00:00:02 Work constructing the new Britain branch offices
00:00:05 is well under way.
00:00:07 A theocratic project of this size
00:00:10 is no small task;
00:00:12 it involves challenges.
00:00:14 What were some of those challenges?
00:00:17 How do those involved feel,
00:00:19 and what could we learn from that?
00:00:22 The branch facility is an unusual entity
00:00:26 —a mixture of volunteers working and living all on one property.
00:00:31 That doesn’t occur very often, if ever.
00:00:33 The common thread that people told us
00:00:36 —planning officers or counselors—
00:00:39 when we made inquiries about a specific site was,
00:00:42 “You will never get a site anywhere in Britain
00:00:44 where you get that combination in one planning application.”
00:00:46 From a human viewpoint,
00:00:49 it was just a complete conflict of normal criteria.
00:00:55 We searched the country far and wide to try to find a council
00:00:59 that was keen to follow the model that was needed for Bethel.
00:01:03 Amazingly, after almost three years
00:01:07 of searching for suitable properties,
00:01:09 having looked at over 300 sites,
00:01:12 we only came up with 3 that met the criteria.
00:01:16 It was in 2011 that we looked at a site
00:01:19 in the Essex area; it was a disused hospital.
00:01:21 That came to nothing because it was developed as residential,
00:01:24 but it did eventually introduce us to the Chelmsford Council.
00:01:28 And then the planning authorities said,
00:01:30 “Well, we can’t help you with that one,
00:01:31 but have you thought about this one?”
00:01:36 The brothers were looking everywhere they could,
00:01:39 but this was, in effect, an invisible site.
00:01:42 It was a site that we hadn’t even looked at and wasn’t even on our radar,
00:01:47 so this is another area where we felt that Jehovah’s hand was evident.
00:01:52 The development on that site was already approved
00:01:54 for 69,300 square meters (745,939 sq ft)
00:01:58 and our brief was 70,000 square meters (753,474 sq ft).
00:02:02 Having looked at so many other sites,
00:02:05 where some doors would open but others would remain shut,
00:02:09 to then come across a property, a site,
00:02:12 where all the doors opened, you knew this was different.
00:02:17 You knew this was the right one.
00:02:22 Another aspect of the work
00:02:24 that was done to secure the site
00:02:26 was that there were a lot of peripheral properties, which were strategic
00:02:30 and were useful to us in setting up site works
00:02:33 and in perhaps removing potential opposition
00:02:37 to our planning application.
00:02:39 For construction reasons, we needed staging;
00:02:42 we needed accommodations;
00:02:44 we needed access points; we needed a buffer.
00:02:47 Those properties became available
00:02:49 just where we needed them and when we needed them.
00:02:52 It seemed that every single one of them had a reason why
00:02:56 they were contemplating selling at that time.
00:02:58 So it wasn’t just the branch property itself;
00:03:01 it was all the facilitating properties around it
00:03:04 becoming available at the same time.
00:03:07 Again, it was remarkable —unprecedented!
00:03:10 None of them were actually on the market.
00:03:12 I see that too as another evidence of Jehovah’s blessing.
00:03:17 A principal issue in the negotiation
00:03:21 was the issue of contamination.
00:03:24 I was stunned
00:03:27 with the absolute chaos and mess that it was.
00:03:31 So we negotiated
00:03:33 a reduction in the purchase price.
00:03:36 The way the negotiations went
00:03:38 was evidence to me of Jehovah’s hand.
00:03:42 We had a specialist company do a full survey of the site,
00:03:46 and they commented that there is a barrier
00:03:48 of clay across the whole site.
00:03:50 If it would have been chalk
00:03:51 or limestone or sandstone,
00:03:53 we wouldn’t be able to build on that property.
00:04:01 There were a lot of obstacles to overcome,
00:04:03 and those were overcome little by little.
00:04:05 But we started to see Jehovah’s hand
00:04:07 as seemingly impossible obstacles began to be removed.
00:04:12 Psalm 127:1 says:
00:04:16 “Unless Jehovah builds the house,
00:04:18 it is in vain that [the] builders work hard on it.”
00:04:22 Seeing Jehovah’s direction firsthand through the various phases
00:04:27 convinces us that the success of this project
00:04:31 is not dependent on favorable circumstances,
00:04:35 the skill of the workers,
00:04:37 or even the hard work of those involved.
00:04:41 Building this new branch is only possible because of Jehovah’s blessing.
