In New Jersey, I was in 4 to 6 congregations while a JW. I rarely saw older people helped much. It was all talk and no help. And if memory serves, the few times I saw older people being helped, it was the ones who were considered more "spiritual". This is just another aspect of JW's rendering "sacred service" to their flawed cult and God. Down here in Florida, I haven't attended the meetings and won't ever again, so I don't know how they would be.
Senior Citizens......How does your congregation treat them?
by crazyblondeb 35 Replies latest jw friends
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jam
some years ago there was a sister who was responsible for many in this area for coming into the borg. Well known in this area. She pioneered for over 50-60yrs., of the 144000 etc..She had one son he wasn,t a JW, he live in another country. They rarely communicated. After years serving that organization and at a age of late 90,s and could not get around any more the brothers contact her son to take care of her. The son told the brothers what do you want me to do ; my mom and I have not been close in years. To make a long story short my sister and her elder husband took her in..If they had not taken her in , she would have been put away in some old folks home and forgotten. My sister and her husband attended a different cong. when the sister became ill.
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dinah
How about taking out your checkbook and paying a handyman to take a look around, rather than expect someone else to do it for free?
What does that have to do with anything, Lola?
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dinah
If you live in the happiest damn religion on earth whom Jehovah takes good care of......
then we would all have magic checks to take care of everything. CBB's mom has spent her ENTIRE life (that in itself is sad beyond belief at her age), placing Watchtowers. If somebody would have told CBB's mom she would grow old with no help from the Society (read Jehovah) maybe things would be different.
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crazyblondeb
How about taking out your checkbook and paying a handyman to take a look around, rather than expect someone else to do it for free?
What does that have to do with the topic of this thread?
Do you really know anything about me, or my family, and situation? NO.
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jam
take it easy lola28, sound like someone rip you off. How are things in BELIZE? I was there for the building of the kingdom hall in San Ignacio in 1977-1978. Is it still standing? I came from calif, my wife and two kids and a third child born there. We live in San Ignacio for one year.
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deeskis
How about taking out your checkbook and paying a handyman to take a look around, rather than expect someone else to do it for free?
I don't see this as about trying to get something for free.........It's about christian caring and loving one's neighbour as oneself. someone earlier said that it depends on the cong and the people involved. and I think that's true, my parents have always gone out of their way to help needy ones in the cong, now they are elderly themselves, and thought they would never be elderly. However they've got a good support network in and out of the borg, but granted they also have each other.
I've got a nasty taste in my mouth from this thread :(
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Scarred for life
I have an elderly aunt that has been in the same JW congregation for at least 54 years. She was one of the charter members. She was always extremely active, attended all meetings, went out in field service, hosted the Tuesday night Bible Study at her home, and hosted many , many social events and receptions at her home for JW members. She is now 85 years old, has had multiple mini-strokes and suffers from dementia . She has her good days and her bad.
As far as I know she is never visited by anyone in the congregation and no one comes to her home to help her. Two sisters and a brother-in-law are her caregivers as well as a niece who is paid. She attends as many meetings as she can. She attended the DC this summer but I sincerely hope that is the last one that they drag her to.
She gets no visits from the elders, no food brought to her house, no help with the upkeep of her home. She never marrried and has no children.Her life was devoted to the JWs. But she is now kicked aside like an old shoe.
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brinjen
It would depend on (a) who their children were and (b) how much money they had. Have a son that was an elder and/or have money and they were set. Otherwise they were forgotten about.
I remember one elderly sister, she was the sweetest woman to me. I was 13 at the time and had been pretty much branded as "bad association" by the elders. She told me she didn't think they were right in saying that and she saw nothing bad about me. I loved talking to her, visited her when I could. She moved away as she was finding it hard to cope with the lack of help in the cogregation. She was having a hard enough time getting a ride to the meetings, she couldn't afford taxis all the time.
Anyone who needed help was generally looked upon as a "burden". -
jam
another sad story, my next door neighbor and I became good friends,he is a JW, not a very active one. He goes to the meetings each sunday a once in while in service but he still a JW. I never told him I was once a member. So he would try to convert me and I would try to do the same to him. Friends for two years. He had a massive heart attack. He live with his sister she wasn.t a JW.Because he had the heart attack she had too work in order to pay bills. For six months he received 3-4 visits from the borg. and most of the times a was a single elderly sister.My wife and I took care of him. That was two years ago, he had since moved, but only 10min. away..He would come back and visit when he came over to visit his sister. A few months ago two sister came by in the door to door work. They knew that a brother use to live next door, and I told them I use to be a jw. Well you know what happen, that went to the brother home to inform him I was a the big A... I have not seen him since,he still visit his sister... We never charge him or his sister for the care we gave him, he was my friend and neighbor. His sister told me that the sisters the JW had visit him.