This weekend we had the first circuit assembly in English in Ecuador. There have been District Conventions in English for a number of years now, and there have been 3 Special Assembly Days over the last 3 years.
It was held at the Assembly Hall in Cuenca which is in the outer area of Cuenca – up in the north-west. The main part of the city of Cuenca is in the base of a valley or basin (“Cuenca” actually means “basin”), and the newer areas have nowhere to go but uphill.
Fortunately there are a couple of buses which go out that way, and the bus stops just at the dirt road which leads to the Assembly hall. So then there’s a 5 minute walk along the dirt road to the Hall.
Bus stop behind us, the driveway to the right leads to a new warehouse complex being built, and straight ahead and along a bit is the Assembly Hall
It took us between 45 and 60 minutes in total door to door to get there; depending on waiting times for buses. For us, that meant catching 2 buses. By car from our place would be about 15-20 minutes.
It’s a nice spot out there, country views and cows as you go.
A rather rustico country scene on our left as we walk to the Assembly Hall
Entrance to the Assembly Hall – the Hall is through the gate and hard left
Front entrance
On the Friday before, it was all hands on deck to clean the hall. It was a bit dusty, as a big warehouse complex is being built nearby. We had about 30-40 volunteers turn up to clean the hall and tidy the grass areas, car park, etc, outside, and we were done in about 2 ½ hours.
Friday, cleaning day. All the seats have to be wiped down due to the dust
We had attendances of from 343 to 395 by Sunday afternoon, but that doesn’t include the rather friendly black dog which kept coming into the auditorium, and the smaller white one which just showed its nose once.
The Hall seats about 1800, so we didn’t use the back seats
We didn’t use many of the side seats, either
Dogs here tend to roam free rather than being shut in people’s back yards, and the main doors to the assembly hall were always open, so that, along with the smell of hundreds of packed lunches was probably a bit too tempting for hungry doggies to resist.
The dogs never got too far into the hall, as a brother who was attendant near the door always made a dash to grab them and take them outside again. But the black one kept coming back – I guess he knew a promising return visit when he saw (or smelt!) one.
These Ecuadorian sisters are in our congregation – they are rather in the minority at this assembly! Too many gringos.
We were introduced to an elderly sister who came to Ecuador as a missionary 62 years ago, when there were only 100 publishers in the whole country. That was pretty mind-boggling, as some of us weren’t even born then!
It was interesting hosting the first English assembly in Cuenca, as it was a new experience for many of us in various ways – eg, how long will it take to pre-clean the hall, how will various things work, how will it go getting there and back, etc.
Brendan and I with a brother from our cong – he’s a pretty snappy dresser!
Brendan had to oversee the cleaning department for the first time, so that was an interesting experience for him; especially mid-Saturday afternoon when the water to the bathrooms ceased to function!! There was lots of running around by various people and testing taps and seeing if toilets would flush and trying to work out what was going on. In the end it sorted itself out – apparently there is a water tank which services the bathrooms, and when the tank gets low, lo and behold! No water. And then it fills itself up and then there is water. I guess that’s something we’ll know for next time!
Country views from the back of the Assembly Hall – Cuenca is to the left a bit
So all in all it was a good assembly, and it was nice to catch up with different ones and to meet new ones who’ve also moved here to Ecuador.
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