• Jehovah’s Witnesses—1997 Yearbook Report
    1997 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • INDONESIA: Dedication of Bethel facilities was truly a highlight of the service year for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Indonesia. In view of the unfavorable legal status of the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in this country, any hope for such a provision had long seemed to be only a dream. However, the need for such facilities had been pressing since 1990.

      With the permission and kind direction of the Governing Body, new facilities were finally to be built. But the local brothers were unfamiliar with construction work; so how was it going to be done? The answer came by means of our international brotherhood. The Brooklyn Construction Office and the Regional Engineering Office in Australia made the necessary preparations. Up to 100 international servants and volunteers provided the needed expertise. They trained 40 local brothers and worked shoulder to shoulder with them during the two years of construction. Only with Jehovah’s spirit were the brothers able to overcome the many and varied obstacles encountered during the construction project.

      Thus, it was an especially happy and historic day for the brothers when John Barr dedicated the new facilities on July 19. Included in the audience of 285 were 118 who were branch representatives or ex-missionaries from overseas. Circuit and district overseers and, of course, the 59 members of the Bethel family were also on hand to share in the joy of the occasion.

      With their new facilities, the brothers can work more productively and efficiently in serving the more than 12,000 publishers in this part of the world field. They have much to do because nearly 200 million people speaking various languages are scattered about on thousands of islands in this vast archipelago and are yet to be reached with the Kingdom message.

      The dedication day was also one of joyful reunion and association. In the following two days, the delegates enjoyed together the “Messengers of Godly Peace” District Convention. With a member of the Governing Body among them, and with the greetings, special reports, and experiences brought by the overseas guests and delegates, the spirit of international brotherhood permeated the whole convention. Yes, the week of the dedication was truly special for Jehovah’s people and historic for the Kingdom work in this country.