Taking children out on the ministry

Freedom rocks

Can I ask your views on taking children out on the ministry?

Do you think it's ok/wrong and why?

Do you have any experiences you can share of things you as a child/your children/grandchildren have witnessed on the ministry that they shouldn't have?

Simon

It's the most miserable, boring, pointless endeavour imaginable. Kids should be playing or doing any number of things with their family instead of that crap.

It teaches you stoicism, that's it.

days of future passed

I hated it. I felt embarrassed and stressed out. The one time I mustered up enough will power to offer the magazines, a man took them. Finally! I felt that I had really done something for once.

Returned and the man kindly said, that he had only taken them because I was a kid.

Crushed. Embarrassed.

If I was fortunate, I got to stay in the car for return visits. Even if I baked or was bored, it was better than having to listen to a lecture on bible teachings.

joey jojo

When I was about 11 a hot lady of about 20 came to the door wearing only her underpants and a t-shirt- that was pretty cool.

I remember being screamed at and told to 'piss off' by an irate householder when I was about 14.

My Dad got abused by a guy who told him he shouldn't have his kids out in the blazing heat. QLD, Australia 34 degrees , 90% humidity. It was actually a fair point.

I remember JWs taking their little ones out in field service, and 9 times out of 10 they didn't want to be there. There was one little boy that I still remember to this day. He was something else, the poor kid had some kind of attention deficit disorder. What made matters worse was his mother was a regular auxiliary pioneer, at the time it was a requirement for her to put in 30 hours a month. This kid was all over the place, and very loud. One day I decided to try something with him, and that was I brought with me an art pad and colored pencils, and that done the trick. It was enough to keep him occupied.

Then a few years later after my sister had her baby out in FS as well, she's still a die-hard JW today. The problem was it was the hottest part of the summer, and she had her infant out in the extreme heat.

Even though I didn't leave the JWs until my eldest was around 5 years, I remember only taking him out a couple of times, and the weather was fairly mild. When they were little I was not what you would call regular in my attendance, and going out in the field ministry was not high on my priority list.

LOLS

I think it terrible to drag a child out especial a baby or toddler on field service or make them stand with the parents with their carts on the side of a busy road etc

My sister in-law is one of these crazy people that loves to do this with her poor daughter ,,,,,,,,

I mean these poor kids have to sit threw 2 hours of meetings #Yawn & then get dragged around knocking on doors for another few hours . It makes me seriously annoyed .

caves

No. I dont feel children should be out doing field service.

Several experiences come to mind, heres one.

I was about 10 years old and I was out with our local pioneer (an elders wife) (she was a really nice lady and I probably miss that family the most) anyway,... We were assigned a rural territory, old farming community. There was this older Italian lady that invited us in, it was just the sister and I. So the Italian lady starts to tell us how happy she is we are there. She also informs us that her son is in jail. For in her words 'F&%*ing the neighbors horse' ...'again'. She said he used to do it to their own sheep but then her son decided to use the neighbors horses. She had a very thick accent and she went on and on and in great detail. The jw pioneer sisters eyes were huge. I was on the verge of shock and laughter but managed to hold it in. Then the Italian lady says that she needs a prayer over her lawn mower , that it started on its own the day before. That was it , we were out of there. I still get a goofy look on my face when I think about it.

smiddy3

I am ashamed of myself for making my kids go out in fs with me when I did.I only did up to ten hours a month for most of my fs time of 33 years "in' and I didn`t make them go out every weekend only maybe once a month but not of course for the whole 33 years of my being a JW.

I cant imagine what they would have gone through hoping they wouldn`t meet one of their school mates in the d2d service.

And sad to say on occasion they did.

But taking babies out in FS ? that is so screwed up ,I wasn`t that fu***d up.

truth_b_known

It was brutal to be dragged out in field service as a child. It's cruel to the child and sometime places the child in danger.

TheFadingAlbatros

The worst way to make them, from childhood up, addict to the JW.org,, the most famous cult made in USA, without any respect for their future own power of decision and their inborn innocence. Something really sectarian but surely 100% not biblical.