To appreciate what a great change this was for the Bethel family, it is necessary to consider what conditions were like before the change. The brothers who worked in the office and factory in Cape Town did not live together as a Bethel family. In fact, the expression “Bethel” was rarely used in connection with the Cape Town branch; it was usually referred to as “the office.” Brother and Sister Phillips lived in a little flat, while the other members of the family were accommodated with various publishers throughout the Cape Peninsula. Some brothers had to travel ten miles by train to and from work daily, while others traveled by bus or walked. Each one had breakfast where he stayed. If his accommodations were close enough he might rush home for a midday meal. Those who could not go home would be given one shilling and six pence extra each day to have something at a café. For the evening meal everyone went home. They never had a Bethel family study of the Watchtower magazine.

Every morning the family met at 7:45 in the change room of the little factory. After a discussion of the day’s text and prayer, they commenced work at 8:00 a.m. In order to get to this discussion in time some members had to rise before six o’clock and start traveling soon after.

The new branch structure at Elandsfontein was one of the first buildings in the township, Activia Park. It was a two-story building with 21,103 square feet of floor space. On the ground floor was an office, factory, a shipping department, laundry and boiler room. The family lived in twenty-two comfortable rooms. Additionally, there was a kitchen, a dining room and a library upstairs for the convenience of the family.

[Picture on page 187]

Bethel Home at Elandsfontein, in 1952