Polish Clothes Chain Only Hires Jehovah's Witnesses.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20090629/155382092.html
Bangalore
Bangalore
JoinedPosts by Bangalore
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Polish Clothes Chain Only Hires Jehovah's Witnesses
by Bangalore inpolish clothes chain only hires jehovah's witnesses.http://en.rian.ru/world/20090629/155382092.html.
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bangalore.
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Welcome to North Korea
by glenster init takes a little creative interpretation, but some aspects of north korea.
remind me of what it would be like if the jws leaders ran a country.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj6e3cshcvu.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3742145385913859804&ei=ef1dsqbsb4ewqaoysvcxcg&q=welcome+to+north+korea&hl=en.
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Bangalore
I wonder if North Korea will be considered as the next King Of The North. Ever since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 they have not mentioned any entity as being the KOTN yet.
Bangalore
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Bethelites in Spain
by JHK inthe governing body bank, the day before yesterday, have announced --sending personal letters to spanish bethelites-- that they will have to carry out massive layoofs in that country.
total 70..., 40 to special pioneer y 30 regular pioneer.
the first step before to sell off spain branch.
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Bangalore
This could get them a lot of bad press in Spain I guess. But then again JW's are taught that Satan uses the media to attack true worshippers.
Bangalore
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Please help me find the name of the brochure.....
by asilentone inplease help me find the name of the colored brochure, it is a very easy read by people with very little education.
i remember one thing about inside the brochure, it says like you are friend of jehovah if you go to the kingdom hall or something like that.
if you see that kind of quote, can someone here post the link here, thanks!.
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Bangalore
Is it this one?*** gf lesson 16 pp. 26-27 Show Your Love for God ***
Show Your Love for God
To keep a friend, you need to talk with him. You listen to him, and he listens to you. You also say good things about your friend to others. It is the same with being a friend of God. Consider what the Bible says about this:
Talk to Jehovah regularly in prayer. "Persevere in prayer."-Romans 12:12.
Read God's Word, the Bible. "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight."-2 Timothy 3:16.
Teach others about God. "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you."-Matthew 28:19, 20.
Draw close to God's friends. "He that is walking with wise persons will become wise."-Proverbs 13:20.
Attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall. "Let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, . . . encouraging one another."-Hebrews 10:24, 25.
Help support the Kingdom work. "Let each one [give] just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."-2 Corinthians 9:7.
Bangalore
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Name Things JWs Believe That Are Not Actually Biblically Provable
by minimus inhere's one example: being a congregation publisher.
nowhere in the bible does it say you should be a "publisher" and turn in your time if you preach.
they try to twist the scriptures by saying that numbers are constantly being recorded in the bible so then conforming to the rules of being a publisher is from the scriptures.. yeah, right..
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Bangalore
Door to door preaching.
No beards.
Reporting hours spent in preaching.
Shunning all disfellowshipped ones.
Demanding complete obedience to the organization.
Bangalore
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Mary just called.
by mouthy insaid i should do a post to let you all know i am fine.
encase you didnt see my other reply to you all.
i will say again>>>> thank you all for your love.
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Bangalore
Glad to know you are fine,Mouthy. May God bless you.
Bangalore
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THE DRACULAS OF THE WATCHTOWER ARE THIRSTY FOR OUR BLOOD!!
by Bangalore inthe draculas of the watchtower are thirsty for our blood!!http://watchtower-stop.blogspot.com/2009/06/draculas-of-watchtower-are-thirsty-for.html.
bangalore.
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How long will the WTBTS survive?
by Megachusen ingive it your best educated guess.
how long do you guys think it has left?.
personally, i think it has about 10 years before the org's leadership disolves and the religion splinters into hundreds of adorable little jw-like cults..
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Bangalore
Well maybe 2014 will prove to be a hard year for them. Considering it will be 100 years since Jesus started ruling according to their chronology. The rank and file might start to wonder.
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A Ministry of Misery: Mental Illness and the Jehovah's Witnesses
by Bangalore inif his god isn't jehovah he may not be happy.
they know they are not happy.
they teach the only ones who are truly happy are those within the organization.
