Hailing Portlaoise, Ireland.

[ImSoFluffy]

Hey everyone,

 

I don't know if Im in the right forum, but I am looking to get in contact with members from the Portlaoise congregation in Ireland. 

 

My wife and I are from Belgium and We have been assigned to work in seldom worked territory and have been given telephone numbers. The ones we found on JW.ORG are not in service and the contact phone number we reveived keeps going to a voice mail. 

 

I know this is a very long shot, but are there members here from that congregation? Maybe elders or servants? anyone will do.  I know the network is huge and maybe it will reach the right person. 

 

Help.... 

[Dustparticle]

2 hours ago, ImSoFluffy said:

Hey everyone,

 

I don't know if Im in the right forum, but I am looking to get in contact with members from the Portlaoise congregation in Ireland. 

 

My wife and I are from Belgium and We have been assigned to work in seldom worked territory and have been given telephone numbers. The ones we found on JW.ORG are not in service and the contact phone number we reveived keeps going to a voice mail. 

 

I know this is a very long shot, but are there members here from that congregation? Maybe elders or servants? anyone will do.  I know the network is huge and maybe it will reach the right person. 

 

Help.... 

 

 Do not worry my brother, Jehovah will help you. Also, us Irish are nice people too. Today is a good day to be Irish. I think.

[Áine]

Hi, I’m not in Portlaoise congregation but I am in Ireland… if you send me a private message I’ll try and put you in touch with the brothers

2 minutes ago, Dustparticle said:

 

 Do not worry my brother, Jehovah will help you. Also, us Irish are nice people too. Today is a good day to be Irish. I think.

Well that’s a first for me! I never knew you were Irish!

[Dustparticle]

3 minutes ago, Áine said:

Hi, I’m not in Portlaoise congregation but I am in Ireland… if you send me a private message I’ll try and put you in touch with the brothers

Well that’s a first for me! I never knew you were Irish!

 

  I’m Irish, Scottish, Jewish, Native American, Canadian French, German, and French.

[Parale]

22 hours ago, ImSoFluffy said:

I don't know if Im in the right forum, but I am looking to get in contact with members from the Portlaoise congregation in Ireland. 

 

I know this is a very long shot, but are there members here from that congregation?

 

Yes, and no .... I know there was an active member, but they are now a former member.....

 

While active here they asked that we all kept his congregation in our prayers, posting an article from the local newspaper.....

 

Church Under Attack

 

PEOPLE gathering to pray at the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall in Portlaoise have urgently appealed for help following ongoing attacks, assaults and abuse against them.

 

The elders of the church have taken the unprecedented move of appealing to town councillors for help following a deliberate fire attempt on their hall two weeks ago.

 

In a detailed 14-page report to councillors, church elders say that “the attacks on us and our property are dramatically increasing in frequency and severity.”

 

Because of the ongoing deliberate targeting of the congregation, the 50 or so active members have been forced to hire a room in a local hotel to carry out their prayer services.

 

Also included in the report are testimonies from church members who have come under assault and abuse when attending the hall, just off the Ballyfin Road, which was built over 25 years ago.

 

One said: “A large fire is ignited against a boundary wall. As cars are being moved away from the blaze, the youths who ignited the fire begin throwing stones at those moving the cars.”

 

Another member wrote that while another member was removing debris from the roof of the hall “people from Hepburn Court come out, hurling abuse and missiles of various sizes. A man from a house gets a sledgehammer from his jeep, climbs onto the adjoining wall, kicks the victim’s ladder away and threatens him with the sledgehammer.”

 

Details from more members included in the report also tell of windows being smashed in the meeting hall; bottles smashed across cars with children in them; cars broken into and damaged while parked in the car park of the hall; and roof tiles ripped off and drainpipes broken.

 

When a number of members tried to videotape those causing the trouble, they were threatened with assault by youths swinging lengths of skirting board at them.

In another serous situation, a member wrote: “While cleaning the interior and exterior of the Kingdom Hall, youths and adults violently attacked a member of the congregation with stones and iron bars.”

 

https://jwtalk.net/topic/11220-our-kingdom-hall-has-been-closed/

 

[Parale]

15 minutes ago, Parale said:

Church Under Attack

 

PEOPLE gathering to pray at the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall in Portlaoise have urgently appealed for help following ongoing attacks, assaults and abuse against them.

