• Estonia
    2011 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • A JOYFUL CONVENTION IN RUSSIA

      Another important milestone in theocratic history was the international convention held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in June 1992. For many of the 1,000 delegates who attended from Estonia, it was a happy reunion with former prison mates and with other Witnesses they had met during their exile in Siberia.

      “The timing of the convention was excellent for us,” says one of the delegates. “We chartered a special train for quite a low price with Russian rubles. Then, just one week before the convention, Estonia changed its currency from rubles to Estonian krooni. If we had been away that specific week of the conversion, we would not have been in Estonia to change any of our money. However, even though we were there to change our money, we were permitted to convert only a limited sum of money. What should we do with the extra rubles that we had been unable to convert? Because rubles were still being used in Russia, brothers took the rubles with them to the convention and put them in the contribution boxes. In addition, if the convention had been a week later, when new border regulations were implemented, we would have had to obtain expensive visas to cross the border. The convention was at precisely the right time for the brothers!”

      One of the many whose hearts were touched by this historic convention was an interested woman who had arranged to travel from Estonia with the Witnesses. “Somehow I misunderstood the departure time,” she relates. “When I arrived at the station, the train had already departed. But I had paid for the trip. What could I do now? I prayed to Jehovah, asking him to please help me and telling him that I would do whatever I could to get there.

      “The stationmaster said that I would have to buy a ticket for another train, but I didn’t have enough money for another ticket! Suddenly, I saw a group of people arriving at the station. They were all so happy and well-dressed! They were Witnesses from the island of Sarema. Their train had not arrived yet, and my ticket enabled me to travel with them. What a relief!

      “While traveling, the Witnesses sang Kingdom songs, which had a special impact on me. I felt as though I had been adopted as part of their spiritual family. I stayed with them for the entire convention and saw how sincere and loving they were. This melted away all my doubts. It was now clear to me that I had found God’s earthly organization.” This former interested person now serves as a regular pioneer together with her husband.