The Librarian

Event to draw thousands, generate an estmated $750,000 in spending ROCKFORD — The City Council this week agreed to forgo nearly $50,000 in parking revenue to lure the Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses back to town after an 11-year absence. Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO John Groh said his office went “out on a ledge” and months ago promised free parking for convention attendees to help seal the deal. Had the City Council not approved the measure Monday, the RACVB may have had to go back to event organizers, eaten the cost of parking, or gone to corporate partners to ask for help paying it. Groh said the City Council showed that Rockford values the group’s business. And he said the risk was worthwhile because of the potential economic return for the city. It is expected to draw 15,000 attendees over three weekends, generating an estimated $750,000 in spending at hotels, restaurants and venues. “Rockford has more hotel rooms and Rockford is family friendly,” Groh said. “It has museums, parks and restaurants close to the hotels. And the progress and momentum in downtown Rockford is a much different picture in terms of restaurants, shops and general vitality than it was 10 years ago.” Attendees are expected to visit from Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha and Racine, Wisconsin, and Dubuque and Davenport, Iowa, as well as the Rockford and Chicago areas. Daily sessions of the convention — called “Don’t give up!” — are free and open to the public beginning each day at 9:20 a.m. July 28-30, Aug. 4-6 and Aug. 11-13 at the BMO Harris Bank Center, 300 Elm St. The group last met in Rockford in 2006. The event left for DeKalb — where a Spanish-language convention is still planned — when the BMO Harris Bank Center underwent renovations a decade ago. The City Council’s vote to subsidize parking shows that Rockford values the Jehovah’s Witnesses convention, said Peter Arthurs, a volunteer spokesman. The convention will feature talks, interviews, short videos and a three-part feature film, all focused on biblical advice and guidance for how those feeling discouraged can “enjoy life and gain confidence in a better future,” Arthurs said. Alderwoman Venita Hervey, D-5, was the lone “no” vote on waiving the $5 a day event parking fee that would total an estimated $48,750 for all three weekends. Hervey said the fees are there to defray the burden placed on property taxpayers for the cost of parking. http://www.rrstar.com/news/20170711/free-parking-brings-jehovahs-witnesses-convention-back-to-rockford

Jehovah's Witnesses Public Talk

Jehovah's Witnesses Public Talk

Our world is full of beauty. It is placed at just the right distance from the sun, it is tilted at just the right angle, and it rotates at just the right speed. Why did God put so much effort into making the earth? Source

1942_Watchtower_Convention_Report.pdf DAY 1 Friday September 18, 1942 MORNING EVENING Keynote Address: The Only Light Fred W. Franz “Presenting ‘the Sword of the Spirit" Nathan H Knorr DAY 2 Saturday, September 19 1942 MORNING AFTERNOON EVENING DAY 3 Sunday September 20, 1942 MORNING AFTERNOON 3:30 Keynote Discourse: Peace—Can It Last? Nathan H. Knorr (Release: The New World (book)) (Release: Copy of speech) EVENING

August 19, 1932 - July 07, 2017 Services will be held Monday July 17, 2017 at 4 p.m. at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses, 420 Marie Lane, North Mankato, MN. Charles Russell Peterson (Rusty), died on Friday July 7, 2017. He was 84. He was born on August 19, 1932 to Peter and Blossom Peterson in Pemberton, MN. He married his wife, Donna LaCroix, on May 29, 1952. "Rusty" as he was affectionately known, loved to fish, play cards and socialize with friends. Later, motivated by his loving wife, He began to study the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses. Rusty was baptized on October 21, 1975. This began his greatest love, that of a 42-year walk of faith with Jehovah God.He was preceded in death by his longtime friend and wife, Donna He is survived by: his sister, Audrey J Waknitz of Mankato along with numerous other nieces and nephews. http://obituaries.mankatofreepress.com/story/charles-peterson-1932-2017-950715421

