Posts by jwtexan

28

JWs and charitable work

by kj in

jw
friends

i've read on here several times about how jws are discouraged for doing charitable work for anybody other than jws, and that they are discouraged from contributing financially to non-jw charities.

are there some references to this in their literature that someone could point me to?.

also, i had a discussion with a jw about a recent relief effort some jws did in florida.

Are you REQUIRED to give insurance money? No one in the organization is REQUIRED to do anything. When tropical storms affected homes here in Texas, I have friends who decided that they would simply have their homes repaired by an independent contractor with their insurance check and others who decided that they could use the money to both have their homes repaired by brothers and have the insurance money help others in need.

Are we discouraged from helping others? The bible states that we should especially helps "those in the faith" - so we strive to help our fellow brothers in the faith. This does not in any way mean that we cannot help others, simply that we will help our brothers first, that is logical - we know and love them dearly.

Also, keep in mind that in Florida, we cannot simply jump on someone's roof to make repairs. You are required to have a permit to be a roof contractor in Florida. Since we are not roofing contractors, we have to meet specific rules involving our relationship with the homeowner. Bypassing these laws is punishable by jail time and monetary fines. That is a major reason why a lot of witnesses are not jumping on random roofs and making repairs in Florida.

How do other charities work and do they use insurance money to continue to fund things? I have no idea - I can tell you that they have to pay for salaries for their administrative branch and a lot of funds do not reach the intended recipients. If an insurance check is used to help others, or maintain a fund that prepares for upcoming disasters, is that not acceptable to you?

28

JWs and charitable work

by kj in

jw
friends

i've read on here several times about how jws are discouraged for doing charitable work for anybody other than jws, and that they are discouraged from contributing financially to non-jw charities.

are there some references to this in their literature that someone could point me to?.

also, i had a discussion with a jw about a recent relief effort some jws did in florida.

jwtexan

As someone who has worked on the Florida Relief effort - I can help clear up some ideas I see being tossed around.

First of all keep in mind that some of the folks that have been affected by the disaster do not have insurance to cover their damages or in some cases, not all of their damanges. In these cases, where is the money gathered to help them in this time of need? Well, in the case of those who do have insurance, are able to buy their materials with the insurance money, but instead of paying for a contractor to work on their roof, they can allow their brothers and sisters -who are eager to help- and then allow that insurance money to be used to help those that are in a situation that does now allow them to even have enough for the materials. This will also help feed all the volunteers that are helping repair the homes. Not a confusing thing is it?

By the way, no one is discouraged from helping others who are not witnesses. Of course, we are drawn to help those who share our faith and who we love dearly, but that does not prevent us from helping others in need. If you are making a statement that we only help ourselves, then you are shooting from the hip and missing your mark.

Another thing - as far as the Florida hurricane relief efforts - the witnesses have been able to repair hundreds of roofs in the area, all of them passing the strict inspection codes of the area, so the work is quality work done by clean and friendly individuals. Ever wish you had a group of people like that instead of the guys cursing and screaming lewd jokes at each other on your roof? All of this work is being done while hundreds of homes are still waiting for insurance companies to have someone come to their home and repair their roofs.

I challenge you to find anyone in the organization that personally makes monetary gains from these efforts.