Aw ake!

June 22,2000

SHOULD YOU BELIEVE

EVERYTHING
YOU HEAR?
 Average Printing 20,381,000
Published in 82 Languages

Should You
Believe
Everything
You Hear? 3-11
Most of us are bombarded with information
every day. What forms does it take?
How can you sift the true from the false?

Propaganda Can Be Deadly 3

After the Storms
-R elief Work The Manipulation of Information 4
in France 15
Do Not Be a Victim of Propaganda! 9
Read of what was done to
help many to cope with Young People Ask . . .
the devastation caused by Should I Live Abroad? 12
the worst storms to hit
France in over 300 years. Dally Aspirin
Should I or Shouldnt I? 20

A Big Lesson From a Tiny Island 22

The Hazards of
Watching the World 28
Hitchhiking 26
For those who hitchhike, From Our Readers 30
what precautions are vital to
avoid becoming a victim? A Corpse Comes to Life 31

Finding What Was Lost 32

2 Awake! June 22, 2000

 I
CAN BE DEADLY
halfway around the world
while the truth is putting on
its shoes. -Attributed to MARK TWAIN. joke. Its persuasive techniques are regularly
applied by dictators, politicians, clergymen,
u OU miserable Jew! snapped the advertisers, marketers, journalists, radio and
TV personalities, publicists, and others who
j f schoolteacher, as she slapped
A her seven-year-old student. She are interested in influencing thought and be
then invited the class to file by him and to havior.
spit in his face. Of course, propagandistic messages can
B oth the teacher and the stu d en ther be used to accom plish positive social ends,
nephewknew perfectly well th at the boy as in cam paigns to reduce d ru n k driving.
and his parents were not o f Jewish descent. But propaganda may also be used to pro
N or were they Jewish by faith. Rather, they mote hatred for ethnic or religious m inor
were Jeh o v ah s W itnesses. Taking advan ities o r to en tic e p e o p le to bu y cig a
tage of widespread prejudice against Jews, rettes. Every day we are bom barded with
the teacher was fostering hatred of her stu one persuasive c o m m u n ic a tio n afte r a n
dent. For years b o th the teacher and her other, point out researchers A nthony Prat-
class had been told by their priest that Jeho kanis and Elliot A ronson. These appeals
vahs Witnesses were despicable. The boys persuade not through the give-and-take of
parents had been called bo th Com m unists argum ent and debate, but through the m a
and agents of the CIA (Central Intelligence nipulation of symbols and of our m ost basic
Agency). So the boys classmates filed by, ea hum an emotions. For better or worse, ours is
ger to spit in the face o f a miserable Jew. an age of propaganda.
How has propaganda been used to affect
T hat boy survived to tell his story. The
hum an th in k in g and
same was not true for six million Jews liv
the centuries? W hat
ing in G erm any and nearby countries some
can you do to protect
60 years ago. Vicious propaganda was instru
yourself from danger
m ental in extinguishing the lives o f those
ous p r o p a g a n d a ? Is
Jews in Nazi gas cham bers and concentra
th e re a so u rc e o f
tion camps. Widespread, profound, unques
trustw orthy inform a
tioned, and virulent anti-Semitism led many
tion? These and oth
to regard the Jews as enemies whose exter
er questions will be
m ination was not only necessary but just. In
discussed in the fol
th at case, propaganda proved to be a weap
lowing articles.
on of mass extermination.
Yes, propaganda can be displayed openly P ro p ag an d a w as used
by the use of such emblems of hate as the to v ictim ize Jew s
swastika or subtly by the telling of a tasteless during th e H oloca

Awake! June 22, 2000 3

THE
MANIPULATION
By clever and
OF INFORMATION
persevering use o f propaganda
even heaven can be represented
as hell to the people, and conversely A History of Propaganda
the most wretched life as paradise. Today the word propaganda has a neg
AD O LF H IT L E R , MEIN KAMPF. ative connotation, suggesting dishonest tac
tics, but originally th at was not the m eaning
intended for the term . Propaganda ap p ar
A S M EA N S o f co m m u n icatin g have
ently com es from the Latin nam e o f a group
/ \ e x p a n d ed fro m p rin tin g to th e
of Rom an Catholic cardinals, the
tele p h o n e, radio, television, and
tio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for
the In tern etthe flow o f persuasive mes
sages has d ram a tic ally accelerated. T his the Propagation o f the Faith). This com m it
com m unications revolution has led to in teecalled Propaganda for sh o rtwas es
fo rm a tio n overload, as p e o p le are in u n tablished by Pope G regory XV in 1622 to
d ated by countless m essages from every supervise m issionaries. G radually, p ro p a
quarter. M any respond to this pressure by ganda cam e to m ean any effort to spread a
absorbing messages m ore quickly and ac belief.
cepting them w ithout questioning or ana But the concept of propaganda was not
lyzing them . b o rn in the 17th cen tu ry . F ro m an cien t
T h e cu n n in g p ro p a g a n d ist loves such times, men have used every available m edi
s h o rtc u ts e s p e c ia lly th o s e th a t sh o rt- um to spread ideologies or enhance fam e
circu it ratio n al th o u g h t. P ropaganda en and power. For example, a rt has served pro-
courages this by agitating the emotions, by pagandistic ends since the days o f the Egyp
exploiting insecurities, by capitalizing on tian pharaohs. These kings designed their
the am biguity o f language, and by bending pyram ids to project an image o f pow er and
rules o f logic. As history bears out, such tac durability. Similarly, the architecture o f the
tics can prove all too effective. R om ans served a political p u rp o se the
---------------------------------------------------------------- A w ake!----------------------------------------------------------------
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It probes beneath the surface and points to the real meaning behind current events, yet it always stays politically neutral
and does not exalt one race above another. Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of
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Unless otherwise indicated, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References is used.