Lola May Munguia passed away July 1, 2017, from a battle with cancer. She fought until the end. She was born June 23, 1959, in Miles City and finally landed in Billings in 1972, where she remained until her death. Memorial service will be 2 p.m., Saturday, July 15, at The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 201 Wicks Lane, with a reception to follow at the Hampton Inn, 5110 Southgate Dr. For a more detailed obituary and to leave memories and condolences with the family go to www.dahlfuneralchapel.com. http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/lola-m-munguia/article_a79cf9f6-2a97-5723-be1d-878f300e8f3b.html

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Comment peux-​tu écouter la voix de Dieu et marcher sur les traces de Jésus ? la source

Why Be Guarded By the Bible - Jehovah’s Witnesses Public Talk Via

Over 2,500 people from the far corners of northwestern BC, to as far south as 100 Mile House came to Prince George this weekend for the annual Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention. With evacuation orders issued in central parts of the province, 130 families (a total of 306 people) who attended the convention are now unable to return home. “We have an agreement with the CN Centre for a number of days where we rent the facilities, and it includes the grounds. We rent the stampede grounds and the parking lots,” says Dale Johnson, the Chairman of the Disaster Relief Committee at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “After our convention was over, we asked permission from the City and CN Centre if they would mind if these refugees- these people who have been displaced– could stay for a few extra days. The City was kind enough to allow them to stay parked.” 5 local congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses are looking after the needs of evacuees. They are providing sewage, water, food and anything else that is required on-site. More trailers have been brought in from the Prince George Jehovah’s Witnesses. Families in the local congregations have also taken in evacuees. Johnson says the community has been great. “The CN Centre, they’ve allowed us to stay. They have offered us the use of their facilities there. We had a contract with them and so they have been very kind to allow us continue that contract for our use only. The City has been great. We have had some of the local politicians come and check on our folks to give them direction as to where to go to register. They have offered food at no cost. We think about the fire fighters; local folks that sometimes aren’t appreciated, but we have been given such clear direction from these people that we feel really secure and looked after.” Now all that’s left to do is wait.”Our friends are concerned and our families are a little bit stressed, but they are getting the emotional and spiritual help that they need on a daily basis,” says Johnson. “We have made visits to almost every family over there. They are playing the waiting game. There’s rumors floating around, but as the information comes in from the authorities that’s what we pass on so people don’t get upset. They are happy, they are content and looked after.” A disaster administrative centre for the group has also been set up at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on 15 Avenue. http://www.ckpg.com/2017/07/10/cn-centre-opens-facility-to-jehovahs-witness-evacuees/

I can see this as a safety feature.... But I remember the days when people would worry about listening devices in their homes. Nowadays they purchase them.