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Bangalore
A Ministry of Misery: Mental Illness and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/jehovahs_witnesses/mental_illness_jw.htm
" Happy is that people, whose God is the LORD" Psalm 144:15. This indicates if a person's God is the LORD, Jehovah, he will be happy. If his God isn't Jehovah he may not be happy. If he is miserable, certainly his God could not be Jehovah. If people are following God in the right way, they will be characterized by happiness. The mental health of the Jehovah's Witnesses speaks something of their relationship with God, or lack thereof.
Psychiatrists have an important tool they use to diagnose mental illness. For a parallel, consider medical doctors. They use tools like the thermometer and the stethoscope. If a person has a lot of germs in his body, the temperature will rise. A thermometer helps detect the problem. The doctor can also tell a lot about a person's physical health by the stethoscope. Psychiatrists likewise have a simple tool they use.
Question. The psychiatrists tool is a simple question. That question is, "Are you happy?" If the person says, "No. I am miserable," he has revealed the chief indicator of mental health problems. If a person is happy and is honest, we cannot really say he is sick. Mental health does not look at any disease process in the body tissue. It primarily looks at, are you happy?
Let's ask that question of Jehovah's Witnesses. "Are you, as a Jehovah's Witness, happy?" Dr. Jerry Bergman's experience from working with hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses and congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses for over 20 years is, they are miserable people with very few exceptions! They know they are not happy. But are they going to tell you that? Obviously not. They are not going to sit down and tell you their problems. Doctors have an advantage from doing therapy with the Witnesses year by year. Naturally, when they are coming for help, they are going to tell what is wrong and what their problems are. That is why they pay doctors to help them. The patients know they have to be honest and tell how they feel in order to be helped. Imagine going to the doctor and the doctor says, "Well, how to do you feel?" The patient responds, "It is none of your business!" That patient could not be helped very much. Doctors have found a large number of Jehovah's Witnesses to be very unhappy people. They are miserable!
Depression. What are some of the problems the Witnesses have? All kinds of mental diseases could be listed. Essentially, the main problems are depression, feeling of helplessness, worry, doubt, and conflicts in the congregation. The elders try to enforce extremely rigid rules. For a few years wire-rimmed glasses were condemned. If a person came into a Kingdom Hall with wire rims, that individual would have to sit down for a conference. He would be told, "We notice you are wearing wire rims. You are falling out of the truth. We are concerned about this. We think you need help." It becomes absurd after a while. And as you can imagine, trying to enforce this much rigidity and this much conformity, creates problems. When one really believes the Watchtower is God's organization, the elder becomes God's representative. In a sense, what he says is almost like God saying it. Therefore, if an elder says a person is immature because of wearing wire-rimmed glasses, that is like God saying you are immature because you wear wire-rimmed glasses! This causes people to feel depressed and to say, "I'm a bad person! I'm terrible!" And naturally they feel guilt, worry and doubt.
Impressions. Of course, Witnesses try to paint a picture to outsiders that they are happy people to give a good impression of the Organization. They want to convey the idea, "We are all happy. Join the Watchtower Organization." Psychiatrists, psychologists, researchers and other sources have much to say about the emotional problems of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses were contacted including a number of high-ranking officials in the Watchtower. The leadership typically responds, "But we do not know what to do!" Then they reject solutions. While the Witnesses lack happiness, they are obligated to pretend as if they have it.
Contradictions. "Well," you might ask, "How do they rationalize this? How do they go around believing, 'We have the truth. God is with us. He is using us. And yet we are miserable'?" Some of the Witnesses conclusions sound rational even though they are false. First, they believe those inside the Watchtower Society are God's people. Everybody outside the Watchtower Society is of Satan. They reason, Satan would try to do everything he can to be nice to those outside of the Watchtower because he has all of them. They consider those inside the Watchtower to be Satan's failures. Therefore, Satan would try to make everyone inside the Watchtower Society miserable. The Witnesses reason that their general unhappiness, thinking the people on the outside are possibly happier, proves they are God's people. If you reason through the problem with them in this way, they would probably say, "No, not quite." But in conversation you can see they really believe it.
