November has been a good month. We did our visa run, crossing the Costa Rica border, and it went fine. Nicaragua wouldn't let us back in for three hours, but we'd gone really early so we were still home by 3pm. Glad that's out of the way...for now!
We had our regional convention the 14th through 16th and it was wonderful to get to hear the program for a third time. It was nice to be reminded of the information, and hear the interviews down here. I've made a collection of points and phrases I really liked from the three conventions we went to this year. So, here they are!
Adam & Eve didn't get a second chance to put Jehovah first.
People today hate the people they don't know because they don't know the people they hate.
Isa. 33:21 wasn't a scripture I was familiar with. I liked the point that the other big cities/powers of Isaiah's time had canals/water to protect them, but Jerusalem didn't because Jehovah was their canal, so to speak.
There is so much hunger today, not because the earth doesn't produce, but because the ruler of this world isn't interested in feeding the hungry.
When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.
"I've seen Jesus turn beer into furniture" - loved that story!!! I'm sure you remember it.
Matthew 6:33 - keep seeking FIRST the Kingdom - Jesus didn't say ONLY, but FIRST. There are other things that have a valid place in our lives, but Kingdom interests should come first.
He who doesn't make time for recreation, sooner or later will have to make time for sickness!
He who offers Jehovah second place, offers him no place at all (One of my favorites!!)
You'll never see a bird holding a sign saying "Will sing for food". Jehovah provides!
One brother here read Matthew 6:33 this way - Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you...unless you have a family to provide for! Obviously it doesn't say that, but he said sometimes we may be reading it that way, not trusting that Jehovah will help us provide for our family.
Don't just apply Bible principles - apply them with the confidence that doing so will work out well.
A miner doesn't keep the dirt he digs up, just the precious metal (referring to our speech, and looking for the good in people)
Proverbs 2:1-5 refers to searching as for silver - it doesn't say gold. Silver is much harder to get to and it has to be smelted and purified. So our study takes effort.
For those who speak Spanish - "El que tiene boca, se equivoca" - talking about learning a new language! I can't translate it because it won't rhyme in English!
Comment from BSCC graduate - "You'll never regret that you went, only that you didn't"
Do root canal Bible study - deep!
Do not fumble at the 1-yard line - we are THAT close to the end.
Jehovah is driving the chariot. The Governing Body is just trying not to get run over by it!
In the new world, we'll have the health of youth, with the wisdom of old age.
Didn't remember ever having read Ezequiel 34:25 before about sleeping without fear in the forests. Love that idea!
You can't move forward if you're looking behind.
Experience of the sister who kept the stone that the elder threw through her window when he was a kid! Time to throw the stone away! (I think it was in the outline so you will all have heard it. If not, ask me and I'll tell the rest!)
And of course the amazing videos that we all enjoyed. What a treat!!
And then, there were so many encouraging interviews at all three conventions. We really enjoyed listening to some of our local, special full-time servants being interviewed. A special pioneer, a missionary couple, assembly hall overseer and Bethelite were all interviewed together. I liked what the missionary sister said when she started to suffer with migraines. She viewed pioneering as her career, and you don't abandon a career because of migraines!
I also really appreciated the honest comments of brothers who reached out to serve, but at one time didn't want to. Just as a reflection of the great need here, one brother was baptized 9 years before being appointed a servant. The brother interviewing him said "Obviously you had a problem with your attitude since it took 9 years to become a servant"!! I thought that was funny, but very true. Here, there's no reason not to be a servant within a few years of baptism, since the need is so great. I had the privilege of attending pioneer school with this brother, who is now a servant and regular pioneer.
Also another brother said he'd been an elder, then wasn't, and didn't reach out to become one again. It wasn't the CO said "Soon, no more foreigners will come to serve here, and the local brothers will have to make more of an effort"! Sometimes straight forward words like that reach the heart. The brother is an elder again now!
It was so nice to see so many young elders giving talks at the convention. If any of you brothers want to be used more in the organization, come on down here. There is a lot to do and the friends appreciate the help so much. They take such good care of you!
Charley had his first convention talk and did a great job. I was backstage getting ready to be in his demo, so it was hard to concentrate on his talk, but from what I heard, he did great! So proud of him.
So, that was the convention. We had over 2700 there on Sunday. Not sure how many publishers were assigned to the convention, but about 15 congregations maybe? So, I'm thinking that's a pretty good attendance! And we had 50 baptized, including two from our congregation. One of our 78 year old publishers got baptized. The brothers who baptized her were so kind and loving helping her in and out of the pool. It made me cry to see her symbolize her dedication to Jehovah.
I leave you with a few pictures from the convention.
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| Charley and the crew from his convention part. We did the demo about public preaching - how NOT to do it, then how to do it right! |
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| Some of our friends. Roxana (top middle, pink shirt) came to all three days with her aunts and cousins. She's my little study and I was so proud of her for being there all three days. Charley was in charge of the platform this year - he's with the CO in the middle looking over all the charts. There were a lot of microphones involved in this year's convention!!! |
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| I was impressed by the technology. Words of the songs on screen, split screen for interviews, name of talk and speaker on the screen at the beginning of each talk. Sound crew did a great job with all the video equipment. |
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| Pre-convention cleaning. We got to do some landscaping on the beautiful assembly hall grounds. |
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| My first time being on a convention down here. These pictures are from the week before our convention. I'm smirking because the brother adjusted my microphone and walked off stage. Then it slowly fell and twisted and they didn't notice! The brother asked me the first question and I just stood there, wondering what to do. Finally he came back out and got me set up again!! This was the interview about what new understanding I appreciated. I talked about the Faithful and Discreet Slave and especially the fact that we are all domestics now. |
Oh, and a few more pictures. We had the privilege of going to a wedding on Friday. Just the second wedding we've been to here, and the first one where they did the civil ceremony first in the hall. It's interesting. They had a sister who is licensed to marry people. She did the civil part, and they signed the paperwork with their witnesses. They did all that down in front of the platform, then she sat down, and they moved on to the platform and had the talk and the wedding vows. It was a lovely wedding.
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| Aren't they the cutest?!?!?! |
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| We had fun with the props our friend brought from the States! |
Well, that's November in a very small nutshell! Amazing how quickly this month has flown by. Maybe it won't be so long before the next post...maybe!
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