Dear NLM,
Your website brought me much joy and satisfaction recently! I was raised as a
witness and was an un-baptized "publisher" in a Witness family. When I was young
my parents divorced and my dad was dis-fellowshiped from the congregation. I
never understood why people who were his friends and family suddenly had to quit
talking to him and why I was to do the same. I loved my dad and knew that God
loved him too, he was just having a rough time. I still don't agree with the
fact that people get kicked out of the congregation for making mistakes. Aren't
we all sinful? So when I was 18 after a long battle with believing in the
organization, I talked to my mom and told her I didn’t ever want to become a
witness. She was saddened greatly by this but said that I had to "make the truth
my own." I knew that I believed in God and wanted to have a relationship with
him, but I was just confused. Upon my first year at college I became a part of a
campus ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ. I loved it right away. I went to
their weekly meetings and bible studies. And throughout the year I learned how I
could come to have a personal relationship with Jesus and how I need to accept
him into my heart. I was so excited to learn these things!! I felt like my eyes
had been opened! It was amazing. But anyways...I really need some prayers right
now....I moved in with my mom to save some money, and I made the mistake of
thinking that I wanted to be a witness again. But thought I should research
things about the organization, and stumbled across your website. I don't want to
attend the meetings, and I know that I don't want to become a witness. But my
mom thinks that I do, and it's so hard to just tell her that I don't....again. I
don't want her to get upset with me and like kick me out or something. I just
need some prayers so that He can open up a door for me, so it won't ruin our
relationship. I know what I believe in and I know that I'll have to take a stand
for myself. But I just wanted to thank you for your website. It really makes
things clear and understandable. I never knew about the whole revamping of the
organization in 1980...that was crazy to read. But thank you again for your
website! I hope that anyone who is questioning the Witnesses looks at your
website! Thank you very much!!
RW (e-mail)
Dear
NLM:
I
am so pleased to have heard about your website. Keep up the good work! I don’t
know much about them (JWs) and don’t encounter them regularly, but I am aware
of the history and manipulation of this cult, and would love to help convert
them to Christians. I’d like to have some of the tracts to distribute. I
don’t know how to go about getting them either. Thanks for this opportunity to
learn how to share God’s truth. The wolf is in sheep’s clothing. I hate
anything that is anti-Christian, but I am willing to learn from it as well. God
bless all of you who work to put this site together. Your courage and diligence
are commendable.
KC (e-mail)
Dear
NLM:
Please
remember me and my wife in your prayers. She is a JW and I am bought by the
blood of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your website. May the Lord bless and keep
you all.
JL
(e-mail)
Dear
NLM:
Very
informative, a real need being filled. Many people who have been hurt can
know they are not alone,
and begin the journey back to reality.
JD (e-mail)
Dear
NLM:
I
am a Christian who has been good friends with a Jehovah’s Witness since high
school—more than 10 years. Up until this point, it has never been an issue
because we simply never discussed religion. But we are both at a point in our
lives where we are drawing closer to our respective faiths. She has started to
talk to me more about Jehovah’s Witnesses, and has tried to convince me that
their religion is not very different from Christianity. Once we really talked
about her beliefs, I was alarmed that she seemed to mindlessly accept certain
things she was taught. The reason this alarmed me is because this is an
otherwise very assertive person. I have started to distance myself from this
person because throughout the past 10 years, she has committed criminal acts. I
moved away and a year ago she got back in touch with me. I was happy to hear
from her again because she extended herself to me more than any other friend.
However, after about six months she called me from jail. She was arrested for
more of her exploits; this time they were on a grander scale. I tried to talk to
her not just about religion, but about basic morality. But, I began to feel it
was no use. I tried to tell her about having a relationship with Jesus Christ,
but she didn’t seem to get it. After she got out [of jail], she began to do
some of the same things that had put her in there. Recently, she has started
talking with me about her religion again, and why I shouldn’t celebrate
holidays. She is also telling me a bunch of other rules. What she doesn’t
realize is that I can’t hear anything she is saying because her actions are
speaking to loudly! I now feel I have to sever my ties with this person once and
for all because for me to be around her could be dangerous. I want my friend to
know the love and freedom of Jesus Christ, and I want to witness to her before
ending this relationship. What do I do?