On the other hand, they teach the opposite. They teach the only ones who are truly happy are those within the organization. They say those outside are miserable because they are not in God's Organization. The contradiction is somewhat upsetting to the Witnesses; but they should at least think about it.
Many Jehovah's Witnesses are aware of the serene contentment of godly Christians. This can cause them some paranoia. Psychiatrically, the most common mental illness among Jehovah's Witnesses is known as paranoia schizophrenia. Most studies show that it is at least four times higher among the Witnesses than among the non-Witnesses.
One can understand how they would become paranoid. They see people outside of the Organization who seem to be happy while the Witnesses are not happy and they know they aren't. When a Christian talks to them about their error, it often makes sense. How would you expect the Witnesses to react? Frightened! It is frightening to people to feel they are wrong. At this point they can either change their beliefs or they become paranoid or crazy with mental illness! The Witnesses commonly refuse to acknowledge any value from what other people have to say.
Ramifacations of the Mental Illness Problem
Condemnation. The Witnesses constantly point to the worst in everyone else. They are the biggest pessimists in town. When something happens somewhere in what they call "Christendom", they immediately grab on to that and exaggerate it. Witnesses constantly talk about food shortages and people being laid off. They are constantly worried about droughts and earthquakes. When something like this happens, they all talk about it. What would you expect from such a negative view of life? People become depressed. Many times Witnesses go home very depressed after talking about all these things. It frightens them. Many school age and preschool Witnesses have nightmares from what they hear. When parents talk about the tragedies in the world all the time, how would you expect young people to react? They become very frightened and very insecure.
Suspicions. In pointing to the worst in everyone else, the Witnesses have a distorted view of people. They are suspicious of everyone. They tend to feel everyone else is bad and out to get them in one way or another. They feel that a large percentage of non-Witnesses are homosexuals, sexually promiscuous, thinking only of material things, and are really the lowest sort of people. How do they respond to others? If you felt that everyone out there was a homosexual, a murder or a cheat, you would be pretty careful about associating with those kind of people. Should you be friendly with them? "You'd better not! They might be homosexuals!" Jehovah's Witnesses are fearful of associating with other people.
Alienation. The Witnesses ideas about other people causes them to isolate themselves. They live in a world of their own. They live in constant fear of everyone else. How difficult to believe "My friends at the Kingdom Hall are the good people, and I wonder about them sometimes. But everyone outside is bad and trying to get me." Therefore, they really can't enjoy other people. They really can't help other people. They are afraid people are going to ensnare them in something, in all kinds of things. This fear in psychiatric terms of alienation is called "anomie". A separation is established. Psychiatric problems are a very significant factor in developing mental illness. If a person has plenty of friends and can satisfy this need for company, affiliations, associations and to feel at one with man, he will go a long ways toward avoiding mental illness.
Isolation. It would help if the Witnesses could satisfy the need of trust within the congregation. In other words, "O.K., everybody out there hates me, and I hate them, but at least if I have my brothers in the congregation I'll be all right. I'll have friends." But what happens? What happens when you have a list of rules that travel without end, condemning incredible things? For example, calling a bulletin board a "bulletin board" is taboo. The term is improper because the Roman Catholic church calls it a bulletin board. Therefore, you have to call it an "information board". If you slip up one day and call it a bulletin board, people would look at you and say, "You are immature. You are not very well grounded. You must be falling away." What a difficult situation to be in! Then people inside the congregation go around and condemn each other. They are suspicious of each other. If a person slips up, they may stay away from him and avoid any unnecessary association.
