In September 1998, Ukraine became a branch under the supervision of world headquarters in Brooklyn. At that time a Branch Committee was formed for the administration of organizational matters.

Rapid growth also brought a need for expanded branch facilities. Beginning in 1991, Lvov was used as a literature distribution center for the 15 republics of the former U.S.S.R. The following year, two couples from the branch office in Germany arrived. Soon a small office was operating in Lvov. One year later, a house was purchased and occupied by full-time office workers. Early in 1995, the number of volunteers working in the Ukraine office increased rapidly, making it necessary to move again, this time to a complex of six Kingdom Halls shared by 17 congregations. During all this time, the brothers were wondering: “When and where will we build our own Bethel?”

Branch and Kingdom Hall Construction

As early as 1992, the brothers started to search for property to build branch facilities. Several years passed as locations that might be suitable were examined. The brothers kept this need before Jehovah in their prayers, confident that in due time a suitable location would be found.

Early in 1998 property was found in a picturesque pine forest, three miles [5 km] north of Lvov in the small town of Briukhovychi. It was near this location that two congregations had had their meetings in the forest during the ban. One brother remarked: “I never thought that ten years after our last meeting in the forest, I would again have the opportunity to meet in that same forest, but under totally different circumstances​—on the property for our new branch!”

At the end of 1998, the first international servants arrived on the scene. Brothers from the Regional Engineering Office in Selters, Germany, began working feverishly to prepare the drawings. Early in January 1999, after governmental approval, work started on the construction site. More than 250 volunteers of 22 different nationalities worked on the site. Up to 250 local volunteers also worked on the project on the weekends.

Many greatly appreciated the privilege of working on the project. Entire congregations rented buses to come to Briukhovychi to volunteer on weekends. Often they traveled the whole night in order to be on the site in time to assist in the construction effort. After a day of hard work, they spent another night traveling home, tired but content and happy, wishing to come again. One group of 20 brothers traveled by train for 34 hours from the Luhans’k area of eastern Ukraine in order to work for eight hours on Bethel construction! For the sake of this eight hours of work, each brother took two days off from his secular job and spent more than half a month’s wages for the train tickets. Such a self-sacrificing spirit encouraged the entire Bethel construction crew and Bethel family. Construction proceeded rapidly, making it possible to dedicate the branch on May 19, 2001. Thirty-five countries were represented on that occasion. At special meetings the next day, Theodore Jaracz spoke to a crowd of 30,881 in Lvov, and Gerrit Lösch spoke to 41,142 in Kiev​—a total of 72,023.