Melinda Mills

and hope you stay closer to Jehovah than I did.
Your closeness to God does not depend on your closeness to the CCJW. 
Your love of God, Christ and truth is what matters. 

Said a prayer for them..... to stay strong and set an example to their prison guards They look like lovely brothers.

https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/global/International-Brotherhood-Comforts-Those-Impacted-by-Deadly-Pandemic/

A newspaper of Angola published praising Jehovah's Witnesses on prevention measures against coronavirus (Covid-19)..
And the newspaper also announced that Jehovah's witnesses in all over the world have contributed a lot to the prevention of the coronavirus through its official website JW.org.
And the newspaper also showed some links of how people can search on JW.org, and it also mentioned the journal! N-' 6, 2016 with the theme: "Win the war on diseases".
Source: Angola newspaper 23/04/2020

This is fabulous humour for a warm dry sunny English Sunday morning. 
Is everyone grabbing there GO bag and running for the plane ?  
I hope everyone of you is staying as safe as you can and I hope you and your family are keeping healthy and well. 
I do feel (totally off topic) that people always expect 'other people' to have the answer to any problem. People in every country are expecting their governments, scientists, chemists, doctors et al to have the 'cure' and the answer to solve this Virus. People never expect there to be NO answer. 
How will people react to Armageddon, when they will have no answer. 
 

I think you phrased that perfectly.

@Kosonen an honest question: are you pulling our leg?

I have not heard any reports of anyone actually at Bethel being infected. I am not saying it's not possible of course. In any case, Jehovah's main concern is the spiritual safety, not necessarily physical safety of his people. If someone dies, he will live again.

Of course if God wanted it that way it would happen, but i don't think it is God's plan of action. 
We can all have ideas of our own, and we can all have opinions of other people's ideas, but in the end it will be what God chooses to happen through Christ. 
I think the GB / Org say that JWs will be told to do the most unexpected things and must obey without question. I think they mention Moses and the Red Sea..........
Right now with this virus around anything could happen. The virus isn't exactly a 'sign' but it could cause a lot of changes inside and outside of the CCJW. 

Better yet, register as an NGO.
Am I on Candid Camera?

I would seek for special permit from the Australian government to gather in the wilderness without passports or papers. Nobody would be disturbed by us in the wilderness anyway. 

Russian JW's will go to Siberia "wilderness" with Antonov 225.
 How many JW's members are aviators for such airplanes? 

...travel like Hillary Clinton does ... on a broom.

Oh dear, I do hope this whole topic is supposed to be a joke. 

I don't know about you, but I am NOT getting on aircraft without pilots.

Very sad news that anyone should get this horrible virus, and even worse that they should die from it.
But there is the wonderful hope of the resurrection which will bring good health and much better living conditions.
Stay safe as much as you can.  
 

You are already out into the wilderness with this expectation/interpretation. Where will Russia fit in?

You are already out into the wilderness with this expectation/interpretation. Where will Russia fit in?

Update on that: this morning (during zoom meeting for FS) our group overseer gave us new numbers from our CO. This is from April 17th, so just two days after the report I posted earlier. Over 1000 are infected and 250 dead in the USA. Of course these numbers are not going to stay constant unfortunately, so today the numbers may already be higher. 
This is not special or privileged information by the way. Circuit Overseers have obviously been asked to share this. 

I also got it a few days ago but no one seems to be able to verify it.  So although it is information we would wish to share, I did not share it.
 

For those like me who wish to know where in the world this is: The Internet said:
 
St Budeaux is an area and ward in the north west of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.
 
Hope it is the correct one, as there is a Plymouth in many countries.

Those bunker videos were hypothetical....... but we do not know what lies in future.......this type of  lockdown may become a regular feature of life with people standing in line for food.  
We now have curfew at night, which makes sense, because there has been some looting at night due to people not having money to buy food.  Supply chains are severely disrupted and many small businesses 'killed'. 
So curfews could become a regular occurrence when there is shortage of food.
:  6 I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say: “A quart of wheat for a de·narʹi·us and three quarts of barley for a de·narʹi·us; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.” 
 

I had no doubts that we wouldn't be one of those who defied the authorities in this case. Defying the authorities because they forbid us to preach and meet because they don't agree with us is scriptural. But this of course is not the current situation, and we obey the superior authorities because they have ours and everyone else's health and  best interests at heart. I wonder if any of us ever foresaw that there would be a valid reason to stop gathering together, lol.  It also made me think that zoom and similar conference meetings may be used during the GT, and that those examples of meeting in the woods/attic/basement might be moot....
But I know there are ways in which such conference meetings can be potentially hijacked....so maybe it could be the woods after all...

