All are welcome to attend a special open house event from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24, at the newly renovated Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.
“We’re very excited about the open house because it is an opportunity for the community here in the Virgin Islands to see for themselves the work that has been done here and for more families to feel welcome while acquiring knowledge of this building and its special purpose,” said Ulises Rivera, local spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Kingdom Hall is inclusive to all in our community; all are invited.”
During the open house, visitors can tour the facility and view a slideshow covering highlights of the construction project. Information about the Christian organization’s educational and construction activities worldwide will be on display, with local volunteers available to answer questions as well. The newly renovated house of worship was built entirely by volunteer ministers who came specifically to Charlotte Amalie to dedicate their time, skills and labor to this special community project
“I really appreciated the attitude of the volunteers on this project, they came from all over in the United States: St. Croix, Florida, Texas, and even California. To use their vacation time and pay their own travel expenses to come here and help us renovate our place of meeting shows what people who really care about others are capable of,” said Jim Alit, a Witness in Charlotte Amalie. “Walking through the lobby with a local retired contractor, he told me that although he had been working in construction all of his life, he had never seen quality workmanship like this in a public building.”
The Kingdom Hall will host weekly meetings and ministerial activities for four congregations in the area. The hall is one of nearly 5,900 in the United States used by over 1.2 million Witnesses across the nation.
For well over a century, Jehovah’s Witnesses have designed and built their own meeting places.
“Restarting and completing the project while COVID-19 was still a major threat was a real challenge. Also, because of the pandemic, building materials that had been stored for years had to be cleaned, reorganized and in many cases replaced, due to exposure to the elements,” said Gabriel Nolette, from the Local Design and Construction Committee working at Charlotte Amalie. “Now, the building has energy-efficient lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment,
and it also has more efficient windows that reduce the need to prepare for hurricanes. This building stands as a clean, refreshing representation of the God we serve. We hope this will be a place for comfort and encouragement for the local community for many years to come.”
For more information about Jehovah’s Witnesses, their history, beliefs and construction activities, visit their official website at www.jw.org, with content available in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and more than 1,060 other languages.
