Introduction

It is a pleasure to welcome you to theFinland branch office of Jehovah’s Wit-nesses. We hope your visit with us willbe a pleasant one. Our complex of build-ings is called Bethel, meaning “House ofGod.” This Biblical name is fitting, forall who live and serve here are ordainedministers who are dedicated to JehovahGod and who devote themselves full-time to supporting the work of Kingdompreaching.

The activity of Jehovah’s Witnessesin Finland began in about 1910, and in1911, a small office was established inHelsinki. Over time, the office moved toseveral locations until a building of ourown was constructed in Helsinki in1933. In 1961, a larger branch buildingwas completed. It was located in Vantaa,some 20 kilometers north of the centerof Helsinki. The branch office is still op-erating in these facilities, which havebeen expanded several times.

WelcomeWelcometo the Finlandto the Finland

Branch Office ofBranch Office ofJehovah’s WitnessesJehovah’s Witnesses

We sincerely hope that yourvisit to Bethel has been a re-warding one. No doubt it hashelped you to become better ac-quainted with the work thatJehovah’s Witnesses are doingto aid people who are searchingfor a better future throughGod’s Kingdom.

May your visit with us be anencouragement to you in yourefforts to learn more about ourloving Creator and to live by hisrighteous standards.

Visiting hours

Visitors are welcome totake a guided tour of our facili-ties. Tours are available Mon-day through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to4:00 p.m.

Temppelikatu 14 in 1923-1933

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oisenkatu 27 in 1933-1962

Puutarhatie 60 in 1962. Since then,the facilities have been expanded several times

˘ 2004, 2012 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.fo -E Fn Printed in Finland, 2012

Bethel Family

Each workday morning the Bethel fami-ly comes together at the breakfast table toconsider a Bible text from a booklet calledExamining the Scriptures Daily. A chair-man presides over this 15-minute discus-sion, and members of the family are as-signed to comment on the text. Followingthe discussion, the family is led in prayer,after which breakfast is served.

On Monday evenings the entire Bethelfamily gathers to study the Bible with thehelp of The Watchtower. At times, thereare special programs as well. The Biblediscussions that are held each workdaymorning and on Monday evenings are animportant part of Bethel life.

Bethel Departments

A number of departments perform vi-tal services in connection with the needsof the Bethel family. Some family mem-bers care for cleaning and housekeep-ing, while others serve in the laundry orthe kitchen. Cleanliness is a distinguishingmark of Bethel homes around the world. Inaddition, a number of departments and

workshops care for the branch buildings,gardens, equipment, machinery, and ve-hicles.

Hospital Information Services. This de-partment provides the Hospital LiaisonCommittees in Finland with the latest in-formation on bloodless medical proce-dures. In turn, the congregation eldersserving on these committees make thisinformation available to doctors who arewilling to treat their Witness patientswithout the use of blood.

Service Department. This departmenthandles correspondence from congrega-tion elders, pioneers, and publishers. Italso schedules circuit assemblies, specialassembly days, and classes of the PioneerService School. Reports of preaching ac-tivity are also compiled here.

Printing Operations

Worldwide, Jehovah’s Witnesses pro-duce literature in more than 600 lan-guages. Additionally, audio publications,videos, and computer programs are madeavailable to assist people in gainingknowledge of the Bible. The Watchtowerhas been produced in Finnish since No-vember 1912. Now the Watchtower andAwake! magazines are published si-multaneously with the English editions.Jehovah’s Witnesses also provide abun-dant material on their official Web sitewww.jw.org.

Translation. The Translation Departmenttranslates the text for the publicationsfrom English into Finnish. The work isdone in teams of three translators. Sign-

language videos are produced for thebenefit of the deaf. The library located inthe Translation Department can be usedby Bethel family members for personalstudy.

Graphics. The translated text is com-posed using the Multilanguage ElectronicPublishing System (MEPS). The com-

posed text is merged with artwork, afterwhich the material is processed using alaser plate setter to produce printingplates for offset presses.

Pressroom. In Finland, printing our liter-ature began in 1931. Today, two MAN Ro-land 700 sheet-fed offset presses are used.In addition to producing Watchtower andAwake! magazines in Finnish, Estonian,

Latvian, Lithuanian, and Russian,we print brochures and tracts in some150 languages. Each month, 30 tons ofpaper is used.

Shipping. The literature is shipped tomore than 450 congregations in Finlandand the Baltic countries and, throughGermany, France, and Britain, to othercountries in Europe and in Africa. Ourtrucks also take several containers of lit-erature to Russia each month.