by JV 29 Replies latest jw friends
They always drag out a couple of pioneers on to the stage and "interview" them. The one question they always ask is if the pioneers have any regrets over pioneering.
Any regrets bro/sis so-in-so? Please!!! Why do they ask such lame questions? As if they are going to allow anyone to go up there on stage and talk about any regrets they really have about pioneering.
I regret that being my goal as a teenager in high school. I aux. pioneered in the summers and the only thing I planned to do with my life was reg. pioneer....I regret not trying to get scholarships and go away to school.I hear you on that Desib. Are you in school now?
Ditto what DesiB said. I pioneered for 4 years. A university education down the drain. I'm just now lining up my life to get practical training and be able to go to college eventually. I also regret not spending some of that time traveling, dating, goofing off... 4 years of my childhood (aren't we still kids at that age?) gone and wasted.
Poop. now I'm depressed.
Sandy:
It's scripted. They have to ask those questions. I've been on both sides of those interviews, and you don't have much latitude, at all.
Regrets? yes, and the only excuse I can come up with is it was 1975, I was 18 looking for answers, and cultish groups were still much in fashion. Two years spent on the next apocalypse. Well, at least I didn't acquire any bad habits other than annoying the hell out of the community.
Looking back now, I have no excuse! I lived with non-JWs that implored me to go to college and had saved for years to pay for my education. They advised me to get involved with a religion that actually helps the poor, hungry, needy and quit embarrassing myself. Who is the smart one in this family? The WT pulled through for me in the end. It took several years, by way of hypocrisy, guilt, intimidation & time demands to finally convince me it was time not well spent.
I pioneered for one year and that was it for me. I did so horrible on the time that I was asked to discontinue (as I imagine I was bringing the average of the other pioneers down). Well after that I realized that whenever I felt like it, I could spend 90 hours in the ministry (trust me I never felt like it), and yet still be a "regular publisher". Point being, PIONEER is only a title, such lilke Manager or VP is a title in a corporation. Its there to distinguish, and for those with an improper view of themselves, its there to elevate.
TO be honest, so much time was spent driving from one end of the territory to the other looking for return visits who were NEVER home (why would they be, people have JOBS) and in the meantime we were passing people left and right on the street. I thought the point was to TALK TO PEOPLE, but it seemed like the sisters enjoyed talking (gossiping) to each other more. And that is why I question the year totals. How much of this time is really spent PREACHING? Even people who work on projects get to count some time in their hour total. Thats not time spent preaching, so don't present it as such! Misleading!
Did I regret that year? Yes. I did so horrible with the time (the quota was 90 hours, but I was doing about 20) that it led me into a tailspin and a depression that I never really recovered from. I felt like a failure, not good enough, and despite the fact that my 20 hours was TWICE the national average, I was made to feel like a complete failure and I even told the elders that I will never pioneer again.
I pioneered for 13 years, from 1973 to 1986. What did I get out of it? On the plus side, I probably wouldn't have met Big Tex if we hadn't both been pioneering (and I was so bored I accepted an invitation from a couple of mutual friends to go out in service in their congregation). I learned how to talk to people under all sorts of conditions. At the time, I felt as though I was doing the most important thing in the world for my Creator, and that made me feel really good.
On the negative side, I wish I'd finished college, and I wish I'd started working full-time earlier so I could have experienced living on my own before marriage. And, if I'd had the sense to get a full-time job after marriage, we'd probably have a real retirement fund going for those halcyon days after Armageddon didn't come.
Nina
I was a regular pioneer for five years. It was very difficult because I attended college full time. Got more flak than I should have for attending school, but that is a story for another day. I will admit that I liked pioneering. At one time I valued that privledge. Now I look at it in agnst. I feel very grateful to have received an education in the process. It's never to late to go back to school!
I enjoyed it to some degree. I regret only one thing, that I did not experience some things in life that I could have done. I actually wished I went to Bethel, as I actually would have liked the adventure and experience of seeing what it was like first hand. Not that I think now, that I was doing gods work. I just wanted to go to the big city and get out of small town america.
3 long years Regular, quit after '1975' anybody have a guess WHY...??? My non-JW father saved up and was going to pay for all my college education...he kicked me out after I started pioneering. Later, when I had a family started, I asked if he would still help me with college -- nope, you made your choice ! I don't blame him now...!
Wasted...? Yes. Regrets...? I 'brought' a few people 'into the Truth', wonder how they are faring now. * sigh *
I too, got the 'counsel' that I could 'do' more...to acheive my 'goal' of MS & Elder. At least that never happened.
