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Jehovah’s Witnesses in RussiaAwake!—1997 | August 22
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Sergei Ivanenko, a respected Russian theologian, did similarly. Although he believed many of the negative reports about Jehovah’s Witnesses that were circulating in Russia, he decided to call the branch office of the Witnesses, located just outside St. Petersburg, for information. He accepted an invitation to visit there, ask questions, and observe the Witnesses firsthand.
When Mr. Ivanenko arrived in October 1996, the facilities that accommodate the nearly 200 members of the branch staff of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia were nearing completion. For the following three days, he was given the opportunity to observe the construction site, eat meals in the dining room, and interview any whom he wished.
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Jehovah’s Witnesses in RussiaAwake!—1997 | August 22
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“In order to figure this out for myself, I visited the village of Solnechnoye in Kururtnoye district, St. Petersburg, where the administrative center of the Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses is located.
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“[This is] on the site of a former summer camp. By 1992 the [original] building had become catastrophically dilapidated, and the children were replaced by vagrants and hordes of rats. Apparently it was the run-down condition of the area that helped Jehovah’s Witnesses receive the seven hectare plot of land to use for an indefinite period of time. They renovated the old structures and also started building new ones, including a four-story administrative building, a [Kingdom Hall] that seats 500, and a dining hall. Jehovah’s Witnesses are also planting new grass (specially ordered from Finland) and various kinds of rare trees. The work is expected to be completed this coming summer. The main task of the administrative center is organizing preaching activity and delivering literature to local congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Solnechnoye does not have its own printing facilities, so the Russian literature is printed in Germany, then delivered to St. Petersburg, from where it is distributed to the regions. Approximately 190 people work at the center. They work on a voluntary basis and although they do not receive salaries, they are provided with all of the basic necessities, such as a place to live, food, and clothing.
“The center’s work is guided by a committee of 18 elders. Vasily Kalin has been the administrative center’s coordinator since 1992. He was born in Ivano-Frankovsk. In 1951, at the age of four, he and his parents were exiled to Siberia (in 1949 and 1951 about 5,000 families were persecuted by the authorities for being Jehovah’s Witnesses). He was baptized in 1965 and lived in the Irkutsk region. He worked as a foreman at a lumber processing plant.
“Apart from the administrative center volunteers there are also 200 volunteer construction workers from Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway living in Solnechnoye: Most of them took time off from their regular employment. There are also plenty of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Ukraine, Moldova, Germany, the United States, Finland, Poland and other countries. (Jehovah’s Witnesses have no racial prejudices. In spite of the fact that Georgians, Abkhazians, Azerbaijanis and Armenians live side by side at the center, in four years there has not been a single conflict.)
“Most of the construction material and equipment was supplied by Scandinavian countries, and much was also provided free of charge by fellow believers. I was shown a bulldozer which a Swedish Jehovah’s Witness brought to Solnechnoye in 1993. He worked on it the whole time he was there, and before going home he gave it to his brothers in the faith. The construction workers are housed in comfortable boarding houses and cottages. Their day goes something like this: 7:00 a.m.—breakfast and prayers; they work from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. with an hour for lunch. On Saturdays they work until lunch time, and Sunday is a day of rest.
“They eat well and there is always fruit on the menu. The religion does not observe any fasts or strict food restrictions whatsoever. After work, many go to the sauna and then grab a beer and just sit around listening to music. There are no drunks among Jehovah’s Witnesses, but alcohol is not forbidden either. Believers are allowed to drink moderate amounts of wine, cognac, vodka and so on. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not smoke.
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