be a 33 1/3% decrease. So JW gets bragging rights for a 16.7% net increase. Doesn't this tremendous increase show that we are soooo cloooose to the final end friends? Oh by-the-way, don't forget to donate!
• 

  Diogenesister

  What's that "then I will also be in Birmingham in different nations" mean?

  ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ
• 

  NotFormer

  Diogenesister, gotta agree with you, that's a bit of a head scratcher 🤔. Perhaps there is an "and" missing. "I will also be in Birmingham and in different nations", perhaps? Referring to Zooming between congregations in different places, maybe? Or the speech to text function interpreted something completely different as "Birmingham".