Encouragement Despite Covid
The 22nd Prophecy Congress in Brazil, held in October 2021, was a success despite all the Covid restrictions. A thankful look back.
There were 470 participants from all over Brazil, as well as 34 staff, all following the local rules well. Many testified to how grateful they are that we are holding the convention again, as they’d missed those days in Águas de Lindóia. Upon our arrival, we met some familiar faces that had been marked by the pandemic. Some had grown significantly older in those two years. But as the days went by, those signs of aging seemed to reverse more and more. They became happier and no longer had that sad look in their eyes. Glory to the Lord for that!
We knew quite early on that Eretz Soref would be unable to attend, so we recorded a message from him in June of 2021. Then, it was uncertain for some time whether Norbert Lieth would manage to make it, so we had a plan B in place in case he had to cancel. But at the end of September, he was able to confirm his attendance. The Israeli government had originally prevented Meno Kalisher from coming (plan C), but he was finally able to confirm his attendance on October 6th. However, we hadn’t anticipated that our own Mehdi Mouazen from Brazil wouldn’t be able to come. Three days before the Congress began, he tested positive for Covid as the result of work-related travel to Dubai (despite vaccinations and a prior infection). His lecture was recorded on short notice and shown via projector. Roger Liebi had been a firm yes from the beginning, and he even agreed to take on additional talks (plan D) if any of the other speakers had to back out. In hindsight, we can only thank the Lord from the bottom of our hearts for how wonderfully He arranged everything, used the speakers, and granted them success. So many attendees told us how much good the encouraging lectures had done them.
In the days leading up to the conference, we had also prayed a lot for the book table (in addition to everything else). How would it work during a pandemic? Normally, the book table is swarmed. How could we adapt it for social distancing regulations? Would we still be able to sell enough? God also wonderfully solved these anxious questions. Taking the number of participants into account, sales per person were even better than two years prior, when we’d had nearly 900 in attendance. Another answered prayer! Everyone was very orderly and understanding. And we didn’t hear of any infections in the weeks following the Congress.
Like we do every year, we announced the dates of this year’s Congress as we wrapped up this one (October 19-22, 2022). The topic will be “The Church of Jesus in the End Times: Dangers and Protection from Them.” Since our two “locals,” Daniel Lima and Sidney Machado, had been so well received at the 2020 online Congress, we assigned a message to each of them, to the delight of some participants. Jeff Kinley (USA) will be there as well, and of course Meno Kalisher (Israel) and Norbert Lieth (Switzerland) will be part of the preaching team again. Within three weeks of the 2021 Congress, we had already received over 120 registrations. The Lord is faithful!
Midnight Call - 07/2022
