Posts by jwleaks

GREENFIELD — Two years ago, when John Ettien learned his 2-year-old daughter, Mattithia, suffered from a life-threatening heart defect, he felt lost. The doctors in the Ivory Coast, where he’s from, couldn’t perform the specialized surgery Mattithia needed, and even if they could, he and his wife couldn’t afford it.

More than 3,500 miles away from Ettien, in Mosul, Iraq, Noor Aljawadeya was suffering a similar fate.

Her daughter, Adyan, also had been diagnosed with a rare condition that restricted her blood flow and, if left untreated, would cause her heart to shut down. It would require multiple surgeries to repair, and that family, too, didn’t have the resources she needed.

Today, both families have something else in common: Their children are on their way to living healthy lives thanks to the Rotary Club of Greenfield.

Through the service organization’s Gift of Life fundraiser, members secured funds from the community and support from Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis to help treat the youngsters. Both families arrived in Indianapolis several weeks ago for the operations.

Mattithia, now 4, was operated on Tuesday morning, and doctors say that should be the only intervention needed to repair her heart.

After taking loans from banks and asking friends and family for anything they could spare, Ettien said he had exhausted his resources in his hometown, Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast.

“I had to sell everything,” he said. “Even with my job, I didn’t have money to pay for (the procedure).”

Ettien, a Jehovah’s Witness, decided to write a letter to the religious organization’s U.S. headquarters, which referred him to the Gift of Life program. He learned about the local program and wrote another message to Riley Hospital for Children, which then connected him to the local Rotary Club.

It took two years to find help, Ettien said, but he’s hopeful this will be the end of his family’s plight.

“It’s so difficult for a father to see (his) daughter suffer from this and still not have the money to take care of her,” said Ettien. “I hope that after all of this, … she will be alright.”

Adyan, who underwent surgery July 31, is also on the path to recovery, but doctors say she’ll need at least one more surgery to fully mend her heart. It’s unclear whether she’ll be recovered in time to undergo the additional operation during her stay in the U.S., but Dr. Stephanie Kinnaman, Gift of Life adviser for central Indiana and a Greenfield resident, said the organization will also sponsor that procedure.

The Greenfield Rotary’s Gift of Life program is the only one of its kind in the state and one of 71 Gift of Life programs around the world. The local group raises money for the program through an annual dinner and silent auction fundraiser, which regularly raises around $50,000, Kinnaman said.

That money goes toward medical expenses, airfare and accommodations for the families. The surgeons who perform the procedures donate their time, which saves the families thousands of dollars.

The group also sponsors an additional trip each year that sends surgeons overseas to perform procedures closer to where the children live, sparing them from costly and time-consuming plane travel, Kinnaman said.

Since the Greenfield Rotary started the program in 2000, Kinnaman estimates it’s flown at least 15 children to Indianapolis to receive operations. Abroad, she said, it’s sponsored more than 50 surgeries.

The Greenfield Rotary gets connected with families in need in a variety of ways, Kinnaman said. Sometimes parents learn about the program and contact Riley directly, as Ettien did, and sometimes, they receive referrals from Gift of Life International, which coordinates with local Rotary organizations.

Aljawedeya remains hopeful that Adyan will grow up to be as strong as her twin sister, Renad, who also traveled with the family to the U.S.

She said it’s difficult to see Renad run around with abandon while Adyan sometimes needs to sit to catch her breath.

She’s grateful to all those who have contributed to the effort to treat her daughter.

“I feel so thankful for everyone involved,” she said. “It’s so kind that they feel the need to save her life.”

Kinnaman, a Greenfield Rotarian and local physician, said she gets something out of the process, too.

“It’s life changing for them, of course, but it also is for me,” she said. “I have friends from all over the world because we, as Greenfield Rotarians, changed their lives forever.”

She added that although the Greenfield Rotary pays the stipend for the families’ visits, it’s a collective effort.

“It’s not only the people that helped raise the money through our fundraiser … but also the entire team — doctors and nurses alike — that takes care of them while they’re there,” she said.

During their visits, both families are living at the Ronald McDonald House, an overnight facility for families with children facing extended stays in nearby Riley. Doctors will evaluate the conditions of both children before the families return home; both are scheduled to leave in October.

Despite language and cultural barriers, Kinnaman said, the families seem to have established a connection with one another through their shared experience.