4ws/r0/(ISSN 0005-237X) is published sem im onthly by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.; M ilton G. Henschel, President; Lyman
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Vol. 81, No. 12 Printed in U.S.A. 2000 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. Sem im onthly ENGLISH

4 Awake! June 22, 2000

P ropaga nda p ro m o tin g w a r an d
sm oking has c o n trib u te d to
m any d eath s

glorification o f the state. The term propa
ganda took on a generally negative conno
tation in W orld W ar I when governm ents
began playing an active role in shaping the
war inform ation spread by the media. D ur
ing World W ar II, A dolf H itler and Joseph
Goebbels proved them selves to be m aster
propagandists.
Following W orld W ar II, propaganda in
creasingly becam e a m ajor instrum ent to
prom ote national policy. B oth the W estern
and the Eastern blocs waged all-out cam
paigns to win the great m asses o f uncom
m itted people to their side. Every aspect of
national life and policy was exploited for
propagandistic p urposes. In recent years
the grow ing so p h istic a tio n o f p ro p a g a n
da te c h n iq u e s h as b e e n ev id en t in elec
tion cam paigns, as well as in advertising by
tobacco com panies. So-called experts and
other leaders have been em ployed to p o r
tray sm oking as glam orous and healthful

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Awake! June 22, 2000 5

 and not as the th reat to public health th at it
actually is.
Lies, Lies!
Certainly, the handiest trick o f the propa
gandist is the use o f outright lies. C onsid
er, for example, the lies th a t M artin L uther
w rote in 1543 about the Jews in Europe:
They have poisoned wells, m ade assassina
tions, kidnaped children . . . They are ven
om ous, bitter, vindictive, tricky serpents,
assassins, and ch ild ren o f the devil who
sting and work harm . His exhortation to
so-called C hristians? Set fire to their syna
gogues or sc h o o ls. . . T heir houses [should]
also be razed and destroyed.
A p rofessor o f gov ern m en t and social
studies who has studied th at era says: A nti
semitism has fundam entally nothing to do
with the actions o f Jews, and therefore fun
dam entally nothing to do with an antisem-
ites knowledge o f the real n atu re o f Jews.
He also notes: The Jews stood for every
thing th a t was awry, so th at the reflexive
reaction to a n atu ral or social ill was to look
to its supposed Jewish sources.
Making Generalizations
A nother very successful tactic of propa
gan d a is g en eralization. G en eralizatio n s
tend to obscure im p o rtan t facts about the
real issues in question, and they are fre
quently used to dem ean entire groups of
p e o p le . G y p sie s [or im m ig ra n ts] are
thieves is, for instance, a phrase frequently
heard in some E uropean countries. But is
th at true?
R ichardos Som eritis, a colum nist, says
th a t in o ne c o u n try su c h p e rc e p tio n s
caused a kind o f xenophobic and very of
ten racist frenzy against foreigners. It has
been shown, however, th at when it comes
to delinquent acts, the culprits in that coun
try are ju st as likely to be native-born as
foreign. For example, Som eritis notes that
6 Awake! June 22, 2000
surveys have shown th at in G reece, 96 out
of 100 crim es are p erpetrated by [Greeks].
The causes o f crim inal activity are eco
nom ic and social, he observes, not ra
cial. He blam es the m edia for system ati
cally cultivating xenophobia and racism by
a slanted coverage o f crime.
Name-Calling
Some people insult those who disagree
with them by questioning character or m o
tives instead o f focusing on the facts. N am e
calling slaps a negative, easy-to-remember
label onto a person, a group, or an idea.
The name-caller hopes th at the label will
stick. If people reject the person or the idea
on the basis o f the negative label instead o f
weighing the evidence for themselves, the
name-callers strategy has worked.
For example, in recent years a pow erful
antisect sentim ent has swept m any coun
tries in E urope and elsewhere. This trend
has s tirre d em o tio n s, c re a te d th e im age
