All things RBC

[Mybrick]

Lovely, nice warm inviting colors.

Say do you have a drawing of this kiosk or even dimensions would be nice. I want to make sure we left enough room for the cabinet.

[shali]

Trisha, thank you so much for posting all these pics! I love the wrought iron railing leading up to the stage and the picture of the waterfall above the urinals! What a great idea! The outside entrance is pretty neat looking too! Really beautiful Kingdom Hall!

[Gi-Gi]

Lovely, nice warm inviting colors.

Say do you have a drawing of this kiosk or even dimensions would be nice. I want to make sure we left enough room for the cabinet.

I'm sorry brother but I cant draw!!!!lol I will have my assistant draw it for me and I'll give you the dimensions too

[Mybrick]

Well it's official our RBC 6 is going bye bye as of the first of this new year 2015. We will be having a meeting in January and will find out more. As far as all our projects we have on our boards, one has the LDC blessing and will come to pass. The others will be under review. Can't wait to see what new changes the LDC have in store for our area.

 

The hall we had scheduled to remodel here in Modesto has been completely abandoned, permit declined. The brothers are still using the hall but no remodel will be done. More than likely they will sell the hall and build else where. That makes two halls in our city which are in this status. Too old with too many problems and thus too expensive to bring up to current standards. 

 

We just formed two new congregations and need more halls all the more now. This new year will bring exciting new developments for our city wide congregations. All our halls are now filled to capacity with one congregation going to a new city which means they will now be traveling about the same distance but in the opposite direction out of our area and county to meet. We have six halls being actively used with four to five congregations in each. We need at least two halls to meet the current growth which means we probably need twice that number of structures for the future growth.

[palmhat]

Brother Morris stated that building is definitely in our future. He also encouraged the building trades for our young people. "We will need", he said. Sounds to me like there is not going oingood to be a slow down.

[Dustparticle]

Well it's official our RBC 6 is going bye bye as of the first of this new year 2015. We will be having a meeting in January and will find out more. As far as all our projects we have on our boards, one has the LDC blessing and will come to pass. The others will be under review. Can't wait to see what new changes the LDC have in store for our area.

 

The hall we had scheduled to remodel here in Modesto has been completely abandoned, permit declined. The brothers are still using the hall but no remodel will be done. More than likely they will sell the hall and build else where. That makes two halls in our city which are in this status. Too old with too many problems and thus too expensive to bring up to current standards. 

 

We just formed two new congregations and need more halls all the more now. This new year will bring exciting new developments for our city wide congregations. All our halls are now filled to capacity with one congregation going to a new city which means they will now be traveling about the same distance but in the opposite direction out of our area and county to meet. We have six halls being actively used with four to five congregations in each. We need at least two halls to meet the current growth which means we probably need twice that number of structures for the future growth.

This is a hall in our area was supposed to be made was cancelled too. Changes are coming.

[palmhat]

This should probably become another topic with a new name, maybe?

[Chijwas]

Yes, our hall had a meeting today with those involved. I had asked for a form to sign up and they said the form has changed and to wait till their meeting. This was a video meeting. Wish I was a fly in the wall, lol

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mybrick]

Yes, I've considered changing the name and starting a new thread also but decided it would be better to get more info first.

Basically wait on Jehovah as usual and not run ahead and look foolish.

[Chijwas]

Im sure the mods will gladly change the name after new info/direction is given. Thank you for starting the thread.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Gi-Gi]

Well it's official our RBC 6 is going bye bye as of the first of this new year 2015. We will be having a meeting in January and will find out more. As far as all our projects we have on our boards, one has the LDC blessing and will come to pass. The others will be under review. Can't wait to see what new changes the LDC have in store for our area.

 

The hall we had scheduled to remodel here in Modesto has been completely abandoned, permit declined. The brothers are still using the hall but no remodel will be done. More than likely they will sell the hall and build else where. That makes two halls in our city which are in this status. Too old with too many problems and thus too expensive to bring up to current standards. 

 

We just formed two new congregations and need more halls all the more now. This new year will bring exciting new developments for our city wide congregations. All our halls are now filled to capacity with one congregation going to a new city which means they will now be traveling about the same distance but in the opposite direction out of our area and county to meet. We have six halls being actively used with four to five congregations in each. We need at least two halls to meet the current growth which means we probably need twice that number of structures for the future growth.

Please share !!! Was our Pioneer meeting right after and we got a small summary today!