DG (e-mail)
DG,
Your friend is like many other Jehovah’s
Witnesses: her mind is controlled by the Organization. However, the Holy Spirit
can handle mind control, or any other stronghold. If you feel that you are in
physical danger, then by all means, end the relationship. But remember that the
Lord brought her into your life because He knows you can minister to her. Just
as her negative actions spoke to you, so your love and positive actions toward
her speak to her. Pray that the Lord will use the love you have for her to plant
a seed. And pray for your friend. Maybe one day—possibly even many years from
now—God will make that seed grow, and she will remember her Christian friend
who loved her and prayed for her in spite of her actions. In the meantime, we
invite all of our Christian brothers and sisters to be praying for you and your
friend. Please let us know how things progress.
Dear NLM:
I was reading the article you published on the issue of trust and gullibility. Very interesting indeed. I am not surprised, however, that the Society would publish something as "brazen," to use the term in the article. Having worked with lawyers all my life and having gone through countless hours of "discovery," I submit that this "brazen" statement by the Society is nothing more than a well-calculated subterfuge which they will eventually use in court in any lawsuit that is successfully launched against them.
Who am I? Not a JW, but one who has lost his wife and children to this organization. I spent the first three months of 1998 locked in front of my computer learning all I could about the organization and its mind-control techniques.
My extensive research has helped my wife to finally leave the organization in March of this year. I am thankful for that. Your site, along with all the others has been a great help in freeing her from bondage.
M.F. (e-mail)
Praise the Lord! We at NLM are excited to hear your wife has been set free from the "chains" of the Society. We're also blessed to know that NLM might have helped in some small way. God bless you and your family.
Dear NLM:
Thank you for sending me your newsletter. I visited your web site today and was very pleased with all I saw. Keep up the good work.
I have lived in my neighborhood for 11 years, and have had many discussions with JWs. They recently started a study with a new neighbor of mine and were shocked and dismayed to see me at her home at their third visit. This woman and I have continued to meet for Bible study.
Usually, the JWs will not come to my door or the door of several of my neighbors who will now witness to the witness at their door. By the way, I am a homeschooling mother of four. When I first came home to be with my children, I felt that my ministry to others was cut off. Witnessing to JWs and Mormons at the door has been my new ministry. I have also been able to share with other moms at their homes. I believe we are making a difference. Thank you for being there.
A.P. (e-mail)
Dear NLM:
Thank you for sending some of your tracts that you had translated into Spanish. Last Saturday, I went to the I-85 drive-in/ flea market and waited for JWs to arrive. I was there at 11 a.m., and by 12:30 none of them had arrived. I was about to give up, when they started arriving. There were about three pairs of JWs, and they each went to different areas. They were all Spanish speaking themselves, so they targeted people who spoke Spanish. When they left the persons they were speaking with, I slipped each of them the tracts you had sent me. None of them spoke English, so all I could do was give the tracts to them. It seemed they all kept and read them.
T.C.; Decatur, GA
Dear T.C.,
We're glad you could use the Spanish tracts to minister to JWs in your area. Please let us know if you need more tracts translated into Spanish. We would be happy to send them to you. Keep up the good work!
Dear NLM:
The Holy Spirit used me to stop a JW study in this area. Praise the Lord! I am presently counseling the former "student" and have given her much literature from you. She has realized how blessed she is that the Holy Spirit pulled her out before she could become a Jehovah's Witness. I'm enclosing an order blank for some of your excellent tracts. May God bless you and yours!
D.E.; LaPlace, LA
Dear D.E.,
Praise the Lord! Congratulations on helping to prevent someone from being trapped by the Watchtower Society. Please let us know if you have any more encounters with people studying with Jehovah's Witnesses. We will be praying for you and for the person you are counseling.
Dear NLM,
I am most impressed with your web site! I have been sharing its location with other friends of mine. You have a lot of great information available for Christians to use. The old saying, "What you don't know, can't hurt you" is directly from the pit itself! What we do not know CAN destroy us..."My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hosea 4:6 We need to know inorder to choose wisely. I've learned a lot by visiting your site. I need to spend some more time there.
