Foreign language field - the curious Watchtower cutback?

by slimboyfat 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  slimboyfat

  Most of the recent Watchtower cutbacks can be explained as money saving exercises: closing branches, paperback books, fewer pages in the magazines, sending bethelites home and so on.

  But a few different posters have reported that the Watchtower Society are also cutting back on the foreign field ministry. For many years foreign language congregations have been a major source of growth for the Watchtower in many lands. So why would they choose to scale it down?

  Has anyone experienced foreign field cutbacks and got any theories about what's going on? Are they cutting back on the sign language field too?
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  St George of England

  I don't know about foreign language but there is a sign language group near to Brighton, seems to be doing OK.

  They have all the kit plus their own trolleys and a table display for Saturdays.

  George
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  Designer Stubble

  My best guess is that it is control. The foreign fields often attrack those who have troubles in the regular congregation. Also generally the elders here adhere less to the B&W rules of the WTBTS. Probably some higher-up person was ticked off by this and decided to get rid of the problem.
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  transhuman68

  LOL, the people in the developing countries only study with the Witnesses so they can learn to read, write and speak English; then they f**k off and get a higher-paying job. They don't want Watchtower literature in their own language, anyway. Plus, building their Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls uses money from the Worldwide fund, which the Society will never get back, so what is the point of encouraging them?
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  Julia Orwell

  Shame they'r not a charity to teach English to poor people because it can actually help communities, like the way those charities that set up schools do. Wt doesn't want to pay jw missionaries to give something away like English lessons without gettir something in return...
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  eyeuse2badub

  I know that Jah and the 'loving' GB love the English speaking JW's more than all others. That is why the 'new' NWT is only available in English.

  I wonder how our non-English congregations feel about the 'loving' provision of the new grey Bible. I hope they will now see that the WTBTS is an American religion.

  eyeuse2badub
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  88JM

  It is a little strange what is going on with foreign languages, though not so bizzare. There was a big song and dance made at the circuit assembly that the GB has a target of having literature in 1000 languages by the end of the 2014 service year (they're currently at around 700 languages, I think it was). At the same time, there is a push for folks to print off foreign language literature from the website themselves instead of ordering it at the KH.

  I know from my own discussions with some that in parts of Africa, they are building translation offices in the middle of nowhere, not even near established congregations, but in places where people who speak the languages can come in and translate for them, then go home - instead of having them as permanent bethel staff I guess, which probably saves money.

  In the UK at least, foreign language congregations are getting less and less "special" treatment, and being streamlined with english congregations - they share kingdom halls and assembly halls like any other congregation, and have visits from the same circuit overseers.

  So while I do acknowledge there are cutbacks in how money is allocated to foreign languages, it looks like they still want to expand but in a "cost efficient" manner.
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  blondie

  I do remember reading on here that the English-speaking congregations were being closed in foreign countries and that in the US Spanish speaking congregations were being closed or combined because more of the 2nd/3rd generaion spoke English and were losing (or never had) a knowlege of theocratic Spanish. Also new immigration seems to be going down.
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  Julia Orwell

  There would be influxes though of other first gen migrants such as speakers of Asian languages in your country just as there are here though... We have a Chinese and a Philippine group near me, and I know of Japanese groups too, all catering to native speakers. Maybe in the US they don't have enough Spanish speaking elders or something, but have enough Japanese? The Japanese group I knew had to import an elder from Japan, and the aboriginal cong used whitefellas.
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  dozy

  I’ve always had the feeling that the WTBTS have never really been supportive of the “foreign language field” – ie foreign language congregations & groups – even though they may occasionally boast of their achievements.

  A few of my relatives are heavily involved in one particular minority language in the UK & have done a huge amount of work in starting a group and eventually a congregation, doing lots of translating etc but get little to no help from the society. It is as if the WTBTS are pretty apathetic about it. Eventually the branch basically told them to stop phoning them or writing to them for any help. Successive COs have been very lukewarm as well. My relatives very much feel on their own and have openly complained about the lack of support – and they are pioneers and WTBTS zealots , so very unusual for them to criticize the society. I know their case isn’t unusual – mirrored by many more throughout the UK.

  With the foreign language scene , it tends to be driven by individual JWs rather than promoted by the society and we all know how negatively the WTBTS feel about non-society approved programs.

  Living in the west , we sometimes forget just how english speaking & American the WTBTS is - quite parochial at times. The AGM very much showed that off , with the new English bible to be eventually translated into foreign languages , special meetings only for english speakers etc.