Two “Miracles” at One Convention in Georgia

AN UNFORGETTABLE event, one marked by two “miracles,” took place in the country of Georgia in 2006. For three days, July 7 to 9, the “Deliverance at Hand!” District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses was held in six locations throughout the country. It was a spiritual feast enjoyed by over 17,000 attendees.

In January 2006, efforts were set in motion to find a suitable site for the gathering of thousands in the key convention city, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Other convention venues would be tied in through telecommunication.

Freedom of worship in Georgia has been granted progressively over the last several years. Thus, despite widespread opposition in the past, the Witnesses forged ahead, confident that a convention site would be found in the capital city. The Georgian people are by nature very warm and hospitable. However, religious prejudice runs deep among some officials. Would they overcome their feelings and allow the Witnesses to rent a facility?

The brothers on the Convention Committee visited various stadiums and large sports halls. The managers promised the use of their facilities but declined when asked for a specific rental date. The committee was surprised, therefore, when the administration of the Tbilisi Philharmonic agreed to rent their facility to Jehovah’s Witnesses. The concert hall is located in the heart of the city, where many of the most prestigious events are held.

Encouraged that their efforts had finally paid off, the committee began organizing the Tbilisi convention, as well as conventions in towns and cities throughout the  country, including Tsnori, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Kaspi, and Gori. Much work was done to connect all these convention sites by telephone tie line for a simultaneous program. Everything was ready to go. Then, suddenly, just one week before the convention was to begin, the management of the Tbilisi Philharmonic concert hall canceled the contract. No explanation was given.

The First “Miracle”

What could the brothers do at this very late date? Their only recourse was to turn to Marneuli, a farming community 25 miles [40 km] outside of Tbilisi. Many conventions have been held there on the property of a family who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. The site was once a large garden. For the past ten years, it has been the only place that the congregations in Tbilisi could use for conventions. However, Marneuli is also the location where Jehovah’s Witnesses have suffered fierce mob attacks.

One of these incidents took place on September 16, 2000. Police from the city of Marneuli set up roadblocks to stop the Witnesses from reaching the convention location. Then came busloads of thugs led by the defrocked Orthodox priest Vasili Mkalavishvili. They stopped cars and buses bound for the convention in Marneuli, dragged several delegates from the vehicles, and beat them mercilessly, while other passengers were robbed of their belongings, including their Bibles and Bible literature.

The convention site in Marneuli was also attacked by a mob of about 60 people. Some 40 Witnesses were injured. One brother was stabbed in the chest with a knife. Some of the attackers brandished sawed-off shotguns, which they fired furiously into the air. One of them pointed a gun at the owner of the site and demanded her money and jewelry. The mob ransacked her house, which was located at one end of the site, and stole her valuables. After breaking all the windows in the house, they burned the Bible literature and the benches that had been made specially for the convention. One and a half tons of literature was destroyed. Rather than stopping the crime, police at the scene shared in the violence against the Witnesses. *

 The Convention Committee had to contend with not only the threat of violence but also the challenge of how to fit 5,000 people into an area that normally holds about 2,500. How could this problem be solved in such a short time? It seemed like a miracle when the owners of two adjacent properties stepped in and offered to rent their garden plots.

Turning the plots into a suitable convention site was quite an undertaking. The weather made things very difficult​—it rained the entire week before the convention. The neighbors’ plots were planted with potatoes, and they had to be harvested. First, volunteers gathered in the pouring rain to dig the potatoes. Then fences were moved and frames erected for coverings to shield the audience from sun and rain. More wooden benches needed to be built, and additional sound equipment was installed. Sawing, nailing, and drilling, the volunteers worked day and night, some forgoing sleep.

“What if the rain continues during the convention?” everyone wondered. “Will the muddy field swallow up the delegates?” Straw was purchased for covering the wet ground. At last, the sun came out! All three days of the convention, the grounds were bathed in beautiful, warm sunshine.

When the delegates arrived, they were greeted by a lovely sight. The peaceful country setting seemed like a glimpse of the new world. Comfortably seated, the delegates were surrounded by fig trees and other fruit trees and by fields of maize and tomatoes. The back of the stage was draped with grape vines. Occasionally during the program, the audience could hear roosters crowing and hens cackling as their eggs were being gathered. There were other noises typical of the countryside, but to those in attendance, these were just an amusing serenade. Rather than being distracted, the audience barely noticed, for they were intent on listening to the excellent Bible-based program. However, these were not the only unforgettable moments of this convention.

The Second “Miracle”

At the conclusion of the Friday morning session, the delegates were taken by surprise when a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Geoffrey Jackson, announced the release of the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in  Georgian. * Tears welled up in the eyes of many, who were simply astounded. One family excitedly remarked: “We cannot stop expressing our gratitude for this miracle​—Jehovah’s miracle. Such an enormous amount of work in such a short time!”

One sister from the town of Tsalendjikha who had listened to the program by telephone responded: “I cannot put into words the joy that I felt when we received the complete Bible. I want to thank you for this outstanding three-day convention. It was really a historic event.” One family in a congregation in western Georgia, bordering the Black Sea, said: “Up until now, we have had only one Bible in our family, but now all four of us have our own copy of the New World Translation. Now each one of us can study the Bible personally.”

Behind the scenes, however, not all had gone so smoothly. For instance, although the complete New World Translation was printed and shipped to Georgia in time for the convention, officials of the Customs Department refused to allow the shipment to cross the border. The brothers appealed to the Ombudsman Office. The ombudsman was able to secure the release of the Bibles just in time for the district convention. He even sent his assistant to the Marneuli convention to obtain copies of the new Bible for their office.

Warm Welcome, Georgian Style

The Marneuli district convention was a landmark occasion for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Georgia for yet another reason. A member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses was on the program. All in attendance were so thrilled that they personally wanted to extend to him their traditional warm welcome. Brother Jackson had to stand and greet the brothers and sisters for hours before, during, and after the convention, but he was happy to comply.

Back in 1903 at the close of another convention, one brother said: “I would not take a thousand dollars for the good I have received from this convention, and I am only a poor man.” More than a century later, that was precisely the feeling of the Witnesses who attended the momentous conventions held in the summer of 2006 in the country of Georgia.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 19]

“The Little One” Has Grown

The words of Isaiah 60:22 have come true in Georgia: “The little one himself will become a thousand, and the small one a mighty nation. I myself, Jehovah, shall speed it up in its own time.” In less than 20 years, the number of Kingdom publishers in Georgia has grown from fewer than 100 to some 16,000. These zealous ministers of God’s Word are conducting nearly 8,000 home Bible studies each week​—a marvelous potential for further growth in Georgia.

[Diagram/​Maps on page 16]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

GEORGIA

⇨ Zugdidi

⇨ Kutaisi

Marneuli ⇨ Gori

⇨ Kaspi

⇨ Tsnori

TBILISI

TURKEY

ARMENIA

AZERBAIJAN

[Credit Line]

Globe: Based on NASA/​Visible Earth imagery

[Picture on page 16]

Statue in Tbilisi

[Pictures on page 17]

The convention at Marneuli was tied in with five other locations by mobile phones

[Pictures on page 18]

Delegates were delightfully surprised by the release of the complete “New World Translation” in Georgian