In His love,
D.F.
Dear NLM:
I receive the newsletters and they are wonderful. I have been away form the Watchtower for many years. I am glad to get some good material to study, I want to ask some questions about New Light Ministries and order some books.
How ling has New Light been printing? About how many people are you serving. Do you have any get-togethers? Are the tracts to be distributed about?
Thank you in Jesus' love.
L.W., Nashville, Tn.
Dear L.W.,
Thank you for writing and your contribution!
New Light ministries has been printing tracts and newsletters for around 15 years. We have almost 2,000 on our mailing list, including US and foreign addresses.
We do occasionally have "get-togethers". In fact you may be interested in one of our videos called "A Reunion of Old Friends and New Friends" (V-05) which is a candid video taken at our most recent gathering. It includes testimonies of many including former JW's. We hope to have another here in the Atlanta area soon.
About distributing the tacts-emphatically yes! We do hope you will find interest where you live. This is the purpose of our ministry, to help all we can reach to come out of the WT Society and lead them to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you again for writing and if you have any other questions, or if we can be of help, please let us know.
Dear NLM:
I receive you newsletter on a regular basis, but I have an item I've never seen addressed in any literature: If all Christendom is under the influence of the devil, then on what authority can JW's us the Bible as the Truth? Did they have a private revelation that was contaminated by other religions? In other word, where si the "proof"that the Bible is the Word of God? To my knowledge, it was handed down orally for about three centuries in the Christian church before it was put to writing.
M.P., Waterford, Pa.
Dear M.P.,
Interesting question! From the JW standpoint, it was in the1800's that God decided to choose a "religion"...oops!...we mean Organization to be cleaned up and used exclusively by Him, and guess who lucked out? Right! The WT Society. So, it was not the Bible always being God's word, but that the rest of Christendom could not interpret it correctly. God chose the WT and they have been doing it ever since!! In fact the WT says the Bible is an "organizational book" not meant for the general mass to understand. It takes these old men in the Society in Brooklyn, NY!
Dear NLM:
I have been receiving your newsletter for some time. Only now can I write you. I don't know how I got on your mailing list but please stop sending me the newsletters. Don't get me wrong-there's nothing wrong with the newsletters. It's me, not you. Let me briefly explain.
I haven't been a JW for 12 years now (I was in the Society for only 3 years). Fact is, the Society hurt me deeply a few weeks before I disassociated myself. You see, I had been sick with a bad case of the flu for a few days and hadn't attended the meetings. I was even too sick to attend the Memorial (of which I partook). That evening, an elder who also partook, came to my home alone. He was there to bring the bread and wine since I was unable to attend the meeting. I knew elders did that but I was surprised when he came alone.
The elder prayed and offered me the bread and wine of which I partook. Then he raped me!! An elder...a man of God...someone I had deep respect for the 4 years I knew him. I had eaten with him and his wife. I had gone door-to-door with him. He never gave me any indication he'd do this to me! He never looked at me in a questionable manner nor said anything wrong. Nothing. But suddenly there he was, telling me how much he loved me! I was too sick and weak to fight him off.
I did not report it to the police-a bad mistake. But at the time I was still a JW and didn't want any bad publicity for the Kingdom Hall and my JW brothers and sisters. I was so naive. So I decided to tell the other elders at one of their proverbial meetings as they called them. He did not attend. I should have known they would not have believed me. They strongly suggested I start attending another Kingdom Hall, and forbade me from talking about the "lie" with anyone else in the congregation. It was not a lie-it happened!
I left the JWs that day never to return.
The Lord has healed my hate for the elders and him. But I am still very hurt and stunned.
Don't you see? Your newsletter mentions the words Jehovah's Witnesses and makes me shudder! I literally shake. I don't know what they're teaching now, and I don't care.
With God's help someday I will be able to again read the words Jehovah's Witnesses and it won't affect me in any way. Then I'll write you and beg you to send the newsletters to me. Praise the Lord!
S.F.,Indianapolis, IN..
Dear S.F.,
What a traumatic and tragic experience. Thank you for sharing and we'll stop sending the newsletters (for now!).