Anders,
I have the stats for the UK. I periodically update the spreadsheet.
Truthseeker
many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.
(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).
anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.
Anders,
I have the stats for the UK. I periodically update the spreadsheet.
Truthseeker
have any of you come across this rare breed of jw?.
i know a brother who spends 9 months of the year living in a caribbean island where he is an active jw and then he flies back to his home european country for 3 months to work and save up so he can fly back out again.
he is an active jw in his home country.. he's not a missionary and has never been to gilead though he attended pioneer school back in the '90s.
I think in a way it makes leaving more problematic as you surround yourself with friends who love Jehovah and you're literally living the dream life, not just going to work and meetings but living the life you've built.
have any of you come across this rare breed of jw?.
i know a brother who spends 9 months of the year living in a caribbean island where he is an active jw and then he flies back to his home european country for 3 months to work and save up so he can fly back out again.
he is an active jw in his home country.. he's not a missionary and has never been to gilead though he attended pioneer school back in the '90s.
Thank you for sharing your experience Zindag. It's very interesting.
Yes, he had to learn Spanish and is fluent in it and helps on quick builds in the island and has bible studies etc. I often used to wish he would wake up and see that he's in a cult but perhaps he's better off in it because he's built a whole lifestyle around "the truth" - he would be devastated if he found out it was all a lie because everything would be a lie including the reason he went there in the first place.
have any of you come across this rare breed of jw?.
i know a brother who spends 9 months of the year living in a caribbean island where he is an active jw and then he flies back to his home european country for 3 months to work and save up so he can fly back out again.
he is an active jw in his home country.. he's not a missionary and has never been to gilead though he attended pioneer school back in the '90s.
Have any of you come across this rare breed of JW?
I know a brother who spends 9 months of the year living in a Caribbean Island where he is an active JW and then he flies back to his home European country for 3 months to work and save up so he can fly back out again. He is an active JW in his home country.
He's not a missionary and has never been to Gilead though he attended pioneer school back in the '90s. He's been doing this routine for a number of years. He's in his early 40s, unmarried and childless; though he has come close to tying the knot on a couple of occasions. He's not a bad looking chap and I find it odd that he's still single in his 40s. He grew up in the truth and he's fairly popular in JW circles. He is fiercely loyal to the org but has often sported an unkempt beard.
To my knowledge, he is not an appointed man, because he does not stay in the same congregation all year round. The fact that he has to fly back to his home country to work and save up just to fly back again means either he can't afford to live there all year round or he doesn't have residency rights to live there permanently.
A friend and I were talking about this and my friend says he is away from scrutiny and can pretty much do what he likes as long as he goes to meetings and preaches. He has quite a following on Facebook and Instagram.
It's a strange, if somewhat enjoyable lifestyle, surrounded by sun, sand and sea and able to travel as he pleases and be an active JW but not have any position in the org because he's not in the congregation all year round.
I sometimes wonder if the friends who go abroad to serve "where the need is great" are not simply going because "their needs are great."
Truthseeker
gorby's hobby is searching his family history.. since last week we found new information.
family goes with a direct link back now to frisian royalty and goes back to 1245. .
one of the family members was advisor of karl v and others were founders of the earlier netherlands state.. so, that's a lot better then the jw.org overlapping generations 😁😁😁.. g..
This is my hobby too Gorby. The story passed down through our family is that we were descended from the Earl of Northumbria though I have not been able to find a definite link.
so i have started down the path of trying to understand evolution, and to get the linear lies that the jws planted in my head out of it.
i bought an audiobook called "evolution: what the fossils say and why it matters" by donald prothero.
i heard it recommended on an atheist podcast that i listened to.
Cofty,
What are your opinions on this article?
More than 1,000 scientists sign ‘dissent from Darwinism’ statement
“A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism” is a simple, 32-word statement that reads: “We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”
https://www.thecollegefix.com/more-than-1000-scientists-sign-dissent-from-darwinism-statement/
just got the heads up from montreal that 16 congregations will cease to exist from 1 april 2019. also 3 kh are no longer going to be used anymore.
this was a major announcement for many and upsetting.
wonder where the r& f are going to be dispersed with what sacrifices in the way!.
JW GoneBAd,
Maybe this is what they mean by the Memorial Season being a "special month of activity!"
just got the heads up from montreal that 16 congregations will cease to exist from 1 april 2019. also 3 kh are no longer going to be used anymore.
this was a major announcement for many and upsetting.
wonder where the r& f are going to be dispersed with what sacrifices in the way!.
what I don't get is if the halls have been bought and paid for many years ago, why do this to the friends? Why not let them keep their hall? Selling only makes sense if they can't afford the overhead like utilities and stuff,
would some kind soul create a site listing as best they know the names of and the countries where kh have been closed and sold.. ie 31-6-2017, mount tall cong, north kameria.. it seems like the kh are being sold off in a lemming like rush to the cliffs..
I keep a list of all the halls closed in the United Kingdom along with all the accounts published on the charity site.
Truthseeker
they have a very big child abuse enabler international reputation in the courts can these things be a reason for banning these stupid ass carts that claims to have all the answers to mans hardest questions.. why should every library have to permit them to plant their lame ass carts close to the entrance.. i'm thinking that soon due to all the bad publicity surrounding the jehovah witness cult leaders that cart witnessing will come to be seen as a very big waste of time by all it's members that have become hall less thus missing a shit load of meeting and a beginning to start thinking for themselves.. i'm sure many jws hate this type of work even now, even though it's an easy way to get your time in and not be labeled inactive or keep the elders off your back.
have you noticed that a lot of carts don't have a jw near by?
i never see anybody at the carts where i live, i've even asked people nearby and nobody knew who put the cart there.
They have a cart outside the hospital. The only reason you need to visit a hospital is if you’re sick, visiting someone who’s sick or you work there. The JW cart is on the public sidewalk at the of a pedestrian crossing. While some may say they are harmless they are surely not. They take advantage of the sick and the weak.