Tom – Ex-Jehovah’s Witness Undercover at the Watchtower Meetings
Without any formal religious training or practice, Thomas found himself at the tender age of 19 getting pulled into the Jehovah’s Witnesses and following their indoctrination. Finally, after his divorce in 1975, Tom was able to release himself from the Jehovah’s Witnesses bondage. He now witnesses to inmates in prison who are considering joining the organization and has authored several fictional books about his experiences.
.:I’M FIGHTING MY JEHOVAH’S WITNESS EX-SPOUSE FOR CHILD CUSTODY. Do You Have Any Literature I Can Present to the Court to Help My Case?
“My wife started studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses five years ago and recently left me, taking our children with her. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are not encouraging her to go back to me even though according to their policies, she doesn’t have Scriptural grounds for a divorce because there was no fornication involved. She filed for divorce and is dragging me into a custody battle over our children. Watchtower lawyers are assisting her free of charge while I am spending thousands of dollarswith a lawyer who knows little to nothing of how destructive and deceptive the Jehovah’s Witnesses are. I am worried that if she gains full custody of our children, the Jehovah’s Witness belief system will alienate them from me, just as it did to my now ex-wife.
For example, the other day, my five-year old daughter told me that she is afraid that I will ‘die’ when Armageddon comes because I am not a Jehovah’s Witness. When I asked her where she got this idea, she told me that the people at the Kingdom Hall have been telling her that I am ‘bad’ because I ‘don’t serve Jehovah’ and that only Jehovah’s Witnesses will be ‘saved’ when Jehovah kills all the ‘bad’ people at the end of this system. I am concerned how being exposed to this kind of teaching will affect my relationship with my kids, and I think this religion is indeed a destructive cult. Do you have any literature that I can present to the court to help me show the dangers of this religion and gain legal custody of our children?” Continue reading “Preparing Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses for Child Custody”
.:HOW CAN I FORGIVE MY JEHOVAH’S WITNESS FATHER WHO ABUSED ME AND THE ELDERS WHO DID NOTHING ABOUT IT?
“I am emailing you because I have been very angry at the elders from the Jehovah’s Witness congregation I attended when I was growing up. My father was mentally sick and beat and molested us. The elders in the Kingdom Hall did nothing. At 14 years old, I confronted one of the leading elders and asked him why he didn’t do anything about my dad’s abusive behavior. He said: ‘What should I have done about it?’ It’s the same old thing: ‘Let Jehovah take care of it’ which basically means to ignore his behavior and pretend like it didn’t happen. I am now 32 years old and have a hard time not emotionally exploding when the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to my door. I tell them what happened in my family to let them know that something was horrible in their congregation and justice wasn’t served. I know that I need to ‘forgive’ as I am now a born again believer in Jesus Christ, but I can’t help but become angry that they call me an ‘apostate.’ I have even had to threaten to call the police to get one elder to leave my doorstep after I told him my past and why I left. I am angry at the whole organization. They are sick! Anyway, that is what I am dealing with now.” Continue reading “Abuse in Jehovah’s Witnesses and How to Forgive”
.:I WAS MOLESTED AS A CHILD IN JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES. DOES JEHOVAH EVEN CARE?
“When I was growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, I was sexually abused by my father, who was an elder. When it came to light, it was swept under the rug and I was told to leave it in Jehovah’s hands. I waited with the expectation of a child, but nothing ever happened. Justice never came. Does Jehovah even care about my abuse and the long lasting effects I have because of it? As an adult I suffer from depression, eating disorders and serious thoughts of suicide. What kind of a loving God would let this happen to an innocent child? Loving God was the worst mistake of my life!”
OUR RESPONSE:
Dear Broken Hearted Friend,
My name is Beryl, and I cannot exaggerate how much I understand your feelings. My heart has spent many years in pain and I have cursed God and shaken my fists at Him in outrage! I have tried two times to take my own life. I know firsthand what hopeless feels like.
If it is alright with you I would like to share a little bit of my story, just enough for you to have absolute confidence that I am not patronizing you or giving you false hope. I am truly speaking from my own life experience. Continue reading “I was abused as a child in Jehovah’s Witnesses. Does Jehovah even care?”
.:TRISH V
Born and raised Jehovah’s Witness for 42 years, she experienced first-hand the hypocrisy that exists in the legalistic environment of the Watchtower organization. After suffering years of abuse in her Jehovah’s Witness marriage and failing to live up to every expectation of the Watchtower, Trish divorced her JW husband, telling him that he could have custody of the religion, and she was keeping the kids! Living in limbo with no religious affiliation to claim, God in His mercy and grace opened Trish’s eyes to the Truth of Who Jesus really is! Surrendering all to Him, she found the peace and joy she had been looking for all her life, and He even blessed her with a gentle and loving Christian husband to care for her.
