once a month about 15 to 20 elderly jw publishers would meet at the kingdom hall and one elder was assigned to set up the system so they could view jw broadcasting.
these publishers were long time pioneers, former elders, and long time publishers who know nothing about computers or the internet.
they are the last batch of those expecting the generation that saw 1914 or understood it--- to not die off.
Funny, when I first left the dubs, I had never cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving. My then fiancee, now wife (never a dub), had to work our first Thanksgiving together. She had to work at 5 am. It was left to me to prepare for her family.
How did I learn? I looked it up on the internet, that same place, while still an elder, I learned TTATT right here on JWD.
What a great tool the internet. I hope this refusal to help the elderly sisters leads them to the net, but not to J W dot borg. lol
Snakes
i recently heard angelo catanzaro, a rather prominent figure in the organization .. a long-time district overseer and a favorite of knorr's, died recently.
there was some indication that he and his wife figured out ttatt in their latter years and turned "apostate"... .
does anyone out there know what happened to them?
I think Angelo was in the St. Louis area in the 70s when I was a kid. Shrugs.
Snakes
so fisherperson sent me a pm asking a bunch of questions re my time at beth hell.
rather than respond in a pm i will post the q/a here as i have nothing to hide.
q:what years did you serve in brooklyn bethel?
I was never a FT bethelite, but I temped twice, one for 3 week in Brooklyn (around 1989), the other for 4 weeks in Walkill (95 I think). I loved Walkill, esp. In October.
I was assigned to a crew at Walkill, I think finish carpentry, which I was distinctlu UNqualified for. For a few days, I was assigned to work on the roof of a new residence building. One day during lunch, I stayed on the roof, enjoyed the day, took some great pics.
The next day at Morning Worshit, an Announcement was made that no one was to be on the roof during lunch. LOL. Oops.
One week cabinets were being delivered to the farm from brooklyn. A whole shed full. I was assigned the task of breaking down the shipment so they could be moved to the new building. No direction on HOW. I organized, repalletized by room, labeled them, and let the movers know what order to load and unload. Thankfully, no one contradicted the system. Later I was told it was the smoothest fixture install they had, previous heavies that organized it had no clue how to properly expedite.
I was on a cool crew, they even snuck coffee breaks in. They had a sad 4 cup coffeemaker in their shop. I went into town that evening and bought a new 12 cup maker and a package of GOOD coffee. Next day, snuck in early and set up a pot to brew at break. You would have thought they won the lottery. Only one sister knew I set it up. I never said it was me. I had to have my coffee, and the swill they called coffee at breakfast SUCKED.
I could never have survived FT bethel, and in fact, I sent Sydlyk a letter withdrawing my FT bethel ap after that. I made up some $hit about loving the ministry, blah, blah. Got a nice note back, but reality: I hated bethel overall, twice was enough.
Snakes
through personal experiences which i'd rather not relate because it would give away my identity i have come to a realization.
many brothers own businesses that a greatly supported by witness activities.
when local congregations need some service they will prefer to do business with a jw.
As a side note, there is now a mid page banner ad for Ministry Bagz. Smh
Snakes
through personal experiences which i'd rather not relate because it would give away my identity i have come to a realization.
many brothers own businesses that a greatly supported by witness activities.
when local congregations need some service they will prefer to do business with a jw.
Interesting, when you type "Stoops" into Google, Ministry Ideaz pops up 1st on the sponsored ads, above Stoops Manufacturing out of Missouri. Stoops has been in the JW supply game since the 50s. The other since the 90s. Stoops was all the rage when I was a dub. I even stopped in their shop once on a trip. Nothing against people making money, but looks like some places take it over the top. Just an opinion, I never do business with dubs anymore, been burned too many times.
Snakes
i used to post on this site a few years back but after moving on personally and being shunned by my only remaining family member for the last 4-5 years i the j.w's became just background noise to me.
yet yesterday something happened that brought back to me the degree of control this cult has over it's members.
a new wall mart recently opened in my little mountain town here in northern georgia, u.s. as i headed across the parking lot on my way into the store the heat was intense, wit a humidity factor of around 90%.
This is such a non-issue. JWs are nothing more than wallpaper in the background, rarely seen or noticed. At best, the rare pushy dub is a mere annoyance. How we deal with them says more about us than it says about them. Kindness is always the high road, not always easy.
Snakes
our youngest son and his wife (matt and star) welcomed a baby boy yesterday at 7:04 p.m. ivan tomas, 7 lbs.
11 oz., 20 1/4" long.
he is their second child.
Congrats...I still have difficulty not thinking of your kids, and all the kids of that peer group, as being grown MEN. How time flies. I seen the pcs on FB, beautiful baby.
Snakes
6 weeks ago some jws came to my door.
i've been inactive for 8 years.
after they gave their presentation i told them i was inactive.
The JWs are just a nice warm hug that can ruin your life.
The rat being squeezed by a python has no dilusions that it is being hugged.
The Watchtower Society is the python.
Don't be the rat. Once squeezed, it is hard to get away.
Take it from me, a former elder, WT squeezed me until age 42.
Snakes (
there was a jw who was a born in and faded about 10 years ago near a congregation i attended.
he never married or had children and was in his late 30's.
his parents shun him for the most part but then he had a major stroke.
I have a childhood friend, currently DF, who is my age (48), just a couple of months older than me. I found out he had a stroke and is now in a nursing home. He is divorced (I believe not just separated now), his JW mother died a couple of years ago, his younger brother has his own health issues and cannot help. His sister not in the pic either, don't think his siblings are dubs.
Took me awhile, but I finally located him in a nursing home about 20 miles away. He was sitting near the door when I arrived. He has some long term memory but his short term seems damaged. He thinks he has been in the home 10 months. The CNA pulled me aside and told me it had been less than 2 and reminded me he had a stroke and doesn't always make sense. He recognized me immediately and seemed genuinely happy to see me. Physically fine, mentally has TBI. Don't know the prognosis long term. How awful to be 48 and maybe in a home the rest of your life...and not a real high end one either.
Oh, the good news.... the JWs happened upon him and are trying to locate his former congo to consult with them about possible reinstatement.... I just threw up in my mouth a little. On one hand I want him to have people to look after him, on the other, I am saddened it is the dubs. I am not in a position to help or I would.
Sigh. I need to get a new Advanced Directive for my wife and I. This is just a reminder to myself.
Snakes ())
i almost posted this in the humor section, because honestly, i almost thought it was a joke.
my family and i were driving through a suburb of st. louis, missouri this afternoon on the way back to illinois and home.
i took a back road through a bedroom community and ended up on a 2 lane road that led me right past the last kingdom hall i attended in 2007 before i left for good.
If you grew up in the area, Black Jack is the municipality the KH is located. I think it is Riverview, Halls Ferry, Jamestown,Spanish Lake, and not sure what else. It is a double auditorium with 2 apartments. Look at it on Google Earth, along with the Assembly Hall in Spanish Lake (Larimore and Laredo). Very near Florissant and Ferguson.
Beautiful properties not on tax rolls, whitewashed graves full of dead dead men's bones.
Snakes