In essence the situation is, as a whole the Jehovah's Witnesses cannot satisfy these needs within the congregation. They cannot feel at home and as one with those inside the congregation. It's hard for them to respect each other, because they are constantly breaking these minor taboos, and occasionally, some of the major ones. What happens? They feel alone in the world. They feel, "I am the only one! I am all by myself." That is a very difficult feeling to live with. This condition is incredibly strong in developing mental illness. People with a lot of friends do not tend to develop mental illness. Rather, the people who do not have many friends are the ones who are quite susceptible. Every psychiatrist recognizes this law of behavior. You need friends! It's like the law regarding food. If you do not eat after six months, what is going to happen? You are going to die! If you do not have friends, if you live by yourself and isolate yourself from other people for six months, you'll suffer mentally. Various scientific terms describe this. A person literally withers away without friends. The hermit, in contrast, may do all right because he makes up imaginary friends. He talks to them and has fun with them. Or animals become his friends. Since animals do not fully replace people, a hermit tends to act a little strange after a while. The stereotype is that he will become mentally ill and talk to himself. But, why would he talk to himself? He does not really have friends. Isolation is a very important factor which influences the development of mental illness among Jehovah's Witnesses.
Expression. Another contributing factor leading to mental illness is that eventually the Jehovah's Witnesses become afraid to talk to each other. For example, if you and I were both Jehovah's Witnesses and I told you all my problems, what may happen? Consider the problem the Watchtower Society had with wire-rimmed glasses and colored shirts for a period of time. If I sat down and told you I secretly wanted to wear these, what may happen? You may listen and you may understand and try to help me. But you might not. You might go and tell the elders of my sins. Then what? My sin, or my contemplated sin, may become a subject of gossip in the congregation. This commonly happens. The first, second or third person I confide in may not expose me, but it will happen. When a Witness confides in another, that person might listen and seem to try to understand or he may condemn the individual. Then the problem shared in confidence becomes the subject of congregational gossip. What happens next? You would not confide in another Witness again! Then what happens? Again, isolation!
Detection of the Mental Illness
A person may ask, "Well, how do you know for sure the mental illness rates are so high among the Jehovah's Witnesses?" What scientific studies are available to show it is high?"
One study was done by Dr. Spencer. He is an Australian psychiatrist. He included every admission to several mental hospitals all over Australia and found the number of those who were Jehovah's Witnesses. He asked if they were Jehovah's Witnesses. Quite a few Jehovah's Witnesses would say, "I am not." They often would not admit on record that they belonged to the Society. One reason for their denial is that the Society looks down on psychiatrists. Secondly, Witnesses may be willing to protect the Organization's reputation even if they are hurting. In spite of some dishonesty, Dr. Spencer found that paranoia schizophrenia was four times higher among the Witnesses than among the population as a whole. He agrees this is probably an underestimate.
Another psychiatrist, Janner, is Swedish. He did a study on all those who were imprisoned because of their objection to military service. This was a good sample of the Jehovah's Witnesses, because in essence he had access to every male between the ages of 18 and 26. He psychiatrically examined all of them. Janner found that of all those held, 85% were Jehovah's Witnesses. He found the mental illness rate was about 40 times higher among the Witnesses than among the population as a whole. Statistics taken at face value are simply estimates. Probably a few Witnesses acted insane in order to go on hospital status which was a better atmosphere. Others who were rated as insane were only trying to act insane. Others, because of the trauma of being in prison, actually were insane. However, they may have behaved somewhat normally in their life outside. The estimate is probably high; but it does say the percentage of the mental illness rate is much higher among the Witnesses than among the population as a whole.
A study by Precore in 1949 was an examination of all Jehovah's Witnesses imprisoned because of their objection to the selective service law. He found, 16% were in the hospital for one reason or another. Of these 16%, 44% were diagnosed as psychotic. 50% had medical problems as blindness, deafness, or some other problem. In other words, Precore found that 8% of the total Jehovah's Witnesses diagnosed were psychotic. Psychotic means you are legally insane. 8% means the mental illness rate, according to the study, is again about 40 times higher among Jehovah's Witnesses than among the population as a whole.
Another study was by Rylinder. He examined Jehovah's Witnesses in prison because of their conscientious objection. He found that the mental illness rate was 32 times higher than the rest of the population.
We are aware of no study where the mental illness rate is the same or lower for Jehovah's Witnesses. The research says, it is much higher.
