Bethel

It's SUNday!

Hope you are all still checking in on us! Had trouble getting time to post while in Johannesburg - but we still have so much to say and share - so keep checking in! Will try to get everything up quickly and wrap it up. Stay with us!

So sunday started off with clear blue sky and sun shining! We were so excited! For about 39 seconds. Then we were hot. =) Walking into the sunshine here is like opening an oven door. It is HOT. Amazingly hot. I alternated between wearing my hat, and hiding under the umbrella. It helped to have the shade from the umbrellas - so they were put to good use by all once again. There was a nice breeze which made it tolerable. It was really a beautiful day. I saw some brothers handing out bottles of water to some of the older ones which was nice to see. Wouldn't take long to collapse in this heat.

Some brothers were complaining that they still got sunburn on the top of their heads through the umbrellas. Not Steven of course, but some others =) . I guess that shows the power of the sun here. Seems that my skin really likes the african sun and I have actually gotten a bit of a tan. In a nice crisp t-shirt pattern. Lovely. It will probably be with me for a while too. Corrine is very amused by it. I think I will call it a "convention tan" instead of a 'farmer's tan'. More accurate.

The drama was today, and we were happy to see them come out from under the canopy. Would have been difficult to grasp the gestures and emotion from under the cover. I felt bad for them being in the heat of the sun - but some clouds came out and provided some shade through most of it. The drama was just as emotional to watch here as it was at our home convention. Didn't matter that the Indian father had African sons. And that they all had American accents. =) I cried once again throught the new song they played at the end as well.

In the afternoon, we had more reports from other lands - which included interviews from missionaries here at the Durban convention. One of the couples was assigned to Tanzania. They have been building "expandable halls" there, which are kingdom halls with attached auditoriums that they can use for assemblies. They had to learn to like different food, as they live in a rural area and eat what is there. I appreciated that the sister explained the sacrifices they made to simplify for their assignment. They originally had to cut down from a house to a one bedroom flat. Now, they had to cut even more - from a one bedroom flat to a car. She said she mostly misses her shoes =).

I wanted to share too the report from Korea - There are 90,000 publishers in Korea. Of those - there are 43,000 pioneers!!!!! That is 44%!!! Wow!

Our closing talk was once again Brother Morris. He gave us the final count for the baptism = 96 here in Durban, 65 in Cape Town, and 163 in Pretoria, for a total of 324!

Then he told us that JW's are officially registered in Georgia! Yay! He also related the sad news from Russia, where we are now under ban. We had heard this already, but it was something to hear from a Governing Body member. What I appreiciated too was the way he explained it. While it seemed surprising to us, he said that the outcome of the case was not surprising to the brothers. There are 7 more cases pending, and they are expecting a similar outcome. As he stated, while not easy for them - the brothers there are accustomed to this opposition. They have banned 34 of our publications as Explicit in Nature, and labeled us "Extremists". Among the books banned - My Book of Bible Stories, and the Bible Teach book.

As he recounted the Convention for us, going through highlights - some dark clouds came rolling in. Ah, relief from the sun! Then a sprinkle. Umbrellas started shooting up. I refused, as I was sure it wouldn't rain. Then it sprinkled more. Suddenly - the heavens opened up! It was pouring! Then the wind began! It was raining sideways and even up! It was a monsoon! Brother Morris tried to continue - at one point laughing and saying "This is interesting!" =) The brothers went up and moved him back farther under the canopy - but with the wind - I am sure it didn't help! People's umbrellas were blowing inside out! It was hysterical! Then Brother Morris said "2 more minutes - hold on! You can't get any wetter!" So true. I managed to get my poncho on and umbrella up - but everything was soaked - including the page in my notes. It made for a hectic ending to an eventful weekend - and I don't think I would have wanted it any other way!

Here is a pic of everyone after the convention, and after the monsoon!

As the bus pulled away - we drove by many brothers and sisters - and they all waved "goodbye" to us. It was so sweet! Many of them had to walk through the massive puddles to get to their cars. We were one of the first buses out (go team!) but the later buses got caught up in more downpours. Somehow, it still didn't take away from the amazing experience, and while our clothes were wet and our feet were soaked - it didn't dampen the spirit!

Thanks again for checking back in! Stay tuned - we still have to report from Bethel! And then I have photos galore to share!