.:PAM – “The Making of a Missfit – A Princess of the King!”
Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness in a broken home, all Pam ever knew was rejection. An absent father, a distraught mother who said she “regretted” the day she was born, disfellowshiped, Pam felt alone and that even God had rejected her! No one seemed to care, and what’s worse, Armageddon was due to come in 1975. She sought reinstatement, but the shunning was too much for her. When the end didn’t come, she wondered what else they had lied to her about. Pam thought, “I need to find out the truth!” In 1978, Pam found true salvation in Jesus and began a clown ministry. God took the little girl who was never allowed to celebrate anything and made her into a clown who gets to celebrate everything all the time!
.:THE TESTIMONY OF CHRISTINE (David’s wife)
Despite the sexual abuse and lack of love and acceptance she experienced when she was growing up in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christine still believed that the Jehovah’s Witness religion was “the Truth” and served as a Regular Pioneer. But deep inside, she felt unworthy, guilty and fearful of what would happen to her at Armageddon. Finally, she cried out in desperation: “Jesus said, ‘Take my load for it is kindly and light,’ but Jehovah it’s not light! It’s more like concrete!” When Jehovah opened her eyes to Jesus her true Shepherd, she found the love, grace and security she had longed for all her life.
.:ASHTON
She was born and raised a third generation Jehovah’s Witness. Her adoptive father was an elder for 17 years and her mother was considered one of the anointed. She went door-to-door full time, but to get out of an abusive situation in her home, at 23 years old, she moved in with her boyfriend and was disfellowshipped. Lost and lonely, she turned to the Word of God and found the “Truth” in a personal relationship with Jesus.
.: ANNE MARIE – Disfellowshipped but Saved by Jehovah!
You might have seen her in the Kingdom Hall. You know that young, pretty sister with “all those kids.” The one who struggled to raise her children “in the truth” alone. The one who was rarely considered as “wife material” because she was “damaged goods.” Disfellowshipped for being raped, Anne Marie finally felt free… How could this be? Had she not been taught since age five that the Watchtower organization was “the Truth”? Finally, she found the real truth behind “the truth” and found joy in Christ that she had longed for all her life.
.:BRENDA – Traumatized at age 9 by Watchtower control, she didn’t know where to turn.
It seemed as if Brenda’s nine-year old world collapsed over night. Those seemingly harmless Jehovah’s Witnesses had succeeded in convincing Brenda’s mother that holidays, birthday celebrations and all association with non-Jehovah’s Witnesses had to be avoided. Brenda’s life which up until then consisted of school and play-time with her non-Jehovah’s Witness friends and relatives was immediately altered. She lost all her friends and spent the next nine years of her life in utter conflict–trying to be true to her inside identity–while portraying the Jehovah’s Witness “cult” image her mom required of her. Nearly becoming an agnostic from her experience in the Watchtower, Brenda has come back to acknowledging God’s existence, though her spiritual journey is in progress.
.:SACHA – Brutally abused by her Jehovah’s Witness husband, she was disfellowshipped for reporting to the police.
Born into a very strict and active Jehovah’s Witness home, Sacha truly believed she had “the truth” and served as a Regular Pioneer along with her Jehovah’s Witness husband. But when her husband (a Ministerial Servant) began to physically abuse her in unimaginable ways, she ran to her family and the elders for help only to be told that if the brutal beatings were reported to the police, it would “tarnish Jehovah’s name and put His people in a bad light.” Finally, Sacha had enough of the abuse. She filed for divorce and was disfellowshipped because the elders claimed she did not have Scriptural grounds for the divorce. Shunned by her family and friends, Sacha moved to a new town and met a Christian man who led her to Christ.
SHEREEN – After a failed attempt at suicide from the harsh beatings she endured from her Jehovah’s Witness parents, she found help from a trained counselor.
Raised in the ridged environment of an abusive Jehovah’s Witness home, Shereen never experienced the freedom to grow as a child in the arms of loving parents. Hours and hours of meetings and door-to-door activity, along with harsh beatings at home over failing to live up to smallest expectation of her parents left Shereen with no hope of surviving. After a failed attempt at suicide, Shereen finally found help in the hands of a trained counselor. Although she is currently out of the Watchtower organization, her journey for physical, emotional and spiritual healing is far from complete.
.:TRESSA – Disfellowshipped for divorcing her abusive Jehovah’s Witness husband
BERYL’S TESTIMONY – Abused by her step father, a Jehovah’s Witness elder, she left the religion to find peace in Christ.
As a survivor of physical, spiritual and emotional abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Beryl spent a big portion of her life asking Jehovah, “Why did this happen? How could You let this happen?” She is so blessed to be able a stand here before you and proclaim that she is a living testimony that the most horrible, cruel and devastating life experiences can and will be turned for good if we just give Jehovah the chance.
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