Another thought you bring up is this next idea:
I'm sure the thought has occurred to some that we Witnesses have always expected an opportunity to arise when religions are "banned" or effectively put under pressure not to meet. The idea is that we Witnesses would never give in, but would risk our lives to continue on as always no matter what the authorities threatened. 
In the past, I have stated here that it seems quite unlikely that this scenario (up to that point at least) would really allow the Witnesses to stand very far apart from other religions, because I would expect that dozens of other religions have an apocalyptic view of themselves and are awaiting the same thing. Some of these non-JW groups actually expect this action to come from the UN, too. 
Also, we strongly expect that our meetings under ban would be "underground" or based on much smaller groupings, and effectively invisible to authorities.
And now, with Covid-19, we see a glimpse of how many other religions react to governmental bans and restrictions on meetings. Many have defied the orders of local authorities under threat of having their doors closed and large fines imposed. Mayors are being accused of being too harsh on these restrictions because such sanctions could end up keeping the doors closed on some churches and synagogues even after the crisis is over. Yet some of these religions appear to believe that God will protect them. 

I have noticed many friends seem to be stressing about the acquisition of the memorial symbols during the coronavirus lockdown. There have been quite a few discussions on social media and in person.
These discussions were mainly regarding the necessity for memorial symbols if such became troublesome to purchase and if no one in the household was a partaker. The elders sent out information, one  of which was the 85 WT 2/1/ p. 31 "question from readers" ( https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1985128 )which says in part:
"On occasion, raging storms or floods have prevented a congregation, or some of its members, from meeting together as planned. In rare cases, martial law has been in effect with armed soldiers barring citizens from being out-of-doors after sunset. Other Christians have not been able to be at the congregation’s celebration because of being hospitalized or seriously ill. What can be done in such instances?
While it is fitting for the whole congregation to unite for this important event, circumstances such as noted above may make that impossible. When extreme weather, a natural disaster, or the like, absolutely prevents a family or a portion of a congregation from meeting with the congregation, the isolated ones can meet and discuss Scriptural accounts such as found in Luke 22:7-23, 28-30 and; 1 Corinthians 11:20-31, as well as discussing the meaning of the occasion. Similarly, if an enforced curfew makes it impossible for a congregation to gather on the appropriate night, meeting in Congregation Book Study groups or neighborhood groups might be the best alternative, the sum of those in attendance serving as the congregation’s attendance report. A brief talk may even be given if a capable, dedicated brother is in the group. There need not be concern that no suitable emblems are available as long as no one in this emergency situation previously partook of the bread and the wine as an anointed Christian".
It made me think about the whole topic a little bit more. To observe the memorial was a command by Jesus for the anointed, and as far as I am aware, there is nothing in the Bible commanding the great crowd to observe it, even as spectators. However, at the beginning, before the great crowd was identified, all were partakers. After that, the emblems kept being passed, and those who were anointed partook, and those who were not obviously didn't. Fast forward to today, in a congregation setting, even if we "know" that currently no one partakes, that can change. So while all the anointed are not sealed yet, we cannot assume, and stop passing along the emblems on the account that we think no one is anointed in our congregation. No one is asked beforehand if they are going to partake, that only becomes evident when the emblems reach them, and they eat the bread and drink the wine. That way, no one is put on the spot. Of course, on top of that, since we are one flock, and we support the anointed in everything, we observe the memorial with them, as spectators, and also to show appreciation for what Jesus did for us. But, under lockdown circumstances if we know for sure no one is going to partake in our family, then there is really no need for the emblems. That's how I see it anyway. But some prefer to have the emblems to help them visualize things better. Although we are supposed to be walking by faith, not by sight...😀
I like how our website puts it: "The purpose of the Lord’s Evening Meal is to remember Jesus, showing our gratitude for his sacrifice in our behalf. (Matthew 20:28; 1 Corinthians 11:24) The observance is not a sacrament, or a religious practice that imparts merit such as grace or the forgiveness of sins. * The Bible teaches that our sins can be forgiven, not by a religious rite, but only through faith in Jesus".—Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:1, 2. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/lords-supper/
Unfortunately, it seems like some are viewing the memorial as some kind of religious ritual, and are even going to pass the emblems among themselves as if touching them somehow makes all the difference....Because I come from a Catholic family, I find this kind of reasoning a little disappointing...
Also, I don't know if anyone has listened to the memorial talk, the brother says that Jehovah's Witnesses would risk their lives to be at the memorial. In view of all the above, isn't that statement a little far fetched?
Any thoughts?