DW. thanks for your info.
Sounds like the Indian govt is quite switched on and see the wt for what it is. .. a bizarre American money grubbing sect..
Developments in the India Branch
by MaxPayne 58 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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zeb
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Listener
Slimboyfat - If this letter is genuine, I think they are flat out lying. I don’t believe they intend to build many KHs, print more literature, and I especially don’t believe they intend to financially support greater numbers of special pioneers.
Since they are reducing the size of Bethel, it sounds like they are sending the Bethelites out and offering to reassign them as temp. Special Pioneers. It's interesting that this is only a temporary arrangement.
It makes no sense, why are they not printing in India anymore but are increasing the amount of printed material to distribute? I think Anders Anderson has it right when he says that HQ's wants the money for the sale of the Indian Bethel and will funnel it out by selling them more publications.
They don't need to buy new property before they sell, if they need more time t move before the sale of the property is settled then they can rent. It sounds like there won't be many Bethelites anyway, probably just enough to distribute and store publications.
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Drearyweather
More clarification for context:
p.s. what did they mean when they say they don’t print their own literature. Do they pay a commercial company, or do their ship it from another branch
Slim, the magazines come from Canada, lietrature from the US & Germany and Bibles from Japan.
Additional info:
1. The letter is not a hoax. I was read in all congregations in India and is true to its word.
2. Old Bethel sale: The old bethel was built by funds from other countries. The restrictions on foreign funds came in between the construction, and the commercial contractor who was building the branch negotiated with its US Head office and kept the construction going. Due to its locality, the branch once sold will generate money enough to keep the work going for decades. Hence the call for conditional donations.
3. New bethel: The new branch office will be located in a major city in a plush business district. It would be similar to the Indonesian branch which is currently in a skyscraper. The political scenario of India is frightening and hence bethel complexes need to be housed in business districts to keep them away from vandalism.
4. Sale Proceeds: The money gained from selling the old bethel will not be sent back to the HQ, as there are restrictions around that too. Hence, all that money will be put into further operations in India.
5. Kingdom Halls: The KH building work has been accelerated even before the letter was read. 6 kingdom halls have been built in the past three months in my city itself. All paid by the branch, without any obligation on the publishers. All the kingdom halls are located in business districts or complexes. The reason for this is that standalone land is almost impossible to purchase for building a christian worship center.
Publishers who were meeting in a run-down shaggies are now going to huge complexes for their meetings. As per the recent update, 100 such properties are purchased across India for kingdom halls. By 2020, all congregations in India will have a kingdom hall. Thats what my source says.
By what I have seen until now, WT is not lying in the letter.
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Anders Andersen
@drearywheather,
Thanks for the detailed info!
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Listener
Drearyweather - he magazines come from Canada, lietrature from the US & Germany and Bibles from Japan.
Do you know if they are 'paying' for these publications and therefore, funds leaving India? -
Drearyweather
Hi Listener,
Public and Study editions of the Watchtower and Awake comes from Canada Bethel directly to the publisher's home through post. Like the old subscription model. Postage paid by Canadian Bethel
Other literature comes by freight to India Bethel. Loading/freight charges paid by India bethel. Not sure if the funds are sent to those branches for the literature. The boxes that come from these countries are marked as "charitable material inside".
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smiddy3
The boxes that come from these countries are marked as "charitable material inside".
And on the outside "White washed graves "
Talk about taking advantage of vulnerable people in poor Countries
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joe134cd
This is what I reckon is going to happen, as they have done in so many other places before hand. The present bethel will be sold. Then all of a sudden there will be a reason to not build another one. There will be some reason for a property flip. They have done this so many other places around the world.
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slimboyfat
Thanks for the further information. I was already aware that Bibles are produced in Japan and magazines in Germany, so this stacks up. It does appear to be real.
So what is going on here? Is Watchtower not really in financial trouble?
I think this letter is further evidence that Watchtower is in trouble.
Because, if Watchtower is short of money, what does it do with a branch like India where funds cannot simply be removed? I guess the logical answer is: sell them more literature, and promote growth using funds within the country in order to increase the number of JWs consuming that literature. Thus the weird situation where they are building more, distributing more literature, and hiring special pioneers in India, while they are doing the complete opposite elsewhere. (This theory does depend on the idea that Watchtower is able to charge the India branch for the cost of the imported literature. Can this be verified?)
Them saying that they have the funds to cover more literature, remote translation, and more special pioneers, but not enough funds for a smaller branch just sounds dodgy. But I guess JWs will accept it.
Around about 1999 or 2000 there was a lot of talk online about disruption/corruption/chaos in the India branch. And again a few months ago there was a similar story. I wonder how that ties in with the new changes.
I have always found it interesting that JWs have been relatively unsuccessful in spreading their message in India. They are much more numerous in the Philippines, for example. Plus other denominations such as the Seventh Day Adventists have many more members in India than JWs. SDAs have something like 1,500,000 members in India compared to only 50,000 JWs. I wonder if there is some reason JWs have been poor at gaining converts in India.
I guess the GB may also really believe in their mandate to promote the message to all languages possible, and they see India as prime location for promoting growth among lots of smaller language groups.
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