Transcripts: Our Activities

Transcript: The LDC Program. Much More Than Kingdom Halls
[2024 Update on the Local Design Construction Program. Interviews with bothers in Zambia, Nigeria, Spain, Portugal and World Headquarters]
Presenter: “Hardworking brothers and sisters volunteer to be part of Local Design/Construction (LDC) groups worldwide. While working on Kingdom Halls is the aspect of their work that most are familiar with, volunteers are also needed for working on Assembly Halls, field residences, and with disaster reconstruction.”
[Text: Cameron Thomson. Zambia]
Cameron: “There is an ongoing need to upgrade most of our assembly sites in Zambia. At many of our sites, the brothers and sisters they’re sitting on the ground, and they’re exposed to the elements during the assembly program. In the 2023 service year, we completed ten projects related to assembly sites”.
[Text: Jean-Blaise Rithner. Nigeria]
Jean-Blaise: “Nigeria, we have 23 Assembly Halls all over the country. And, you can imagine, they are extensively used. We face two main issues: heat and also the noise from heavy rain. So, to solve these two issues, we inserted in the design roof panels that are insulated, and this really addressed both issues”.
Cameron: “To see how our brothers and sisters can now meet in dignified locations is heart-warming. With the new baptismal pools, they don’t have to worry about getting baptized in rivers that could be crocodile infested.”
[Text: Secundino Nogal. Spain]
Secundino: “The construction programs are also an opportunity to train the brothers. We took advantage of the renovation of the Assembly Hall to invite older brothers, experts in their trades and in good health, to pass on their knowledge to the younger ones. And the truth is, there was a great deal of learning and “an interchange of encouragement,” which was then also reflected in the congregations”.
[Text: David Henriques. Portugal]
David: “For as much as we consider our Kingdom Halls and our Assembly Halls as a priority in the program, we realize that a field-residence project is always a special one because we are working, not on a facility that brothers will visit once or twice a week, but that’s where someone will actually live and sleep and eat”.
Cameron: “One brother who benefits from a new field residence commented, “We used to have to travel long distances to brothers’ houses who have electricity because our mud huts did not have that electricity.” Now that is a thing of the past. Having a suitable home base is invaluable to these hardworking circuit overseers and their wives. It now enables them to get the rest that they need. It gives them a suitable environment for the study and the preparation they need to do in order to benefit the congregations they’re serving”.
Jean-Blaise: “In the past three years, Nigeria has been afflicted by flooding quite a few times. So after receiving humanitarian assistance through the Coordinators’ Committee, the LDC comes into the picture to make sure that if there is any reconstruction work that needs to be done, it will be accomplished.”
[Text: Tinashe Takarinda. World Headquarters]
Tinashe: “When disasters strike, our theocratic facilities and the homes of our brothers are affected. Some of these brothers can’t rebuild or repair their houses by themselves, so the LDC really plays a big role in making sure that we get the information needed and that we get the right people working on some of these projects.”
Jean-Blaise: “Apart from natural disasters, Nigeria has been affected by man-made disasters. There has been a lot of community crisis, and usually they have to flee from their region to a safer location. And when they return, sadly, at times, they find out that their home has been destroyed or completely burned down. So that’s where the LDC, when it is safe, they will go evaluate the needs and assist with the reconstruction. Right now, we have 25 houses to be rebuilt and 18 to be repaired.”
Tinashe: “If someone wants to get involved with disaster reconstruction in their branch territory, they have to fill in their forms. It could be the DC-50 (which allows them to be LDC volunteers) or an A-19 form (where they can volunteer to support theocratic projects for a couple of months or weeks) or even an A-8 (where they can come full-time and support the LDC program). Many might say, “I can only pray.” But, actually, prayer is the best thing that they can do. We need Jehovah’s blessings on all these projects, and we need Jehovah’s blessings on all those that can volunteer that are working on these theocratic facilities”.
[A sister lifts the mask of her welding hood]
Cameron: “The construction and renovation work being done today is but a preparation for the grand renovation and rehabilitation of this planet to happen in the future at a time when all will be able to participate.”
[Volunteers in safety gear operate power tools]
Presenter: “Looking back at all that’s been achieved with this program, I feel good. I feel happy and good in a spiritual sense. It reminds me a lot of what the psalmist said in Psalm 127, that “unless Jehovah builds the house, it is in vain that its builders work hard on it.” So, all the glory and honor obviously go to our God.”
[Teams on construction sites wave enthusiastically]
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