We headed to Sao Paulo to catch the worldwide District Convention in English! We stayed in Campinas, Sao Paulo which was a bit of an ugly city! We didn’t really venture out too much but it was nice to have a rest in our “budget” but seemingly fancy hotel the “Ibis” (said with a Briiiighton accent).
The English Convention was for all English Congregations in the whole of Brazil. It was held at the assembly hall an hour away from where we were staying.
We were really glad we went to Rio and met up with Glauci and the Rio English Congregation before going to Campinas as it was great to know a few faces already. Everyone was staying at the Ibis together too so we travelled there and back together, and were able to do dinners and hang out with some great people too.
We met US brothers and sisters serving in Bolivia and Chile over the weekend. Fritz and Kathy were a couple with kids the same age as us and older. They’ve sold up their stuff back in the US and moved to a remote area in Bolivia to learn Spanish and help the congregation there. They had some awesome stories and were very inspirational!! Jehovah has definitely rewarded and blessed their efforts and the massive changes they made. Initially they found it really tough and wondered what they’d done!! But the experiences they’d had up there and being able to witness to people and the awesome response they were getting made them truly happy and sure that Jehovah was looking after them. They’ve invited us to go stay with them while are there so hopefully that will be possible!
We also met up with Hosei who was originally from Japan but had lived in Sydney in DY for the last 15 years and was now living in Rio. He’d been to quite a few places in South America and had settled in Rio for 6 months. He was lots of fun to hang out with and knew a lot of our mates with Sydney connections too!! (Pappas, Dan, Sacha and Max!!!)
In general the group were quite young and everyone was really bubbly and friendly! They were all using their time and energy to not only serve Jehovah but learn another language as well so they could talk to others about him in their native tongue. It was definitely evident from these brothers and sisters that the hard work and effort you put into serving Jehovah is rewarding, enjoyable and the source of a lot of happiness!! Prov 10:22
Timeframe: Thursday 5th – Tuesday 10th September
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