“My Bethel account was blocked on August 31st, around 9 PM in my country’s time. I was sitting at my computer when it prompted me for a password, which I entered, but it was immediately rejected. The next morning, I called a brother who works in Translation Computer Support (TCS). He created an incident report and forwarded it to our branch’s computer department. He just said that ‘the matter was being taken care of.’ On Saturday, September 2nd, I received a call from the Language overseer early, around 6 AM. He said he needed my assistance and would come to the house where Bethel was renting, where I lived and worked as a BRS. As he was approaching, he messaged me to dress as if I were going to the Kingdom Hall. I wasn’t ready for this, so I scrambled to find a shirt, pants, and tie to wear. He said “Lets grab the laptops and bring them with it wouldn’t take long.” He said It was a quick matter. We left and went to a Kingdom Hall far from the city in his car. Along the way, he had arranged to pick up another elder and He had pretended he was giving him a ride.
- That is odd. Did that give you an indication something was off?
” Yeah that’s when I was becoming real suspicious of the situation. When we arrived at the Kingdom Hall, he turned on his laptop and joined a Zoom meeting where other Elders were. We had a prayer, read a Bible verse from Proverbs 28:13. Then they explained that the purpose of our meeting was to find out what was happening with my Bethel account. They started asking questions like, “Do you use social media?” I said yes. They asked which ones, and I mentioned them. “Do you have a YouTube channel?” I said no. “Have you heard of the Warwick Pimo channel?” I froze for a moment, realizing they have discovered something, this is it. I wanted to see how much they knew though, so I said no.“Have you ever read apostate materials?” I said no. “Have you ever heard of or used Reddit?” I said no. “Have you heard of the Exjw forum?” I said I hadn’t. They asked for my cellphone number, and I provided it. Then, they asked if I had ever created email addresses using these phone numbers, to which I said yes. They asked which ones, and I mentioned my personal email that they knew about. Then, they asked if I knew the email addresses xxx and xxx. I said I didn’t. (These were the email addresses I used for apostate purposes, including creating the YouTube account.) They asked if I knew of the audit meeting file (the file that caused me trouble). I said no. They said, “You downloaded this file from SharePoint using your Bethel username. Have you ever shared your login credentials?” I said no.
So it was obvious they had a good indication it was you, they knew enough to make you sweat, and they did this blindsiding you.
” Yes, I was a little surprised with how sporadic this all was. Next a brother in the Zoom meeting said, “Based on the evidence, we are sure that the YouTube channel is yours, and you were the leaker of this channel. Since you don’t admit that it’s your account, we will take legal action. This action will uncover the truth and create serious problems for you. It’s better for you to admit your mistake, and we can proceed within Jehovah’s loving arrangement. Normally, you should be in court answering for this crime. What you’ve done is a crime, brother.”
(The loving provision is that Jehovah’s Witnesses should not go to court to resolve their issues; everything should be resolved within the congregation.)
“So I folded. I admitted that I was behind everything that had happened. Another prayer was said, and the hearing continued. They repeated the questions, I confirmed. They asked about the reasons for me joining an apostate forum.I explained “one day while browsing, I saw information about Jehovah’s Witnesses and when I entered, I found a discussion about Brother Geoffrey Jackson lying in court. Then days later, I saw the video of Brother Morris buying a large quantity of expensive drinks in a liquor store” This is something a normal Bethelite cannot do and remain in good standing. They are held under more extreme rules then the average Jehovah’s Witness not residing within.
” I watched for their reactions. The brother just got up and left with the laptop connected to Zoom still. I didn’t hear they were discussing, but he came back and said they decided it was better to move from the Kingdom Hall to the RTO. (Remote Translation Office) When we arrived at the RTO, the questioning continued with the zoom from the others in Bethel. They asked what was discussed on the Exjw forum on Reddit. I said various topics: Brother Morris leaving the Governing Body, the $250,000 house the organization bought for him, and the videos of Brother Tony. They asked if I knew anyone personally on the forum. I said “No, most members prefer to remain anonymous to avoid problems like this, mine, as there are people in the PID department monitoring the Exjw community and reporting everything to Bethel, which then informs the elders.” They seemed alarmed and didn’t speak for about a minute. Then they asked “who frequents the forum and how many there are?” I said “The forum is full of Jehovah’s Witnesses and ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, with around 90,000 users.” They once again asked me to mention the usernames of some former Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I said I couldn’t remember. They asked about the meaning of Pimo, Pomo, and Pimi. -They already knew the meanings and confirmed them. Regarding thr protests: “Did the leaked files aim to help those protesting at the White House?” I said “no.”
