The following is a reproduction of an interview written by Harry Brewer and printed by Hope Chapel Hermosa Beach circa 1984.
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“Living Watters”
'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart', Jer. 29:13. This promise truly characterized the life of Randy Watters, who said, "I always wanted to serve God".
Randy first sought God at age 12 at a Billy Graham Crusade where he went forward to give his life to Jesus Christ. "When I heard the alter call, I was under such conviction by the Holy Spirit that nothing could have kept me in my seat", says Randy. Though raised a Baptist, Randy was not interested in church. He soon forgot his commitment to God, but God didn't forget.
Randy graduated from high school in Orange County, joined the beach culture, grew his hair long, smoked hashish, and was into Eastern religion.
It was during this time that Randy came across a couple of books written by the Jehovah's Witnesses. He was impressed with one of the books in particular because it gave a verse-by-verse explanation of the book of Revelation. Over the next six months Randy sought out a Kingdom Hall where he studied doctrine and eventually joined the organization. He cut his hair, gave up his drug usage and was baptized. For the next two years he went door to door with the Witnesses, averaging between 100 and 150 hours a month.
In 1974 the Watchtower organization was offering openings at their headquarters in New York so Randy signed up, leaving his girlfriend behind. While in New York, Randy was put into the printing press operation. Later he became assistant manager of the entire book printing operation for the Watchtower, touring and speaking on the East Coast.
In 1980 Randy and a few friends got together and started a Bible study beginning with book of Romans and the book of Galatians. Major questions had started to come to his mind: Why are we counting our time spent in witnessing? Why are we counting the sales of books and magazines? Why are we keeping report cards on members of the organization? Randy clearly saw these things as legalistic and inconsistent with the message of the New Testament.
Watchtower doctrine is based on the belief that Christ returned invisible in 1914, which in turn is based on a faulty date for the destruction of Jerusalem, supposedly in 607 B.C. This really bothered Randy, because he knew if the 607 date was in error, then all of the later dates were also incorrect.
People in the Watchtower headquarters who expressed different views or had honest questions were told to be silent. Those who disobeyed were ultimately disfellowshipped. When a person becomes a Jehovah's Witness, outside opportunities for fellowship gradually diminish. The Watchtower Society becomes the total social life. After a person is disfellowshipped no member of the Jehovah Witnesses is allowed to talk to, spend time with, or even say hello to one that has been put out.
Randy knew and loved many people who were disfellowshipped and he was so upset at the treatment they had received that he could no longer participate in the meetings where these things occurred.
Randy made a trip from the headquarters back to the West Coast and for the next two months he simply worked in a secular job and studied his Bible. He decided it would look suspicious if he weren't involved with the Witnesses so he went to the Kingdom Hall in El Segundo. They, upon finding out who he was, made him a teaching elder and although he didn't want to get involved, he knew he should test his loyalty to the organization he questioned. Randy found himself out knocking on doors talking to people but using just his Bible.
Christians he met sparked his interest in going to a church. He read an ad in the Easy Reader about a place called Hope Chapel, the People Place, and he decided to attend. He'd been taught by the Witnesses that churches never teach the Bible. However, when he came to Hope Chapel he heard Ralph Moore going through the Bible in a verse-by-verse, chapter-bychapter explanation. This surprised him because the Watchtower organization supplemented their Bible studies with Watchtower materials.
One Sunday when Randy was first attending Hope, he witnessed a disfellowshipping. One of the members was openly promoting the smoking of marijuana using the Bible to justify it. Ralph talked to the woman asking her to change her views and she refused, so Ralph openly disfellowshipped her. A few weeks later she changed her views, repented and came back to the church to apologize. Ralph, in front of the Hope Chapel congregation, welcomed her back immediately with open arms. This action totally shocked Randy. He appreciated the forgiveness and grace he experienced at Hope, often crying inside during worship because he could feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in his heart.
A short while after attending Hope, Randy wrote a letter of resignation to the Kingdom Hall in El Segundo as well as to the headquarters in New York. The main thrust of his resignation was the treatment of disfellowshipped members. A few weeks later the elders from El Segundo demanded Randy meet with them so as to officially disfellowship him. Instead he spent the day surfing.