Documentation. An expansion on these studies and further information is available in Dr. Bergman's book. You may obtain your copy from: Witness Inc., P.O. Box 597, Clayton, CA 94517. (A complete catalog of materials is available upon request.) The Mental Health of Jehovah's Witnesses, order #787, costs $9.95. Add 10% for postage and handling in the U.S.A., 20% for other countries, 8% sales tax for California residents.
Identification of the Reasons for the Mental Illness
Dereliction. Why is the mental illness rate high among the Witnesses? One common reason is, even though the Jehovah's Witnesses are dedicated to the Watchtower Society, the Watchtower doesn't seem to be very dedicated to Jehovah's Witnesses. They seem to be very callused. Dr. Jerry Bergman worked at the clinic at one of the Watchtower assemblies. One of the Witnesses working with Jerry was a medical doctor. He related to Jerry that at a previous assembly three infants died of sunstroke. Younger children can very easily dehydrate and die in the sun. The doctors thought they would go to the administration and ask them to just make an announcement, "Mothers, be careful! It's hot out here. 90 degrees. Don't put your infants in the sun and leave them there for two hours." They refused. They said, "We can't spend precious microphone time with personal announcements." Both of the doctors later left the Society and found a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
There are so many complaints about the Society. If a Witness writes the headquarters a 10 page letter, he may receive a brief response in 6 months, "We've received your letter. Thank you." The Society often publishes something that may seem valid and logical to them, but their conclusions are way off. Way off! So they have to change again in few months. Some Witnesses have spent years doing research, even typing sixty pages of their study and the Society said, "Thank you. We have received your letter. When we get time we will look at it." They do not acknowledge the observations or the value of the report. If the study is wrong they should say, "It is wrong." They sometimes do, but they usually don't. How would you feel after doing a lot of research and trying to be helpful? After this happened to one Witness, he sent another letter saying, "Dear Brothers, if you were a baker and discovered there was poison in your bread, would you say, 'Well, we'll take it out when we have time'?" In other words, "I think I have found some poison in the teaching. If it is poison, you should take it out. Now! If it's not poison you should let me know so I can take it out of me. But let me know!" Again, they were too busy. That's upsetting! One could cite dozens of examples where the Watchtower was not at all responsive to the needs of the Witnesses.
At the Brooklyn headquarters a teenager was working on an elevator and fell down the shaft. Why didn't the Watchtower have someone working on it who knew what he was doing? Another was working on a press and lost his arm. They sent him home with nothing! "You can't work here anymore. You can't run a press with one hand." There are similar incidents.
Preoccupation. The Witnesses express a constant concern over the picky stuff. The white shirts were an issue for about 4 years. The wire-rimmed glasses were an issue for about a year. Hair is a perpetual issue. It is said the Witnesses talk about dress more than anything else. The talk is mostly critical of what other people are wearing. They are very preoccupied with this, partially because they are overly concerned with the image they are trying to present. Much is spent on the proper attire to make each one a clone.
Intimidation. Another problem stems from the continual stream of articles in their publications which present ideas that are completely foolish. For example, one idea originating from one of their leaders, Schroeder, is that one's feelings, attitudes, likes and dislikes are not from the "mind" but from the "heart". They believe when Scripture says the heart reads a man, the heart is physical. They should know the Greek word actually means the seat of the emotions. The Watchtower taught the literal heart is what makes you think! "You do not think in your brain. You just store things away in your brain. The heart does your thinking." They asked at an assembly some years ago, "Now is this a pump? No. It is not a pump. This is where feelings, ideas and spirituality emanates." A clear problem arises from their supposition. Surgeons have taken the physical heart out of the body and replaced it with a plastic heart or another person's heart. The Watchtower taught the heart is the place of feelings and if you took it out and replaced it with a plastic heart, you would not have any feelings. But what happens when a physical heart is replaced with a steel pump? The person thinks, acts and feels the same way. His feelings don't change. For a while the Witnesses taught if you received the heart of a criminal in a heart transplant, you would be a criminal. You would take on that person's personality. There is just no evidence for their preposterous idea. It's foolishness! Witnesses talked about this for two years. They have not brought it up for several years now as far as I know. Someone must have let them know the whole idea is just totally wrong, totally fallacious. You can't be saying things like that without loosing more credibility. That "new light" was not very bright! They apparently have not come out to admit their heart idea was wrong, unless it was just recently, but they may have to sometime.
