• Lands of the Former Yugoslavia
    2009 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • The Slovenia office began functioning as a branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1997.

      When the Governing Body approved the construction of a new branch office for Slovenia, the brothers began searching for a suitable site. After investigating about 40 different properties, the brothers chose a lot near the town of Kamnik, 12 miles [20 km] from the capital, at the foot of beautiful alpine peaks. Soon, zoning requirements were met, building permits were obtained, the property was purchased, contracts were signed with a construction company, and international servants were invited to work on the project. Everything seemed set to start.

      When news about the project became public, however, neighbors quickly demonstrated their opposition. On the day that construction was to have begun, protesters barred access to the building site with barricades. Soon they displayed banners expressing their opposition. Six days later, at about noon, some 30 policemen arrived to protect city workers who had been assigned to remove the protesters’ barricades; the protesters verbally abused the police. In the meantime, though, the project had been postponed, so neither the brothers nor anyone from the construction company was on site that day. With the project postponed, opposition began to wane, and our brothers worked toward a peaceful solution.

      The construction fence had been torn down three times by protesters, but the project finally got underway a month later and continued without further hindrance. Actually, what began as an attack on Jehovah’s people resulted in a blessing because the matter attracted much media attention. More than 150 news items on the building project were presented on TV and radio and in newspapers. Construction was completed after about 11 months, and in August 2005, the Bethel family moved into their new facilities.

      Since then, the relationship between the brothers and their neighbors has changed completely. Many neighbors have visited the branch facilities. One former opposer later became very interested in the building project. He asked who we are and what would be done inside the building. When he toured the facilities, he was impressed by the friendly welcome he was given as well as by the cleanliness of the building. “The neighbors are asking me if I am now on your side,” he told the brothers, “and I answer, ‘As much as I was against Jehovah’s Witnesses before, I am now for them because they are good people.’”

      August 12, 2006, was the happy day on which Theodore Jaracz of the Governing Body delivered the dedication talk to an audience of 144 from about 20 different countries. At a special meeting in Ljubljana, he spoke to an audience of 3,097 from all parts of Slovenia, as well as from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.