• Highlights of the Past Year
    2005 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Philippines Branch Dedication

      “We want a Watch Tower finish on our work too!” That is what some non-Witness builders in Manila said when they saw the beautiful workmanship at the Philippines branch. In fact, when a television crew doing a documentary on building codes visited the city engineer, he told them: “If you want to see a place that follows building codes to the letter, go to Watch Tower.”

      The brothers constructed a new ten-story residence and some auxiliary buildings and renovated an existing ten-story residence built in 1991. Why was the expansion needed? From 1991 to 2003, the publisher figure grew by 34,000, resulting in a new peak of just over 144,000 Kingdom proclaimers!

      The dedication took place on November 1, 2003. Attending on that sunny Saturday morning were the Bethel family, former missionaries and other overseas guests from 13 countries, and over 2,000 brothers and sisters from the Philippines, making a total of 2,540. Stephen Lett discussed the theme “Appreciating Jehovah’s Past and Present Houses of Worship.” On the following day, a throng of local pioneers as well as elders and their wives, totaling 8,151, enjoyed a special program at the Metro Manila Assembly Hall.