It was cold but the Zulu brothers came out!

Saturday morning started out with a bit of a scramble. There are so many brothers and sisters staying at our hotel that they had to open up separate “dining halls” to feed us breakfast. We have to catch our bus at 7:30, which means we have to be ready to load at 7:15, which means we have to get up super early. Anywho- Katie and I decided to go to the smaller dining area, and it was like a circus! We managed to get a muffin and a glass of juice and we scooted off to the buses!
When we got to the Convention we put our bags down and went off to meet others. We met so many wonderful brothers and sisters today, I’m sorry I can’t tell you about all of them. Here are just a few things that touched me-
Katie and I crossed the arena to go to the local side to visit our elderly and infirmed brothers and sisters. We figured it would be nice, since they can’t get p to walk and come visit us. We met so many ones. A mother and daughter in law who referred to themselves as Ruth and Naomi! A local white sister who’s been in the truth her whole life (I’m guessing 85 years) living in South Africa the entire time, I can’t imagine what she’s experienced and seen! Lastly, a BIG Zulu sister who was dressed in orange from head to toe, hat and all! She’s been in the truth 11 years. I spied on her regularly through the program (she was directly across from us and easy to spot). After talking to us for a minute or two she looked at me and in all seriousness asked if Katie was my daughter. I think her eyes were bad- Katie thinks I need to use more moisturizer. Anyway- it really made Katie’s day, considering I’ve been telling everyone here her age. Jehovah was correcting me!
Then we stumbled upon Tyrone. I’ve been stalking all the babies here, wanting to hold one. The problem is they are piggy backing their mothers, wrapped up so tight. They are so cute though so I’ve been on the lookout. When we were walking to the bathroom, almost at the end of the lunch break we spotted him. He was in a carriage, about a year old, smiling and grabbing people’s legs! Katie bent down to talk to him and I talked to his grandmother. I asked with a smile if he belonged to her and she said “yes, he’s my grandson but I’m raising him”. So many thoughts ran through my mind then she said “his mother died, right after giving birth to him. She was diagnosed with Leukemia and they wanted her to abort him. She sacrificed her life for him”. I started to cry and asked if she was her daughter. She was. Then our sister said “It was last December, right before the big assembly. It makes the resurrection hope so real. I can’t wait to hand him back to her”. I cried about that all afternoon. He was a beautiful boy and she was a beautiful sister. We have a wonderful hope. In the new system I would really like to meet his mother.
Today was FREEZING cold. I never thought in a million years I’d be cold in Africa! It was also the baptism. We had 96 baptized, including 2 sisters and 7 brothers from the deaf congregation! They set up 2 pools next to the stage and filled them with water using a hose. Our brothers and sisters lined up and went and changed and came back. Old ones, young ones, black, white, Indian, every race and nationality here! Most of them didn’t have swim suits, they changed into other clothes and sometimes other dress clothes and no one made a big deal about the cold water or cold air. They are amazing!
We met a sister in the Morningside congregation named Melissa Williams on Friday. She found us and Saturday and invited us to a “secret” gathering in the Durban Central Kingdom Hall. Some of our Zulu brothers were going to be singing there that night for the delegates, since they were not assigned to this assembly and some couldn’t visit! She offered to pick us up at the hotel! We were in. My parents came and we invited a couple on our bus the Kings. The hall was amazing and our brothers are amazing. I’ve never felt so much love in my life. The Zulu singing took our breath away. I can’t do it justice with words; again we’ll try to put it up. It lasted about 2 hours and then they fed us! KFC! Amazing. Everything is just wonderful!
Attendance on Saturday was 12, 112 in Durban, 8,324 in Cape Town and 18, 467 in Pretoria for a total of 38, 903!
Thanks for checking in we love you and miss you!