A year passed before Randy would tell other people that he was a former J.W. Before he was able to discuss his new faith he had some deprogramming to do and some new understanding of Christian doctrine to learn about the Trinity, about being born again, and about hell.
During this time he attended Bible Studies at Hope Del Rey and listened to tapes by Ralph Moore. In one of Ralph's messages he talked about how the Jehovah's Witnesses had huge printing presses in New York and how Hope Chapel had a little printing press. Ralph encouraged those at Hope Chapel to use the little printing press for God's work. Randy, upon hearing this, took it as a sign from the Lord and decided to write a tract exposing the shake-up at the Watchtower headquarters in 1980. He then took the tract to Ralph who said, "Fine, it looks like a good idea". As a result of mailing these tracts, Randy began a newsletter.
Randy has also written three books: "The Truth Which Gives Eternal Life," "Thus Saith the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses," and "How to Deprogram Jehovah's Witnesses," which is soon to be released. [editor: never was]
Since 1983 Randy has been involved in Bethel Ministries counseling both current and ex-Jehovah's Witnesses. He enjoys life and says, "I would be happy doing just this and nothing more for the rest of my life. I always wanted to serve God and now that is exactly what I'm doing."
Bethel Ministries
by Randy Watters
While "Bethel Ministries" sounds like some kind of corporation or organization, it is not. It is made up of one full-time worker (myself), my roommate Robert Sullivan who helps out with the phones (we have three phone lines), and several volunteers from the mini-churches who are able to help out when newsletters need folding. Additionally, we have a typist in Downey, Cindy Velasco, who can enter text into a computer which has been installed in her home. There are also a number of individuals who are supportive with their finances, which keeps the ministry going. Bethel Ministries relies solely upon contributions and the distribution of witnessing materials for their income, and is not funded by any church or organization.
Hope Chapel Foursquare has ordained me and given me a Pastor's license to carry out my ministry. Bethel Ministries is therefore an outreach of the church.
I am in touch with dozens of ex-Jehovah's Witnesses in the greater Los Angeles area, as well as many more on a world-wide scale. We advertise in local papers, mentioning that we offer free information about Jehovah's Witnesses and the latest events going on in their organization. We have a recorded message machine which can pull in up to 100 calls or more per week when we are advertising. When people call up and want help, we arrange for one or more of us to meet with the person and help them, or we offer advice over the phone. Most callers are Christians who want to know more about witnessing to JWs, or ex-JWs who want to get free from guilt because they have rejected what they consider to be "God's organization." These are the ones that we seek to lead to Christ. Occasionally a JW or a person studying with the JWs will call and ask questions. I spend about seven hours per week on the phone just talking to those responding to the ads, and I might send out fifteen or more small packages of literature per week.
Several times during the week we get calls from people who are in the process of leaving the Watchtower. Usually they are afraid; either of us, or of leaving the Watchtower. If they leave the organization either through disassociating themselves or getting disfellowshipped, and have family in the Witnesses, those members of their family are not allowed to talk to them ever again, unless they come back into the "fold." This has a great hold on anyone in this organization. There are many JWs who know it's wrong but are afraid to leave, for they will lose their mothers, fathers, wife or husband, and even their own children. One lady in El Segundo that had been disfellowshipped in 1973 for smoking cigarettes was not allowed to see her grandchildren, who lived across the street from her, for several years as "punishment" for her rejecting "Jehovah's organization" by not being able to stop her habit. After years of living in guilt and anxiety that she was going to die at Armageddon, we shared the gospel of Christ with her and now she is happy and serving the Lord, in spite of the continued ban on seeing her daughter or grandchildren. This might sound like an extreme case, but it is mild compared to some we receive.
My ministry is not typical because I am a writer and write an international newsletter. I offer many witnessing materials and cassette tapes to help people to either know the Watchtower organization better, or to get deprogrammed from their thinking. Jehovah's Witnesses who are ready to leave the organization consider me an authority because I was an elder with the Watchtower and worked at the Brooklyn headquarters for a number of years. I am thankful to the Lord for the privilege of helping these lost souls come to Christ. I pray that the Lord opens more of the hearts of people at Hope Chapel to reach out to them and to be prepared to share the Lord with them. — Randy Watters