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Watchtower Farms —Five Decades of Harvest Work Download Some 145 kilometers (90 mi) north of New York City, near the hamlet of Wallkill, New York, is a group of farms that have played an important role in the worldwide Bible educational work of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The first of the Watchtower Farms, as the facilities are now known, was purchased 50 years ago, on January 2, 1963. David Walker, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who has served at Wallkill since the beginning, tells why the first farm was obtained: “The world headquarters staff of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York, was growing, and we needed to feed them in a cost-effective way. The other farmland that Jehovah’s Witnesses had been using in upstate New York took between six and eight hours to reach from Brooklyn. Wallkill was only two hours away. This made it the ideal spot for our needs.” Eventually, Jehovah’s Witnesses used this farm to grow fruits and vegetables and to produce poultry, pork, and beef, as well as dairy products. In time, more farms were added. Within a decade the worldwide growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses led to unique developments at Wallkill. In addition to producing literal crops that could be harvested, literature began to be produced that would help with the figurative harvest work that Jesus spoke about. (Matthew 9: Printing: During the mid-20th century, the printery located in Brooklyn, New York, produced the majority of our Bible-based literature. But as the demand for literature increased, the Brooklyn printery was no longer able to keep pace. So in 1973, Jehovah’s Witnesses completed construction of an additional printery at Wallkill. Since then, the buildings housing the printing operations have been expanded several times, most recently in 2004. Computer Technology: In 1979, a team of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Wallkill began developing a computerized system, now called the Multilanguage Electronic Publishing System (MEPS). This tool allows for the publication of Bible literature in over 600 languages. Education: In 1988 the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead moved from Brooklyn to Wallkill, and on October 17, classes began. The school remained there until its move to the Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson, New York, in April 1995. As with other farms, over the past five decades, Watchtower Farms’ techniques and operations have changed. Still, considerable effort is put forth to provide quality food products for Jehovah’s Witnesses now serving at the U.S. Bethel facilities in New York. Currently, Jehovah’s Witnesses are constructing new office, residence, and support facilities at Wallkill. They are also renovating existing buildings. All this work will help Watchtower Farms continue to supply the spiritual needs of the growing number who are joining the ranks of Jehovah’s Witnesses in this part of the world. David Walker, quoted earlier, says: “Over the past 50 years, it has brought me great joy to see how from small beginnings, the facilities at Wallkill have grown and contributed to our worldwide effort to teach people the Bible’s message!”
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Farme Društva Watchtower – 50 godina postojanja Preuzmi U blizini gradića Wallkilla, koji se nalazi 145 kilometara sjeverno od New Yorka, smješteno je nekoliko farmi koje sve do danas imaju važnu ulogu u biblijskom obrazovnom programu koji Jehovini svjedoci provode diljem svijeta. Prva od tih farmi kupljena je prije više od 50 godina, točnije 2. siječnja 1963. David Walker, Jehovin svjedok koji već desetljećima služi u Wallkillu, ispričao je zašto je to imanje uopće bilo kupljeno. On kaže: “U glavnom sjedištu Jehovinih svjedoka u Brooklynu bilo je sve više radnika, a mi smo im trebali nabaviti hranu po što povoljnijim cijenama. Od Brooklyna do farme koju su Jehovini svjedoci dotad koristili trebalo je putovati od šest do osam sati. No Wallkill je bio udaljen samo dva sata vožnje. Zbog toga nam je ta lokacija jako odgovarala.” Jehovini svjedoci s vremenom su na tom posjedu počeli uzgajati voće, povrće, perad, svinje i goveda te su proizvodili mliječne proizvode. Kasnije je kupljeno još zemljišta koja su bila pretvorena u farme. U sljedećih desetak godina porastao je broj Jehovinih svjedoka, pa je u Wallkillu došlo do nekih promjena. Osim doslovne žetve koja se ondje obavljala, počela se proizvoditi i literatura koja je omogućavala simboličnu žetvu, o kojoj je govorio Isus (Matej 9:37; Luka 10:2; Ivan 4:35, 36). Navest ćemo samo neke poslove koji će nas još dugo asocirati na Wallkill. Tiskanje literature: Sredinom 20. stoljeća većina naše biblijske literature proizvodila se u Brooklynu. No budući da je potražnja za literaturom rasla, ta je tiskara postala premalena. Zbog toga je 1973. u pogon puštena nova tiskara u Wallkillu. Otada su se objekti tiskare nekoliko puta proširivali, a posljednja dogradnja obavljena je 2004. Kompjutersko programiranje: Godine 1979. tim Jehovinih svjedoka u Wallkillu počeo je razvijati kompjuterski sustav koji je dobio ime MEPS (Višejezični elektronički sustav za grafičku obradu teksta). Taj sustav omogućio je da biblijsku literaturu proizvodimo na više od 600 jezika. Obrazovanje: Godine 1988. misionarska škola Jehovinih svjedoka preselila se iz Brooklyna u Wallkill. Prvi misionari ondje su se počeli školovati 17. listopada. Škola je u Wallkillu ostala sve do travnja 1995, a onda se preselila u Biblijski obrazovni centar Jehovinih svjedoka u Pattersonu (država New York). Kao i na drugim farmama, rad na farmama Društva Watchtower u proteklih se 50 godina modernizirao. Ondje se još uvijek proizvodi kvalitetna hrana za Jehovine svjedoke koji rade u glavnom sjedištu u New Yorku. Jehovini svjedoci u Wallkillu trenutno grade nove poslovne i stambene zgrade. U tijeku je i renoviranje postojećih objekata. Zašto je sve to potrebno? Sve te promjene omogućit će da se zadovolje duhovne potrebe sve većeg broja Jehovinih svjedoka. David Walker, kojeg smo ranije spomenuli, kaže: “Jako me raduje što sam u posljednjih 50 godina imao priliku vidjeti proširenje tiskare i ostalih objekata u Wallkillu. Oni imaju važnu ulogu u propovijedanju biblijske poruke ljudima diljem svijeta!”