Were none of them able to swim even for a few minutes? I can understand dying by being pulled under by a huge ship sinking...but just falling off a boat? I've jumped off of more boats than I can think of for the sheer fun of swimming.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES IN KAZAKHSTAN FEAR REPEAT OF RUSSIA BAN AFTER ‘SCARY’ CRACKDOWN By Jason Le Miere On 7/10/17 at 4:58 PM After operations at its headquarters were suspended last week, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kazakhstan fear their country’s government is going down the same path as neighboring Russia, where the Christian group was effectively banned earlier this year. The Kazakhstan court's decision to suspend operations at the Jehovah’s Witnesses branch office in the city of Almaty came less than two months after a 61-year-old believer was sentenced to five years in prison on a charge of inciting religious hatred. Both decisions came shortly after Russia’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling in that country outlawing Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization. “People are a little bit afraid because it seems that it was right after the Supreme Court of Russia [decision],” Bekzat Smagulov, a Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesman in Kazakhstan, told Newsweek Friday. “We don’t know the exact reason, but what do you think? How will we think because if what happened in Russia and then we have these problems? How do you explain these things?” Jehovah’s Witnesses, which was founded in the United States and is best known for its objection to blood transfusions and military service, has operated in Kazakhstan for 25 years. It now has 18,000 followers in the Muslim-majority country and 59 local religious organizations. Kazakhstan passed a restrictive law in 2011 that featured stringent requirements such as forcing religious organizations to register with the government. The law, which has mainly affected Muslim minority groups, has seen the number of religious groups decline to 16 from 48, according to a 2017 report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). People sing as they attend the annual Jehovah's Witnesses assembly gathering of 30.000 believers on July 22, 2011 in Villepinte, a Paris suburb. A crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses in Kazakhstan has followed similar actions against the Christian group in neighboring Russia. Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images The situation for Jehovah’s Witnesses, said Smagulov, did not noticeably deteriorate until this year. It was in March that Russia’s justice ministry declared that Jehovah’s Witnesses violated an anti-extremism law that has been used against groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS). The verdict was upheld a month later by the country’s Supreme Court, liquidating all 395 of the group’s local religious chapters. An appeal against the verdict, which was widely condemned internationally, will be heard on July 17. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has been one of Russia’s closest allies, and the two neighboring countries are founding members of multiple military and trade agreements. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has led the country since its days under Soviet rule. Although the percentage of Kazakhstan’s population made up of ethnic Russians has declined since its independence from the Soviet Union, it remains a significant 21 percent. And 25 percent of the population is estimated to be Russian Orthodox, making it the largest non-Muslim religion in the country. The Orthodox Church, which has ballooned in numbers and power under Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been an outspoken supporter of the ban of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. As in Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses say the pretense for actions against the religion is fabricated. In the case of the suspension of the headquarters’ operations, the police argued that the building did not have enough security cameras. Despite already having 20 cameras on the premises, the authorities demanded three more be installed. “We didn’t know the reason, they didn’t explain it why they did this inspection,” Smagulov said. “They tried to find something wrong. Even though we didn’t agree, we decided to put the cameras in that day. And we showed that to the court but it did not work.” Jehovah's Witnesses sing at a meeting in Russia. Two Jehovah's Witnesses were recently given a prestigious parenting award, despite the group being regarded as "extremist." Courtesy of Jehovah's Witnesses Three weeks after the inspection, the court ordered the office suspended and fined the group around $2,000. But that was far from the full extent of the recent crackdown. Two weeks prior to the inspection, Smagulov said, around 40 armed police and members of the National Security Committee (KNB), formerly the KGB, conducted a raid of the Almaty headquarters, with many wearing masks. It created a very public, and frightening, spectacle. The raid coincided with World Expo 2017 taking place in the Kazakh capital Astana, during which the Almaty headquarters hosted several visitors. Claiming they suspected there were foreigners present illegally, the armed security services asked for everyone’s identification. “We didn’t expect these people with masks,” Smagulov said. “It’s only if terrorists attack they come. But when someone with a weapon comes running, it’s a little bit scary. They sieged our property.” Already, one Jehovah’s Witness has suffered the consequences of the crackdown. Teymur Akhmedov was sentenced to five years in prison in May after what Jehovah’s Witnesses and human rights groups have called an unjust case involving entrapment. Akhmedov and an associate, Asaf Guliyev, who was later sentenced to five years of “restrictive freedom,” were invited to the home of a group of apparent students to discuss their faith on several occasions last summer. In reality, the students were members of the KNB and were covertly recording the conversations. Investigators claim the responses to questions given by Akhmedov advocated “the superiority of one religion over another.” An appeal against the conviction was denied last month. The actions go wider still. Smagulov claims that many of the country’s main media outlets have begun broadcasting and publishing negative information about Jehovah’s Witnesses. Countering the growing negative perceptions is an arduous task. “We try to fight but we are not the majority in society, it’s hard to fight,” Smagulov said. “Usually the government tries to protect the minorities." An appeal against the suspension of the group's headquarters will be heard on July 14, but, with the ever-growing hostility toward them, Smagulov added, it is becoming increasingly difficult to believe that Kazakhstan is not heading down the same path as its influential neighbor. “We had conversations with the minister for religious affairs and he said Kazakhstan has its own way of thinking, that they’ll act independently of Russia but in reality we see different things," he said. http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-russia-ban-kazakhstan-634550

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Do we have any Catholic experts out there? Is the Pope here referring to the the Virgin Mary as the Star of the Sea?

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In what way can you listen to God’s voice and walk in Jesus’ footsteps? Source

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