They asked for my phone with all the applications I used to leak files. I refused, they insisted again, and I said it was illegal. Interestingly, at this point, they said“Your videos and the leaked videos put the Governing Body and the organization in danger. The material that leaked is what apostates need to undermine the organization. You provided them with everything they needed.” (In my heart, I thought that those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear.) - Apostates is a typical fear tactic term the organization has been using for a very long time, to scare their followers from reading other information about the organization.
“They asked if I knew the risk the organization would face for putting SFL* (Shepard of The Flock of God- Elders Textbook) information in the hands of apostates. I said “The SFL was already available on Avoidjw before I did that. This upcoming update will be available there soon as well.” The elders were left speechless. The information that they said that shocked the organization included: the process for someone to enter Bethel, the visit to the world headquarters (where I explained what was behind the visit), and the video where an elder is removed from the body of elders because his daughter is going to college, along with the videos of Brother Tony. When they dismissed me and I tried to access YouTube after, my account no longer existed. So, that email address I created can no longer create a YouTube channel- down in minutes. - This gives a hint that elders not in Headquarters are only told what they need to know by Headquarters, not what is actually happening.” The Following Tuesday was your official Judicial committee, even though they already hounded you right?
” Yeah, I expected this now. On the following Tuesday at 3 PM my local time, I received a call from three elders informing me that a judicial committee had been formed, and I was accused of apostasy and stealing files from the organization. They asked me to come to the Kingdom Hall at 7:45 AM the next day. I agreed, arrived there, and the hearing began. You may not believe it, but they repeated the same 15 some questions in different ways and for a long time. My head was spinning. At 1 PM, they said I should go home, have lunch, and they would call me to inform me of the final decision. I went home, and at 3 PM, they called me to go to another Kingdom Hall because the one we used in the morning was needed for a meeting. - Sounds like they were throwing you everywhere, constant switching of locations, and they were scattered as well.
” Yes and let me clarify something: I presented things in a way this time that they couldn’t find reasons to disfellowship me. Because of this, they called Bethel. I could see it happening through the window when they left the room again and the call was made. It seemed like Bethel had already decided what needed to be done to some extent. They came back, and the brother said, “Due to the severity of your sin, and after checking the organization’s guidelines and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we have decided that you must cease to be a Jehovah’s Witness.” After that, I went home, wrote a letter requesting an appeal committee. In it, I explained that the judicial committee disfellowshipped me based on the severity of the case, which goes against what the organization teaches. A Bethel appeal committee was sent on Friday, asking the same questions, and in the end, they agreed with the original judicial committee. I regretted, but my repentance wasn’t proportional to the gravity of the sin. On the 19th, my sources from Bethel, not the RTO, informed me that the announcement was made to the Bethel family about me no longer being a Jehovah’s Witness.” - That is a intense and lonely thing to go through, that kind of announcement. They sure put you through the ringer. To be clear, you are not going to court- and other than them threatening legal action the one time, they disfellowshipped you instead?
“They said they would take the matter to court IF I continue to deny that the channel is mine and that I was the one leaking information. They asked me not to record the judicial hearing, but I was happy to share it with you.”
“Right now, I’m tying to survive. The past few days have been a daze, A lot happened. I’ve been worried, confused, hurt. Now I am thinking more clearly about what had all happened. This time has been very difficult for me. I can hardly respond to emails, but I have been trying. I’ve found a temporary place to live while I look for a more permanent residence. I am out of Bethel housing. However, it depends on finding employment. For now, I’m just trying to make ends meet. Things are not easy in Africa, especially because I left without saving much to survive. With the help of some community members through my PayPal [email protected], at least I am able to eat and take care of a few things while I search for a home and a job. Those who left Bethel in the same way I did understand what this means. That’s why I say it’s not easy in my country. If I were in the United States, I would have a job and a place to stay; many friends from the community offered me these options, but unfortunately, I’m not in the United States. I’m very grateful for your concern.”