[Mybrick]

I don't know if everyone was in on a branch wide video link for this Jan 31 LDC meeting but it is beginning to look that's what might have happened, so if anyone has any info to share I won't object. As it is, I plan on having a meeting with my department head on Monday and hope then to get from the horses mouth what is available.

[Mybrick]

I must admit it has been very quiet this past month in our design department not having anything much to do. I usually am working on something each week regarding Kingdom Hall design and since all our projects have been on hold I've spent far to much time twiddling my thumbs. I have done a couple of things but nothing compared to the work load I'm used to. I'm anxious to get back to work designing on a hall soon. So I am really looking forward to this meeting on Monday.

[palmhat]

The silence is deafening

[Musky]

The silence is deafening

 

Shhhhh  

[Margaret]

All I know is we are getting a new Assembly Hall Maintenance program.

[Buddy]

A few years ago right in the middle of the melt down of the economy, just to make matters worse hurricane Ike rolled into Texas. I received a phone call from my cousin in Texas inviting me to go there and work with him doing hurricane repairs. My brother and I decided it might be worth the trip since work here in California and in his state of Oregon was kaput, nix, nil, nada.

I drove a Saturn for gas economy and he brought a diesel Dodge Ram pickup for pulling my 10,000 lbs dumping work trailer. We loaded both vehicles up with everything we could think would come in handy for residential or commercial work. We headed for Galveston, Texas. My cousin worked for a brother in Dallas and we were to represent his company and with my cousin who also lives in Dallas, we would work together. This brother's parents had a home on Galveston Island and we were to stay there and keep an eye on the place and in return have free rent and utilities. My cousin was to set up the jobs and my brother and I were to do the repairs. My brother and I both hold contractors licenses in our respective states and being Texas is a right to work state we felt this might work out, being able to focus on just working and not having to chase work also. Plus not having as many living expenses we would be able to afford having to care for two households. I brought my laptop and we would call and Skype with our families back home and put funds earned into bank accounts which our wife's could have access to to pay the bills.

When we first rolled through Houston on our way to Galveston we began to see the after effects of Hurricane Ike. Lots of roof damage being covered by the familiar blue plastic tarps. Bill boards and lighted signs missing parts or just poles standing with little bits of sign hanging on for dear life. Windows taped up or plywood covering missing windows. And as we continued east for another fifty miles toward Galveston the damage became more apparent.

By the time we had crossed the bridge onto the island we were driving through untold devastation. Boats were blown everywhere. Out in the middle of the fields before we crossed the bridge onto the island we could see boats of all sizes. Galveston Bay was littered with parts of houses and sunken boats sticking out of the water. I saw a very large boat sticking out of the front of what used to be a gas station along one of the main streets of the city. A set of pier poles lined their way out into the Gulf with just a few planks where a whole pier and restaurant had once stood over the water. Huge bull dozers had pilled the remnants of years of people's former possessions and memories. I couldn't believe the size of the mountains of debris. Piles that when we drove through them our cars disappeared from view of the sides of the road.

Since most of the island is only a few feet above sea level many of the homes are built on stilts with the bottom of the home at least 12' off the ground. Homes that used to be on the beach and whole roads along the beach had completely disappeared now to be part of the bulldozers work.

The eye of Ike had passed over the northern end of the island in September. We were arriving there in the beginning of November and although there was a lot of cleanup already done, the devastation was still as fresh in everyone's mind as if it were yesterday. We took the ferry across from the northern tip of Galveston to the mainland side and found it was wiped clean. We saw clean foundations of business's, poles standing alone where homes had been sitting as thick as any bustling coastal town would normally have sat. We learned later this area had been the home of many fishing companies with warehouses where they would bring their harvest from the sea. Large fishing boats were mored here and now it was all gone.

It was as though an atomic bomb had been dropped.

We made this trip across with the ferry weeks after arriving on the island and still it was very depressing seeing this scene. No bull dozers here. Nothing to clean up.

We learned later some had chosen to ride out the storm. What a mistake. Whole families disappeared off the coast line that day. There is a hospital on the island and I talked with a sister who had to remain there to care for patients who had been left behind because the ride on an ambulance would have killed them. She said never again. There was major wind damage to the structure and the whole bottom three floors were flooded from the storm surge. But they all survived. I hadn't heard if the building would.

