Since most of you were able to make it to the convention this year I will only share some of my favorite points and a few of the experiences that were shared.
· The first talk (“Why we need God’s kingdom to come”), the brother was talking about Satan and how he wants us to have bad feelings toward Jehovah so he twist things. He likened how we should feel about his is same as Jesus. He illustrated it like this – Think of how if you were the oldest and only child in a family and you became very close to your father and then along came a brother or sister but they grew to resent and hate your father, how would you feel?
· Second talk (“ How we know that God’s kingdom will come soon”), the scripture in Matthew 24:3,4 and explained that there are two groups of the spirit anointed ones. The first group is all dead, but the second group is still alive –these ones having been young when the first group died. As we know ones of the anointed would be still alive to see Jehovah’s day come, so that means it is very near since we know that the second group is getting older.
· Our attendance on Friday morning was 1,033
· The keynote address (Who are preaching the Good news of the Kingdom”?) talked of different ways to identify these ones. In the first point under what the content of their message would be, the speaker brought out that many religions today mix politics in to make it a more social thing. But as Jehovah’s people we teach the same as Jesus taught and it is a harmonious message. For example Time magazine wrote some years back about a priest who said he had in his travels around the globe asked Jehovah’s Witnesses what they preached. The priest said this of their responses –“They are all so stupid they all gave the same answer”! So it just goes to show how no matter where you are in the world people recognize we all are teaching as Jesus did, even if they don’t get it.
· Also in the keynote address he brought out another point as to what reasons we preach the good news. He actually helped us to see what we don’t do it for – money like many other religions. He brought out the scripture where Jesus stated “you receive free, give free”. He also mentioned 2 Corinthians 2:17 that bring out we are not peddlers of the word. He gave an example of how the Catholic Church does not follow this. The speaker said that when a person dies the family will have a mass for that person and they are charged $10 for it each time. But what is this mass for? It is to save this dead person from purgatory. As we know the bible does not teach of purgatory, so not only is the church lying to their parishioners about what they are supposed to be doing, but they are committing fraud for their own selfish gain.
· In the talk “will you make sacrifices for the kingdom”, there was to 2 brothers that told their stories of how they have done this-very encouraging. One younger brother went down to help out with the relief work after hurricane Katrina twice. At the time he was in college, but his experience and joy he had helped him to make the choice to quit college and move to Mexico to lice where the need was great. After a time there, he then heard about the need here in Micronesia and thus ended up moving here to help.
The second brother and his wife came about 2 years ago after also hearing about the need. He brought out that for the first time his wife is able to pioneer and they have been able to draw closer as a couple and grow spiritually. He also has been able to conduct his first progressive bible study, the young man was getting baptized the next day!
· Attendance on Friday afternoon was 1,035
· On Saturday during one of the symposiums there was an interview of a sister from our hall. This talk was on how there different ways in which ones are coming into the truth. He story is this: she grew up in a atheistic household, so when she had questions she would ask different ones, but was very confused and never found a satisfying answer. Her and her husband, were racing sailboats when one of the guys they knew had been studying with the witnesses and gave them a truth book. When she read it, she knew she had found the truth. Her and her husband quit racing because of the bad environment/influence. She even turned down a job to be a make-up artist on a popular t.v. show in order for her to pioneer. She says she finally found the happiness she never thought she could.
· Attendance Saturday morning was 1,134 – 4 were baptized, one of them Janessa who just graduated this year from high school. We are so proud!
· In the talk “Parents – shepherd you children with toward kingdom blessings”, the speaker asked a question that all parents can ask themselves – Am I a communicator? Do I create an environment that my children feel they can be totally open with me? I thought this was really nice because now a days it seems too many parents are busy that they think just asking how their child’s day went is o.k. But the speaker brought out that young ones especially those in school are facing some pretty bad things their peers are doing and they need to be able to tell you parents about them, so you can help them to better handle these situations and their peers. He also brought out that parents should review how their parents talked to them, so that you can adjust your was of communication so your child is not just telling you what they know you won’t react badly to.
· In the talk “Are you behaving as a kingdom citizen”? , the speaker brought out the scripture in Proverbs 27:11 and he said to put our names in their when we read it. This helps us to see how we are each individually responsible to Jehovah, even young ones.
· Saturday afternoon attendance 1,147
· In Sundays public discourse (“will humans ruin this earth”?), there were 2 points I though very interesting to think about. One was an illustration – when you are really sick and you go to a clinic, you wait for the doctor to tell you what is wrong, not the receptionist of the nurse because you know that the doctor is the most qualified. The same should be for us, we need to wait for Jehovah to fix this earth since he is the only one qualified to do so.
· The second point was that when we look at the pictures in the literature we receive do we view them as like a travel brochure in order to picture ourselves in the new world?
· Attendance Sunday morning 1,250
· In the last talk (God’s kingdom will crush all other kingdoms), there was an experience given in relation to being faithful to the end. (Warning it might make you cry!)
In 1990 there was a young sister who had been born with a disability that left her an invalid, but she never let that stop her from serving Jehovah. She was able to get baptized – they did so in the bathtub at her home. Soon after, she wanted to axillary pioneer. So the brothers in her congregation arranged for ones to come over and hold the phone to her ear as she witnessed to ones she called. This encouraged the congregation so much that the amount of pioneers in her congregation doubled! On one of her phone calls she spoke to a man who had lost his sight in an accident and thus felt like ending his life. As they spoke she asked him questions helping him to see what good things he had in his life. This got the man to reconsider. He asked her to come by his place to tell him more about the bible, but she told him she was unable. He didn’t understand, so she told him of her condition and how it left her bedridden. He then asked her what he could do for her. She told him that if he was willing to then she would send someone to study with him. He did accept. Currently he is still studying but the young sister has died.
· Attendance Sunday afternoon 1,341
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