Goodbye Circuit~

As I stated, traveling out of town for our conventions and assemblies are extremely costly. But they are one of my favorite parts in the foreign language field. We get to associate with many different friends from all over the country and hear about their experiences in service and even how they got started in the Chinese language. Most will tell you that they had no desire to learn Chinese at first, myself included in that, but more often than not positive peer pressure made everyone cave. In our group, most everyone will say Russell Clinton had a hand in pressuring them to learn such a hard language. 

In May 2013 I had the wonderful opportunity to attend my first Chinese Circuit Assembly. I traveled up to Belleville Michigan with several friends. It was very encouraging that all but two from our group were able to attend at that time. I really appreciate the zeal and dedication of the friends from the SC Chinese group. I'm so happy to see them taking their ministry seriously. At this time I was just one month shy of learning Chinese for a year. I understood quite a bit, but I still had to rely on my notes from the English assembly for the most part. 

SC Chinese Group
May 2013

One thing I remember vividly was our CO who was American, but spoke great Chinese, during one of his talks, he shared with us that our Circuit was growing! He had been with the Circuit since it started and saw it grow so much. It was a beautiful but emotional moment. You really see how Jehovah has sped up the work in recent years, ESPECIALLY the last two-three. Our CO got really choked up during the talk and almost gave way to tears. Those of us in the audience were definitely moved as well. 

My best friends keep me encouraged!

To see the foreign field grow as much as we have in the past two years, how could anyone not want to be part of something so grand in Jehovah's organization??? How many can say they have had their Circuit Overseer CRY during the closing prayer of an assembly???? I look at those around me and see ones doing the bare minimum and I just want to scream at them that there is soooo much more out there than what they are doing. That there are so many options in Jehovah's Organization and it can make you truly happy. Pioneering, Bethel, RBC, serving where the need is greater, learning a new language and becoming a missionary without even leaving your home town! The list goes on!

The trip to Michigan will forever go down as one of my most favorite trips. We laughed so hard that weekend and had many good spiritual discussions. And I was able to go on that trip while unemployed.

Most recently I was able to attend my second Circuit Assembly in Rosenberg Texas. I was extremely excited for this trip. I had never traveled further west than Florida before. Trips out of state take money, and they also take TIME! It took us 15 hours to get to the hotel in Texas, which was conveniently located across the street from the Rosenberg Assembly Hall. Our trip to Michigan only took us about 12 hours. We left at 7 pm that Wednesday night to arrive at noon Thursday afternoon. 

Both our trips did not go smoothly as planned-- a car accident in Michigan and coming close to a tire blow out in Texas-- but we were all able to still have a good time and be spiritually encouraged. I had the wonderful privilege of attending my first Chinese Circuit Pioneer meeting with two of my best friends. We had two new ones get baptized in Texas, one was a young brother from Louisiana. Caitlyn and I had met him the night before in our hotel. He was very excited to be attending the assembly, and now we can see why. He was traveling with one other unbaptized brother, and they were both from a group in Louisiana. Steven said that it was his goal to help out his group as much as he can. They only have one Elder serving. It is so encouraging to see new ones so ready to help out in Jehovah's organization. I am very proud of Steven and hope he accomplishes his goals. 

 The Rosenberg Assembly Hall is the largest Assembly Hall in the United States. I heard that it took about ten years to build, but do not quote me on that. It was so beautiful and simply way to big to explore the entire building. While we had our Chinese assembly, the English assembly was being held in the main auditorium. We met in two separate rooms, which function as a kingdom hall and teaching area on a normal bases. The main room had a stage, while the over flow room had several TV's. The first day Caitlyn and I sat in the overflow room. 

I was delighted to find out that Houston has it's very own China Town. We were able to go and eat at a restaurant there one night. This was the first time I had went to eat traditional Chinese food without Frank and Amanda, so I had no idea what to order. Finally we gave in and I asked our waitress what she recommended. She had a wonderful personality, and was able to recommend several yummy dishes. We even had lobster! (Which I found I'm not a fan of) I hope we have a chance to meet her again in the future!

We also received great news while we were in Texas. It was then that we found out that a native Chinese family would be moving to SC and would be joining our group! We would then have one baptized sister along with her husband and two daughters! Jehovah had blessed us for sure! With the news of Frank and Amanda moving to Miami, many in our group were feeling quite anxious. But we all became excited once again when we heard of our new family members.

Our group is forever changing in numbers. But whether people are coming in, or going out, one thing remains the same--we will always be one big family. I am so proud of the SC Chinese Group. 

SC Chinese Group
March 2014