Thoughts on...
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Preaching Door-to-Door Why live any longer with the uncertainty of whether you will be acceptable to God when you die? Discover how to have the assurance of Eternal Life! (www.4witness.org) |
Other Ex-JW Stories Tressa - Ex-Jehovah's Witness
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I was raised in a Catholic family. It was my father who had the greatest impact on my spiritual life. In subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways, he taught me to love God. As a teenager, I remember not being allowed to go to a party without the “clear understanding” that no matter how late I got home, I would attend mass Sunday morning! He always encouraged me to pray and “get to know” God. Even though I attended catechism, I never felt like they were helping me to “get to know” God. It was mostly about “the Church,” Mary and the saints. But my Dad helped me to yearn to know God. Somehow, I knew that the Bible was God’s Word. Of course, now I know that it was the Holy Spirit teaching me, drawing me to God. As a Catholic I never had a Bible. When I married my husband, I got a huge Catholic family Bible and I was determined to read it cover to cover! It didn’t take long for me to realize that I needed help. But in the meantime, I discovered three things about the Catholic Church that made me decide that I wasn’t going to be a Catholic any more.
Since I was now home on Sunday morning reading my Bible and needing help to understand it, I was thrilled when someone came to my door and offered to “study the Bible” with me! It took fourteen years before I realized that they weren’t studying the Bible with me, but rather the Watchtower lies! Studying to be a Jehovah’s Witness, I learned that Christmas was pagan as were birthdays and Father’s and Mother’s Days. All “other” religions were “of the Devil” as was “independent thinking.” They taught me that the Trinity was a false teaching and if I wanted to live forever – not in heaven but on the paradise earth – I was to serve God “Jehovah” in the prescribed Watchtower way. This consumed all of my life. By this time, I had four sons and a daughter, and I was required to teach my children what I was learning. I was required to prepare not only myself, but also my five children for the five meetings held each week at the Kingdom Hall. I had to prepare them for talking to total strangers door to door about the “Kingdom Good News,” that Jesus had indeed returned in 1914 and that this wicked old world would “soon” end at Armageddon in 1975! After much physical and emotional abuse, my marriage of twenty-two years ended in divorce, and because I was the one who filed, I was disfellowshipped from the Watchtower organization. Since “loyal” Jehovah’s Witnesses have no fellowship with one who is disfellowshipped, not even to speak to them, my five grown children chose to be “loyal to Jehovah” by obeying the Watchtower. For two years, I attended all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall hoping to be reinstated. At those meetings, I was totally ignored by people I had called friends and family. Even my five children would not speak to me. The elders had explained to me that because I was “disfellowshiped,” I did not need to bother to pray because Jehovah would not hear my prayer. It was a very difficult time for me! However, my heavenly Father is so good! During the two years of begging the elders to let me back into the organization, God placed a wonderful Christian friend in my path. For several months, we had many spiritual discussions. I wanted to make a Jehovah’s Witness out of him, and he wanted to help me to see God’s love and mercy. I don’t know why I continued to listen to him when I “knew” as a Jehovah’s Witness that he was “wrong” because he didn’t have “the Truth” (the Watchtower term for its teachings). But now I know, and again it was the Holy Spirit drawing me to our Lord. The “breaking- through” point came when I saw that the Watchtower was wrong about the Trinity! Then, like a domino effect, their teachings crumbled before my eyes. All four of my sons are still slaves to the Watchtower. However, my one precious daughter, Meriah, is free from their chains and was baptized with Christ on Easter Sunday of 2007, along with her own precious eleven-year old daughter, Jasmin. Just one more thing I need to tell you. They say to stay close to the person who brings you to the Lord, right? Well, I married him! In Christ’s Love, |
Testimonials
They are all there for me!
“I had Jehovah’s Witnesses visiting for six years. … The sad thing is now I have their beliefs in my head. So I put myself into God’s hands and asked for direction. …Well, the feeling of freedom is amazing. I am like a child, learning again for the first time. The reason I had to write to you was the Karen and Cindy conversations. Instead of me asking for help, one question at a time, they are all there for me!! It seems as if ‘Karen’ could read my mind.
It’s so lovely for things to fall into place, mainly that ‘What happens when we die?’ This was a very big issue for me. I was scared while I did not understand even the tiny bit I do now. It’s such a joy. Instead of feeling unworthy(were all sinners I know) and feeling I would never be saved or go to Heaven. So, please thank God and Jesus with me for such help.”
I have to tell you how your website saved my life.
“I have been a baptized Witness since 1995, and I have to tell you how you have saved my life. Every couple of years I get this gnawing sense that this is not quite right, that I am not 100% vested in what the Watchtower Society says. …Lately, I have stopped attending meetings and my daughter, 13, has begged me not to make her go back. So I have been praying and chatting with friends outside the organization…
…I can’t tell you my sense of relief when I stumbled upon your site and started to read the articles. I want to cry, but I’m at work. I can’t wait to get home because I am so excited I can barely stand it! Please, please, how can I meet others who feel this way? I sure could use the fellowship. Again, thanks for the work you do.”
God bless you for the difference you are making.
“My brother and I were raised by a Jehovah's Witness mother. I am 52 years old now and still haven't been able to shake the stigma of the experience. My brother wasn't as lucky as me and ended up taking his own life at 17. I have been through everything ... I can't express how much I appreciate what you are doing... God bless for the difference you are making.”
I do not feel so alone!
“Thank you for creating this website. After reading stories of former Jehovah's Witnesses, I do not feel so alone. My resolve to stay out of that religion has also strengthened. I have also come to realize that my depression, anxiety, and many other emotional scars inflicted by the organization and those in the ‘truth’ will take time to heal. But your website has also come to help me ... Thank you.”
Just as I was about to enter the Jehovah’s Witnesses again, God led me to your website.
“Hi…I am an Ex-Jehovah’s Witness from South Africa. ...I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses not because I did not agree with their beliefs, but because my wife could not handle it with me being a Jehovah’s Witness and she not. I became an anti-religious person. Then, just as I was about to enter the Jehovah’s Witnesses again, God led me to your website… Today, I prayed to Jesus for salvation after I read your article on your website…”
I’m so glad that I have run across this site.
“After reading the article that David Reed wrote on your site, I’ve looked at things in ‘a new light’ so-to-speak. ...I’m so glad that I have run across this site. I’m sure that it was the Holy Spirit that directed me to all of you!”
Your website is a great source for truth
“Your website is a great source for those seriously seeking the truth.… The Jehovah’s Witness elders shun me. I’ve known these guys for 30 years... Well, when I walk into the Hall they turn their backs to me. I have not seen my Jehovah’s Witness ex-wife, or daughter for two years. ...They hide my family from me. When I go to their homes, they smile with arms folded and say nothing.
The stories I read at your website were loud and clear - conditional love by the ‘brothers’! I have learned more in the Christian Church about unconditional love than 30 years as a Witness. When I accepted Christ, who He really is, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see both sides clearly. ...Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to know the real TRUTH! Keep up your good work.”
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