Circuit Assembly in Antigua

For several years, every single assembly, circuit and regional, we had to take a bus to El Salvador to attend with other English congregations in Honduras, El Salvador, and for regionals, Nicaragua, and or course, Guatemala. We enjoyed having a nice time with our friends talking and laughing on the bus ride, but it was a long ride and an expensive trip with hotels and meals out.

But this year, we started being able to have the circuit assemblies here in Guatemala! We have three congregations (Panajachel, Antigua, Guatemala City) and one group (Quetzaltenango) here in Guatemala, and they made the provision to meet in Antigua (a central location) so we could invite our studies and interested parties. We were thrilled!

The first assembly here was in February (reported in this post) and then we had another a few weeks ago.

This last time was poignant, since we knew we would be leaving soon. As I walked into the hall, I was awash with emotion. OK, I cried like a baby.

It struck me that when we came down almost four years ago, it was just the Perez and us. The only people in Guatemala here to start the work in English. Now there was a whole assembly with 130 people gathered to do the same thing. Of course, it had not a whit to do with us, but we see Jehovah gathering people, moving people's hearts to make this move. It was so thrilling, so amazing, and moved me to many tears.

After the assembly, we got to go out to dinner with our circuit overseer and his wife (Shawn and Kristen Verbeek) and with the guest speaker from the branch in Mexico (the Figueroas) and with some missionaries supporting the Regional Translation Office in Xela/Quetzaltenango (Jon and Denise Knaller).

Jon and Denise Knaller

Kristen and Shawn Verbeek

Figueroas

Then we had an amazing experience.

We had planned to go to a restaurant Kristen had found. After much effort, we arrived and found it was closed for a private party. We walked down the street and found another consulted TripAdvisor, and with good recommendations, we went in.

The server, a young quiet woman with a shy smile, had a European accent of some kind, and Sister Figueroa asked where she was from. She said Albania. Sister Figueroa was so excited - she knows Albanian from having served in an Albanian congregation in the US - and she even was carrying one piece of literature in Albanian, waiting to share it. The waitress was overcome with emotion, finding someone in Guatemala who spoke her language and showed a personal interest in her! They had a series of lovely chats, and the server gave us a warm farewell as we left.

We are convinced the angels somehow got us to that restaurant at that moment! Plus the food was great - a definite bonus!


So - an assembly with 130 in attendance! Perhaps that is less than is in your congregation 'back home'. But there is a closeness we enjoy that has been such a gift, based on our small numbers and shared experiences. I'll always remember them fondly - and we hope to time our next visit to Guatemala to coincide with an assembly!