Why a drop of over 3,700 publishers in the Democratic Republic of Congo? (page 2)

steve2

3,758 people held themselves to account and found something better to do with their valuable time.

freddo

So I saw Outlaw's post and will be sending him a bill for a new keyboard after spraying it with coffee!

Then I saw Wifi's and that sobered me up.

Done a quick bit of internet research and in simplified terms this war seems constant (maybe improving outside the East of the country?) yet the decrease is quite sudden after a run of steady growth?

Has there been very recent migration? Or has the fact that things are a little more peaceful (in Central African terms) meant people aren't "running to God?"

Has a bethel closed/reduced and so the control and communication isn't there?

steve2

Something's a bit fishy because in the same field service report the total number of congregstions for that country increased over the previous service year (2014).

slimboyfat

Is this a peak number of average number? Really lazy not to check myself I know.

Because if it's the peak number it could be abnormally high or low because secretaries sometimes double count lots of publishers who submitted double reports in August, a common practice that has been discussed many times on the forum.

freddo

@SBF Both are "average" figures.

slimboyfat

It's the average figure so that doesn't explain it.

I was going to suggest that the population of the country may have dropped at the same time (as has happened in some Eastern European countries) but quite the reverse, so that's no explanation. Between 2014 and 2015 the population of Congo jumped by almost 8 million from 69 million to 77 million. The jump in population, combined with the drop in JW numbers, meant that the population to JW ratio climbed from 321 to 375. That's a huge change for a single year.

Maybe there was a mass defection or a rival religious group has been formed. It has been known to happen in Africa before.

steve2

Yes you're right SBF. Average figures can fluctuate year-by-year. I haven't got the figures on hand, but I think the peak figure for publishers in Congo also dropped - yet this is also a reminder that peak figures sometimes contain a bit of double-dipping (when publishers forget to hand in their monthly report and put in more than one at a time.

slimboyfat

Steve! Have you ever been to the Congo? Has anyone? I've never been to the Congo.

steve2

No never been to Africa at all. Friends have and they speak so well of being there.

shepherdless

It is not just the 3,758 that have disappeared, there were 10,274 baptised in 2015 as well, so close to 14,000 must have left or died. That is a turnover of over 8% in a single year.

The numbers for countries in that region tend to be odd. There are similar numbers of lots of baptisms but negative growth for countries such as Malawi and Republic of Congo (the other smaller country with the similar name). On the other hand there growth in publishers in Angola for the last couple of years outstrips the baptisms, which beggars belief as well.

There is often an assumption that this religion is growing in the third world. I think the reality is that it is only growing in places such as Latin America and the Philippines. Even in Angola, if you believe the figures, growth is not quite matching population growth.

I have never been to Sub-Saharan Africa either, by the way.

Why a drop of over 3,700 publishers in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

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