The house we stayed in smelled of salt water. The carpets had already been removed. And all evidence of anyone living there had been removed by our employer. He had wisely gotten his parents to stay with him inland to ride out the storm. Afterward they got a new place to live around his area as they are advanced in age and the family insisted they move to a more safe area. We didn't have much time to settle in, we headed out to our first remodel the next day after arriving. We had to travel through the piles again back off the island towards Houston to relatively small community of Webster.

We started with stripping off the damaged roof and replacing it with new. While there we were visited by four sisters out in the field ministry. They called to us on the roof and asked if we might be interested in some good news on that fine day. My brother and I looked at each other, and without uttering a word to each other decided to have a little fun at their expense. We climbed down the ladder and listened to their presentation patiently till they were done and then let them know we were very interested in attending one of their meeting as we were new in town. They finally got suspicious and asked if we were witnesses, to which we slyly replied yes. I think I almost got slapped.

After we all stopped laughing they let us know there were two halls which survived with minimal damage. Those two were holding all the congregations from four halls in the area. Then they said we should go to a meeting in each hall and decide which one to join. They let us know where the two remaining halls were and we decided to stop by one which wasn't to far off the freeway and on our way home. On the way back to our new home away from home we drove by the one located in La Marque. From the hall there in La Marque we timed our return trip back to home and it was just about an hour to go through town and down to the southern end of the island to our home. Every where we needed to be was a distance. Glad I brought the Saturn because we went thru a lot of fuel.

When we went to our first meeting, we both reacted the same way. We had found our new congregation. We were two of six white faces in a meeting attendance of 250 brothers and sisters.

I have never before understood the term "southern hospitality" until we joined that congregation. We immediately felt at home, like we had always been there. Brother, sisters, young and old introduced themselves. We told our story over and over, why we were in the area. I have never come from a meeting in my life losing my voice, they are so loud with enthusiasm my tiny voice disappeared in about three feet. They love to sing in that congregation and they sing beautifully. I just listened several times just for the joy of hearing their voices. The brothers give excellent talks and everyone felt as though they were the focus of the speakers attention. My brother and I were called on to comment the first time our hands went up as though they were waiting for our comments.

Wow were we spoiled. We were invited to the PO's home for lunch on the following weekend to get to know us better. At that first meeting I asked if they knew anything about the local RBC because I wanted to let someone know I wanted to volunteer in in clean up and restoration work. They let me know one of the damaged halls was the home of the Branch's hub directing the work and it was called the TDRC, Texas Disaster Relief Committee. So we decided to pay them a visit before we went to lunch at the brothers home. The hall was about a mile from the hall we were now going to in the neighboring city of Texas City. We went in service on Sunday with that same brother and he did something at the door I've never seen tried. Our householder was friendly enough, and was courteously listening when the brother, a long time pioneer, said " You are a Christian aren't you"? I thought she was going to run right thru that screen door when she stepped right up and said " Yes I am", to late he had her in his net. She turned out to be a great return visit.

My brother went along with me to the hub but to my surprise let me know he wasn't a member of his RBC back home. When we passed thru the doors of the hub we found a bustling center of activity. We hadn't gotten there to early so we missed the consideration of the text and the brunt of the load of brothers receiving their assignments for the day. We saw many of the brothers and sister from our new congregation there. I asked who I could speak to about joining their group to help out and I was introduced to a brother Dudley. Turns out he was the head of the Branch relief committee and his assistant was a brother Lions. I was very surprised he had time for us. But he kicked everyone out of his office and invited me to sit down.

Brother Dudley is a very wonderful southern brother from Arkansas, I think, very polite, hospitable. After he invited me to sit down, he grilled me on what I brought to the table. I let him know I am a contractor of many years, building primarily restaurants with knowledge of commercial, residential and years of hands on experience. And I came with a laptop and AutoCAD. I explained how I was in contact with my RBC back home over the net and working on plans for them while I was in Texas for the foreseeable future. He said there were 2,800 homes damaged in some fashion or other along with the two Kingdom Halls. I told him how needing work had brought us to Texas but I wanted to help in any way they may need also. He asked me if I had my volunteer form filled out and I let him know, yes, back home. So he handed me a fresh form, which I filled out stating the skills we had already talked about. He asked if I had a couple of minutes for a small assignment that morning. We told him of our lunch plans and he proceeded to tell us of how the RBC kitchen was to be set up at the hall we were attending and some of the trailers needed stairs built and if I could take a few measurements and create plans for getting up inside, he would very much appreciate it.

