Preview of Use of New Church Building

Dec 6, 2019 - It seemed so long ago when they announced the merging of Taniyama Branch with Kagoshima Branch and that there will be a new church building.  8 months later and still the new building is not ready.  No remodeling has started to turn the 3rd and 4th floors into a chapel with classrooms, etc.  Latest estimate is now maybe June 2020.

A few months ago, I approached President Mack about an idea of using part of the first floor as a new teaching station.  Nothing happened for couple months about my suggestion.  Then suddenly we were invited to tour a remodeled portion of the first floor, remodeled for the explicit purpose of a new teaching station.  We were told it would be on a one month trial basis to see how we like it.  So far we are happy with it.  The classroom is slightly bigger than the old.  There are more restrooms available instead of having to share one tiny bathroom.  There is parking available, which the students who drive really love.

Since the new teaching station is close to the train station, it is really easy to pick up President and Sister Mack for Interview Day.  The following photo is taken in the lobby of the first floor because President Mack is using the classroom to do his interviews, so we set up in the lobby for the district training sessions.  Since the heating system is not functional in the lobby, we brought our apartment portable heaters to warm it up as best as we could.  However it is really nice to finally able to make use of the building.