English Convention

Isn’t it sad to realize that the thing that you’ve been waiting for for so long has come and gone? Well that is how we feel about the English convention. Each year the branch here in Ecuador arranges an assembly in English for all of the missionaries and need greaters serving in the country. It is the only English convention held in all of South America. But it just goes to show how many people are serving here that they plan a whole convention just for them. It really is a loving provision because it means so much to all of the people who have been here for years.

The convention is held at the open air assembly hall, which also happens to be on the grounds of the branch in Guayaquil, on the coast. This year the peak attendance was a little over 1,200. About half of those are people serving here, about a quarter are locals here who are learning English or supporting the few English groups here. Then the rest are people visiting from other countries. The convention is very well known, and when family members come to visit, they always try to come for that week. There were also a lot of people who are considering serving here who came to check the country out, like the Allens.

So because the convention is primarily for missionaries and need greaters, all of the talks were tailored for us. All of the examples and illustrations were practical for us, and things we come across on a daily basis. They would often make reference to the challenges of learning a new language or leaving your friends and family. Everything very practical. All lot of the brothers giving the talks have been serving here for so long that every once in a while they would actually forget what a word is in English and just have to say it in Spanish.

Friday morning there was a part that was just experiences, and one of the couples interviewed was an older missionary couple who have been serving here since the sixties. Their experience was in a watchtower or awake article just a few months ago. I think there was a picture of them on a little scooter. Ring any bells? Anyways, they started out in Africa and India, and then ended up here in Ecuador. So that was really cool getting to hear firsthand some of their experiences and how they have watched the witnesses go from just a few hundred to now almost sixty thousand in the country.

Many of the local brothers in Guayaquil sign up to host brothers who are visiting for the convention. The branch set us up with a sister who lives in the very south part of the city, about an hour away from the convention site. The sister and her mother were so hospitable, even giving up her room for us. It was a tiny little apartment with no hot water, and a fridge that only kind if worked. Oh yeah, and there were cockroaches, but there are cockroaches wherever you go on the coast. And that is why we live in the mountains. Each morning we rode to the convention in a little hired bus along with several other brothers being hosted in the same area.

The setting was so perfect. The coast is very tropical, and so every way you look in the assembly hall you see beautiful trees and flowers. The only thing to distract your attention during the program is the chirping of birds, the iguanas climbing overhead in the rafters, and the monkeys swinging in the trees. Pretty cool. Fortunately the week we were there the weather was very mild. It was still pretty humid, but only in the 80’s. Usually it is much hotter. The brothers even served us coffee in the mornings.

It almost felt like an international convention, because almost every talk, the brother had a different accent. There were brothers from the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and I’m sure more. We noticed that all the experiences and demonstrations seemed a little less polished, more natural. And they sometimes said things, not bad, but that probably wouldn’t make it on to a program back home. Celeste said that the reason is because there is no rehearsal with a D.O. or anyone, because everybody arrives the night before the convention from all over the country, so there’s no time for a rehearsal. But it was nice to be surrounded by people who are experiencing the same things you are. And it’s encouraging to hear the stories of people who have been serving here for many years, and how Jehovah has made it work for them. OK, enough talk, here’s the pictures.

These first few are of the house where we stayed.



Mariuxi and Jorge

Scott Ness: A good friend of Aunt Barb and Uncle Marty. Lives here in Ecuador.

There was an information board at the back with all the stats.



Bus ride home.







Lunch with the Tapias



The room we were staying in. That is our friend Diana.