The other circuit included Oregon, and Northern California (Redding, Chico). I met several new friends from Oregon, so it will be nice to see them again in June for our Regional Convention, and I always enjoy the talks from the C.O. who serves that circuit.
As always our Circuit Assembly was a "a banquet of rich dishes, ...of fine wine" (Isaiah 25:6). Our special speaker was a Brother Dunbar from Bethel. His last talk about Seeking Peace and Pursue It was just excellent , reminding us that it is our job personally to keep the peace in the congregation, always giving our brothers and sisters the benefit of the doubt, taking it upon ourselves to apologize, even if we are in the right. In other words, Humility at all times, and self-control. Always good reminders, for sure.
Our newest elder, who happens to also be Deaf, Quang Nguyen, had two parts in the assembly. One was the talk right after lunch that includes interviews. (I still find interviews difficult to understand, since the conversation goes back and forth too quickly, and everyone has their own "accent" to the language). His second part was a soliloquy within a talk about taking offense, being too sensitive, not harboring resentment, and forgiving our brothers faults or mistakes toward us. He did so well, I'm very proud of him. Some of you might wonder why I mentioned that he is Deaf, why that would matter. He is one of the reasons why brothers like John have moved over to the ASL congregation, to help train "native" brothers like Quang to take the lead in the congregation. The Deaf relate better to an elder who is Deaf and have experienced the Deaf culture first hand. It would be the same in any culture.
At lunch we sat across from a young mother with three children who just 8 months before joined the ASL congregation in Auburn, as well as a Deaf woman who was a new publisher, or as they are called in ASL a "person preaching not-yet baptized" (there's no sign or specific word for Unbaptized Publisher, only a description of what it actually is, and that's exactly what Unbaptized Publisher is). The Deaf woman informed me that she had been studying for many years, but was thinking about being baptized this summer, in June. Can I count my time for chatting with her at lunch? I think I can.
A lovely day, all in all. Can't wait for our Regional Convention in June. Hopefully the "person preaching not-yet baptized" will be one of our new sisters!!! Well see!
