G day Ozzies, what a poll!,,, this will open the flood gates, i dont think my comp. has enough megabites to answer this question. however i would like to share a few thoughts with you. some years ago when i was appointed a m.s. i was witnessing on sat. morn with the group and a sister and her 2 young children were with us, nothing unusual there i hear you say. read on. this particular sister had just been recently visited by myself and an elder with the soul purpose of encouraging her to start attending meetings again after an absence of approx 4 years.she said she would consider it.hooray we said.after our visit ended i felt so sad for her as she told us about the reasons she had neglected the meets, her husband a non jw had been drug trafficking, heavy drinking,and abusing all of them in many ways, he finally one day arrived home with a shotgun and said in front of her and the children theres no future put the gun under his chin and fired, please imagine what they went through, so for obvious reasons she fell away, so to speak.the very next meet she turned up after our visit, the elder and i were so pleased to see her and her children,we felt we had restarted her, my wife and i made them welcome, hence she asked us to study with her to help her which we jumped at with glad hearts. progress was made nicely, meets, study, answers, all the usual. the witness sat. mentioned above, was her first in 4 years, my wife and i had got to know her better by now and knew her financial situation wasnt at all very well,after field serv. we informed her that some of us, and all were invited to go to the local mcdonalds for a drink,but she took me to one side and said she couldnt afford to in her present circumstances, and her children had never stepped foot in mcds ever, my wife and i said that we would love to take them and not to worry about money, therefore the whole group of us visited mcds. very next meet elders call me into back room(no not the back room) where i was grilled about taking my group to mcds for a drink after field serv, then told sternly not to do it again,i produced a bible and asked them to show me which scripture mentions mcds,they were not amused, they said by encouraging this habit it is the only reason they go out on the serv. how presumptous! i wasnt quick enough back then but didnt jesus take his disciples to one side and break bread and serve fishes,i think so. any how that was the start for my doubts not about the bible but the stupid ones who always assume bad motives.would it not have been more christian to ask me in the back room to discuss how best they could assist this poor sis and her children.
well ozzies there are many more like that one but we will leave those for another time.
just heard about the awake can you tell us the reasons for this, or is it another big secret like the u.n. jw.
