Witness reaching out to me after 20+ years...

SouthCentral

A few weeks ago; a witness couple from the Midwest reached out to me after 25+ years. They said they were doing a letter writing campaign and decided to reach out to me… They called on my personal cell phone, which was a little surprising. A few days ago, a couple that I knew from over 40 years ago, sent me a text, again to my personal cell phone.

I assume that they just Googled my name to get the personal info. Still surprising nonetheless.

Is there an active campaign going on to reach out? My wife assumes that we’re on some inactive list and the organization is encouraging everyone to reach out to all friends; because we are so close to the end… What say you?

betterdaze

Is there an active campaign going on to reach out?

I think the answer is yes. In addition to the fact that Witnesses have no sense of time or boundaries for those who have moved on peacefully.

My elderly JW parent has not been to a meeting in ages due to illness. Yet Brother-So-and-So, who we do not know, called the house to drop off magazines. Another never-baptized sibling agreed, "Okay."

The rags were quickly found in the clutch of a stone lion statue on the front porch. Due to Covid, we let them sit and stew in the heat for over a week.

Finally I brought them in. "Hey, JW parent, Brother Reinstated is counting his hours. Would you like to read your new [old] magazines?"

Answer:

"Do we have any ice cream left?"

skin

With the normal preaching work on hold, witnesses are having to count their hours via other means, namely phone calls and letter writing 🔡

SouthCentral

The midwestern couple hinted; but they never asked if I was still going to the meetings… It’s obviously a question I don’t want to deal with.

Also, a friend who i used to regularly associate with said; “I don’t know if you’re going to the meetings or not… But we all know the end is close……”

it definitely seems like an organized effort.

JeffT

You know, there's some old friends I'd love to sit and chat with about what's happened in the last thirty years or so. It would probably be a short conversation as soon as they figure out I'm done with the religion. I have a mental image of this conversation:

JW: "Say, Jeff, what does your congregation think of that beard?"

Me: "I have no idea, I haven't been in a Kingdom Hall since 1988."

Let them contemplate the meaning of that time frame.

ToesUp

It's all about the "time." Since there is no door to door preaching, JW's have to get their "time in."

stan livedeath

probably a lot easier re-kindling an old interest rather than trying to find someone to start from the beginning with.

Anders Andersen

At the moment they can't go door to door.

They can only send letter, emails, or call people on the phone.

But when they all do that all the time, their actions will be seen as spamming.

So the GB has instructed JW to only mail/call people they already personally know.

Problem: JW don't really know too much people who aren't JW.

Now they all go through their rolodex to desperately search for some former or non-JW who they can send a recruitment letter.

Not really an organized effort to target you or others. It's a side effect of Covid-19.

stan livedeath

of course--a very real risk is that any person being contacted by former friends in this way could well end up showing their former friends the real truth about the truth.

truth_b_known

There is a definite effort by JWs to try to "re-active" "inactive" Witnesses. I received a link to a video on their website via text message. The video was made for that direct purpose.

There was another video drama done showing a former Witness walking past a literature cart on her morning commute. There is a flashback scene where she remembers her baptism as a child. Then she attends a convention.

Witness reaching out to me after 20+ years...

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