New friends and umbrella wars

Friday. What a day! Woke up to cloudy skies, which has pretty much been the norm here in Durban. Cloudy is OK, as long as it doesn’t rain. Had another successful loading/unloading of our bus. Yay! Can you tell that this has been a high priority concern here? Can’t help but mention it.
Since they try to segregate us as International Delegates, we have to make an effort to mingle with the local brothers and sisters – no staying in our seats! It is such a foreign experience to me, that people are so genuinely happy to meet us and to talk to us. I feel like I must dissappoint them cuz I have nothing special or exciting to offer them. But I have come to learn that our brothers and sisters here are just like us at home – working hard in their own personal territories, hearing about a world-wide brotherhood. And suddenly for a short time – the brotherhood has come to them. Its not about any of us individually. And the interchange of encouragement goes both ways. I have been genuinely happy to meet and talk to every single person that I have had the opportunity to, and am so glad to have been able to be a part of this.
We’ve met some interesting people. Met four young siblings from t he Durban area. They were very friendly and polite and so so sweet. We talked to them for a little while and took a picture with them. They said that they wished they could have a copy of the picture – so we got the oldest one’s email address so I can send it to her. They were so excited!

Had a very handsome brother approach me from afar with a homemade flower. He was super cute. His name is Sebastian.

Then we were walking along and two sisters approached us and took our picture with their cell phones. We talked with them for a bit and found out that they were from the local area – one of them is in an english cong and the other is in Zulu. We are happy to meet everyone – but the Zulu convention is actually next week. They were invited to attend this convention – so the ones that are there had to make a special effort to attend this weekend, and again next. Seems extra special. Only after we were talking to them for a while we found out that one of them is a Circuit Overseer’s Wife in the Zulu circuit. She was so young! Maybe in her 30’s. They are sisters-in-law and the other sister’s brother is her husband, the circuit overseer. That was pretty neat. They were super sweet as well.

And stumbled upon a group of our deaf friends as well. In talking with a brother in our hotel who knows sign, they communicate with SASL (South African Sign Language) which I guess is mostly similar – but with some minor, confusing differences. For example, what means ‘name’ in ASL means ‘toilet’ in SASL. I’m sure they have been having fun with that. It’s nice to have found out that there is a considerable group of deaf ones from the local area at our convention, and they have their very own private room with TVs and air conditioning.
As some of you have mentioned in the comments – the songs are absolutely beautiful! They always are at assemblies and conventions – but with the added flavor of the different languages and accents, the number of people, and the naturally talented voices that speak those languages – it is awesome. I did record one of the songs on Friday but am still unable to post videos. If I figure it out I will add it so you can see what I mean. We haven’t sang a song yet that I didn’t get choked up during.
In the morning, we had the symposium and guess who has a part? Sister Sharples is being interviewed! We felt like we knew someone on the program, even though we had yet to meet her in person.
Attendance on Friday morning in Durban was 9,774. They have been reporting the attendance for the other two conventions for us and totalling them. Cape Town had 7,077, and Pretoria is the big one with 16, 295. Total is 33,146.
Sometime during the lunch break, the rain began. Just spitting at first really. Pretty tolerable. The session got underway, and the rain did as well. The umbrellas went up. The ponchos came out. The rain continued. Many people started seeking cover. We were determined to stick it out in our seats. The rain was steady. And cold. And the breeze blew. It was a long afternoon.
Highlight from the reports from other lands – probably Milawee (sp?). Unfortunately I missed the exact publisher count (probably couldn’t hear over the rain), but learned that they spent 26 years under ban. Since the ban was lifted in 1993 – 542 congregations have been added. There are currently 1,200 congregations there. Delegates from Milawee were attending Pretoria – and we linked in to their convention for the report. Pretty interesting stuff.
As the afternoon progressed, our section cleared out quite a bit, as brothers and sisters sought shelter in the limited covered areas. Along comes a pair of sisters, who sauntered on down the aisle – choose the row in front of us and walk along toward the middle of the row. They planted themselves directly in front of Steve and Nellie, who were huddled under an umbrella in their matching ponchos. Not sure why they chose that spot, considering all the empty seats around. As they settled, the one sister proceeds to open what is decidedly the largest umbrella one could possibly carry, and holds it high above her head so as not to block her own view of the stage. Directly in front of Steve and Nellie. Corrine and I got quite the kick out of that. As time went on and rain continued to fall, the rain would flow off her portable shelter in a steady stream – directly onto the legs of Steve and Nellie. I imagine this umbrella was rather heavy and cumbersome – as she had to keep adjusting the position in which she was holding it. While doing so, it would repeatedly stab Steve and Nellie, or even simply rest on their laps. The sister was oblivious. At one point I watched as she played with her bracelet – which created a kind of spinning motion with the umbrella and caused the rain to kind of spray all over them. Of course they kind of tried to politely move the umbrella off of them – but she never noticed. She was too busy removing the gallon of water from her bag to pour some into her cup. Having only one available hand, she placed the bottle of water between her legs and squeezed it tight as she unscrewed the cap. SWOOSH! Water gushed all over her lap and shirt. Hysterical. I found this highly ironic, and therefore amusing. Good thing she had that umbrella to keep her dry. Eventually, in a spirit of mildness and brotherly love, Steve and Nellie moved over about four seats to put an end to the situation. About 5 minutes later, umbrella lady’s friend also moved over. About 3 seats. Directly in front of Steve and Nellie. (The plaid umbrella in the top pic above is the culprit).
Once again, Brother Morris gave the final talk of the day, and announced the release of the new song book! How exciting! They don’t get to receive their books yet though. English congs will be able to order at their very next meeting, but Zulu and most other languages will not be available until May 2010. I feel sad for them – but they did not seem to mind! They just clapped and clapped! And so did we =)

