A Special Privilege

For many, when they look back on their lives, they see times at which they are able to do something that is not only special, but has an affect on many other people.  This post is about one of those times, happening right now, in my life.

For the past few months, Vanessa and I have had the privilege of helping out other congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in other counties and towns in the northern half of Indiana.  We are part of an arrangement called Local Design and Construction, or LDC.  One of the many facets of LDC is helping fellow worshipers to learn how to take care of their places of worship, which we call Kingdom Halls.  Every congregation cares deeply for their places of worship, but many wish they had more or better skills to help out in their own congregation.  That is where my wife and I help out.  We are referred to as “Skilled Trainers” which means that we have a skill in a specific area that will benefit the care and maintaining of a Kingdom Hall.  So, when we get an invitation, we go to another congregation and help them to learn the skill we have to teach them.  There are many skills taught at one time, and so there are many skilled trainers that show up.

What we do is help the friends learn about their cleaning equipment.  Everything from how to disassemble their vacuum cleaners and give it periodic maintenance to how to keep their cleaning closet in order.  Safety is a big part of the program, and is incorporated in each area.

I have been amazed at just how much the friends at these training visits appreciate our part.  I was nervous about having just one or two friends sign up, because it would be easy to say, “Vacuums?  No thanks.”  And yet, we have several at each congregation that are not just willing, but honestly interested in what this area of maintenance has to cover.  And even when these friends are in the thick of it, with a vacuum in pieces and parts here and there, they are not only happy at what they are learning, but sincerely thankful as well. It has been especially heartwarming when we have multilingual groups. Neither Vanessa nor I speak Spanish, yet, when we have friends in our group who are from a Spanish congregation, they are still happy, and there is always someone who can translate the instructions. They also know that now that they have been trained, they are able to help train others in their congregations after we have left.  So even though Vanessa and I may never see them again, that training that we have given will go on from one to another.

There is such a great sense of joy when we attend these events.  We know we are making Jehovah happy when we do this, and we also know that when the friends in the neighboring congregations care properly for their Kingdom Halls, Jehovah is happy with them too.  There is such a wonderful interchange of encouragement, and everyone leaves being built up and refreshed.

Blessings of this sort do not come along every day.   I definitely treasure this one!