Associations. The social problems among the Witnesses is critical. They have a clichi among themselves. "When you move into a new congregation, you love everyone, at first. But after six months you find out everyone's faults and they find out your faults." Then the Witnesses don't like each other anymore.
A religion that stresses works for salvation inspects their people. They have said, "If you have long hair you won't survive Armageddon. You will be destroyed forever." So naturally, they are very concerned about outward appearances. To wear wire-rimmed glasses meant for a time a person was obviously lost. As a result, "I'd better not associate with you. Your badness may contaminate me, causing me to be lost. So, I have to be leery about you." Speakers at the assemblies say, "Remember, not all those on the inside are really Jehovah's Witnesses." Witnesses look around and think, "Maybe he is not really a Jehovah's Witness." They do not really trust all the others. The Witnesses are constantly suspicious of anyone who is different. If a person is different in some why, he is going to be singled out as, "Well, maybe he is not quite a Christian. Maybe he is not a good Jehovah's Witness."
Education. The Witnesses put down differences among them. This includes both higher education and lower education. They are very suspicious of college graduates. Not many are among them. They are also very suspicious of people with very low levels of education. There is pressure for everyone to have a high school diploma, no more, no less. They are rigid on that. Although if you only have a grade 10 education the pressure usually is not so great. A doctors degree is very hard for them to deal with. Anyone with education is a threat to them. They are preoccupied with humbling people, especially those who are well known and those who have good jobs. What does the humbling amount to? Putting you down! They constantly put down wealth from the platform. In essence they are saying, "If you are wealthy you must not be a Christian. You must be bad, or you are likely bad." The same holds true with education or prominent jobs. What happens under this constant degradation when people happen to be Witnesses and happen to be wealthy? They are going to have a hard time. They are susceptible to an inferiority complex. This is exactly what happens to those who are different.
Promotions. Jehovah's Witnesses are constantly striving for status within the congregation. They cannot have much status outside the congregation. Working toward promotions is wrong. They cannot get a good job that may take away from Kingdom Hall responsibility, that's wrong. They can't do well in sports, that's wrong. They can't perform in front of an audience, that's wrong. "You are exalting yourself." You can't do well as an artist, that's wrong. "You are exalting your own works." They are constantly criticizing whatever things people do to be< liked and to be respected. The Witnesses tend to think the only ones who can earn recognition is the Watchtower Society. All glory should go to the Watchtower Society and Jehovah. A lot of Witnesses give up their careers. One Witness had the opportunity of going to the Olympics and they convinced him not to. "Oh, you are bringing glory to yourself and the nation." What happens to these people? They become frustrated. They have no place to say, "Look what I accomplished."
The exception to the restricted personal promotions is within the Kingdom Hall congregation. As a result there is a conflict for status and a power struggle. The men jockey for the position of "elder". The Witnesses respect that term. They do not just say, "An elder." They say, "He is, an, ELDER!" A lot of prestige goes with the office. Men constantly suggest, "Well, I know Brother Jones does not study his Watchtower every week. I do not think he would be qualified as an elder. I! I study my Watchtower every week. So, brothers, I would appreciate you taking that into consideration when the appointment for ELDERS is made." Men constantly talk this way. Then when a person becomes an elder others try to shoot him down. If there are 20 elders, one doesn't have much status. If there are only three he has more status. So, "I am an elder. These 19 other men are elders. If I can remove them, I am more important." A similar scenario happens with the "Pioneers". Constantly, people tell their own status. "I am a PIONEER!" And you know within 10 minutes who are the pioneers. They walk by and say, "Hi. I am sister Jones. I am a pioneer!" The Watchtower Society is aware of this effort for recognition, so they say, "Now, brothers and sisters, if you are an elder or a pioneer, you are just a servant." They tend to put down leaders. Yet, the Witnesses know the status of these people within the congregation is respected, so they still strive for positions.
