(Sorry for the weird highlighting, there was a formatting problem that made the words invisible. This was the best I could do)
Final Preparations and Translating
In the few weeks leading up to the convention, I was completely consumed
by translation work and work at the convention site. On the two weekends
prior to the convention when I wasn't working on talks for translation, I was
at the site either helping with the setup of the
stadium or helping
clean and set up the room reserved for our group to hear the convention in
Hindi. Basically, the only time I came up for air during the last 3 weeks
was to eat, clean, and sleep.
The Monday before the convention, our
group overseer organized a rehearsal of the translated portions of the talks we
had done. We were looking to be as comfortable with them as possible
because the talks would be translated simultaneously with the English (instead
of the speaker-tranlator-speaker-translator structure I'm more used to).
It was a long day, at one point about 20 of us were at the house busy
with the work, everyone translating outlines they'd
been given or trying to help someone else. We had 5 more from the States
come to help, 2 sisters from New York Hindi Congregation and a married couple
and another sister from Atlanta Hindi Congregation. Even though it was
mentally taxing, I have to say I enjoyed working with everyone, bouncing ideas
for phraseology off them, learning new words, talking about mutual friends, and
in some ways getting a glimpse of how much the Indian territory and work has
grown in the last decade (and how much more is still ahead of us).
A couple of days before the convention, our elders received some
direction from the Branch which limited the amount of translation that we would
be doing for the convention. Much of the work we'd done in the previous days
would not be delivered. I have to admit, this announcement at first took
the wind out of my sails. So much work, seemingly for nothing! Quickly though,
I was helped to get the right attitude. I could think of the work not as
pointless, but as an intense study period to hopefully spring me into improving
in my ability with the language. Of even more importance, the direction
we received was clear evidence of Jehovah directing things, especially since
all in the group had been praying so hard about this translating work. It
appeared that what some in the group had playfully referred to as 'Pentecost
2012' was not to be.
At the Convention
For those of you who haven't been to your convention yet, you are going
to absolutely love it, the program is fabulous. Peak attendance on Sunday
afternoon was over 10,000 people, most of whom I'm sure came for the drama.
Each day, we mingled with the Spanish and Chinese groups who were doing
their own translation work for the convention and had rooms next to ours. (Sign
Language was also at this convention, but had their own section with the main
English audience.) We had a lot of cloud cover and breezes for most of all 3
days, so thankfully it wasn't the blisteringly hot experience I had mentally
prepared for.
On Saturday afternoon, an Indian brother named Ravi flew in from
Toronto Hindi and did much of the translating work for us at the convention.
I found out later that the airline couldn't find his luggage, so he had
to come straight from the airport with only the clothes on his back after being
in the air for hours and start translating. He was absolutely tremendous,
and obviously his self-sacrificing spirit had Jehovah's blessing.
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Carey, Camille,
& Janet; from Atlanta and NY Hindi
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I had been thinking that there was not going to be any translation done
by learners in our group. Because of the direction from the Branch, I believed
that any translation that would be done would be by Sister Vina who is our only
native speaker and the only person who is fluent. (I didn't know brother Ravi was flying in
until moments before he arrived at the stadium on Saturday) Imagine my shock
when our group overseer tells me minutes before the Saturday afternoon session
was to start that I would be expected to translate the first talk of the
afternoon! It was not a talk I had seen the outline for, so I was totally
unfamiliar with it and unprepared. The feelings I had when I first
learned I would be doing translating work flooded back to my mind. 'I can't do
it! I've never seen this outline! I don't have the Hindi knowledge to do this
for a Convention!' You'll notice something about those 3 sentences. There
is a lot of "I" in them. What a few experienced translators
from the Chinese group, my elders, and my parents had been telling me for weeks
prior to this moment was the same thing Sister Vina told me then.
'Don't think about yourself so much. You have Jehovah's holy
spirit, which is the only reason any of this is possible, even for people who
are fluent. Think about the Indians who may have their hearts reached in a way
that could never happen had they just heard it in English. This is your
assignment from Jehovah, and a great privilege at that.'
I thanked Sister Vina for her advice, said a prayer to Jehovah, and
translated that talk as best I could.
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With Doreen,
& Bharat, a progressive study
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Besides that talk, I also was able to interpret the opening prayer on
Sunday morning, and did two more talks that day. It wasn't easy by any
stretch of the imagination. Complex ideas and illustrations are still
well beyond my ability to translate. Even still, I remember thinking how
calm I was, and how I was able to somehow keep up with the brothers giving the
talks. That of course, is evidence of holy spirit at work. It had been
some time since the last time I recognized His hand in things as plainly as I
did at the convention. It was awesome.
The experience showed me how much more work I need to put in to continue
to grow in learning both Hindi and Punjabi. Even more importantly, I marvel at
the faith and trust in Jehovah of the translators here, and I am working to
imitate them in this respect. With it still so fresh in my mind, its hard now
to think of anything but how crazy everything was. Even still, I hope
sometime in the future I'll be able to reflect fondly on what a great privilege
I received one time at a convention in the middle of July.
Clean-up + Final Impressions
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Anton &
Mercedes; from Atlanta Hindi
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On Sunday afternoon, the convention we'd looked forward to for months and
had put so much work into was over. Just like that. I said goodbye to the
friends who had come from the States and talked to the couple of Indians who
came for the Sunday session. Everyone had enjoyed the program.
After it was over, hundreds of the friends stayed to help clean up and
break down all the shade netting we set up before the convention started and to
collect all the chairs and other materials that will be needed for the 2
remaining conventions that are to be held in Kingston over the next
month. Imagine all the work that we did on the two weekends before the
convention, but in reverse, and in about 8 hours instead of 4 days. I would not
have believed that all that material could be taken apart and packed away so
quickly if I hadn't seen it (and been a part of it) with my own eyes.
I got home at almost midnight, physically and
mentally spent not just from that day, but from the previous 3 weeks. And you
know what? If I could take back 1 second of that 3 weeks, I wouldn't do it for
the world:)
Check out more pictures from before, during, and after the convention
here:
