AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Delegates of Jehovah’s Witnesses, numbering about 20,000 from Oyo, Ogun, Kwara and Osun states, are billed to converge on the Ifatumo Assembly Hall for the 2023 Regional Convention with the theme, ‘Exercise Patience.’
The programme, which is slated to start on Friday September 15, 2023, is holding after the last one that held three years ago due to the global Covid-19 restrictions.
About 6,000 conventions are expected to hold across the world as part of the 2023 convention. A total of 320 conventions would be held in 39 host cities in Nigeria out of which 11 conventions would hold in the city of Ibadan.
A statement made available to journalists in Ibadan by Gill Adekannbi, the Regional Spokesman of Jehovah’s Witnesses, described the convention as one of the largest gatherings in the world where witnesses and other members of the extended community would meet for encouragement and spiritual instructions to explore the quality of patience and related acts of Godly devotion.
The statement indicated that in 2020, the pandemic interrupted the tradition of gathering in large numbers in Ibadan when the Witnesses cancelled their in-person events throughout the world and held their convention programmes as virtual events in more than 500 languages.
It read that after resuming smaller in-person meetings and their public ministry during 2022, the mid-period of 2023 marked the first time they would gather at much larger regional events around the world since the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
“Beginning September 15, 2023, the Witnesses will bring that tradition back to Ibadan. As much as we loved the convenience and quality of our virtual conventions, nothing can replace being together in a large group setting. While our online conventions reached millions around the world and kept our communities safe, we long to get back to our joyful fellowship at these large gatherings.”
On the theme of the convention, it stated that “Patience is a beautiful quality that all Christians desire to display in their daily lives. Despite our good intentions, however, maintaining patience in the face of life’s many challenges can be a daily struggle. Spending three days exploring aspects of this quality will be very timely for all of us.
“From Friday through Sunday, six convention sessions will explore the quality of patience, highlighting its modern-day relevance through Scriptural examples. A live baptism will be performed following the Saturday morning session and a pre-recorded drama will be featured in two parts during the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been holding public conventions in stadiums, arenas, convention centers and theaters around the world for more than 100 years.
According to the statement, the Convention is open to the public and no collection is taken.
