Assembly Hall Security

Each congregation in the city takes turns in providing volunteers for a security watch. Stephany and I were asked to cover the night shift a couple days ago. We were told to bring our own dinner, a warm jacket, and they would tell us the rest when we get there.

We arrived at the assembly hall a little before 8:00 PM to be greeted by our sisters who were finishing the shift before us. They explained a few things, showed us the security manual, and away they went. This little guard house would be our home for the night. 

The job really wasn't too difficult assuming we weren't under attack or being robbed or something. The job was pretty much to not let anybody in before calling and verifying with the assembly hall overseer. 

We knew it was going to be a long night, so I was able to use this uninterrupted time to prepare the talk for Sunday, and....

...Stephany was able to get some service time writing letters!

It's a small guard house but there is a tiny kitchen and a bathroom in there. They had everything we needed for the evening. Including Coffee!!

Around 2:00 AM or so, things started getting a little chilly, so we were glad the brothers told us to bring a warm coat and some snacks. Thankfully another brother recommended we bring movies, so we had a Netflix marathon for a few hours. 

They also recommended that we take turns sleeping. My turn never came... 

Thats OK though, it's a little hard to sleep in small plastic chairs anyway.

While we were there, the current district overseer in Medellin came to visit. He is a super nice brother from Mexico City and he moved here 32 years ago and knows the Colombian side of Stephany's family.

There was also this crazy guy that kept showing up on the security cameras from time to time. 

Eventually around 5:30 AM, the sun started coming up, and we felt the relief that we made it through the evening. Our replacements (three sisters) showed up around 7:30 and we left for home tired but happy. 

By the way, we recently had 5 bethelites from Wallkill pass through Medellin on their tour of Colombia. Their visit was really encouraging, and just what we needed. One of the brothers was also very kind and worked very hard to deliver a last minute talk on Sunday. We were feeling a little bummed out before their visit because we weren't able to go to the annual meeting or pick up a copy of the new Bible. But since these brothers work where they print the new Bibles, they were able to bring several copies down with them and surprised us with 2 of them! We love it! Thank you so much guys and you're welcome back anytime!