This past weekend Cuenca English congregation hosted the English language circuit assembly held in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Many in the congregation provided accommodation for brothers and sisters attending the assembly from other cities and towns, and we had 4 staying with us that we had met when we recently visited the Atuntaqui/Andrade Marin English congregation.
The attendance was an increase from last year, with a top attendance of 481. At the pioneer meeting held on the Friday before the circuit assembly there was an attendance of 149. Around half of these were pioneers who serve in Spanish speaking congregations and welcomed the opportunity to take in spiritual food in their own language. We had 1 baptismal candidate, a young brother from our congregation.
After lunch, Brendan had a talk on the symposium, and despite feeling somewhat nervous, did a good job of it.
We pass this lovely old house as we walk along the dirt road to the Assembly Hall
Having learnt from last year’s circuit assembly that the weather at this time of year can be rather fickle (and it is the wet season), we brought one of everything. I started with spring/summer clothing as the weather can be warm, but also brought a jacket, shawl and umbrella as the temperature drops when it rains. And as it turned out, all of these were necessary.
About mid-afternoon on the Saturday it started to rain. The Assembly Hall in Cuenca is a fairly basic structure, with concrete floors, covered sides with windows and a metal roof with no insulation, ceiling tiles, etc. Which is fine when it’s not raining heavily. And it rained heavily!!
The District Overseer was part-way through his talk when the rain got heavier and heavier until in the end he could not be heard above the rain, even with the sound system. The noise of the rain on the roof became so loud that a few in the audience had their hands covering their ears.
The District Overseer tried a few times to continue, but in the end took a “rain check” (ha ha) and left the platform for perhaps 10 minutes until the rain slowed down somewhat and he could continue.
Some took the opportunity for a bathroom break, or a photo opportunity (that would be me).
Some in the audience also take a rain check
It was still raining when the assembly ended, but fortunately after an hour or so, it slowed down to a drizzle, allowing us to splash our way along the now muddy road to the bus stop towards home.
Heading home, while ‘watching how we walk’
In spite of the wet conditions, we had a really nice time and enjoyed catching up with many we had met on previous occasions.
Seen from our upstairs window – this is in the backyard of the house across the street from us. Who needs a lawn mower, when a cow will do the job instead?
