Proof That Our English Group Works

It seems like the last few posts I have done, have been lacking in Spiritual content. As that is the main reason I am here, I figured that it was about time to have a nice spiritual update from Argentina.

This last weekend we had our Circuit assembly here in Buenos Aires Circuit 1A. Here is the breakdown...



Pioneer Meeting = Lots of Funny Spanish Words & Cake!

So this friday began the weekend, with the meeting for regular pioneers. A great experience as always to get this special meeting with the Circuit and District overseer. We had exactly 100 pioneers at the meeting. Here are a few pictures and videos to show you what the hall was like.

Translation: Stay off the Lord's Grass!

Reality: Not so much grass...

Why dont we get Cake at our pioneer meetings in IL 15?

My notes from the Pioneer meeting. For those of you who speak Spanish you will find this funny....

Once i lost a speaker, I would start working on this list...

I Will Never Think Its A Hassle To Go To Romoville again…
 
Saturday & Sunday both started at 5:50 AM for me. 5:50 AM! You might be wondering (If your not wondering about the stupid happenings of my life, then perhaps you are on the wrong blog!) why I got up so early just to get to something that starts at 9:30. Well the answer lies in just what it takes to get to the assembly here. 

"El Jefe" brother Daniel giving a talk, along with Seba & Lionel doing a demo. 

The assembly hall is far outside of the city here, in a place called Cañuelas which is in the province about 1 and a half hours bus ride from Downtown. For most of us in the city here, public transportation is the only way we have of getting around, since we don't have cars (An American from the Suburbs without a car…I know right). Normally this is not a problem with all of the countless buses and the subway. However since the assembly hall is in the middle of nowhere, (Think DeKalb but by bus from the city) there is no public transportation to get there. The solution to this is that the various congregations charter buses for use by the brothers to get there. Our bus left at 7:00 am about 15 blocks from my house. The bus is unforgiving about leaving without people (The one instance in this country where being on time matters). Therefore, to be on time, I needed to leave my place at 6:40, add to that getting dressed, and making pasta salad for 15 people (We all pack things to share with everyone in the group) you arrive at me waking up at 5:50 just to get there by 8:45. 

Daniel Giving His Talk - This was one of only a few talks, where I understood almost everything he said. Thank you Daniel.

Best lines that came to mind:

1. Bigger people need...smaller amounts of juice?
2. It take a real woman to take down a whole liter of Orange Juice by herself.
3. This size is the biggest I could afford :(

The Assembly itself as is always the case was a delight. Even though my Spanish skills still leave something to be desired, it is always nice to be a such a large gathering of Brother and Sisters. Once again, the brothers for some reasons had enough faith in me, to make me an Acomodador (Attendant) along with the rest of the brothers from the group. Our job was basically to watch the two doors of the offices of the Superintendente (Circuit Overseer) and el presidente de la asamblea (Assembly Overseer) who happens to be our own brother Daniel (aka El Jefe "The Chief"). We joked all assembly that our only job was to take a bullet for Daniel should someone try to assassinate him...we never could think of any reason why someone would want to kill him though...

Go Ben Go!

But without a doubt, the highlight of the assembly came on Saturday, when our newest brother Bernard (Ben) got baptized. A native African, he is the first bible study to get baptized in the English group. Almost 6 years (I think) of being a group and now we have our first real success from the field. He even got a special nod during the "Needs of the Circuit" part when the circuit overseer speaking about the great growth in the foreign language fields,  mentioned him being the first African (and therefore Native English speaker) to get baptized, eliciting a loud applause from the entire 1,100 in attendance. After we congratulated him, the way Jehovah's Organization does, we patted him on the back, said "Great Job" and then sent him off to work watching the doors for us while we all ate lunch. Once you dipped, its straight to work! Just the way it should be.

In between diving in front of gunman's bullets for Daniel, and trying to figure out what was being said on stage, we all enjoyed our time together. Lunch outside tailgating with a few of the people who have cars, and then sleeping on the bus ride home. As always a day in Jehovah's house is better than 1000 spent elsewhere. I hope you enjoyed hearing about our good times here. 

Tailgating for lunch at the assembly

Why can't we do this in the States again?

Gilda, Abby, & Suzanne - Que Linda! 

I think this guy had it figured all out...He was the only one with the guts to do what we all wanted to do

Bret & Ryan jiving about life...

1. Thats some good Mate!
2. Taking a hit off the Mate during lunch.
3. Nothing like passing "The Herbs" around at the assembly

1. Its just so hard sometimes
2. At least he was awake during his part on stage earlier.

Me and Jess

Ryan & Jess

I swear she is a happy person despite what this picture seems to convey. 

My turn with "The Herbs"
*Mate: the green stuff in the cup is called Yerba or Herbs hence the joke...

Interesting facts about the Assembly:

Apparently Argentina is ahead of the IL when it comes to getting spiritual programs. This weekend was the brand new Assembly, "No Part Of The World". This is the first staging of it in the whole country, and among the first in the world, as this is the assembly for the 2010-2011 service year (If i am correct the one back home should be sometime around March or April).

What am I doing here?

This was only Half of the circuit, part A. The rest of the circuit, part B is made up of around 7 Quechua language (The indigenous language of the Mayan peoples from Peru, Bolivia, etc…) congregations.