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Dayton Ohio District Convention

Posted by Scorpion on Wed - Jul 9 - 01:31am:

I was given permission to post this. I thought some here would be interested in reading this.

Scorpion

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Hello all,

Last week I stopped by the "Give God Glory" District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses being held at the Nutter Center here in

Dayton, Ohio (Wright State University). Another member of our church accompanied me as we had a few opportunities to speak with some JWs.

We met a gentleman in the parking lot as he was sitting in his car and told him that we were from a local church in the area and wondered if we could talk with him. I told him that we were concerned about proclaiming the good news of who Christ is and what He did for us, His death, burial and resurrection. We asked if he would be interested in reading a tract which asked questions concerning some of the claims of the WT. He graciously accepted the tract. Before we left we asked if we could pray with him. He agreed.

We did encounter some other Witnesses that spoke with us. We went inside and asked about any current information on Jehovah's

Witnesses and the issue of blood. We were led to the news group on the 3rd floor and spoke to a few gentlemen. I informed them that I was involved with a small Christian apologetics and education ministry. I told them that I had contacted a local hospital in the area about setting up an in-service about Jehovah's Witnesses and blood and the subject of doctors discussing the subject with their JW patients in order to establish informed consent. I was introduced to a Witness from a local congregation who apparently had close ties with the Hospital Liason Committee in the area. I was informed that there was current and up-to-date information on blood at www.jw-media.org, but basically all I found there were press releases concerning things like awards being issued to the WT for "pioneering" in the area of so-called bloodless medicine. As far as I have been able to tell, the last change in the Blood doctrine concerned the taking of fractions of majopr components, ie. hemoglobin( which makes up about 97% of red blood cells) in the June 15, 2000 WT.

I was offered some magazines as well as a 2003 yearbook. Overall it went pretty well and we trust that God will use what was planted in order to shake some loose from authoritarian grip of the WTS.

Yesterday I stopped back at the convention because I was looking for someone who originally agreed to allow myself and a mutual

acquaintance (a friend and co-worker of mine) to discuss the Bible with him and his brother. After our first visit around 2 years ago, it was decided that it would not be profitable to continue meeting with us. At the time these two brothers had just been studying with the Witnesses for a little while. They had complained that no one wanted to study the Bible with them, or to demonstrate their beliefs from of the Bible. Well, when WE wanted to and we did provide Biblical support for what we believed, THEY did NOT want to study the Bible.

Aside from that, I basically walked around looking if I could see this gentleman anywhere. A number of Witnesses tried to help me locate this person. All the while one particular gentleman from Indiana kept trying to get me to take a seat and listen to the program until the break. I kept declining. I did leave my name, telephone number and e-mail address to give to my acquaintance if they could find him.

They thought they had located him in a certain section, although we had been there just minutes prior and I didn't see him. I told those trying to help that I was informed that he was supposed to have come with a friend. The man they thought I was looking for apparently did not have anyone with him except his wife. They also believed he was just newly married, but as I remember he was already married when I first met him. So whether this was or was not the one I was looking for I don't know. I probably will go back again Sunday after church.

I will say that a few people kept following me all the while I was there. This was probably due to the fact that someone patrolling the parking lot (security) saw me reading my Bible on a shuttle bench and recognized me from the area. I had stopped by a local congregation to look at their library. I told certain individuals there that I was doing research on the WT and Blood and was looking to see if they had the July 1, 1945 WT, since I wanted to examine it first hand. They did not (I have since acquired a copy--ebay--), but I had a chance to look at some other materials such as C.T. Russell's Studies in the Scriptures. As I did this I was telling one gentleman who was making copies (the one patrolling in the car) about information I received about the Society's view of evolution. I told him that I wanted to check the references first hand to make sure that they were correct- - they were. The Society did not object to the idea of evolution for lower animals, but only when it came to man, (See Studies in the Scriptures, vol 6, the New Creation, pp.36-40) which is a far cry from the impression they currently give about their historical view.

Well, this gentleman in the car, as well as others patrolling kept their eye on me and undoubtedly had informed convention officials inside. As I was leaving I saw them again. I stopped an individual to see if he was from the area and told him that I had gone inside looking for someone, and sure enough, up rolled that same patrolling vehicle just waiting for me to move on. As I came near to my car another vehicle kept its distance waiting for me to leave.

It is a shame that control measures like this have to exist. I certainly did not feel threatened, and as I left I waved to them. The issue is that if I were to speak with somone at the convention and offered them my tract-"The Watchtower and Blood" then a certain presence would be established in order to intimidate those who may be interested.

Thank you,

David Race(ProveAll) proveallthings@aol.com

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Dayton Ohio District Convention - Posted by Scorpion - Wed - Jul 9 - 01:31am