By Charlie Carle
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Elder says that there're apostates who are organized in Spain
by cattails inan elder said that there are apostates organized in spain to make the sale of the spanish branch money go to the congregations that provided the funds.
he has photos of the place from an email and had heard this from a circuit overseer who just visited there.
has anyone heard confirmation of this?.
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Bangalore
*** w84 3/1 pp. 9-12 Spain's Willing-Hearted Ones Do the "Impossible" ***
Spain's Willing-Hearted Ones Do the "Impossible"
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES had been preaching in Spain since 1919. Then in 1936 civil war broke out and their work was brought to a virtual standstill. The authorities took over the Watch Tower Society's small branch office in Madrid and confiscated the printing equipment. The foreign pioneers, or full-time preachers, had to flee the country to avoid imprisonment. By the spring of 1939 General Franco had won the war and a Catholic Fascist dictatorship was imposed. The only religious organization allowed to function legally and publicly was the Roman Catholic Church. In such a setting, would Jehovah's Witnesses ever be able to get back on their feet?
To the isolated groups of Spanish Witnesses back there, a recovery seemed impossible. Yet in 1970, after 34 years of underground, "catacomb," activity, Jehovah's Witnesses finally were given legal recognition in Spain. After a brief search, they located a small building in Barcelona that would serve as a central office and a Bethel home for their headquarters staff. That original Bethel family started with just 12 members. In 1972, when the remodeled building was dedicated by N. H. Knorr (then president of the Watch Tower Society), there was an average of 15,668 Witnesses preaching each month in Spain. Four years later, that figure had doubled to over 36,000! The Barcelona Bethel facilities were already too small for existing needs. But where could a suitable larger property be found?
One problem was the zoning laws. Normally, land is zoned for either industrial or residential use. What was needed was land that could be used for both purposes, since members of the Bethel family who work in the factory, workshops and offices also reside in the same complex. A nationwide search was mounted for a suitable piece of land on which to build or for a building already in existence that would be adequate for future expansion. The months and years rolled by without any real success.
In 1980 the impasse finally was broken. A large five-winged factory building was found about 15 miles (24 km) out of Madrid, on the outskirts of the village of Ajalvir. The building was almost brand new and only partially finished, and the local authorities were willing to permit mixed zoning there. But there was one big problem-finances.
How Would the Brothers Respond?
For more than 30 years the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., had gladly financed the preaching work in Spain without any repayment. But because of heavy expenditures, due to expansion at the Brooklyn headquarters at that time, it was impossible for the Society to finance new Bethel facilities in Spain. If Spain was to have a new branch complex, the Spanish Witnesses would have to finance it themselves. This was a new challenge of much greater proportions than anything previously faced in the Spanish field. In fact, it seemed impossible that the Spanish brothers, with their relatively low wages, could donate sufficient funds to cover the cost of this enterprise.
But you may recall what was done when the Israelites of Moses' day were privileged to build a tabernacle for Jehovah's worship. Moses had said to the Israelites: "From among yourselves take up a contribution for Jehovah. Let every willing-hearted one bring it as Jehovah's contribution." They voluntarily gave gold, silver, precious stones and other items. (Exodus 35:5-9) Similarly, the issue was squarely put to the 751 congregations in Spain. The need was clearly explained at the 1980 district conventions all over the country. What was the response?
At the close of the conventions, people were lining up to contribute their jewels, gold and silver rings and bracelets, so that these could be turned into cash to finance the new project. At the convention in San Sebastián in the Basque country, an elderly sister handed over a heavy gold bracelet. When asked if she was sure that she wanted to donate such a valuable item, she answered: "Brother, it is going to do far more good paying for a new Bethel than it will on my wrist!"
A young couple contributed money they had planned to use for their honeymoon travel. An older sister brought in a pile of damp and musty banknotes that she had stashed away under the floor of her home over the years.
