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00:01 Just after the Supreme Court decision 00:04 banning our activity in Russia 00:06 that was given in April, 00:08 the Finland Branch Committee wrote to the Teaching Committee 00:12 and right away requested permission to arrange a convention 00:16 for about 4,000 of our dear brothers from Russia. 00:21 Well, now, quite coincidentally or perhaps not, 00:26 back in January, I was feeling a little bit tired, 00:28 and I have some good friends in Finland, 00:30 and so we arranged to go to a convention together 00:33 in the month of June —that was all approved back in January. 00:37 Well, by coincidence —can you imagine?—it turned out to be 00:40 the same weekend that this Russian convention 00:42 was being planned for Finland. 00:44 And so the Teaching Committee asked me if I’d be willing 00:47 to serve this Russian convention instead of the Finnish one. 00:50 And, of course, I was delighted. 00:53 Beds were needed for all of these 4,000 brothers. 00:56 Well—can you imagine?—in just a short time, 01:00 4,373 beds were offered. 01:04 In many cases, the brothers had no place to house visitors, but what did they do? 01:09 They called the branch and said: “We’ll pay for a hotel room. 01:13 “We don’t care who it’s for; 01:14 put whoever you want there, but we want to pay the cost.” 01:17 So everyone was able to be accommodated. 01:20 When the brothers arrived in Finland, 01:23 some had come from as far away as Vladivostok, 01:27 traveling some 6,000 miles (9,600 km), 01:29 if you can imagine, to attend this convention. 01:31 The brothers were at the train stations; 01:33 they were at the airport to welcome all the guests. 01:37 Now, when the first brothers and sisters 01:39 arrived at the convention venue, 01:42 they asked, “Well, where is the Russian section?” 01:45 since they believed that this was a Finnish convention 01:48 with Russian sessions. 01:50 Well, when they were told that this convention 01:51 had been organized just for them, they immediately began to cry. 01:56 Can you imagine the joy that the brothers had 01:59 when they were able to sing out with full voice? 02:02 The singing was so, so moving. 02:04 Well, the peak attendance 02:06 of the convention was 5,137, 02:11 and 33 were baptized. 02:13 Well, during the convention, 02:15 the Finland Branch Committee arranged for the delegates to be able to tour Bethel. 02:19 And to allow as many as possible to come through, 02:22 Bethel was kept open until 8:00 p.m. 02:26 on Thursday, Friday, and Monday, 02:29 and also on Sunday evening 02:31 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. 02:34 And can you imagine? 02:35 During the day, the kitchen arranged to feed 02:38 all of the brothers and sisters who came through in the dining room. 02:42 The love that was witnessed was amazing. 02:46 And although it’s perhaps not their culture, 02:48 do you know that the Finnish brothers hugged 02:50 every single brother and sister that came through. 02:53 Well, when it was time to say good-bye, 02:56 the bond of love that had been established between the Finnish 02:59 and the Russian brothers was just wonderful to see. 03:03 And although we all thought we would be crying 03:05 to see them go back to Russia and the challenges there, 03:08 you know, we just couldn’t cry because the brothers 03:10 were too happy about the convention. 03:12 And there was no one saying, “Poor me.” 03:14 They all went back with just a joyful spirit, 03:17 and it moved us. 03:19 Well, just a few weeks later, 03:21 we had to return to Russia again for the appeal hearing at the Supreme Court. 03:25 Most of you are aware, of course, 03:27 that an international delegation of 18 brothers 03:30 were present in the courtroom for the hearing, 03:33 but perhaps this last part of the story you haven’t heard. 03:37 World headquarters Legal Department had explained to us 03:39 that if the decision was negative, 03:41 we would have to leave the country of Russia that same night. 03:45 Well, of course, we didn’t know if the hearing 03:47 would be just that one day or if it would stretch on for other days. 03:51 So our only choice was to take all of our things with us to the court, 03:56 and if the decision came, 03:57 we would have to make immediate plans to leave Russia. 04:01 Well, sure enough, at 7:00 p.m. the negative decision was announced. 04:06 We had to leave Russia, 04:07 but the problem was that none of us had tickets. 04:11 So, what did we do? 04:13 Well, we told the brothers just get in the vehicles and head for the airport 04:17 while we were communicating with the world headquarters Travel Desk. 04:21 Well, thanks to the wonderful and very hard work 04:25 of those wonderful brothers and sisters that work with the Travel Desk, 04:29 about halfway to the airport, 04:32 I began to receive the tickets for all 18 brothers via e-mail. 04:37 By Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, 04:40 all 18 brothers were able to get out on the same flight 04:44 —can you imagine?— the last flight out of Moscow. 04:49 And here we are just before 1:00 a.m. 04:52 when we arrived in Riga, Latvia. 04:56 We truly felt as though we had been picked up by Jehovah 04:59 and safely carried out of Russia. 05:03 Well, all of the brothers and sisters that I met along the way on these trips 05:08 wanted to send their warm Christian love and greetings to all of you 05:12 and let you know that just as you are praying for them, 05:15 they’re also praying for you.
