Advice to reduce hours earn less and spend more time on the ministry

by ExBethelitenowPIMA 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  ExBethelitenowPIMA

  The advice to reduce work and earn less to spend more time preaching has not aged well.

  the cost of living crisis means many have more going out on necessities than they have coming in.

  so many asked their employer to reduce their hours and refused promotion only to see their colleagues go up the ladder when they stayed lowly position with rubbish jobs thinking the end will be here soon

  next week midweek meeting is all about preparing for an economic crisis.

  they say have a go bag and new advice for all JWs to store food and water at home and grow a vegetable garden, I kid you not. This is the new direction.
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  road to nowhere

  Comments: use by dates, water restrictions in many areas, no gardens in apartments.

  That said, I know "pioneers" who have lost e everything by not carryinghealth insurance and having a serious accident or disease. The brothers offer platitudes
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  blondie

  This is from 2017 Awake about disasters: Disaster management organizations urge families to store and annually update emergency supplies. Of course, needs will vary according to your location and circumstances, so check with local emergency management services for recommendations that could be applied in your area.

  In general it is recommended that you keep at least three gallons (11 L) of water per person and three days of nonperishable, ready-to-eat foods.

  Also, some families have prepared “go bags” with such items as the following:b

  • Blankets, complete change of warm clothes, and sturdy shoes

  • Flashlight, radio (battery or windup), and spare batteries

  • First-aid kit and a whistle to signal for help

  • Eating utensils, can opener, pocket tool set, and waterproof matches

  • Dust masks, waterproof tape, and plastic sheeting for shelter

  • Toothbrushes, soap, towels, and toilet paper

  • Child-care supplies and special-needs items for seniors or the disabled

  • A waterproof container with needed medication, copies of prescriptions, and other important documents

  • List of emergency contacts and meeting places and a local map

  • Credit cards and cash

  • Extra set of house keys and car keys

  • Paper, pencils, books, and games for children

  • Bible

  • Have access to the phone numbers of friends, both near and far.

  • Make and rehearse an escape plan. Know the nearest exits in your building, as well as the emergency plan of your children’s school. Set up family meeting places​—such as a school or a library—​one nearby and another outside your neighborhood. Authorities recommend that you practice walking with your family to those meeting points.

    The WTS also references this non-WT publication:https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/1-2-3-disaster-eduction
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  blondie

  ExBethelitenowPIMA Where did the info you posted above from the WTS. A talk and the "old service meeting or from a WT publication?
  
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  Beth Sarim

  With these "go bags" ,,,you just wonder where exactly they have in mind """to go""🙄
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  road to nowhere

  More like a go trailer, that wont fit a bag.

  I donate from my extra money earned by going part time. Except overtime was actually required because my skills were not easily replaced.
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  blondie

  Beth Sarim, the WTS talks about "inner rooms" and equates staying with the "congregation" of jws, but many jws equate that with the building, KH. Of course, there is no magical protection of a building. In fact, the word "congregation" and the old version "church" pertains only to a group of people.
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  blondie

  "Go" bags, to the government facilities to help you. Many times that WTS has told members to seek out these resources before expecting the congregation or the WTS to fund them. Even when the WTS rebuilds homes of their members who lose in a disaster, the WTS has them hand over their insurance checks to the WTS. How any times, has anyone ever heard the BOEs announce that the "brothers and sisters" donate for a specific individual or family in the WTS. Of course, if individual jws know of a problem already, they are free to help them out, few jws do, they can, but the WTS warns that that person may be taking advantage of them.
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  ExBethelitenowPIMA

  This is where it came from next weeks meeting work book

  
  
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  Journeyman

  To be fair, the advice in that meeting workbook for next week's meeting is fine in itself - lots of 'secular' online articles about how to cope with the credit crunch and economic difficulty suggest the same things, including reducing outgoings, using less energy and growing your own food if possible.

  However, what is glaring in its omission is advice to try and save money not just by reducing spending, but also by accumulating savings (deposits, bonds, investments, pension, whatever). I don't think I've ever seen the org seriously recommend saving money in this way, even though it's one of the most obvious ways to hedge against financial hardship. I presume it's because it goes against their idea of working as little as possible and spending more of your time on the org, even though it's a principle supported by plenty of scriptures if the org was willing to use them that way.
  
  Edit: I see from the WT online library that they used to mention the word "savings" positively in articles (mainly from the 70s and 80s), but in recent years most of the references have only been negative, eg:
  Daniel and Miriam thought that by using their savings, they could stay in Panama for about eight months... When their savings ran out, however, the couple’s joy turned to sorrow. - "The Joy of Leading a Simple Life" w17 May p. 30 - The Watchtower (Study) 2017

  There is an Awake article from 2011 "Why Save Rather Than Spend?" which mentions having a savings account and the usual ideas of spending less, keeping debt low and yes - growing your own food! It even mentions what it calls "legitimate debt", suggesting taking out a loan for a specific practical asset such as a house or car - unusual for the org, to my knowledge. But predictably, the article does not mention the options of overtime or seeking a promotion or higher paid job in order to save more.