As the weeks passed by, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, contributed with a willing heart so that Spain could have the needed new Bethel facilities. Even special pioneers, who receive only a limited monthly allowance, made contributions. For example, one couple sacrificed a trip to the United States and donated their ticket money. Children also sent their contributions to the branch office. One ten-year-old stated: "I am the firstborn of five children, and we have heard the suggestion about sending money for the new Bethel. We would like to contribute what we have saved in our money box. Although it is a small amount, we believe it will serve to buy something."
Young people also organized themselves in different ways in order to earn money they could send to the Society. Some made little dolls and sold them. One collected sawdust from carpentry shops and then sold it. One youngster who was saving to buy a guitar donated the money for the Bethel project.
New Challenges to Be Met
The Spanish brothers responded so well that what had seemed impossible became a reality. The factory building was purchased in October 1980. But there were new challenges to be met. The unfinished building now needed to be remodeled and completed. Separate living quarters would have to be built. A volunteer construction team had to be formed. Specialists were needed for drafting, engineering, building, electrical and plumbing work. At first sight, all of this seemed impossible. But it was a challenge similar to that faced by Moses during construction of the tabernacle. So out went this call for volunteers: "Let all the wise-hearted ones among you come and make all that Jehovah has commanded." (Exodus 35:10) Now experts were needed for Bethel construction, and a similar call went out for willing workers.
One special pioneer, an engineer, was called in with his wife and child, serving for several years. A brother from Madrid who is a registered technical architect also offered his services in the quality control of the construction. An architect in Barcelona who is not a Witness heard of this vast project and was moved to volunteer his services for several weekends. However, relatively few such specialists were available among Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain. But expert help came also from outside of Spain. Brothers came forward from many countries-Greece, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States, to mention just a few.
However, not only were willing-hearted experts needed but hundreds of permanent and temporary volunteers were required to care for the bulk of the manual labor, as well as the domestic work-cooking, laundering and cleaning. How did the Witnesses respond? Just like the Israelites who responded with willing hearts.-Exodus 35:20-35.
During the three years that were required to complete the project, thousands of Witnesses from all over Spain volunteered to help out at Ajalvir full time or on weekends and vacations. And their fine help and example served to give a witness. How so? During a period of ten months, the original factory owners continued their industry in two wings of the building while the Witnesses were working on the rest of the site. The former owners were so impressed by the zeal and conduct of the brothers that they adopted a company policy that any future employees would have to be Witnesses-and they have stuck to it!
The "Impossible" Achieved
In the fall of 1982 a target date was set for the completion of the new Bethel facilities-October 9, 1983. As the months sped by, this seemed to be a formidable task. It was one thing to get the main structure and the residential modules looking like a Bethel complex, but finishing off the thousands of details was a different matter. Late into the night of Saturday, October 8, volunteers were still working to put the finishing touches to the marble floors and mirrored ceilings in the lobby. Yet, on the morning of October 9-the day of the dedication-there, on a hilltop overlooking a typical Castilian scene with its autumn ocher colors, stood the gleaming white and gray Bethel complex in a setting of green lawns and multicolored flower beds.
Hundreds of visitors who poured in from Spain and other lands were amazed. Who would believe that an organization that had virtually been put out of existence and driven underground until 1970 could have such a beautiful headquarters just 13 years later! Without a doubt, Jehovah had fulfilled his word by the prophet Isaiah: "The little one himself will become a thousand, and the small one a mighty nation. I myself, Jehovah, shall speed it up in its own time."-Isaiah 60:22.
The program got off to a grand start with experiences and expressions from old-timers who had lived through the trials of the 1930's and from missionaries who had formerly served in Spain. Next F. W. Franz, the president of the Watch Tower Society, presented a talk on dedication and consecration. This discourse was followed attentively not only by the 956 present at the new Bethel but also by more than 62,000 in 12 different stadiums connected by telephone around the country. By their donations and voluntary work, most in attendance had contributed to this magnificent new Bethel complex. During the years of hard work, they had truly been conscious of wise King Solomon's words: "Unless Jehovah himself builds the house, it is to no avail that its builders have worked hard on it." (Psalm 127:1) With Jehovah's blessing they were among the willing-hearted ones who had made all of it possible.
Bangalore