I would like to respond in this separate thread to a number of comments from Robert's post
"Tues. March 19th - So when he comes and knocks"
I would like to thank you very much for all the constructive and encouraging messages.
Personally, I don't often talk about what I do behind the scenes. The visitors who have been visiting Robert's website for some time already know me, but for those who are relatively new to the forum in recent years I will give a little explanation.
Years ago, during my spiritual research, I came across Robert's site. After thoroughly studying all the information, I decided that I want to do everything within my power to further spread that information to those who need it and who are struggling with the same questions that I was struggling with at the time.
My name is Paul, I live in the Netherlands and I have never been officially baptized by the WT organization. I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Both my parents were baptized witnesses. Unfortunately, my father ended up in hospital 15 years ago after a tragic accident and subsequently refused a blood transfusion and unfortunately died afterwards.
Because I was never baptized within the organization, I was not eligible to be disfellowshipped. That also gave me the freedom to discuss freely with other witnesses and especially elders and I could also ask them all kinds of 'difficult' questions. Of course I also gratefully took advantage of this situation.
Anyway, my primary language is Dutch and in order to reach the brothers and sisters in the Netherlands I decided to translate Robert's book
“Jehovah Himself has Become King” into Dutch. Many of you also know that this is a large book that you will not quickly read in one evening sitting. I diligently worked on its translation for over 2 years. After I translated the book, I also published the book in the Netherlands and Belgium. The book can be purchased at cost price in any Dutch or Belgian bookstore. Immediately after its publication, I traveled to the Netherlands WT-branch office in Emmen and, after a two-hour conversation, managed to personally deliver two Dutch hardcopies of Robert's book to the brother heading the Netherlands branch. I told that brother that if he could prove to me based on the Bible that what is in the book is incorrect, then I would immediately take the book out of the bookstores and apologize to them. That brother told me that Robert's book would be read by two different elders and then they would get back to me. I have been waiting in vain for a response from Bethel for quite a few years now.
In the meantime, I also launched the
Dutch e-watchman website together with Robert. I have worked very hard on this website and have already translated many hundreds of Robert's articles.
At one point Robert wrote the brochure
“The Second Coming of Christ – What Does This Mean for You?”. I then also translated this wonderful brochure into Dutch and then Robert and I ensured that a physical copy of this Dutch brochure was sent to ALL 200 Kingdom Halls in the Netherlands and also a significant number of Kingdom Halls in Belgium. I also sent several copies to Kingdom halls in the Netherlands Antilles and to Suriname, where Dutch is also widely spoken.
A few years later, a regular reader of the Dutch e-Watchman website contacted me and told me that he had a good command of the German language. This brother also felt the need and necessity to spread his acquired knowledge. He then offered me to translate Robert's articles into German, but with the comment that I would have to take care of his translations, including the layout and illustrations, on a separate German website. We then started setting up
a German e-watchman website so that the German-speaking brothers and sisters can also learn about the 1914 deluding influence and all other matters that the Watchtower Organization prefers to keep hidden from all witnesses. The primary goal is to ensure that these brothers and sisters do not stumble in their faith once they learn of all the Watchtower Society's wrongdoings. I also hope that they can then understand and realize that the wrongdoings of the Watchtower organization are not the fault of Jehovah or Jesus and that it is the organization that has gone apostate. They need to understand that the house of God will soon be judged when the Master of the house arrives and also that this didn’t took place in the year 1914.
Because Robert simply pulls the proverbial cart alone, I have tried to support and relieve him as much as possible in what he does. After all, in life you can spend money and time only once. Because I am a very visually oriented person, illustrations are an essential part of knowledge transfer for me. Words can come to life through pictures and stimulate the reason and imagination of readers. In addition, illustrations also ensure that people can better absorb the information they read and remember it better in their memory. Since the advent of A.I. I have been able to gratefully use this technology to create illustrations that are even better tailored to the message that Robert tries to convey in his articles. Pictures can evoke different emotions in people. They can magnify absurdities and enhance both humor and seriousness.
Of course this takes a lot of time. Both Robert and I do this work completely voluntarily and with the best intentions. Many do not realize that this has become a daily task for both Robert and me and that we work on this task every day for many hours on end with a lot of love and passion. Because we do not have tens of thousands of employees like in Bethel, we are literally shorthanded with all the work we do. I personally feel that Jehovah's spirit supports this work and that many of our brothers and sisters benefit from this as well. I also clearly notice that Jehovah is blessing this work on every side.
I can't speak for Robert, but personally I really appreciate it when others show a little appreciation for all my efforts. Uplifting messages from others give me the strength, motivation and energy to continue this daily, for as long as Jehovah allows me to continue. Words cost nothing and are completely free. A constructive and uplifting comment of small appreciation works wonders and gives me a lot of energy to keep on going.
I understand that in some of my illustrations the imperfections of AI are visible when you pay close attention to the smaller details. What matters, however, is the primary message I try to convey through an illustration. If you want to get into A.I. creating truly “error-free” illustrations, that will take many times more time. Because a day only has 24 hours, I chose not to spend most of my day just working on just the illustrations at the expense of the Dutch and German e-Watchman websites.
When others who are observing from the sideline then publicly highlight the imperfections of my illustrations, this definitely has a demotivating and discouraging effect on me. I understand that people are often not aware of this, but it is what it is. In any case, I would like to thank those who appreciate what I do and I will continue with the work and supporting and spreading the message that Robert and I too try to convey every day.
The past two weeks have been quite difficult for me personally. I also have the impression that it is no coincidence that literally every year around the time of the Memorial of Christ, unexpected setbacks and trials come flying my way on all sides. It is as if the demons around the memorial period make an extra effort to make life more difficult for Jehovah's people. The Memorial is a reminder for the demons that their end is coming in sight. Literally every year I experience the same thing over and over again and I start to believe less and less that this is just all a mere coincidence. When I speak to brothers and sisters around me, I have to conclude that I am far from the only one who experiences this. It is precisely during such times that it is essential that we support and encourage each other to keep going because we can now really see clearly that the finish line of our spiritual marathon is beginning to come in sight.
The tongue is the most dangerous piece of flesh in the human body. We all need to be careful that our words do not inadvertently create stumbling blocks for others.
My apologies for this long story, but I just wanted to get this off my chest.
I wish you all Jehovah's blessings.
Paul H.
Ah, who am I kidding, they already have all that.