Convention Expected To Bring $6.5 Million Subud World Congress Will Bring 3,000 Members To Spokane From Around The World In 1997

Subud - an abbreviation of Sanskrit words Susila, Budhi and Dharma - means “follow the will of God with the help of the divine power.”

In August 1997, 3,000 Subud members will follow the will of God to Spokane for a two-week spiritual convention. Their gathering will pump $6.5 million into the Spokane area economy, more than any convention the city has been host to, officials at the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau said in announcing Subud’s commitment Tuesday.

Conventions of fraternal and trade groups have attracted more people to the Spokane Center. But Subud is “an incredible coup,” said bureau president Hartley Kruger, because of the length of the convention and the diverse group of international delegates who will make the pilgrimage to Spokane.

“The world is coming back to Spokane,” Kruger proclaimed. “This is the biggest international gathering since Expo.”

Other officials gushed that the Subud World Congress will entice more international groups into considering Spokane as a premier convention destination.

“This could be the start of big things for Spokane as a convention center,” said Don Barbieri, president of Goodale & Barbieri, which owns Cavanaugh’s Inns. “Everyone’s really excited about this.”

The 1997 conference will be the first time Subud (pronounced SOO-bid) will hold its World Congress in the United States. Recent Subud world congresses have been in Colombia and Australia.

Subud will also hold its yearly North American convention in Spokane in July 1996. About 500 delegates will attend.

The 3,000 delegates expected to attend the World Congress - 80 percent of whom will be from foreign countries - will present unique challenges to the Spokane Convention Center. For the first time, the center will provide translation services in six languages, as well as menus to comply with dietary requirements of non-Western members.

Delegates may also spill into downtown restaurants and hotel cafeterias in search of international fare, Kruger said.

Bong Cho, owner of Bong’s Oriental Garden at 3004 N. Monroe, is confident that Spokane restaurateurs can rise to the occasion. Many restaurants already serve meatless entrees or meals prepared according to Far or Middle Eastern dietary restrictions, she said.

But Cho, who came to the United States from Korea in 1974, said curious foreigners likely will sample more Idaho potatoes and Washington beef than tahini or tamales.

“I never ate meat in my country. As soon as I came to America, I started to eat meat. Now I like chicken more than anything else,” Cho said.

In fact, Spokane’s meat-and-potatoes image is precisely why Subud chose Spokane. Doug Card, vice chairman of Subud’s International Committee, said the group’s foreign members wanted to convene in a place where they could taste “what the real America is like.”

(Hotels within walking distance of the Spokane Convention Center were another reason the group chose Spokane over Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Calif., and Tucson, Ariz.)

The non-denominational spiritual association has more than 12,000 members worldwide in 81 countries. The group, founded in 1924 by a Javanese man named Bapak, teaches members to contact the “Supreme Life Force” that flows within them. The goal of the convention is to encourage peace between people.

, DataTimes