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This church wasn't built in a day ...
it took almost a week By Rich Brown
Globe Staff Writer 1/7/06
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Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the newest Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Joplin.
That took almost a week.
Last Sunday was not only the first day of the year, but also the first day of services for the new church, where construction began Dec. 27.
“The whole objective was to finish for the New Year’s Day services,” said Tim Adkins, presiding overseer of the east Joplin congregation.
The new church, at 2500 S. County Lane, is south of East 20th Street just before the Highway 249 overpass.
Jehovah’s Witnesses churches have gained a reputation for being built in such a short time by skilled laborers from their congregations.
“We had about 400 people, coming and going, involved in our project,” Adkins said. “We had not only local (people) but workers from all over, what we refer to as, our region.”
There are two regional building committees in Missouri.
“We are the western half of the state, covering part of Iowa and down to the Arkansas line,” he said. “The eastern half covers all the northern boundary of Missouri to the southern boundary.”
He added that many of the workers on the church came from the Kansas City area and Springfield.
“Members of our congregations have special trades, such as drywalling or plumbing, and this is what they do for a living,” Adkins said. “When we schedule this, they take time from their businesses to come and use their skills on a voluntary basis.”
He added that, with no labor expenses, churches are built with just the cost of materials.
Church members provide workers at the site with food and drink and open their homes for lodging if necessary.
“The cooperation we have had from the Joplin community has helped us complete the project in a timely fashion,” Adkins said.
He praised dealings with the electric and water companies, in addition to local vendors.
“We got help from lumber yards and all those we relied upon to get our materials in quick fashion because of how we do our project,” Adkins said.
The new church, with 5,500 square feet, will seat around 275 people, he estimated.
“We typically plan five to six days to build a church,” he said.
The time varies according to the size of the building.

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Comments

Brenda Lee writes:
"Did you know that Jehovah's Witnesses use their prized kingdom halls to house pedophiles? They have an organizational "rule" that no child is to be believed if they say they were sexually abused unless there are at least two witnesses to the abuse. How many times does a child have someone standing there observing them as they are being abused? Thousands of people have come forward in recent years to say they were the victims of child abuse at the hands of Jehovah's Witnesses. Dateline and the BBC have done special segments on this. Also, did you know that Jehovah's Witnesses shun (i.e., never speak to again!) family members who leave their faith? My family hasn't spoken to me in 25 years! My sin? I didn't want to be a Jehovah's Witness anymore. I am one of millions of people being psychologically abused by this cult. (Yet they call themselves loving Christians.) Jehovah’s Witnesses are like onions. After you pull back the protective layer that they want you to see, you find things that most people in the world know nothing about. Everyone deserves to know the truth lest they innocently become JW victims themselves by thinking, "Oh, what a nice group of people. Maybe I'll talk to them the next time they come to my door." Brenda Lee, "Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult" www.outofthecocoon.net "

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Building Kingdom Halls; Destroying Lives

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