Newbury Park, CA

Newbury Park, CA


About Jan 8th, 2007 I made a move to Newbury Park, which is located in Ventura County, CA. It greatly saddened me to leave my dear friends in Gardena, near Los Angeles, but a combination of situations made the move necessary. Newbury Park is located about 55 miles northwest of Gardena. I was already familiar with the town and surrounding area, having come up here many times for business. I also knew some of the friends at the local Kingdom Hall since I’ve attended their meetings and engaged in field service with them in the past.

There are 3 congregations sharing the Hall: two English and one Spanish. The congregation is friendly and comprised of all age groups, from elderly to very young. The Kingdom Hall itself is very attractive and the property includes a small house for the Circuit Overseer and his wife.

The territory is composed of middle to upper class families. Many homes are quite large and attractive. Mountains and hills surround the town, which make for a pleasant backdrop as one goes house-to-house in the ministry. The Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area is close by and provides opportunities for outdoor activities, such as hiking. The climate is pleasant due to its location near the ocean and the nearby mountains. Traffic is heavy at times but nowhere near the congestion often found in the L.A area. Crime is low, also, as evidenced by unchained bicycles and other items that we often find on the front porches of the homes we visit.

The residents themselves are relatively affluent and come from all backgrounds. In the field service we find Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist folks along with the usual mix of those in Christendom. Many nationalities are represented in the area yet the majority speak English. Many are employed by the large pharmaceutical companies located here, notably Amgen and Baxter. Home prices are quite high, as is the case in much of California. Some of the classier sections in our territory consists of homes in the $1 million+ category. In spite of the general wealth found in the area the majority of folks are quite friendly and easy to converse with when we knock on their doors. Many will readily accept our literature and listen to scripture that is read to them. On the other hand, the majority are well ensconced in their various churches and it isn’t easy to start or maintain Bible studies. However, their generally friendly attitude makes the ministry here a pleasure.

Experiences in the ministry:

Since I started witnessing here about a month ago I have gathered quite a few return visits. There were also some calls that were of particular interest, three of which are mentioned below:

During my first 2 weeks in the area I was able to start a Bible study. What was particularly interesting about this study was the ease in which it was started. I was going house to house with one of the brothers when it was my turn to knock on a particular door. A very pleasant woman who was obviously quite busy with her two very young girls answered and listened as I gave a brief presentation. She said to come back during an afternoon, so I quickly handed her an older Watchtower and we departed. We discussed the situation with the two sisters who were with us that morning and decided to “strike when the iron is hot”. Rather than wait for an afternoon on another day we chose to re-visit this woman shortly after noon the same day (sometimes we tend to wait at least a few days so as not to let the householder think we’re too anxious and perhaps ‘blow’ the study). I returned with one of the sisters and the woman immediately invited us in. She sat us down and listened intently to our message. She informed us that she had just moved into the area from Colorado about a year previously. Her previous neighbor was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, so she evidently had her interest already sparked. The Bible study arrangement was discussed and a ‘Bible Teach’ book was placed with her. Her first study was arranged for 10:30 AM that Wednesday and two sisters took care of the arrangement. She has since had her second study and is progressing nicely. LESSON: follow up promptly on a call when the householder clearly states to come back. (We kidded around that this study was so easy that something was bound to go wrong. Hopefully nothing will).

My second experience has to do with encountering a church Bible study group while going house to house. I knocked on a door and a woman answered, stating that at that very moment she was conducting a Bible study in her home with a group of people from her church. Realizing she was busy, I commended her for her interest in the Bible and offered the “Knowledge’ book. To my surprise, she readily accepted it. It turned out she wasn’t the homeowner but lived in the house directly across the street. That was the address that I put in my record book. In future weeks I made two attempts to find her home but was unsuccessful. On the third attempt I took a sister with me but was still unable to contact the woman. As we were leaving her door I noticed that the door to the house across the street (where the Bible study was conducted) was open. Even though it wasn’t technically the correct return visit, we decided to visit anyway. The homeowner, a woman, answered the door. She was evidently part of the Bible study group so I commended her for her desire to study God’s Word and offered the latest magazines. She happily accepted them and I offered to make future visits with the new magazines. The friends in the car group and I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the information in our literature will be used by this group in their studies. Perhaps we’ll find out on a future call.

On the morning of Friday, Feb 16th Bro Ben Celie (pronounced ‘Sealy)‘ and myself were engaged in business witnessing. As we were driving past the local library we noticed a young Chinese woman sitting on a bench at the front of the library (there are many Chinese in the area so we always carry Chinese literature). I mentioned to Bro Celie that I’d like to park here and visit with this young woman. With both English & Chinese magazines in hand I approached this woman, sat down next to her and showed her the journals. She seemed very pleased with my visit and indicated that she is a new ’Christian’ who had converted about a year earlier in China. Her English was fairly good (certainly better than my Chinese!) and I found that she could read better than she could speak. She expressed a lot of interest in the Bible and asked many questions. I told her to wait while I walked to the car to get more literature (Bro Celie remained in the car for the time being). I returned and handed her the “Bible Teach” book, for which she expressed much appreciation, and proceeded to show her some of the features of the book. Our conversation lasted a long time and finally Bro Celie came over and occupied the bench with us. I explained our Bible study program and asked her if she would like to start “right now”.

This Chinese woman happily agreed and we spent the better part of an hour discussing the first portion of the book. She had many questions and was very pleased to receive answers. She even asked where our ’church’ was and was overjoyed to learn that it was easy to find. We also found out some interesting things about her. She is married with no children and often spends Fridays riding around the area on her bicycle because she is “bored at home.” She is also a medical student who is undergoing her residency at one of the local hospitals. Because of her extraordinary interest in the Bible I gave her my phone number and she reciprocated. We also made arrangements to meet every Friday at the library. I plan to have a sister with me next time and hopefully she can strike up a friendship with this very lovely girl. I’ll inform you friends of any good outcome from this encounter.

On this same day Bro Celie and I worked almost 6 hours in the preaching activity and had many other good experiences….too many to relate. I must say I’m really excited over the interest that is being shown in this territory. I plan to increase my hours in order to take advantage of this interest and hopefully will be able to encourage others to do likewise.

Photos relating to this blog: Click here
2005 Blog: Click here
e-mail comments to: mred1914ce@hotmail.com

NOTE: TO VIEW MR. ED'S 2007 TRAVELS, GO TO http://mreds2007travels.blogspot.com