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VISITING BETHEL

After visiting Six Flags on Tuesday, we started driving east toward Mexico City for our next stop.

Cool building against the backdrop of pollution

 

One of many easily recognizable giant corporations

And another

 

The kids all loved being in the city (that's not clouds in the sky but pollution)

Mexico City is one of the largest (population) cities in the world.  Think Tokyo city.  Think New York city.  Think Mexico city.  Which means BIG business, wealthy people, creative architecture and smog.  Actually the city streets and buildings are very clean.  But a LOT of people (and their vehicles) live here.

Not sure if it’s to cut down on smog/pollution or to deal with the heavy duty traffic problems or to raise revenues or just to mess with you.  There are restrictions for driving in Mexico City.  There are days you cannot drive in the Federal District.  And on the days you can, if you have an out of state plate you cannot drive before 11am.  If you get caught (and you WILL get caught) it’s not just a matter of a simple ticket but is a fine that is basically equal to losing your car.

Monday: no driving if license plate ends with 5 or 6.
Tuesday: no driving if license plate ends with 7 or 8.
Wednesday: no driving if license plate ends with 3 or 4.
Thursday: no driving if license plate ends with 1 or 2.
Friday: no driving if license plate ends with 9, 0 or a letter.
Saturday and Sunday: All vehicles may be driven.

Knowing this we planned our days accordingly -stayed outside the city limits the first night in Toluca and then crossed into the Federal District at 11:03am as we headed to Six Flags and then onto a different hotel right in the heart of the city for the next night.

The roads everywhere are under construction.  This is a good sign and shows continual improvement.  But it also makes for interesting travel in unfamiliar places.

Our GPS almost exploded from "recalculating" all the new roads. Check out these clouds at sunset.

With a bit of creative maneuvering we still made it to our destination -the Hilton Mexico City Reforma.

 

Great job Mikee on an incredibly luxurious suite.  We were well rested and happy to get on with the next day’s adventure…

Laura, Sydney, Seth, Dylan

Selena, Camille, India, Michael, Austin

Welcome to the Branch Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mexico.  The world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses is in New York, USA.  There are branch offices in different countries to oversee the witnessing and construction and disaster relief being done by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  What is truly amazing is this is all done by VOLUNTEERS -no one gets paid.  And this work is supported by VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS.  What a difference from the many for-profit groups there are that have so much bureaucratic overhead they are very seldom able to assist people in need.   These branches are also called “bethel.”  Being very familiar with New York Bethel (Wallkill, Patterson, Brooklyn) the kiddos were very interested to see if Bethel in another country is any different.  What did they think?

They liked it!  A lot!  Austin and India each said that it looked a little different but still felt like they are used to in New York.  Selena liked the water bubblers (drinking fountains) since we don’t come across them very much down here.

Couple facts:

  • the witnessing, building, and relief work of the countries of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama are taken care of by this branch.
  • this branch translates Bible literature in Maya, Tzotzil, Mexican Sign Language and over 21 other languages in addition to Spanish.  There are many indigenous languages in Mexico and Central America and there is a need for English speaking people to assist in the Translation department since it is preferable to translate directly from English to another language instead of English to Spanish to the next language.  Currently Jehovah’s Witnesses print literature in over 500 languages worldwide.
  • up to 100,000 books can be printed and bound in a single day
  • the Hospital Information Department provides updated medical information for bloodless procedures and has the cooperation of some 2,000 doctors throughout Mexico who are willing to treat patients with administering blood
  • there are over 710,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mexico and this year’s Memorial was attended by 2,889,764 just here in Mexico!

 

Thanks to our tour guide, Jehu for the interesting tour.  We met a brother who has been at Bethel since he was 11 years old when his family came to service in the mid 70s.  Also, we met a missionary couple from Honduras who are staying a bit in Mexico to take care of some things.  It was nice to see our friend Ruben and get his little insights into the shipping protocol of the branch.  We are used to seeing many many familiar faces when we tour Bethel and this time was a little different.  But it’s only our first time here at the Mexico branch -and that will change.  😉

Bethel sits in this pretty valley

Along the road OUTSIDE the property are several little shops...

