Do you need a vacation? Have you ever considered Bethel?

by jayhawk1 11 Replies latest social humour

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  jayhawk1

  Here is a copy and paste from www.bethelcoachtours.com as to why you should go see Bethel for your next vacation. Has anybody done this, any experiences good or bad?

  Bethel Branches All Over The WorldThere are Bethels with Bethel brothers and sisters all over the world. So when we speak of visiting Bethel we do not necessarily mean just Bethel in NY. A Bethel Vacation could include visiting a Bethel facility anywhere a bethel branch exists.
  
  The Best Vacation on Earth
  The best vacation on earth for Jehovah's Witnesses is one that includes a Bethel visit. Seeing how happy everyone is at Bethel as they work hard for Jehovah and for others allows visitors to personally see with their own eyes and feel with their own heart what life in the truth can be like for all of us. It will encourage you to focus not only on your own congregation, but on what Jehovah is doing worldwide through his faithful earthly and heavenly organization. We have seen first hand what a visit to Bethel can do. The tours the Bethel brothers arrange for visitors have the potential to change for the better your view of Jehovah, the organization, and your own congregation forever.
  
  Memories You Can Share with Your Home Congregation
  One last point. While the buildings, machines, and procedures you see and learn about are interesting and encouraging, they pale in comparison to the affect the tour guides and the Bethel workers will have on you and the friends traveling with you. You will remember most the attention you receive from the tour guides and the Bethel family. You will be made to feel welcome, loved, and appreciated by the dear brothers who serve at Bethel. You will never forget all the smiles, waves, and hello's that you personally experience. You will adopt the attitude of your bethel guide and the Bethel workers you see on your tours and you will take that attitude back home to your local congregation. Like ripples in a pond, the blessings that come from a visit to Bethel will radiate out through you and touch those with whom you share those precious memories. Now you can see why we believe the best vacation on earth for one of Jehovah's Witnesses includes a visit to Bethel.
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  mouthy

  Yeah ! Right
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  iiz2cool

  You will adopt the attitude of your bethel guide and the Bethel workers you see on your tours and you will take that attitude back home to your local congregation.

  This DOES NOT sound like a good thing! It almost sounds like a virus - you go to Bethel, catch it, then go home and spread it to others. Kind of like SARS. Maybe people who've visited Bethel should spend a few weeks in quarantine upon return.

  Walter

  Ontario District Overbeer
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  kyria

  AHHHHH! Bethel!! Run away! Run away! The worst vacations of my childhood!

  What a waste of a school vacation. What a waste of a trip to New York. Oh, these were SO boring. Walking around that hot, loud factory. Pretending to be interested in the giant paper reams. Then eating our bagged lunch on the lawn outside the bus. Sitting next to some smelly old pioneer on the bus for 7 hours. Singing Kingdom Melody's on the ride down and talking about how WONDERFUL it would be to be accepted to Bethel so that you could work like a slave all day and not be paid... hey, but you got free meals, right? I think I'm going to vomit.

  Now that I live in New York, I keep meaning to get back over that way, just to see it all through open eyes.

  Do you know if non-Witnesses are allowed in these buildings? I remember one renovated theater (Stanley?) that I wanted to go check out.

  Arrrgh... those stupid giant paper reams... I'm still residually bored, 15 years later.
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  jwbot

  I had a good time...because I sat with my sister, my best friend, and a boyfriend in the back of the bus, away from parents! We did some hand-holdin' which is a big thing to a 13/14 year old. We laughed, took tons of pictures. We made fun of this dork from another congregation who was on the bus and his mom got really mad at us (she was sitting with him) and we just made fun of him more because his mom had to defend him. Don't worry, he deserved it ;)
  
  We watched the most cleanest, stupidest movie one can imagine, it was like Lady and the Tramp or something. Oh and of course, the bethel movies.
  
  At Bethel, the "spiritual" brothers hit on me...yeah a 14 year old girl. Of course I was giddy and all, but still...
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  ashitaka

  yeah a 14 year old girl.

  Ha! That does not surprise me in the least.

  I had a couple of friends who went up there and were not only hit on, but dated. That is, 21 YO's were dating 14 YO's, and much non-sexual hanky-panky ensued.

  The funny thing is, in all of the cases, the relationship ended because these bethel boys were conceited, immature, emtionally disturbed partyboys who got drunk and high any time they could.

  Will they show that on the tour?

  ash
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  Simon

  I know one person who visted bethel and had serious mental problems when he returned. I guess it was unsettling (cognitive dissonance) seeing what things were really like instead of what they should be like.

  I think we'll stick to the FreedomFest for our vacation!!
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  willyloman

  Somebody should send these guys Dave's recently posted "travelogue" summarizing his own faith-strengthening two-week trip to Bethel.
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  jayhawk1

  Even though I have never been, it looks like I have not missed a thing. I think seeing the video they did in the early 1990s regarding life at Bethel was enough for me. I would love to 'hear' more comments/experiences on this.
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  iiz2cool

  We could always consider an apostate visit to bethel, with signs that say "Religion is a Snare and a Racket".

  Walter