by Tatiana 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I need help with a question my niece (JW) has about witnesses moving to another country. If they are supposed to be special pioneers and working in another country, do they get any monetary help from the society?
I really need to know this tonight. Any ex-elders know the facts?
April
Missionaries of the WTBTs are people who have been invited to attend Gilead and then are assigned to a foreign country or not. As long as they are in their assignment they are compensated for monthy, and yearly (clothing allowance) They ususaly stay in missionary homes. Thus housing is provided.
People who move via their own expense to another country, have to provide for themselves. If the branch that oversees where they go invite them to be special pioneers, then they may get some $$ compensation, but it is never enough to provide for the basics. Lots of people move to foreign countries to pioneer, but at their own expense.
Hope this is clear enough for you. If you are not a Gilead graduate, expect no $$$ compensation.
j2bf of the trying to remember class
I will confirm what Joy has said. If a JW moves on their own to a foreign country it is at their expense, much the way those in the international building work must pay their own way.
Only those assigned to Bethels around the world and those who have gone through the Gilead training program are supported financially by the WTS. Special pioneers called and assigned by the WTS also receive a small allowance from the WTS but most have to work secularly to make ends meet. The allowance for special pioneers is contingent on their meeting their hourly quotas.
Blondie
thanks blondie and joy....I really need to know for sure before I get back to her....I appreciate your replies. My mom is in Ecuador. Supposedly doing missionary work for the last 5 years. When my niece went to visit her, she said my mom hardly got out of bed. And that she lied about her "time." But that she was receiving a monthly stipend from the society. My niece was upset. She called me tonight.
She's been thinking of leaving for a while. And she wanted more info.
I don't know what's going on with my mother.....but I'd like to find out.
April
May I add a little clarification to what has been said above?
Missionaries are not always sent out from Gilead. Remember that there is an age limit on being invited to Gilead, yet there are some missionaries being assigned who are older. What happens to them? They are assigned directly from, say Australia, to their assignments. There are some presently serving in south-east Asia "sent out" by a WTS branch, i.e. Australia, directly to their assignments. A case in point is Cambodia where the missionary home was established several years ago entirely by non-Gilead missionaries, all Special pioneers, and all expenses for the missionary home as well as the allowances met by the WTS.
Since the allowances paid were at their home country's rates, they were not poor by any means! In fact, it caused some tension amongst them and later arrivals. Why? Because when some arrived from Gilead they were all on the same rate, and the "graduates" thought they should be paid more!!
So, April, to comment on your question: yes, a Special Pioneer receives the standard allowance from the Society when they are assigned to another country.
Cheers, Ozzie
Thank you, ozzie. I was really confused because my mom wrote my niece stating that she received no money from the society. And her rent was going up because Ecuador was changing to the US dollar. But she has no job. So, my niece was trying to figure out how my mom was living there without any income. And she was upset because when she was there my mother hardly went out in service at all.
I wish I could get my hands on some type of official document concerning monies paid to missionaries or special pioneers.
I'm afraid my niece won't believe anything coming from his board.
Thanks April.
Travelling overseers and special pioneers are required to turn in a monthly service report to the society. It's a different form, of course, to that used by the Regular Pioneers and Publishers.
If the Special Pioneer doesn't make their time for the month (as shown on their report), then they don't get their monthly allowance next month.
I gather that Mom's turning in reports with fictitious hours on them? Doesn't everybody at some time?!
It depends on what type of assignment she's in, but sooner or later it would "catch up" with her, since even if she's isolated, in time she'd recieve a visit to check up on her from the circuit overseer.
It highlights the folly of this whole reporting thing that Joe Ratherflawed introduced in order to keep track of his troops!
Cheers, Ozzie
If they are paid, it wouldn't be much, otherwise there would be no clean windows in the world.
Steve
I'll only add that Special Pioner's stipend varies from country to country. In one South American country the "reimbersment" was equal to 12 dollars US/ month. (the currancy had devalued years before without any adjustment by the Society) Even in this poor land, that was not enough for food. In the neighboring country the check each month was equal to $90.00 ea. This was almost enough if a married couple ate and lived like the locals. The Equador branch has a long history of abusing the Special Pioneer arrangement. During the early 90s there were hundreds of U.S. and Canadian youths at any given time that were on the payroll.
much the way those in the international building work must pay their own way.
We know a couple who have been all over the world in the International building work. They only had to pay their own way the first time. After that the WTS paid.
When my husband worked at Bethel, it was the same way. He only paid his flight the first time. After that, they paid his way every time.
