A number of months ago I wrote a blog about Shanilla (A picture of her is on that blog). An eleven year old girl with whom I was studying. Initially I studied with her Mum and when she stopped Shan carried on. She had made wonderful progress, attending the meetings and bringing her friends along with her until she was bundled off to live in the middle of nowhere with her Gran.
I saw her a short time later, her mother had brought her home for a weekend. She said that she had found the KH in the area she went to but that it took her two hours to walk there and thus couldn't go each week. I encouraged her to try and find out if there was any bros and sisters living near her. I didn't know if she had succeeded or not til today. I was not able to help her as she couldn't describe where exactly she lived.
Today the other half of our circuit assembled for the special assembly day, we had ours last week. As it is held nearby I attended as I hoped some studies would attend. Happily they did. But even happilier (if that's a word), Shan was there. It seems that she found a group 1/2 hrs walk from her home and a sister in the group is studying with her and she is able to attend sunday and thursday's meeting each week. There are 14 publishers in the group. It seems that Shan, determined to find any witnesses in her area, went out one sunday morning and stood on a main path and asked anybody passing, who looked like they had a meeting bag, if they were witnesses and unsurprisingly Jehovah blessed her efforts. She met Sara, the sister who is now conducting her study. The sister told me that Shanilla has been severely opposed by her grandma who has beat her and threatened her not to attend the meetings. The reason is that many churches have an arrangement to give out money and her Gran wants her to attend one of those. One neighbour of Shan's was so curious as to why she was so determined to go to the meetings with the witnesses that she decided to go to the meeting herself but the Gran has frightened her off so she has not as yet attended. Sara said she thinks this lady is too curious not to attend and they will see her soon at the meeting. Shanilla insisted that I meet each of the 14 publishers in her group, two are pioneers, one an elderly bro and the other his son who is married and has a little boy, there is an elderly ministerial servant who leads the group. No elders. I asked Shan if she felt loved by the people she lived with and she said no but she said that the brothers and sisters in this little group do love her and I could see that as I talked to them today. Shan had slept overnight at one of there home's in order to travel early with them to the convention today. I really felt a loss when Shan left to move away and prayed to Jehovah that she have contact with witnesses there. I should have had no doubts that Jehovah would look after Shan! It is really faith strengthening.
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