below are two emails that are doing the rounds in dub land. They contain an account of a convention that was set up in Russia in woods, the email has photos but i can't figure out how to post them up too. But it shows bros and sis in the middle of a forest, on plastic chairs, freezing!!
Dear friends:
Many of us have been keeping close touch with the website www.jw-media.org that has had different accounts of the legal pains that are beng used in Russia to disrupt the worship of Jehovah God there. We find it of great interest that the power behind the politicians is so obvious--and we can only wonder when Jehovah's angel might be told to do his job (Revelation 18:21)! We can pray incessantly right now for the relief and comfort for our brothers and look at ourselves and ask if we will have the fortitude they repeatedly are showing! This letter has been around the globe already for I received it from Africa--so if it comes back to those of you who have received it you will understand it does not take long for news to be received. In this case we can only rejoice for Jehovah blessed all the efforts made. There are many lessons for those of us in different places as we read this very carefully. Below, is another letter from that part of the world that is so encouraging.
A sister from British Columbia shared this with me. The writer is one of a married couple serving now in Russia but who originated in Canada.
Hi all!
A couple weeks ago we were all secretly told thru our Service Groups that October 4th we should be prepared for our Special Assembly Day. Besides the instruction to dress warm and bring money for transport, no other details were given. However, having the assemblies in the forest isn't something new here any more. Last summer after our venue was cancelled for the District Convention, the brothers thought up this great idea to use a plot of private land belonging to one elder and his family as a convention site. It went well despite attempted interference from police. This summer it was planned at the same location from the get-go in view of major difficulties in finding any place willing to rent to us.
But this fall was a first. An assembly in the forest in October! That means that the facility that we've used to hold the last 3 smaller assemblies in a city about 2 hours away has finally caved under pressure from the church, the authorities, the fcb {?} or all 3 and will no longer rent to us despite it being very profitable for them. So that leaves us to the forest!
This was all pretty exciting for me since I wasn't here last summer for the first forest convention and obviously this summer I wasn't in Russia either so I missed the second one. We all bundled warm, bringing extra clothing and rain gear and thermoses of hot drinks. I have to say we were very fortunate. The whole week before and the whole week after our meeting it rained every day. The day of the assembly was beautiful and sunny. It was close to freezing in the morning, of course, but at least we weren't soaking wet. By the afternoon it was actually quite pleasant! For this Special Assembly Day we had about 1800 in attendance, the whole district.
I was totally amazed at how professional the whole set up was. Hopefully you get an idea from the photos. The chairs, stage, sound system was all set up perfectly. Even tents were set up for those with children and the elderly in case of rain. Outhouses were shipped out to the site (the largest expense of the convention) and a make-shift hand washing station was set up. Nothing was overlooked. All went off without a hitch as far as I know.
It looks like we're resigned to having such gatherings in the forest from now on since we just had a resolution read to set aside money for the purchase of portable toilets since the rental of them is so costly. How many circuits in Canada own their own Jiffy Biffys he?
But that's not all.
The authorities seem to be stepping up efforts to eliminate JWs here. It was openly stated on the news last month that efforts are being made to ban us. Last Friday a completely slanderous program was aired on TV about us and how we make millions and kill children and things like that. These get a wide audience and Russians, being rather gullible when it comes to what they see on TV, tend to believe the lies. We're meeting with a lot of questions and suspicions as to who we are and what is our organization.
For our local needs Friday, we were informed that due to efforts to ban us and our literature, we will no longer be stocking any literature in the Kingdom Hall whatsoever. Not one piece will be stored there. Just like in the old days before we had a Hall! It will be distributed thru the service groups. Also no announcement board or schedules for meetings will be posted. This Friday coming up we'll also be having a special part with more information pertinent to the situation. This is over the entire country, not just in our region. Forest assemblies have become something very common all over and the decision about literature was made at the Branch and will be effective everywhere as of this week.
We just wait and see. The preaching work goes on without problems as of yet. Who knows what will happen soon. Our nasty neighbor below us hates us and constantly writes complaints about us and accuses us of being from a sect, etc. They greet us with 'Hello Witnesses' is a snide tone. Interestingly enough, our other neighbor who we're friends with informed us that the nasty lady was invited for an official meeting with the police on the 15th (I guess that's tomorrow). We have no idea why that is but we're suspicious that suddenly they're taking an interest in her complaints because of the fact that we're Witnesses. Again, we'll see!
Hope you all are keeping busy in the service and never taking for granted the freedom and ease you can preach with. You never know when that might end. We'll do the same! Take care all, (End of report from Russia)
