So after our little lunch, we made our way into the auditorium. It was a rented building, I think its the same place they have assemblies and conventions. The meeting started with an abbreviated Watchtower study in Thai, and then a short talk about the work in Thailand. In that talk, brother George Crawford from Bethel would give a few sentences in english, and then a few sentences in Thai. So it was slow going and brief. But he really stressed the importance of brothers stepping up to take the lead. He said how several new congregations were able to form this last service year, thanks to the fact that they had enough elders. But they need more elders of course. There are about 200 thai elders, 60 Japanese, 40 Korean, 40 english-speaking, and a few others that he mentioned.
After his talk, we had the talk from the zone overseer, brother Izak Marais. Brother Marais is currently at Patterson, NY but before that I heard that he was in South Africa. I never got confirmation on this though so don't quote me...:-) Anyway, his talk was on how we can can be patient like Jehovah is patient. It was a nice talk. Apparently it was the same outline as was given in Oregon a few months back. But I believe it was a little condensed. He gave the talk in english and it was being translated into Thai and also into Thai sign language. That was really cool to see and hear! I have never been to an international convention before so I had never really seen a talk translated. It was slow going as you can imagine, but that made it easier to take notes!
Some quick notes from the talk:
We develop patience by accepting and understanding God's point of view in 2 ways:
1. the way we view the world
2. the way we view our own circumstances
He talked about how Jehovah sweeps away the smoke of imperfection in people and sees their potential. He gave an illustration of how we might go shopping and if we find one tiny flaw in an article of clothing, we ask for a discount. Yet, Jehovah looks at us and we are full of flaws, yet, he paid the highest price for us!
As far as the second point, he said that Jehovah expects us to step outside our physical circumstances, our own little "box". He gave the example of 2 people with the exact same circumstances in life. One decides they want to go to school, get a career and make a lot of money. Buy a big house, car etc. The second decided that he wants to make himself available to help others gain life. Even if its only one person he helps to know the truth he views it as worthwhile. Then the brother said to ask yourself which one you are. In the end, he said, we all do exactly what we want to do. So, what do YOU want to do??? However you decide in your heart, Jehovah sees it and knows.
He read the scripture in Psalm 110 about the people offering themselves willingly. How they are like dewdrops. Now, dewdrops are so small, but if you have enough dewdrops, you can have an ocean. And if you have an ocean, you can have a tsunami! He was just illustrating how each one of us making the right choices really can have a powerful effect.
Anyway, there was more, but I will have to relate it to you when we get home. I just want to take a second to ask that no one take these experiences and mass email them please. I'm sure no one would do that, but it occured to me as I was writing all that that I should just mention it. Thanks!
So after the visit, we mingled with the brothers and sisters there. There were over a thousand there and another 3000 tied in around the country! It was great to meet other need greaters and missionaries. We got some contacts in case we are able to return to Thailand in the future. In one of the pictures, you will see people dressed in interesting attire. They are from a Hill tribe up north near Laos. That is their traditional garb! There is also a picture of a nice couple we met from Minnesota. They are serving in a congregation near Hua Hin.
