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My first trip began in October, 2012. The first congregation Janet and I visited was at Weston, West Virginia. We were to revel in the topography and autumnal colours of the 'Hillbilly' country and I was in that area to visit an old friend who'd worked as a teacher in Australia. We stayed at Buckhannon the night before and drove to Weston, following the Garmin GPS to... ...Kingdom Drive, which really tickled us. The first thing we noticed, and it was to us quite outstanding, was the lack of windows in the hall: Our old Dodge pickup is at the extreme left of this pic and Janet is there talking to Brother Edwin Stalnaker who I was to learn had a large part in bringing this hall into being. He provided the land and used his earthmoving equipment to level sufficient ground for the hall, also building the entry road. There'll be more about this hall much later in the thread as I returned there in 2024, but for now it was eye-opening to an Aussie couple finding their way with accents and getting to know people. One sister, Jo Ellen Fitzwater, spent some time talking with Janet and later wrote to her back home. Janet really appreciated that and it's a shame that the correspondence wasn't able to continue much longer. No, it's not a large congregation, but it's firmly established and spiritually strong. It was a nice place for us to begin our 'International Tour' and to spend valuable time with brothers and sisters.

Imagine if the UN was suddenly given complete control of every military force of its member states. It would have full control of the largest military force in the world. Truly cause to declare P&S.

My Shih tsu was called Teeth!!😅

I must OD on chocolate. Give me more!

Known as Operation TEETH

I've been thinking about doing a thread relating to my visits to many congregations, Assembly Days and Regional/International Conventions over the past 14 years. And there have been visits to Bethels in four countries. In that time I've made five trips to the USA, with two of them branching into Canada and one extending to 21 countries in Europe. Whenever possible I've attended meetings wherever I have been, often timing my trip to enable me to do so. Two trips were based around Conventions. This is particularly relevant following the Watchtower study article last weekend, in which paragraph 16 asks, "When travelling have you ever visited a different congregation?" It goes on to explain why we should, "The next time you do, reflect on the love and unity among our brothers and sisters. It will underscore that Jehovah is indeed using his Witnesses to accomplish his will today." And I have to agree. As this thread progresses I will post pictures relating to congregation visits and tell how that love and unity was shown. It's a 2-way thing, of course, and while I consider that I have benefitted more, I hope that I have also conveyed to the hundreds I've met something of value to them. I've not put this into the publicly visible section as I will be using names of our brothers and sisters as the story progresses. I welcome comments, in particular - but not limited to - comments from people who are members of the congregations I've visited or others who see something they want to discuss.

Teeth.... That should be an acronym for something, like "Time Everyone Eats The Harlot"

NATIONS IN UNPRECEDENTED MOVE: GOVERNMENTS SUDDENLY HAND OVER POWER TO GLOBAL AUTHORITY Political leaders announce sweeping transfer of power and authority to the United Nations. SHOCKWAVE THROUGH WORLD POLITICS: NATIONS SPEAK WITH “ONE THOUGHT” In a stunning development, governments unite behind a single political arrangement, giving unprecedented authority to the United Nations. “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN SO SUDDENLY?”: WORLD LEADERS CARRY OUT UNEXPECTED DECISION Observers struggle to explain the rapid political transformation as nations surrender their authority to the global political arrangement.

I can only imagine they would claim it's a good thing. They will probably spin it to praise themselves for being bold, selfless, visionary, or whatever strokes their egos. Anyone who opposes them is regressive, anti-peace, etc. I don't think there's a single chance the GB would fail to announce the start of the GT or at least that the UN has power and the GT will soon begin (they might be shut down before they can make the second announcement). Their one job is to keep us spiritually fed; it would be weird to drop the ball on the most important day besides Armageddon.

Yes, Paulo identified it... Not that far from: Benton Harbor.

I bought a key. It looks good.

Thursday, August 20 The former things will not be called to mind.—Isa. 65:17. What about all the things that have caused God’s people pain and distress? Eventually, those things “will be forgotten [and] concealed from [God’s] eyes.” (Isa. 65:16) Jehovah will make our troubles go away, and in time the pain of such memories will vanish completely. Even now, it is soothing to our nerves to be at our Christian meetings, where we can relax and put behind us the stresses of this wicked world. We contribute to the calmness of our spiritual environment when we manifest the love, joy, peace, kindness, and mildness that are included in the fruitage of God’s spirit. (Gal. 5:22, 23) What a blessing it is for us to be associated with God’s organization! Those who remain in the spiritual paradise will see the complete fulfillment of God’s promise of “new heavens and a new earth.” w24.04 22 ¶9-10

I believe it will be too but the headline won't be " all leaders turn their power over to the UN". I think it will be more like "World Leaders declare World Peace as UN now makes decisions" or something like that. It won't make the leaders seem so weak and ineffectual.

