"Love Never Fails" Regional Convention

BELLEVILLE, MI - Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the world will convene at various locations this year to attend a three-day convention series entitled "Love Never Fails" As indicated by the theme, the program will highlight ways to demonstrate love to God and to our neighbors. Locally, some of these conventions will be held at the Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belleville, Michigan. Among those in attendance will be Keith Bergmooser and his family. They particularly appreciate the Bible-based discourses that are presented at gatherings such as this one, because, they say, the type of love explained in this year’s theme has helped save their family.

Keith Bergmooser was a free spirit who, at the age of 17, hitchhiked from Michigan to Tennessee, unbeknownst to his family. Once there, he found himself associating with members of a gang that committed armed robberies. Realizing the troubles that would spell for him, he moved back to Michigan only to have a run-in with law enforcement for drugs. With an outstanding warrant, he was given the option to either do time in Marquette prison or enlist in the army during the Vietnam war. He picked the latter.

From an early age, Keith was an athletic young man with an afnity for martial arts. In fact, no matter where life took him, he found himself joining a local boxing team. Once discharged from the army, he wound up in Miami where he quickly realized he was quite skilled at boxing. He went on to win the 1975 Florida State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Novice Division. The next year, he was the runner-up in the Open Division. That success caught the attention of sports promoter, Bill Press, who became his manager and promoted him to compete professionally. Groomed for success, Keith trained with former two-time World Lightweight Champion, Beau Jack at Fifth Street Gym, “a Miami boxing gym where you had to earn your spot.” His future in boxing seemed promising, making the front cover of the November 1975 issue of World Boxing highly touted as the next ‘World Heavyweight Champion.’ Keith’s outlook on life took a turn when his manager, Bill Press, and his driver were found murdered at close range in a parking structure at the JFK airport. He was shaken up as he came to grips with the fact that he could have been shot dead too, since he was with them in that car just hours before. Other times, his thoughts would shift back to his friends and relatives who used drugs and abused alcohol, realizing that most of them were either dead or incarcerated. If he did not change his addictive habits, he could have the same outcome. He also reassessed the future of his career as a boxer, recognizing that if he pursued it professionally, he could eventually suffer from pugilistic dementia. No potential prospect of wealth and fame would be worth the risks involved with this course of life. Things had to change!

Meanwhile, he started reading his personal copy of the Bible and enjoyed what he read. Keith found a new respect for and outlook on life, ultimately deciding that pursuing a professional
career in boxing would not give him the happiness he sought. Gradually he walked away from it all – boxing, drugs and heavy drinking. When asked how he feels about walking away from such a promising career, he states: “Only a very small percentage of athletes will ever really make a dime. Jehovah God is a sure bet!” Today, Keith is happily married to Renee, his supportive and loving wife of 40 years, and they have two daughter.

Jehovah's Witnesses encourage all in the community to benefit the way Keith did from consideration of Bible principles, and to attend the "Love Never Fails" conventions that will be held at the Belleville Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, located at 43777 Ecorse Road, Belleville, Michigan. The conventions will began in May 2019 and will span several weekends through August 2019. Sessions begin daily at 9:20 a.m. Friday-Sunday. Admission is free and no collections are taken. Conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses are supported entirely by voluntary donations.