International Convention Warsaw, Poland! Part 2

Friday-Sunday: The convention

Peek attendance was over 32,000. Never have we been in a crowd that large that moved  with such grace and joy. Of course every day many delegates came dressed in traditional outfits to represent their countries. We wished we had too, although what do we dress as? If we get to attend an international again we talked about dressing as witnesses from the 30's and 40's with canvas bags that say "Zion's Watchtower 5 cents." Friday I did dress in a floral dress and wore a Polish flower crown a sister gave me. Everyone thought I was Polish! We sure did blend in well! In Africa I could spot Steven in a crowd in seconds. In Poland I kept losing him because so many people looked like him. 🤣

Legia Stadium Warsaw

It was a little warm in the sun but altogether the weather was very pleasant. Each day volunteers rose early to prepare the convention site and lunch for the delegates. They even had special lunch lines for gluten free and vegetarian! I had a special ticket and emblem on my delegate badge for gluten free. It was so nice to never worry about food and the meals were delicious!
We made so many new friends each day and met up with some Jacksonville friends too! The program was super encouraging and we got so many helpful points. Even through a translator, which we listened to over a radio frequency with ear buds. Polish brothers and sisters did performances and sang songs after the convention. And many international delegates held up banners throughout the stadium. Next time, we're definitely bringing a banner! Each day we also received and gave gifts and cards with our contact info.

One of my favorite gifts was from this young girl. She just walked up to us in the crowd introduced herself with a big hug and gave me a lovely handmade necklace. She also gave Steven a tie! What a sweetheart. That really touched our hearts.

The kids in Poland are adorable and so loving. Including this little ham, 7 year old little boy dressed in traditional a getup.

After the photo he said "I need candy for pictures." Ha ha ha, in other words, he doesn't work for free. That gave us a good laugh!

You are awesome!

Friends from Korea

Epiphany and Sonia from Jacksonville :)

Cute right? My friend Miko from Jacksonville. We sat together with our hubbies Saturday & Sunday.

The association continued after the session each day with dinner. Again we met so many cool people. A brother joined our groups together Saturday at a restaurant. So much fun and super encouraging. Some tears sharing experiences too. Romans 1:11,12

Sunday when we sang "Give Me Courage" the brother came over and sang with us in English! We truly made some forever friends.

Convention Last day!

It was so sad when the convention ended Sunday. We didn't want to leave even though we were extremely exhausted. Afterwards we're so happy we pushed through the exhaustion and went to old town Warsaw with more friends. That was a great night. Dinner, wine, ice cream and amazing association with 4 other couples. We talked about spiritual goals, our lives, family, upbringing and so on. Jehovah unites us in remarkable ways. You can become so close in such a short time when Jehovah is first in your life. Beyond the spiritual program and numerous parties and activities the friendships we've formed will stand out in our hearts forever. So a shout out to our new friends from Lithuania, France, Finland, Romania, Germany, New Jersey, Ohio, California of course Poland and many other places! We really really love you!

The convention was not the end of our Polish adventure. Monday morning we enjoyed breakfast with friends, and said some goodbyes to those heading home. Bittersweet. So glad to have met them and so sad to part.

After that we joined a local congregation for field service. They met in a hall located on the 3rd floor of a shopping mall. They put us with our pre arranged groups and we headed out to the field. We worked with a very kind pioneer sister and the sweetest family of a mom, her 2 little girls and teenage son. Their story is one of strong faith and reliance on Jehovah. Very encouraging. Field service was different than what we're used to. Intercom witnessing is a common feature of their ministry in Warsaw. Giving a presentation in Polish is hard enough, but doing it through the intercom was a little terrifying. I was nervous to say the least, but the sisters reassured me that my Polish was understandable and not to be afraid! So it was a good experience. Another challenge in Poland and many European countries is the law pertaining to privacy. It's against the law to record any information about a person without their consent including their address, name and any personal details. They cannot even take "not at homes", so everything must be memorized. One brother explained to us through, that this is a blessing in disguise because:
1. One must rely more fully on Jehovah and his spirit to recall details to the mind.
2. Only exceptional calls are made, sifting out the time-wasters.
3. They have a headstart for how preaching maybe internationally in the future.
We really appreciated that point of view. It caused me to reevaluate how I do things in my ministry. Some definite goals for the new service year

After preaching we were lead on foot to a community center the friends rented for yet another party! More food, music, activities, performance and so on. A different aspect to this party was the video the congregation put together. They interviewed friends about when witnesses were under ban in Poland. Many brothers went to prison and the friends had to meet in secret. They still held conventions though. They did so in the forest! They sat on blankets and made a stage that was easy to assemble and disassemble. They even had full costume dramas and new ones were baptized in the river. (You can read more about it here https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/301994018) Their history made us respect them even more deeply. They held tightly onto Jehovah's hand and endured faithfully through the persecution. You could feel that spirit permeate the room. After some heartwarming, entertaining performances they taught us a tradition Polish dance. It was so fun and not too difficult! Who wants to learn? Because I'm totally doing this at a party! The night dwindled down with more Polish vodka, group photos and then we sang one final song- our new song, Unfailingly Love. A fitting end to an unforgettable set of days.

Tuesday we tearfully said our goodbyes to our friends in Poland. We signed a large banner set up in our hotel where I wrote:

 "Our hands hurt from clapping. 

Our arms burn from waving. 

Our cheeks ache from smiling. 

And our hearts break to leave you. 

We love you more than words can say..."

That about sums it up. After that we headed off to Krakow in the South of Poland. Then to an epic adventure in Norway where we were blown away by Jehovah's majestic creations! Look for my next blog about that... As always thanks for reading. I hope something here can bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart. Truly Jehovah is so good, and his love, well his love never fails...