This year, 32 brethren came together in St. John’s, Newfoundland for the Feast of Tabernacles. For a number of years, the Newfoundland brethren have kept the Feast on their own, but this year they were joined by fellow Canadian brethren from Alberta and Saskatchewan along with our American brothers and sisters from Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, California and New York.

God blessed us with four elders to share the giving of the messages. The messages reinforced God’s wonderful plan that is promised to us, how the character of the world must change to accept that plan and how we must never let up on our zeal to forge ahead. Like most Feast sites, we were blessed to have two messages from Rick Shabi; the one on the opening night set the theme for the following eight days.

Special music fills a unique place in everyone’s heart, both soothing and lifting the spirit with very powerful spiritual messages. Everyone was very thankful that we were blessed to have special music every day, which is often a challenge at small Feast sites.

To enjoy the rugged breathtaking scenery of Newfoundland, we were blessed with summer-like weather. For those who arrived a day early, a member offered a free pre-Feast bus tour of the Irish Loop of the Avalon peninsula. Then, on the opening night of the Feast, we all came together for a meet and greet, many meeting for the first time. As the week progressed, we had a five-pin bowling social, a new experience for our American friends! The bowling hall was filled with laughter and shouts of congratulations as those who had never experienced Canadian five-pin bowling developed their skills. Another unique experience for many was participating in a traditional Jiggs dinner (a traditional Newfoundland dish of boiled meat, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, turnips and greens) supplied by a member as his service to the brethren attending the Feast. At the end of the Jiggs dinner, with lots of laughter, anyone who wished to become an honorary Newfoundlander was “screeched in” and kissed a cod fish.

Finally, on Friday evening, we began the Eighth Day with a slideshow of the 2023 Feast and a hymn sing.

Thank you to all who made this year’s Feast so special—it was truly a great Feast.