Thursday's events

My new ridiculous hat to protect my frying head from the sun.

Nellie, Corrine and I ready and waiting to load the bus in a cooperative and orderly fashion.Entering the stadium. Looks familiar, no? Except this spiral is a walkway, not for driving on.

Brother Morris

And the eager umbrellas.

International Convention - Day One

Thursday was the first day of our Convention. Never having gone to an International Convention, I did not know what to expect. We started off with very stern instructions about our bus arrival/departure. Apparently, the City is not being very helpful or accommodating, because they are only concerned about the World Cup being here in June/July. All resources are going towards road renovation and building of the new arena. This means we are limited in police help with the traffic flow. They allow us exactly 1 hour before and after the convention for the buses to arrive and depart. There are 100 buses. They have the loading and unloading worked out down to the minute.
Thursday was a half day session. Gave us a chance to get a feel for what happens. There are delegates from 8 different countries in addition to the local congregations – Japan, Italy, Sweden, France, Austria, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and USA. The Japanese and Italians are hysterical! The Japanese are dressed in their full Kimono-garb, and have bags and bags of gifts to hand out. Creates quite the congestion in the hallways =) During the part “Reports from Other Lands” – they had a brother from Japan giving his report (not in a Kimono) and when he was introduced they all waved their fancy umbrellas/parasols in the air. Then later when the brother from Italy was introduced, the Italians all waved their handkerchiefs and bells. I didn’t know this was allowed, but it went over quite well. Some of the delegates in our bus group are trying to think of something we Americans can do – but we just don’t really have a ‘thing’, unfortunately. Or cool outfits. Oh well. =) Attendance was 8,512. Smaller than we expected, but we’ll see how the weekend progresses. Had various kinds of weather. Started off overcast and warm, but breezy which is quite perfect for an outdoor convention. Had some rain drops fall on us about 3pm or so – and the collective sound of all the umbrellas being whipped out drowned out the speaker. It rained for about 1 minute. Such an eager bunch. At least we know everyone is prepared =)
Got to speak to Brother Mike Sharples (Bro. Waller’s friend) – tracked him down in the First Aid department where Sister Sharples told us we could find them. Such a nice, sweet brother, of course, who had very nice things to say about Dave, and especially Ron Waller. Apparently Ron studied with him, and you can see his love for Ron when he talks about him. Sister Sharples was nowhere to be found. But we are determined to get to her – so stay tuned…
Had brother Morris of the Governing Body give the Keynote Address. Was a treat to listen to him. Then we were off to try and get on the bus in a rushed but orderly fashion. Success. We were a little bummed about the rushed nature of the bus situation, as it left us unable to stay and visit with the brothers, especially the local ones. But we will have the mornings and lunch breaks for the entire weekend to spend with them.
One interesting tidbit I picked up was about Japan – they have about 210,000 publishers there, including over 60,000 pioneers! Wow! Maybe that’s who all those gifts are coming from? =)
Stay tuned for Friday’s update…

