Your Vacation in 1969
WHAT are your plans for vacation in 1969? Are you heading for the mountains, or will you be lured by the sound and the scent of the sea? Perhaps you are toying with the idea of taking to the open road and camping in a park or a forest. You may even be attracted by the color and gaiety of island resorts. There surely is a variety to choose from. But you do want to return from your annual holiday with a real sense of satisfaction from having used the time beneficially.
So why not, right from the start, build your vacation around something solid, something pleasurable, something truly upbuilding? The core of your vacation plans could be attendance at one of the conventions of Jehovah’s witnesses that will be held this year in cities around the world. With a little forethought you could arrange to travel in easy stages to the convention city of your choice. En route you could enjoy some camping or other outdoor pleasures. On the way home, too, there could be more scenic delights or restful interludes, whatever you may feel to be the need.
Particularly if you plan to vacation as a family will you find this a delightful way to arrange a holiday. It will provide a refreshing change. At the convention you can enjoy a program of good, wholesome Bible discussion, interspersed with realistic Bible dramas—dramas that apply the Bible’s fine counsel to the problems and relationships of today. Last year, for example, the prophetic Bible drama of Jephthah was thrillingly enacted. But more than that—its significance for our day was made clear for all.
At such gatherings it is so interesting to enjoy the inexpensive meals served in the Witness-manned cafeterias. Here there is opportunity to chat informally with other likable, warm-hearted persons—becoming like old friends in an astonishingly short time. In fact, you might easily get to speak with missionaries from South America, native Witnesses from African lands, visiting delegates from the ends of the earth. Those who attended assemblies in Central America in December 1966 were thrilled to meet colorfully garbed Indians from the mountains who had traveled long distances to enjoy the convention program.
Visiting a strange city with your family should occasion little worry when you know that you will be among thousands of families of Jehovah’s witnesses. Many of these Witnesses have a great deal of travel experience and are glad to assist you in finding your way around. If you attend an assembly in New York, London, Paris, Copenhagen or Tokyo, you will enjoy visiting the Bethel home and printing plant of the Watch Tower Society there. Time can be set aside, too, to see some of the other interesting landmarks. Wherever you go, there is much to see that will broaden your outlook and impress more deeply things you have already learned from reading.
At these assemblies young people as well as older ones are always well represented. No matter what the age of your children, there will be many of the same age at the assembly. One first-time visitor to an assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Ottawa, Canada, remarked: “The thing that surprised me most was the age of the delegates. My estimate is that fully 80 percent of them were under 40 years of age. It is safe to say that over half of them were in their twenties and under.” And here is an editorial expression from La Presse, Montreal, of August 7, 1968: “Another useful contribution of Jehovah’s witnesses is the accent the group places on family unity, respect for the authority of the family head and participation by adolescents in common endeavours.”
PEOPLE WANT TO COME AGAIN
The happiness and the spiritual tonic experienced at these conventions are very real. For example, at one of last year’s assemblies in Norway, a woman who had studied theology, and who attended for the first time, explained to the Witness who had invited her: “Today I sent two express telegrams to my son telling him, ‘If you want to experience heaven on earth, take the first plane and come here. I’ll pay for the ticket.’ I have never sent an express telegram before in all my life, but today I have sent two! I’m sure my folks are wondering what is the matter with me.”
Yes, a vacation that includes attendance at the sessions of one of these conventions dispenses with the element of aimlessness that often robs one of real joy. On the way to the convention city there is the expectation of good things ahead, while on the way home there is so much to recall and talk about with pleasure!
It may well be that your vacation plans look beyond the confines of your own homeland. If so, you may be able to attend one of the conventions that are being arranged for Europe, the Far East or the Americas. Or perhaps your first trip to Hawaii could coincide with the convention scheduled for there during 1969.
Witnesses in all parts of the world plan and prepare to attend assemblies months in advance, sometimes a year and even longer. Do you wonder why? Why, for example, did two girls pedal their bicycles 540 miles from Denmark to Stockholm, Sweden, in 1963? And why did a young Spanish Witness, paralyzed from the chest down, determine to travel the hundreds of miles to attend an assembly in Milan, Italy? It was mainly to enjoy the uplifting association of other Witnesses and gain the spiritual refreshment from the assembly programs. They had attended other assemblies. They knew what to expect.
You, too, will by no means suffer disappointment. You will be welcome, you and your family. And consider with what added appreciation you will view the scenic wonders that are the handiwork of the Grand Creator, after hearing discussed his wonderful provisions for the happy future of obedient humans! Is it not a fact that after such a practical and upbuilding vacation one would be able to resume one’s regular responsibilities with renewed zest and a hopeful outlook? It is indeed so!
By all means, then, plan to attend a convention of Jehovah’s witnesses during your vacation in 1969.