 

https://jwtalk.net/topic/11220-our-kingdom-hall-has-been-closed/

 

See also: https://web.archive.org/web/20130911192624/http://www.laois-nationalist.ie/news/2013/01/24/church-under-attack/

 

 

It should be noted that the Portlaoise Congregation moved into a brand new build Kingdom Hall in the town just last month - in March 2025.

https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/local-news/1613972/new-chapter-for-laois-jehovah-s-witnesses-as-kingdom-hall-build-begins-in-portlaoise.html

https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/your-community/1749838/jehovah-s-witnesses-laois-portlaoise-kingdom-hall.html

 

 

 

All the best with your arrangements to work the seldom worked territory, as Glen said

 

20 hours ago, Dustparticle said:

Do not worry my brother, Jehovah will help you.

 

If your phone call goes to voice mail all the time, have you tried leaving a message? The phone may be at the actual Kingdom Hall, and even if it rings while the congregation has a meeting, it may also be their policy never to actually answer the phone 'in-person live' but to always only reply to messages left? ie they use voice mail to pre-screen callers?

Edited April 29 by Parale

[ImSoFluffy]

Thank you all for your help! I have made contact! 

[Áine]

On 4/28/2025 at 8:12 PM, ImSoFluffy said:

Hey everyone,

 

I don't know if Im in the right forum, but I am looking to get in contact with members from the Portlaoise congregation in Ireland. 

 

My wife and I are from Belgium and We have been assigned to work in seldom worked territory and have been given telephone numbers. The ones we found on JW.ORG are not in service and the contact phone number we reveived keeps going to a voice mail. 

 

I know this is a very long shot, but are there members here from that congregation? Maybe elders or servants? anyone will do.  I know the network is huge and maybe it will reach the right person. 

 

Help.... 

if you PM me then I can help, I’m in West Cork 

[TheKid23]

On 4/28/2025 at 8:12 PM, ImSoFluffy said:

We have been assigned to work in seldom worked territory

Might not be the right place to ask, but how did you get involved with this? I’d love to do this one day. 

[Parale]

4 hours ago, TheKid23 said:

Might not be the right place to ask, but how did you get involved with this? I’d love to do this one day. 

 

If you're in Britain, you've probably had a letter read out about this recently at the midweek meeting.... I think it's basically a standard, annual letter.... check your KH notice board, then ask your SO.

[Parale]

15 hours ago, ImSoFluffy said:

Thank you all for your help! I have made contact! 

 

That's great - and be sure to let us know how you get on!

[TheKid23]

1 hour ago, Parale said:

 

If you're in Britain, you've probably had a letter read out about this recently at the midweek meeting.... I think it's basically a standard, annual letter.... check your KH notice board, then ask your SO.

We’ve just had a letter about the Birmingham campaign- I’m hoping to apply when applications open 😁

[ImSoFluffy]

6 hours ago, TheKid23 said:

Might not be the right place to ask, but how did you get involved with this? I’d love to do this one day. 

Talk to your Sevice overseer of your intent, then write a letter to the body of elders laying it out and then that letter will be sent to the Bethel in the country you want to serve in. We requested Ireland and we got our assignment. We will work together with the congregation for three weeks. 

 

I realise it isn't for a very long time, but in an article in a watchtower we found that you could do this instead of going on holiday and we couldn't be more excited! 

[ImSoFluffy]

2 hours ago, Parale said:

 

If you're in Britain, you've probably had a letter read out about this recently at the midweek meeting.... I think it's basically a standard, annual letter.... check your KH notice board, then ask your SO.

Actually, we don't live in Britain, we live in Belgium and had no idea there was a letter read about this.... wow... 

[ImSoFluffy]

2 hours ago, Parale said:

 

That's great - and be sure to let us know how you get on!

Certainly will!

[ImSoFluffy]

14 hours ago, Áine said:

if you PM me then I can help, I’m in West Cork 

Thank you for offering, but the elder just received our message and reached out. 

[ImSoFluffy]

On 4/28/2025 at 11:37 PM, Dustparticle said:

 

 Do not worry my brother, Jehovah will help you. Also, us Irish are nice people too. Today is a good day to be Irish. I think.

Jehovah did help! Thank you

 

[TheKid23]

7 hours ago, ImSoFluffy said:

Talk to your Sevice overseer of your intent, then write a letter to the body of elders laying it out and then that letter will be sent to the Bethel in the country you want to serve in. We requested Ireland and we got our assignment. We will work together with the congregation for three weeks. 

 

I realise it isn't for a very long time, but in an article in a watchtower we found that you could do this instead of going on holiday and we couldn't be more excited! 

That sounds so great, me and my mum have wanted to do it for a while but only in the last 6 months her circumstances changed so that we can. 

We’d love to go to either Scotland or Ireland but are willing to go wherever Jehovah wants us!