...where you can purchase book bags, covers for literature, or imprint your name on your books

Pretty grounds

Pretty girls

Sleeping Ginger Kitty

This branch ships to all of Central America

Can you find Jehu, our tour guide?

Lots and lots and lots of paper

Press (left)

Press (right)

Press (controls)

Each book is made of several "signatures" (little books all put together)

Palletes of signatures ready to make books

Can you guess what book?

Future Bethelites

Graph of number of Kingdom Halls needed in Central America to keep up with growth

Graph of number of completed Kingdom Halls in Central America. There are 29 construction crews

This looks like Jane S

Some new friends

The men

And just a couple pieces of art…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{ 16 comments… add one }
  • Tony Cardillo August 24, 2011, 8:10 pm

    What a beautiful organization we have the privilege to belong to.Makes you feel at home no matter where you are.Thanx for sharing your visit.

  • Steph August 24, 2011, 9:39 pm

    Doesn’t look like the same place! Been a long long time since we were there!

  • Steph August 24, 2011, 9:47 pm

    If you go to Mexico city again, or when you go again, check out the folkloric ballet at the palace de bellas artes, maybe better give that to you in English, not sure I spelled it right, the palace of fine arts, the folkloric ballet. Beautiful building, a more historic part of the city. And the folkloric ballet is quite beautiful too! Old Mexican dances, a decimate must see!

  • Steph August 24, 2011, 9:47 pm

    I mean definite must see!

  • Steph August 24, 2011, 9:48 pm

    Stinkin’ spell check, bad guess!

  • nicole August 25, 2011, 12:17 am

    Hi there,thanks for that tour I love the unity we have in Jehovah’s organization.Appreciate these picture just inn case I don’t ever get to Mexico.

  • Leah Proctor August 25, 2011, 8:40 am

    Sounds like a fascinating city!

  • Elly August 25, 2011, 9:03 am

    I went to the Puerto Rico Bethel in 2000 which was awesome but I don’t think it was as big as the Mexican branch. Thanks for sharing that with us. It was a great tour.

  • DAD August 25, 2011, 11:01 am

    ENJOYED THE NICE TRIP, THANKS FOR SHARING.

  • Lori Borys September 9, 2011, 8:06 am

    Very nice place. Spotless! I love that the girls are always dressed alike and the ribbons in their hair are always amazing! Does somoene make those for you?

    • admin September 12, 2011, 10:08 pm

      hi lori. we had a “bow-girl” when we lived in the states. actually, we had several over the years but this is my fav… http://www.emmasaxton.com. brought ’em all down with us. thanks for noticing. makes a momma smile. 🙂

  • Frannie Turrell September 29, 2011, 8:25 am

    Oh my. What a dismal prospect when you arrived home from your field trip and opened that door. And how heartwarming it must have been when all the friends showed up on Saturday to help with the mop-up. Only in our worldwide brotherhood. Hope everything dries out thoroughly for you. Imagine the damage had it all been wood, linoleum or carpet.
    Warm love,
    Frannie

  • ed September 15, 2012, 11:48 am

    that was a wonderful presentation and great photos. I would like to visit a english speaking cong in Mexico? Whats a good city or town to visit?

  • Armando September 24, 2013, 1:11 am

    wonderful! i am planning to visit Mexico City on December. i hope i to visit Bethel in Mexico.

  • Tanja Barner September 25, 2013, 8:34 pm

    There is nothing like visiting the Bethel branches. I am glad to see you had a great visit.! We will heading to NY in April and we are all so very excited! Great pictures!!

  • Simon Andersson January 18, 2014, 11:06 am

    Hi. I just found your site searching for Bethel in Mexico. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’m going to Bethel on Thursday next week, I’m so excited, it’s always such an amazing experience to visit the Bethel homes.
    See you on the meeting tomorrow I guess. 🙂

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