• Iceland
    2005 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Two Halls in Four Days

      For the brothers in Iceland, an outstanding event of the 1995 service year was the building of two Kingdom Halls during the month of June, one in Keflavík and the other in Selfoss. These were the first Kingdom Halls in Iceland to be built using the quickly built construction method. It took only four days to build both of them. The loving help of the brothers in Norway made it possible to accomplish this task. The Norway branch sent most of the building materials, and more than 120 brothers and sisters from Norway came to help with the project. The most common remark heard at the building sites was: “This is just amazing.” The brothers in Iceland had been reading and hearing about building Kingdom Halls quickly, but now they were seeing it with their own eyes. Of course, this was amazing, considering that the number of Kingdom Halls in Iceland doubled in just a few days!

      Besides acquiring two new Kingdom Halls, the brothers in Iceland were encouraged by the fine association with the brothers and sisters who came from Norway at their own expense to spend their vacation time working on the halls. What an evidence of our international brotherhood! The brothers in Iceland also contributed to these building projects. More than 150 local publishers shared in the work, about half the number in the entire country.

      These Kingdom Hall projects were also a fine witness to the public. Two nationwide television stations covered the story on their news programs and showed pictures from both building sites. The project was also reported on by several radio stations and in newspapers. A minister of the local church in Selfoss did not like the attention being given to the Witnesses. In the local newspaper, he published an article warning against what he considered to be the dangerous false teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He mentioned that weak and sensitive people should especially be on guard. In a radio interview, he repeated the same warnings. However, the words of the minister did not have the impact he had hoped for. Instead, most people were amazed at the Kingdom Hall projects, and many whom the brothers met in the preaching work said that they were surprised at the minister’s reaction.

      About one week after the minister’s warning was published, the newspaper printed a cartoon. In the foreground of the cartoon, you see the church, and in the background, the Kingdom Hall. A river runs between the two buildings, and some smiling, well-dressed brothers are walking over the bridge from the Kingdom Hall toward the church, service bags in hand. Outside the church, a woman leaps in panic from her wheelchair. A man with his foot in a cast and another man, apparently blind, run, shouting: “Flee, flee, the Witnesses are coming!” On the steps of the church stands the minister, looking surprised. Many enjoyed this cartoon. The editorial staff of the newspaper chose it as the best cartoon of the year, enlarged it, and displayed it on their office wall. There it remained for several years.