by badcompany 33 Replies latest jw friends
Following publication of an anti-witness article I had written in our local newspaper, I was put on a do not call list and remained untroubled by them for years. Since we moved house however, it's a different story, but so far I've not been home when they have called and my wife is far too polite to do anymore than rebuff them gently.
Maybe it's just as well, talking to brain-washed people isn't good for the soul.
The frequency, intensity and duration of the door-to-door work vary widely from territory to territory, let alone from country-to-country.
I think some JWs also choose "soft targets" in some territories - and call on those targets more frequently and intensively than others (and it's not necessarily linked to "interest" - more a convenient starting point for hours).
That aside, I am struck by how infrequently I see them out and about compared to say, two decades ago. Certainly, I have memories from as far back as the late 60s and early 70s when swarms of local JWs covered local territory at an embarrasingly frequent rate per annum. Car loads of us arrived on the territory and it was a planning headache for brothers - and yes, we got lots of wary stares from householders as we sauntered en masse round the blocks. There were lots of young ones door-knocking, me included.
You just don't see that anymore. And when they are out, it's predominantly older Witnesses with conspicuously few younger ones.
Wow! A wide array of experience. Steve2 I think you nailed it. I was a full time pioneer back in the 70's. They told us we were locust or something and we'd jump out of the car and deliver the BS tracts before anyone saw us coming. I knew the "soft targets" and where I was going to get my a$$ chewed by either the householder or their dog. I just thought it strange that I've lived in the same place that close to a kingdom hall and not getting called on. They don't know where I live. The IRS doesn't even know where I live.
NO!!!! The D2D work is not over!!! I went in field-circus Saturday ( for family ) and I learned something!!! Guess what I learned???
The Eldub in charge of the new-and-improved 7 1/2 minute failed-circus meeting said that the preaching work had been accomplished! He said there is a WT article that says the preaching work HAS been preached in all the Earth!! Yep, you heard right!!
LOL!! So even though it's been accomplished, Dubs must still preach!! WHY?!?!?! Jeehoobie hasn't said to stop, that's why.... LOL!!! Yeah, the END can come at any time! The JWs are only preaching because Jeehoobie hasn't said "STOP!!"
Basically, they are engaged in busy-work from now, until the unforeseen future!!! 5, 10, 20 years, YEP, they will be preaching!!! Until the actual "END" occurs, they have to keep knocking!!! LOL!!!! HAHHAAHAHHAHHHA !!!
DD
I've had them "call" at my house twice in the last couple of years. The visit consisted of leaving a pamphlet tucked in the door. The did not knock, or ring the doorbell. I saw them coming and was surprised when 5 minutes went by and no one had knocked or rang the bell. So I went to see where they were, and no one was there! I opened the door and both times, the pamphlet was just there, tucked in the door. It seems like they are not even trying anymore.
Also, since the "magazine rack" became popular, I see them at public corners just standing there. They don't approach anyone and just spend their time laughing and having a good time. I guess if you have to preach, this is the way to do it.
Door to door work sure isn't what it used to be.
D2D is not over but it is on the demise that is true. In my old congregation(s) only a handfull of witnesses came to the field service meeting on Saturday and I doubt the others went to service without going to the field service.
In this congregation we are in at the moment, even though more come to the field service, many just want to do "easy" witnessing. We have a lot of interested ones coming to the congregation with no plans of getting baptized, they have kids, often more than three. They always want a witness to study with them. 80% who come to the (new and improved 5 - 7 minute) field service meeting go studies and maybe only the 20% are going from door to door.
From my own experience, whenever a pioneer asks me to go to service with him, it is always a study or a return visit/magazine route thing. Actually, the first time I went with an elder to preach when we relocated congregations and he saw that I was taking him to a territory with zero adresses but lots of small houses and this meant a lot of searching, he deemed it time wasting and we should have gone into the city and did street witnessing instead.
Then we have the zealot pioneers which embraced social networks and probably count time on there as well. I even heard of witnesses conducting studies over Skype!
So yeah Witnesses try avoid door to door.
But my report might not be accurate as I am not in a congregation where they speak the local language.
In my old congregation , the territory coverage basically declined sharply over the last ten years or so. At one time we were covering the territory every 4 months or so then gradually it became less than once a year and some rural maps hadn't been done for 2 years. We asked the CO if he could encourage the Society to send us a pioneer couple and he just laughed and said that compared to many congregations in the circuit we were doing really well.
The decline was mainly because the congregation was aging and there were less pioneers.
Since I faded , my anecdotal impression is that this decline has continued - I have had 2 visits in 6 years. On one occasion it was a publisher I knew & we just had a quick chat - the other was a tract stuffed through the door while I was at home.
I have a relative who is a service overseer and he says that in most congregations nowadays activity in the ministry is increasingly clustered around the "special" campaigns two or three times a year where quite a few JWs "pioneer" ( the new 30 hour a month arrangement ) and go around distributing tracts and invitations , often without even bothering to knock at the door , and is pretty dead the rest of the year.
Interesting feedback onnthe whole it looks like the D2D work is weakening and the JWs are less zealous.
I have been called on once in a year.....I invited them in and told them I had some questions aboutDfing. I was honest and told them I was Df'd. They were nice to my face and listened to the injustice I faced.
When they left I said I would welcome more visits. They took my number and never called me back.
I was searching for a nice sister who cared about justice. Found empty rituals. If anyone calls again I will still invite them in.
Kate xx