“Although there are all kinds of differences between the two families,” she said, “there seems to be this common understanding about their struggles that they’re able to express to one another.”

11

Governing Body missing their big chance

by under the radar in

it seems to me that the governing body is missing an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that they are indeed the faithful and discreet slavetm.

even if, as they claim, they collectively constitute the slavetm only when meeting together to consider spiritual matters, surely any one of their number could expect to be guided by holy spirittm when testifying before the australian royal commission on such an important matter.. in fact, they should widely publicize the hearing and encourage all jw's to watch it live.

this would show they have nothing to fear and really believe all the (hot steaming piles of) spiritual food they've been spewing.. after all, their own translation of the bible says, at matthew 10:18-20, "18 and you will be brought before governors and kings+ for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.+ 19 however, when they hand you over, do not become anxious about how or what you are to speak, for what you are to speak will be given you in that hour;+ 20 for the ones speaking are not just you, but it is the spirit of your father that speaks by you.".

jwleaks

"Do not become anxious about how or what you are to speak, for what you are to speak will be given you in that hour." - Matthew 10:19

Evidently the Scriptures approve of the use of a teleprompter or earpiece for Geoffrey Jackson.

Teleprompter

85

"And what happened next was simply unbelievable!"

by Terry in

jw
friends

i always sit in the same spot, just outside starbucks in a vestibule area with a table in the air-conditioned space.

i say "always," but not today.. somebody with two laptops and a table filled with business ledgers was in "my" favorite spot!.

so, i took a tiny wooden table inside the coffee shop on a long padded bench next to 3 other identical tables.. as the clickbait banner ads like to say: "and what happened next was simply unbelievable!".

jwleaks

And the "Angus Stewart QC" award for excellence in cross examining a Jehovah's Witness goes to

... TERRY.

75

If you could ask Geoffrey Jackson one question that he had to answer what would it be?

by jwleaks in

what question would you ask geoffrey jackson, as a member of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, to answer?

.

jw leaks.

jwleaks

Mr Jackson, you state that the 'two witness' rule is a scriptural requirement that God demands we adhere to. With God's requirements in mind could you please provide the names of the two witnesses that can verify that God and Jesus chose you to be one of the anointed?

7

Drum Article written by JWFacts

by Listener in

here's a link written by paul grundy and presented by abc the drum.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-10/grundy-flaws-in-jehovahs-witness/6680286 .

jwleaks

Wow a great article to go with a great interview. Well done Paul.

Now we get to see how Geoffrey Jackson responds on Friday.

75

If you could ask Geoffrey Jackson one question that he had to answer what would it be?

by jwleaks in

what question would you ask geoffrey jackson, as a member of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, to answer?

.

jw leaks.

jwleaks

An Open Letter from the Children of Jehovah's Witnesses to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses

75

If you could ask Geoffrey Jackson one question that he had to answer what would it be?

by jwleaks in

what question would you ask geoffrey jackson, as a member of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, to answer?

.

jw leaks.

jwleaks

What question would you ask Geoffrey Jackson, as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, to answer?

JW LEAKS

48

I Made the Literature Trolley Run Away Today - Twice

by cofty in

i popped into town this morning to buy an anniversary card for mrs cofty.

it is market day on a saturday and it's tourist season so the town was very busy.

here is a picture of the scene from a year ago... two cult carts were in their favourite place being guarded by none other than one of the elders who was on my judicial committee, his wife and another jw woman in her electric disability buggy.

jwleaks

Way to go Cofty. They don't like "anonymous" protesters either.

JW LEAKS

86

Geoffrey Jackson. Seems he will be compelled to front up.

by umbertoecho in

pray for brother jackson of the governing body!.

in todays news from australia it appears that, despite his previous declination to appear when invited, justice mcclellan from the australian royal commission on child sex abuse will officially summon brother geoffrey jackson to the stand after all.. ..... the commission was due to conclude its hearings into the jehovahs witnesses on wednesday but justice mcclellan said he will now call geoffrey jackson, a senior member of the churchs governing body in new york who is currently in australia, to appear next week.. .

source.

jwleaks

Barrold Bonds - what's the aussie law equivalent of pleading the 5th. because that's all he's gonna do.

Under Australian law pleading "GUILTY" gives you rights equivalent of pleading the 5th.

However in a Royal Commission only your sudden death prevents you from having to answer questions when summoned.

No doubt Jackson is praying for the rapture.