Karabo Ntanzi
About 2 400 members from the Northern Cape Circuit 66, 36 A and B of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church flocked to Mittah Seperepere Convention Center in Kimberley for the Annual Convention from 5 to 7 September, under the theme “Pure Worship”.
Circuit 66, 36 A and B consist of members from the Northern Cape, including parts of the North West, such as Wolmaransstad, Christiana, Taung, Jan Kempdorp, and nearby places.
The Convention Chairman, Victor Bofolo opened the convention by unpacking the theme. The weekend programme was filled with presentations, discussions, singing and Bible enactment.
The significance of the Conventions is to help the Jehovah’s Witnesses and friends to be joyful and serve Jehovah God appropriately in difficult times. According to Segakolodi Mogorosi, Northern Cape’s spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses “These large gatherings provide spiritual stimulus through Bible based talks, interviews and dramatic reenactments. They provide opportunities to meet new friends and help us to know what it means to be part of an international family. Therefore, each one of us wants to make sure not to miss even one session of this three-day convention,” he said.
He further indicated that the theme aims to address challenges faced by people when going through trying times, including financial, health or social issues. “Because of this, they are searching for hope. Hope that helps to cope and deal with such issues. Hence, people need to worship something and connect to a higher force,” elaborated Mogorosi.
The highlight was Saturday, when 23 new members were baptised with ages ranging from 14 to 63. The church closely follows Jesus Christ as their model by fully immersing new members in a swimming pool filled with water. The church does not baptise children and does not have a set time frame for new members to be ready before being baptised.
Before the Provincial Convention, disciples hold one-day assemblies twice a year. They also meet twice a week to teach each other how to share the word of God with community members.
According to the Jehovah’s Witness tradition, it is not prescribed to the disciples as to how much or often they should or must tithe, but they should voluntarily contribute to the church.
Jehovah’s Witnesses were founded in 1870 in the United States. Jehovah’s Witnesses publish and print The Watchtower, a Christian newsletter among other various publications that can be accessed and downloaded for free on their official website jw.org. The website is translated into over 1,100 languages making the church have a global presence.
In 2024, nearly 11 million people attended more than 6,000 three-day conventions internationally.
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