00:01 Just after the Supreme Court decision 00:04 banning our activity in Russia 00:06 that was given in April, 00:08 the Finland Branch Committee wrote to the Teaching Committee 00:12 and right away requested permission to arrange a convention 00:16 for about 4,000 of our dear brothers from Russia. 00:21 Well, now, quite coincidentally or perhaps not, 00:26 back in January, I was feeling a little bit tired, 00:28 and I have some good friends in Finland, 00:30 and so we arranged to go to a convention together 00:33 in the month of June —that was all approved back in January. 00:37 Well, by coincidence —can you imagine?—it turned out to be 00:40 the same weekend that this Russian convention 00:42 was being planned for Finland. 00:44 And so the Teaching Committee asked me if I’d be willing 00:47 to serve this Russian convention instead of the Finnish one. 00:50 And, of course, I was delighted. 00:53 Beds were needed for all of these 4,000 brothers. 00:56 Well—can you imagine?—in just a short time, 01:00 4,373 beds were offered. 01:04 In many cases, the brothers had no place to house visitors, but what did they do? 01:09 They called the branch and said: “We’ll pay for a hotel room. 01:13 “We don’t care who it’s for; 01:14 put whoever you want there, but we want to pay the cost.” 01:17 So everyone was able to be accommodated. 01:20 When the brothers arrived in Finland, 01:23 some had come from as far away as Vladivostok, 01:27 traveling some 6,000 miles (9,600 km), 01:29 if you can imagine, to attend this convention. 01:31 The brothers were at the train stations; 01:33 they were at the airport to welcome all the guests. 01:37 Now, when the first brothers and sisters 01:39 arrived at the convention venue, 01:42 they asked, “Well, where is the Russian section?” 01:45 since they believed that this was a Finnish convention 01:48 with Russian sessions. 01:50 Well, when they were told that this convention 01:51 had been organized just for them, they immediately began to cry. 01:56 Can you imagine the joy that the brothers had 01:59 when they were able to sing out with full voice? 02:02 The singing was so, so moving. 02:04 Well, the peak attendance 02:06 of the convention was 5,137, 02:11 and 33 were baptized. 02:13 Well, during the convention, 02:15 the Finland Branch Committee arranged for the delegates to be able to tour Bethel. 02:19 And to allow as many as possible to come through, 02:22 Bethel was kept open until 8:00 p.m. 02:26 on Thursday, Friday, and Monday, 02:29 and also on Sunday evening 02:31 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. 02:34 And can you imagine? 02:35 During the day, the kitchen arranged to feed 02:38 all of the brothers and sisters who came through in the dining room. 02:42 The love that was witnessed was amazing. 02:46 And although it’s perhaps not their culture, 02:48 do you know that the Finnish brothers hugged 02:50 every single brother and sister that came through. 02:53 Well, when it was time to say good-bye, 02:56 the bond of love that had been established between the Finnish 02:59 and the Russian brothers was just wonderful to see. 03:03 And although we all thought we would be crying 03:05 to see them go back to Russia and the challenges there, 03:08 you know, we just couldn’t cry because the brothers 03:10 were too happy about the convention. 03:12 And there was no one saying, “Poor me.” 03:14 They all went back with just a joyful spirit, 03:17 and it moved us. 03:19 Well, just a few weeks later, 03:21 we had to return to Russia again for the appeal hearing at the Supreme Court. 03:25 Most of you are aware, of course, 03:27 that an international delegation of 18 brothers 03:30 were present in the courtroom for the hearing, 03:33 but perhaps this last part of the story you haven’t heard. 03:37 World headquarters Legal Department had explained to us 03:39 that if the decision was negative, 03:41 we would have to leave the country of Russia that same night. 03:45 Well, of course, we didn’t know if the hearing 03:47 would be just that one day or if it would stretch on for other days. 03:51 So our only choice was to take all of our things with us to the court, 03:56 and if the decision came, 03:57 we would have to make immediate plans to leave Russia. 04:01 Well, sure enough, at 7:00 p.m. the negative decision was announced. 04:06 We had to leave Russia, 04:07 but the problem was that none of us had tickets. 04:11 So, what did we do? 04:13 Well, we told the brothers just get in the vehicles and head for the airport 04:17 while we were communicating with the world headquarters Travel Desk. 04:21 Well, thanks to the wonderful and very hard work 04:25 of those wonderful brothers and sisters that work with the Travel Desk, 04:29 about halfway to the airport, 04:32 I began to receive the tickets for all 18 brothers via e-mail. 04:37 By Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, 04:40 all 18 brothers were able to get out on the same flight 04:44 —can you imagine?— the last flight out of Moscow. 04:49 And here we are just before 1:00 a.m. 04:52 when we arrived in Riga, Latvia. 04:56 We truly felt as though we had been picked up by Jehovah 04:59 and safely carried out of Russia. 05:03 Well, all of the brothers and sisters that I met along the way on these trips 05:08 wanted to send their warm Christian love and greetings to all of you 05:12 and let you know that just as you are praying for them, 05:15 they’re also praying for you.