I am familiar with this health facility in Jacksonville, Florida. Many years ago, my mother (approximately age 80 at the time) needed a total hip replacement. Thankfully, my cousin and her husband were "in the traveling work" at the time, and Jacksonville was in thier territory. She put us in touch with the hospital in Jacksonville. As I recall, the hospital administrator was an Elder in one of the Congregations in Jacksonville. They were VERY cooperative with us regarding the blood issue. One interesting point (that, to me, illustrated their seriousness about the subject) was that they had two different color file folders for ones who have objection to use of blood. One color was for those whose objection was faith based (i.e., JWs, etc.) and a different color for those who had a different basis for their objection (presumably a medical situation, but I did not have the courage to ask why at the time). All of the staff at the hospital were VERY cooperative and respectful of my mother's position on blood. My mother came through the surgery very well, and we (my son and I) were able to bring her home to Pensacola (four hour drive) for recovery. This facility was truly a blessing for us on a matter that could have caused significant difficulty at another hospital. According to the post by MJ1 (on Saturday) there is also a facility in the Bronx that will cooperate with JWs on the blood issue. I remember when the Society started the Hospital Liaison Committee program. That has been a great blessing to Jehovah's people. Before the Hospital Liaison Committee arrangement, I was well acquainted with a local couple in Pensacola who had difficulty over the blood issue on a new-born with the RH negative/positive issue. The couple had to make an emergency trip to another hospital four states away to get treatment for the baby that was in accordance with biblical principles. The doctor obtained a court order to perform a transfusion. The parents were not allowed to acces the child in the local hospital. A local sister had a nurse's uniform. She was able to get into the hospital and retrieve the baby so the parents could take it to the other hospital (four states away) to get proper treatment. The mother of the child had worked with me (back when we had live orchestras at Circuit Assemblies and District Conventions) in the Chorus. The Hospital Liaison Committee has been a significant help and a great blessing to Jehovh's people. I am very glad to see that it is not just in the U.S., but is in many other countries as well. Thanks, Jim

My congregation used to have our territory map posted on our electronic bulletin board (which were just a couple of Google docs pages). But now that the congregation uses NW Publisher, that map seems to have disappeared. I'd have to ask one of the elders what happened to it.

I remember in late 2019/early 2020, most congregations in my country had their boundaries changed. A google map link with QR code was posted on the bulletin board. Anyone could save this link and easily share it. Some KHs had as many as 10 different congregation QR maps posted on the bulletin board. The links continued to work for a year or two before they all went offline. It would be nice to have more official info on our website, both for publishers and for the public. Currently, if someone (even a non witness) wants to know which cong a specific address belongs to, they can call bethel, but why need to bother the bethel workers there for something that be done easily and automatically with technologies we’re already using?

This is quite possible to accomplish if using if using NW Scheduler (with appropriate access permissions): 1. Access JW Hub. 2. Go to Congregation Information. 3. Go to Territory. Your map will display. 4. Download the KML file. (Top right hand button). 5. Now access NW Scheduler (with sufficient editing rights). 6. Go to Congregation (Top Menu item on left) and select Congregation information. 7. Ensure the full details of your congregation Kingdom Hall address are entered, including the Latitude and Longtitude references ( Prefix the Longtitude number with -). 8. Close and reopen the program. 9. Go to Territory (4th Menu Item on left). 10. Select Master Territory Map (It should default to your KHall location if you have entered details correctly) 11. Select the 2nd icon 1n the top right hand corner to locate and import the KML file you downloaded. Your main borders will display. 12. Go to the Categories box at the top of the left hand Menu. 13. Tick the required boxes boxes you wish to display for Map categories. Their boundaries will all display on the Map. (Limit category types for legibility). 14. Zoom the map for display legibility (This does not print however). 15. Go to the Size box , second item on the left hand Menu and select the size you wish to print. (Limited selection). 16. Select other optional formatting categories as required. 17. Save (Bottom left). This will now save as a .png file which can easily be exported and printed or published as required from a suitable facility. PLEASE NOTE: The Final preparation of a map for printing might require some dexterity with image manipulation for legibility. These instructions are only ewxplain how to produce a complete territory map.

We recently had a total renovation of the KH. Just prior to that, we had a total update of the territories. A new map was made, and this new map is displayed on a new wall in the newly remodeled KH.

We have always had a territory map displayed in our library, and when we formed 2 congregations, they drew up new ones and even have our individual territories colored in different colors so it's easy to see them.

I think it's the kingdom hall at Stevensville. 1771, W Glenlord Road Stevensville MI 49127

Thank you Paulo, that is the one... some ten years later with the garden bed gone! I had looked at that one, but before I'd totally analysed the photos I have.

Can it be this one? https://www.google.pt/maps/place/Kingdom+Hall+of+Jehovah's+Witnesses--Saint+Joseph/@42.0433863,-86.4961601,3a,61.6y,13.35h,74.69t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sStn-iCwDm0zZvaB8jQm7cw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D15.306754110178261%26panoid%3DStn-iCwDm0zZvaB8jQm7cw%26yaw%3D13.35031129970639!7i16384!8i8192!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sKingdom+Hall+of+Jehovah's+Witnesses!3m6!1s0x8810c4a1e65f1623:0x93c10161c88cc3c6!8m2!3d42.0439058!4d-86.4957928!15sCiNLaW5nZG9tIEhhbGwgb2YgSmVob3ZhaCdzIFdpdG5lc3NlcyIDiAEBkgEXamVob3ZhaHNfd2l0bmVzc19jaHVyY2jgAQA!16s%2Fg%2F1tg35tqh?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I understand, but I believe it will be headline news. It's common knowledge that many of the member states of the UN disagree with the policies and actions of the organization. They support it because they have to, not because they want to. I think the world will know when that changes.

And now I have a favour to ask... These pics of a very large hall... ...were taken in South-West Michigan somewhere between New Buffalo and Benton Harbor. However, I can't find this hall as I search by the usual methods. Note that the driveway to the right of the flowerbed in front goes straight into the portico seen in the second pic. Can anyone identify the hall for me please?