Local residents invited to ‘meet’ despite COVID-19

Boundary and Bonner County residents who typically travel to Spokane every summer for three days of Bible instruction, will be “attending” their annual convention from the safety of their living rooms.

Sandpoint resident Brian Ward who is also one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, is grateful for the virtual format. “All have enjoyed how the sessions have been split up. Also, it has been nice for ones to be able to stop and rewind [the program] to get a point that was missed,” he said.

Regarding the theme of the convention, Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, said this year’s program is a “spiritual shot in the arm” amid a backdrop of widespread fear and doubt. “The message is basically, joy is a product of the heart, if you will,” he said. “It’s an inside job. It’s something that doesn’t depend on what’s happening externally — it really is a quality of the heart.”

In less than four months, the 2020 “Always Rejoice”! regional convention was ready for release. Speaking of the historicity of this move, Hendriks said “From April to the 1st of July, our work was to record the content, transcribe that content, translate that content into 511 languages and 58 sign languages and then get it to a platform that would be free and accessible to every person in the world, in every environment, every country, and every language.”

The program includes 114 videos, 43 talks, and a 76-minute feature-length Bible drama titled “Nehemiah: The Joy of Jehovah Is Your Stronghold.” This movie took nearly 900 volunteers from 11 different countries almost 100,000 hours to produce.

The 2020 “Always Rejoice”! regional convention will run throughout the end of August, but content will remain online for viewers to access free of charge at jw.org. There is no registration, paywall, or email sign up required to watch the program.