Duban Botanical Garden

The market and water park

Today was such a busy day! Our day started off with a missed wake up call. Apparently there was a problem with our phone and we didn’t get or call! We woke up to the maid knocking and only had about a half hour to get ready. We did make it to the bus, but without breakfast. My mom ran to the restaurant to grab us something quick so we survived =) I was just thinking last night how horrible it would be to miss the wake up call. There are NO clocks in our room whatsoever, so we really have a hard time keeping track of the time.
Our first stop this morning was at a botanical garden in the center of the city. It was beautiful of course. The best thing about the stop is we are starting to see other brothers and sisters from other tours, as the convention starts tomorrow so we’re all here! A group from our bus spotted some friends they didn’t know we’re going to be here and their reunion was loud and wonderful. It’s no wonder why people think we’re strange, but I think things like that are the best things about our organization =)
The next stop was the Victoria Street Village (I think). It was a very busy market with tons of shops. Spices, handmade jewelry, everything. I even made a little friend! While we were there we ran into some brothers and sisters from the local Zulu hall giving out the tract for the convention. Everyone that we meet here asks about our badges and seems favorable when invited to the convention. Sometimes people even say “see you tomorrow- Noon!”. We’re not sure if they are other witnesses or people who have been invited, but it doesn’t make us any less excited to hear it!
The next stop was the Marine World. Hey Laurie and Alissa- we ran into Gary and Trudy! They are having a GREAT time! The place was really neat, kind of like a Disney and an aquarium mixed together. We did the Aquarium first, looked at fish and saw a penguin feeding. Then the bus was going to leave so we had to tell them we were going to stay till the park closed. Most of our brothers left but a mother and daughter hung in there with us, and we scooted off to the Water Park, and yes, to swim with the sharks…
Our shark experience is as follows….
We got to the entrance with our ticket and sat. We waited a little bit and were taken into a “room” to sign a paper saying we knew what we were getting into. No one explained anything to us. Then they grabbed some goggles and walked us to the sharks. Hanging in the water was a clear cylinder, and he said we would jump into it, go to the bottom of it and then when we needed air come back to the top for a breath. OK. So, we jump into the “tube”, which is attached to some rope, and he begins to pull the rope to get us to the middle of the pool and that was it. The sharks were pretty neat and they were pretty big too! It only cost about 20 dollars, and I say was well worth it!
Off to the convention this afternoon! Then the real experience begins!

Katies proudest moment!

The mountain tour

We went on a hike today! Our bus ride was about 4 hours long, and they took us north up into the mountains. We went to a place called the Drakensberg Mountains and of course it was beautiful. Drakensberg means “the Dragons back”. It fit its name quite well. I was shocked they had mountains like this in South Africa. It looked like I imagine Scotland or Ireland would look. The grass was so green and there were cliffs and rivers running through it. We went there to see some cave art. The Bushmen traveled in the region and set up homes in the caves. They painted on the stone to tell their story or to leave a map for others that may have been following them. It was pretty interesting. The hike to get to the caves was pretty difficult though. We were all fine but there were many brothers and sisters dressed up in meeting clothes. I wouldn’t want to hike 3 miles or so in dress shoes! All in all it was the best hike I’d ever been on! When we finished they packed a picnic lunch for us and we set up shop overlooking the mountains, eating like kings!
There was a terrible thunder storm on the way home and it took FOREVER to get back! Katie got some pictures of lightning she’s pretty proud of! There wasn’t much time to do any shopping today so we dragged my dad out to an Italian restaurant in a nice section of town. We all ate wonderful dishes for about 6 bucks each. It was so good. We are off to the marine world tomorrow and I have to swim with the sharks! I hope everyone is well! Thanks for checking in!
P.s. Waller family- we’ll call Roz tomorrow! And can you think of anyplace we should eat or shop??
P.P.S. Laurie- tell Max he has to come here! I’m sure he knows all the names of the animals!
P.P.P.S. Imy- we were searching for a lioness that just had cubs, I said about 100 times on the safari that you would think we were nuts “ I don’t do nature”
P.P.P.P.S.Becca- Katie keeps saying you would make a great ranger or animal tracker, I AGREE!
P.P.P.P.P.S. Jessica- Do you like your elephant pics?

Our rooms at Phinda

Here are some pictures of our rooms. I'm sorry the pictures are so far and few, we're having a hard time uploading them here. I think the connection is slow!!!

