The focus the Watchtower has right now is in the "third world." I do
not wish to sound like a racial slur, but the fact that Africa and the
middle east have such uprisings is that the people there often react to
the last group that brings them food or money. Many of the poor are
impressed with those who show power. Those who seem confident, carry
weapons, bully others are to be emulated and followed.
When I was
in the United States several years ago there was an evangelical
Protestant religion that managed to become influential to certain
American politicians. They were able to get a few congressmen to support
them - I think the religion was giving them political money for
campaigns. The religion focused on being against homosexuals, mostly
male.
The religious group had traveled to Uganda to convince the
government that homosexuals were perverts, child molestors, and having
sex with animals. They preached and read Bible verses that supported
killing all male homosexuals. This group was very practiced at running
campaigns for politicians, so they tried to blackmail the leader of
Uganda. "You either support our anti homosexual campaign or we will
campaign against you and your parliament supporters and brand you too as supporting perverts." They managed to use the reputation and power of the United States to influence the passing of a most horrible and inhumane law.
As
that was going on in Uganda, Watchtower was watching what was going on
as the country of Uganda suddenly turned on their homosexual citizens.
Many were beaten, some were killed, others fled the country. The
Watchtower was watching that going on and realized that Africa and Asia might be a far more fertile region to gain converts.
While
the Watchtower is shrinking steadily in North America and Western
Europe, they are gathering in hundreds of new converts each year in
Western Africa and Baltic Countries. Southern Asia and the Pacific
Island nations are also gaining. The Watchtower knows that there are
many sheep to be gathered where minimal education, poverty, and family
loyalties are the rule, not the exception. North America is very
familiar with them, but along with Western Europe that is where the
money is located, and they want more money. By showing large gains in
other countries they convince their existing members that they should
contribute more money for the foreign ministry.
At the same time
they are calling back their special pioneers and missionaries sent to
those countries. They decided that (especially in western Africa) the crop of new converts will be easier to gather and keep.
Watch
Yearbook numbers over the next few years. I predict that the majority
of the worldwide growth will be everywhere but North America and Europe. They are going to go for the easy pickings, but won't spend a lot of money sending missionaries to support the effort.
