A Heartwarming Report From the Far North
FINLAND is situated in the far north of Europe, its northern reaches stretching well into the Arctic Circle. It is famous for the scenic beauty of its forests, lakes, coastline, and offshore islands. It is noted also for seasonal contrasts, for long winter nights, and for the summer midnight sun.
Over 90 percent of the five million Finns are nominally members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the state religion of Finland. But, with the standard of living steadily rising, interest in spiritual things has generally lost its place in their lives. There is, however, a different kind of spiritual growth taking place in this country. The result is that there are now more than 15,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Finland, one of every 320 inhabitants of the land. Using the words of the prophet Isaiah, the time came for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Finland to “stretch out the tent cloths” and to “make the place of [their] tent more spacious”—once again.—Isaiah 54:2.
“Are they really going to build again?” That was the reaction of some of the older members of the Finnish Bethel, or headquarters, family when they learned of the plans to expand the branch facilities once again. But, in spite of the inconveniences during the construction period, they were happy to be on hand at the dedication of the new extension on May 5, 1984, when M. G. Henschel, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was a special guest.
Early Flashes of Truth
“In the past the King of Sweden ordered the Finns to be converted by force,” said Erkki Kankaanpää, the coordinator of the Finnish Branch Committee, in his opening speech on the dedication program. He was referring to the clergy’s strong grip on the people when Finland was under Swedish domination. “But that was not the flash of truth in Finland.”
That “flash” came in 1909 when some colporteurs, or full-time preachers, came to Finland, distributing C. T. Russell’s books. As a result, Österman, a businessman, and Harteva, an engineer, became interested. They obtained more books from the Swedish branch office and started to translate and publish them in Finnish. In 1912 the Watchtower magazine was published in Finnish.
The two brothers were most courageous and resourceful in preaching the good news. Once Brother Harteva was relating the newfound truth to a former schoolmate.
“And how many are there of you people in Finland?” the schoolmate asked.
“There are two of us,” he replied unhesitatingly. “But, if you join us, that will make three.”
At another time, Brother Österman was offering the passersby at a marketplace a booklet entitled What Say the Scriptures About Hell? on a contribution of two Finnish marks. He surely had their attention when he shouted: “A ticket to hell—one mark in, and another one out!”
Brother Russell visited Finland in 1912. The October 1, 1912, issue of The Watch Tower reported: “The public meeting was crowded to the capacity of the hall—1000—many standing; some almost in tears because they could not gain admission.” Although the work was still new, said the report, “it seems to make excellent progress. The number of Colporteurs engaged, and the fact that it is self-sustaining, speak well for the depth of interest.”
Subsequent visits by other members from the Brooklyn headquarters, including J. F. Rutherford, the second president of the Society, proved to be most strengthening to the brothers. In fact, in December 1945, when Brother N. H. Knorr and Brother M. G. Henschel visited Finland for the first time, there were some 1,800 Witnesses.
Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses enjoy complete freedom of worship in Finland, and they are making full use of it. Last April an all-time peak of 15,263 persons shared in preaching the Kingdom good news throughout the country. More than 900 have taken up full-time preaching work as pioneers, special pioneers, or serving as members of the Bethel family at the branch headquarters.
Developments at the Branch
The first branch building in Finland was constructed in 1933 in Helsinki, the capital. It consisted of a factory and a Bethel Home, and it was well situated for its purpose. But after many years of service, it became too small. Thus in 1957, a site for a new branch was obtained in the city of Vantaa, about 17 kilometers (10 mi) from Helsinki.
In January 1962 the branch was transferred to the new facility. Everyone thought at that time that this new home would be all that would ever be needed to support the preaching work in Finland. That was not to be the case. Since then, the dining room, dormitory, office, bindery, in fact, nearly all the facilities have been expanded to care for the increase in the number of publishers and the resulting growth of the Bethel family.
The Finnish Bethel is ideally located in that it is convenient to transportation and enjoys the peace and quiet of the countryside. It is situated on a small hill and has a beautiful garden for a yard. That it is an asset to the community is recognized even by the authorities, who have been most accommodating. For example, some time ago, when the original plans for a highway would have put it right through our property, they agreed to alter the plans upon our request. And, even though the area had been designated as a park, we were granted permission to expand our facility. Naturally, we are grateful for such special consideration.
The expansion this time consists of a new wing with 3,400 square meters (36,500 sq ft) of floor space. It includes an underground level for parking and storage. On the ground level are the machine shop, carpenter shop, and garage. On the upper floor is the bindery, along with adequate space for the locker rooms and some recreational facilities. The structure matches the existing building in design—red bricks with exposed wood beams in an attractive blond color.
Volunteers to Meet the Challenge
When the building project was announced, many Witnesses volunteered their services. Forty-five of them were invited to come and work for about a year. Who would supervise this challenging project? A brother who is an architect and a pioneer who used to own a construction business were among the volunteers. The job of excavating for the basement was done by a brother who owns an earth-moving company. Another brother who is an expert in explosives took care of the boulders. Still another brother took a two-month course for operating the large crane so that there was no need to hire an outsider to do the job.
Due to the willing spirit of the brothers, the project was completed at only about a third of the cost that a commercial contractor would charge. But what about the quality? “You could not get such quality work even if you spent the big money with commercial contractors,” remarked one of the inspectors when he saw the completed building. What a testimony to the wholehearted service rendered by the brothers!
The Task Ahead
“However, it is not the architecture or the building materials that are significant to Jehovah,” said Brother Henschel in his dedication talk. “It is the way the building is used that matters.” He referred to the temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon. It was undoubtedly the most glorious building in existence then, or perhaps ever. Yet Jehovah rejected it when the Israelites failed to render pure worship in his house.
So the new building is dedicated to advancing the Kingdom interests in Finland. Jehovah has indeed blessed the work in this part of the field. In the 1984 service year, 127,625 books and 128,083 booklets were produced in Finland. Over 562,531 copies of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life have been published. That is enough to provide one of every two Finnish households with a copy! Also, every month more than 350,000 copies of the Awake! and Watchtower magazines are produced.
All of this presents a tremendous challenge to the Finnish Bethel family, which now consists of 73 members. But that is nothing new. Two years ago, the Bethel family took on the challenge of converting from letterpress to offset printing. Brothers throughout the country provided the finances, and those at Bethel worked hard to acquire the new skills. The result has been gratifying. The factory in the Finland branch is capable of producing multicolored magazines and books.
For the task ahead, more expansion is planned. Already, work is underway for a new, spacious Kingdom Hall to be added to the Bethel Home. Thereafter, 28 new rooms, together with a new kitchen and a dining room, will be built to accommodate additional members of the family. Jehovah has provided the means and the strength for tackling similar tasks in the past, and the Witnesses in Finland are confidently looking ahead to future blessings. They echo the sentiments of one Witness at the dedication program: “It is wonderful to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in these times!”
[Map on page 27]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
NORWAY
SWEDEN
FINLAND
Helsinki
Vantaa
U.S.S.R.
ARCTIC CIRCLE
[Picture on page 28]
In 1913 J. F. Rutherford (with hat at his feet) met with a large group of Finnish brothers