• Spiritual Building at the “House of Stone”
    The Watchtower—2007 | February 15

    • Building Houses of Worship

      An inspired poet of long ago wrote: “O God, . . . my soul does thirst for you. . . . In a land dry and exhausted, where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1) How true this has been of many people in Zimbabwe! Physically they endure drought, but spiritually they thirst for God and his goodness. You can see this from the results of the Christian ministry of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, about 10,000 Witnesses served in 476 congregations. Now, some 27 years later, the number of active Witnesses has tripled and the number of congregations has almost doubled.

      Few of these congregations had their own places of worship. In January 2001, only 98 of the more than 800 congregations in Zimbabwe had a house of worship​—a Kingdom Hall—​in which to meet. Many of the congregations held their meetings under trees or in modest huts made of poles, walls plastered with mud and roofs thatched with grass.

      As a result of generous donations and diligent volunteer work by their worldwide Christian brotherhood, the Witnesses in Zimbabwe have embarked on a program that enables more congregations to obtain modest but dignified Kingdom Halls. Many Witnesses from overseas who have building skills arranged their affairs to go to Zimbabwe and work along with local volunteers. One of the local Witnesses wrote: “We sincerely thank all the brothers and sisters from so many countries who have come to Zimbabwe to help build beautiful Kingdom Halls. And we thank all the rest of you for your contributions to the Kingdom Hall Fund that makes this work possible.”

      In the eastern part of the country, the brothers met under a huge baobab tree for 50 years. When the Christian elders were told that a real house of worship was to be built, at least one of them could not hold back his tears. In a nearby congregation, a 91-year-old elder said: “I have been crying to Jehovah for so long for something like this to happen!”

      Many comments are made about the speed with which these attractive buildings are constructed. One observer said: “You people are building during the day, but God must be building by night!” The unity and happiness of the workers is also noted. To date, over 350 new Kingdom Halls have been completed throughout the country. This allows for 534 congregations to meet in Kingdom Halls solidly constructed with bricks.