More Pics of the Safari

More on the safaris… as Corrine said – it is hard to describe. Just amazing. On our first game drive, our ranger, Philip (whom I love by the way) asked us if there was one particular animal we HAD to see. He wanted to make sure we saw it. But none of us could pick just one. He said he would do his best to find them all for us, and we ended up seeing more than we expected.
By the time we finished our fourth and final game drive this morning, we had been through deep woods, sand forest, mountain tops, open meadows and marshy lands. As we were driving, he would tell us what animals are typically in that area and tell us to keep a look out for them. You would think that a tall, patterned giraffe would be easy to spot. But more than once we were almost right next to them before was even saw it! They really do blend in completely with the tall trees and sticks. Amazing. They were so cute because they would see us, grab a mouthful of leaves and stand there chewing while staring at us. Then they would watch us drive away. Sometimes there would be groups of them together. So cool. Unbelievable.
Then there were the zebras. Black and white stripes. Must be easy to spot, right? They too just blend right in! They were particularly impressive to me the first time we stumbled upon them, just because they are so unique looking. We would see more and more of them throughout the trip as they go pretty much anywhere. One time we were driving along the edge of the woods, and 3 of them came running out of the trees, right next to us! Amazing. By the end of our last drive, we would simply point them out, smile, and drive on by. It was like seeing cows back home. Only not =)
We had a really neat experience with the lionnesses. Our ranger got a tip that the lionnesses had been spotted in a particular spot, so he headed in that direction. When we got there – one of the other groups had found them, and the two lionnesses were sitting along the road about 20 feet from their vehicle. We parked a little farther down from them. We watched them for a while when they got up and started walking again. They walked directly toward our car, stopped and looked at us, and walked on by. They were much larger than I expected. When they started moving towards us, Philip told us to just stay quiet. He didn’t need to tell us that. I think we were all frozen. It was awesome. We followed them a while, and then moved on. Then on last night’s drive, they were spotted again. We caught up to them and followed them as they were on the prowl. It got dark while we followed, but we managed to keep up. They had their eyes on some wilderbeasts. As we got closer, we saw a couple of Jakal stalking the wilderbeasts. We shut off the car and lights, and listened. Philip said we would either hear a warning call if the animals noticed the lions, or we would hear the running hoofs. We ended up hearing a warning “grunt”, and the wilderbeasts moved on. It was pretty amazing to see what we did though. And I was really rooting for the wilderbeasts anyways.
My favorite sighting was probably the cheetah. Thought of you Becca. We got a tip that another ranger spotted the Cheetah, so we headed over. We got there and he was so far away, I could barely make him out. Lying there. Alone. In a field. He moved around a bit, so I took some video. It’s easier to see in video since he was so far away. While I was taping, he got up and walked along the dam towards us. Then he kinda hung around a tree for a while right by the road we were on. Then he crossed the road, and sat there. Right next to us. Rolled around. Scratched. Then got up and went on his way. He was BEAUTIFUL. So incredible. I will try to post the videos, but we have been having trouble getting them to upload on this connection.
Today we set out to find an elephant. The only animal we really wanted to see that we hadn’t seen yet. Philip said it was gonna be tough, but we would find them. It rained a lot last week and the area where they are in summer was difficult to get to. But we were gonna try it. We drove through all kinds of crazy roads, up and down rocks and rivers – it was a little scary at times! But Philip is a good driver. He got a tip that there was elephant activity in a certain area and we headed over. He was told it was likely two bull elephants to watch for. As we got to the area, we turned a corner and YIKES there he was! Right there next to the road! Just as we got to him, the other one came out from behind the trees next to us! WOW! It was amazing! Then off in the distance were two white rhinos! The amazing Philip guessed that they were heading to a nearby watering hole so we went there to wait for them. Sure enough, one of them came over the hill, towards the water and when he spotted the water, he kinda skipped a little faster. We watched from the other side as he drank and splashed water (and pooed and peed, much to Corrine’s amusement). Then the other one followed. It was awesome. I got video. I’ll see if it will post. Hopefully photos at least.
The flat tire picture in the last post was on our vehicle. We got it just as we came upon two crocodiles and hippos in a small pond. We all had to get out so they could change the tire. So we stood there. Thinking about the crocs and hippos. It was pretty fast as both Philip and Zekele had done it before. We were in good hands.
There’s more, but I could go on and on for hours. I need to get to bed. Up at 5 tomorrow to head out to Drakensberg. Who knows what the day will bring.