For almost four weeks, the power and hard work of volunteers have helped to erect a new Kingdom Hall in Kingwood for members of the Jehovah’s Witness religion.
The first in Kingwood — flanked by other Kingdom Halls in the Humble, Porter and New Caney areas — was built
and completed by volunteers who are selected by the Regional Building Committee.
“The Regional Building Committee will pull together our members who have trades to do the work and volunteers will step in to help where they can. With this build, a lot of our members have never done work like this before; they are learning a lot about constructing a building,” Robert Scott, a Jehovah’s Witness preacher at the Kingwood hall, said.
They selected this particular spot because it was zoned as a church by the Friendswood Development Company and they wanted to meet the needs of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kingwood.
This particular Kingdom Hall will have both English and Spanish meetings and serves around 100 in each group.
“We vary in size, but as Jehovah’s Witnesses we prefer for our congregations to be smaller in order for us to get to know our members personally. As we grow, we build another Kingdom Hall,” Scott said.
The new Kingdom Hall features a couple of classrooms, a conference room and the large meeting room where members hold their services.
The volunteers worked to build each part of the building and clean when it was completed. The only parts they did not do were the concrete, plumbing and underground work.
Each volunteer had his or her own hard hat and participated in various activities such as washing the brick, laying bricks, hanging lights or putting the ceiling tiles in the name a few of their duties.
Jehovah’s Witnesses receive a publication, “The Watchtower,” which is printed in various languages simultaneously.
“We have a meeting for service in the morning where we share information and go over what we will share with others door-to-door. That is what we are mainly known for. If the person is receptive, we will talk with them about current events and share a Bible verse that relates to the subject matter,” Daniel Cortez, the preacher for the Spanish meetings, said.
Though they do come across unreceptive people, they welcome any response, so even if 100 people say no, the one that does say yes makes it all worth it for the members of the religion.
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not solicit donations or tithes from members but instead have contribution boxes near the back of the meeting room where the money will go toward maintenance and utilities.
“We are an organization of volunteers. As a group, we have worked for several weeks to put the building together and in working order. Everything is voluntary — construction, preaching and even our relief work,” Cortez said.
Once the volunteers are completed with the Kingdom Hall in Kingwood they already have their new assignment to volunteer to build a Kingdom Hall in the Spring Branch area.
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