That turned out to be fairly easy and we made our lunch date right on time. I was introduced to Texas style barbecue. All I can say is yumm. They love their meat. We ended up building those stairs and got everyone's approval on our skillful work. That small job turned out to be good advertising as many of the brothers now approached us for work on their personal homes.

After many weeks and completed assignments I asked brother Dudley if he ever got a response from the elder body back home here In California, and with a shrug and a big smile he pointed to his briefcase and said it was still sitting there, he hadn't gotten around to making that call. We had been there when ever he had an emergency problem come up and completed our assignment with good reports on our work, had fine reports from the brothers from La Marque so he decided it wasn't worth rocking the boat. Get back to work.

Not long after that I was invited to ack as a contractor for our brothers. I would get a brother or sisters paper work on what damage they had sustained from Ike. I was to visit the home and review what had been reported, ascertain what materials were needed to repair the damage, make all the arrangements for materials to be ordered, paid for and delivered to the job site. I arranged what kind of crews needed to show up, how many journeymen and helpers were needed and stay with the project until completion.

On one of my first homes I met a ninety year old sister who was very excited the TDRC had gotten to her. She let me do my assessment while she made sweet tea for refreshment. After talking a while she asked where I was from, when she found out I was from Modesto, California she let out a big old laugh and said she was from Modesto also, about thirty years ago.

Small world. It turns out no matter where you go in Jehovah's organization you find family. Long lost friends you've never met before.

I spent many months there, working just enough to support my family and myself, but the most rewarding work was for Jehovah. I met wonderful brothers and sisters where ever I went. Had some wonderful meals, did some great fishing when I could. That's another story. And after a while I realized I had been neglecting my field service being so busy working for our brothers.

That's where the assistant, brother Lions and I had a serious talk. I expressed my concern about not having any service time to report for a couple of months in a row because of my routine working for myself, making the meetings and working for the TDRC.

I have to take a moment to describe brother Lions. He's not a large man, physically. He stands about five feet tall. Thin and wiry, has a quiet disposition with a good sense of humor. The one thing that really stands out is, he has the biggest set of teeth I've ever seen in anyone. When he smiles you can't help but see that big pearly smile. He sat very close to my face and proceeded to tell me I had nothing to be worried or be ashamed about. "Those people out there have no standing of importance above our brothers. Why they could care less about our God, our brothers, our brotherhood and they are perishing for that stand. Don't waste another thought over them. Your brothers need you, they're in pain and our efforts are bringing relief to their misery. We need to spend as much time as it takes to get them back to a sense of normalcy".

I felt about two inches tall. So very apologetic for worrying about door to door service time and how my time card might look.

This experience, short as it lasted, a few months, taught me a valuable lesson. Like Peter who had to be told to stop calling unclean what Jehovah called clean, I had to readjust my thinking about what I felt was important. There in Texas I felt for the first time what real hospitality is like, although be it imperfect. And although I was a stranger in a strange land, I met family I didn't know I had. I got to truly experience personally what it is like to come to our brothers aid and feel their heartfelt gratitude. I always wanted to help in disaster relief and was always envious of my fleshly brothers and spiritual brothers who in the past had taken the time to aide our brothers in dire straights. Jehovah allowed me to be used in a wonderful way, experience something I hadn't planed on all because I made myself available. What a blessing and for me a glimpse into what we might be doing on the other side of Armageddon.

I probably would have spent a little more time there but I had to go home to help my faithful and loving wife move into a smaller house for us due to the economy. On the plane home someone gave me the Swine Flu. I was sick the very next day and a few days later the news announced if you were sick with the flu, quarantine yourself because people are dying and please don't spread it. I was sick for four months. Missed my first Memorial ever since I was born. On the bright side I haven't been sick with anything since. I don't recommend this form of treatment to avoid the flu.

Hope I haven't bored you with my experience, couldn't sleep. It's 7am and I've got to go to work now.

Wow! This is yearbook material.certainly not boring at all what a wonderful story

[Old]

Still digesting the program from yesterday.

 

Biggest new thing in my opinion is WINDOWS are back!

Big glass store front entries.

From out side you can see almost every thing in the KH.

 

Another thing that is mind blowing is they will use commercial construction techniques, no more barn raising.

Look for flat membrane roofs. 

 

They have your size, small, medium or large.

[Old]

By the way, even though we were told that yesterday's program would not be made available for all, the information we received  was not confidential and to share it with others.

 

Got a question ask your elders.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Old

[trottigy]

Also look at your 2015 yearbook pagers 16-18.