o f an enemy, and reinforced existing prej
udices against religious m inorities. Often,
sect becom es a catchword. Sect is an
o th er w ord for heretic, w rote G erm an
Professor M artin Kriele in 1993, and a her
etic today in G erm any, as in form er times,
is [condemned to exterm ination]if not by
fire . . . , then by character assassination, iso
lation and econom ic destruction.
The In stitu te for P ropaganda A nalysis
notes th at bad nam es have played a tre
m endously pow erful role in the history o f
the world and in our own individual devel
opm ent. They have ruined re p u ta tio n s ,. . .
sent [people] to prison cells, and m ade men
mad enough to enter battle and slaughter
their fellowmen.
Playing on the Emotions
Even though feelings m ight be irrelevant
w hen it co m es to fa c tu a l claim s o r th e
logic o f an argum ent, they play a crucial
role in persuasion. Em otional appeals are
 IS THE WORK OF
S o m e o p p o n e n ts o f Je JEHOVAHS W ITNESSES A n o th e r jo u rn a lis t, fo r
h o v a h s W itn e s s e s have m e rly n e g a tiv e a b o u t th e
a ccused th e m o f s p re a d
PROPAGANDISE? W itn e s s e s , s ta te d : They
in g Z io n is t p ro p a g a n d a . liv e a n e x e m p la r y life .
O thers have c h a rg e d th a t th e m in is try o f th e Questions They do n o t v io la te th e s ta n d a rd s
Young People Ask
W itn e s s e s p ro m o te s C o m m u n is m . S till o th Answers That Work o f w h a t is m o ra l a n d rig h t. A po
e rs h a v e c la im e d th a t th e w o rk o f J e h o litic a l s c ie n tis t s im ila rly re m a rk e d
v a h s W itn e s s e s p ro m o te s th e id e a ls a n d a b o u t th e W itn e s s e s : T h e y b e
in te re s ts o f A m e ric a n im p e ria lis m . A nd have to w a rd o th e r p e o p le w ith pro
th e re a re th o s e w h o a s s e rt th a t th e W it fo u n d k in d n e s s , love a n d g e n tle
n esses are a n a rc h is ts , fo n e s s .
m e n tin g d is o rd e r w ith J e h o v a h s W itn e s s e s te a c h th e
th e a im o f c h a n g in g th e rig h tn e s s o f s u b m is s io n to a u th o r
s o c ia l, e c o n o m ic , p o lit ity . A s la w - a b id in g c itiz e n s ,
ic a l, o r le g a l o rd e r. O b th e y fo llo w B ib le s ta n d a r d s
viously, th e s e c o n flic tin g o f h o n e s ty , tru th fu ln e s s , a n d
a c c u s a tio n s c a n n o t a ll be c le a n lin e s s . T h e y b u ild g o o d
tru e . m o ra ls in to th e ir ow n fa m ilie s ,
The s im p le fa c t is th a t a n d th e y h e lp o th e rs to le a rn
J e h o v a h s W itn e s s e s a re how th e y can d o th e s a m e . They
none o f th e above. T h e w o rk live p e a c e a b ly w ith all m en, n o t
o f th e W itn e s s e s is c a rrie d g e ttin g in v o lv e d in d is r u p tiv e
o u t in fa ith fu l o b e d ie n c e to d e m o n s tra tio n s o r p o litic a l rev
Jesus C h ris ts m a n d a te to h is d is o lu tio n s . J e h o v a h s W itn e s s e s
c ip le s : You w ill b e w itn e s s e s o f s e e k to be e x e m p la ry in obe yin g
m e . . . to th e m o s t d is ta n t p a rt o f th e law s o f th e h u m a n s u p e rio r au
th e e a rth . (A cts 1 :8 ) T h e ir w o rk fo th o ritie s , w h ile th e y w a it p a tie n tly
cu ses s o le ly a n d e x c lu s iv e ly on th e on th e S u p re m e A u th o rity , th e Sov
go o d n e w s o f th e heavenly King e re ig n Lord Je h o va h , to re s to re p e r
dom-God's in s tru m e n t fo r b rin g in g fe c t p e a c e a n d rig h te o u s g o v e rn
peace to th e w h o le e a r t h M a tth e w m e n t to th is e a rth .
6 :1 0 ; 2 4 :1 4 . A t th e s a m e tim e , th e w o rk o f
O b se rve rs o f J e h o v a h s W itn e s s th e W itn e s s e s is e d u c a tio n a l. Us
es have fo u n d no e v id e n c e th a t th is in g th e B ib le as a b a sis, th e y te a c h
C h ristia n c o m m u n ity has e v e r bee n P u b licatio n s o f p e o p le w o rld w id e to re a so n on Bi
a fo rc e d is ru p tiv e o f th e good o rd e r Jehovah's W itnesses b le p r in c ip le s a n d th e re b y d e v e l
o f any land. p ro m o te fa m ily values an d
op rig h t s ta n d a rd s o f c o n d u c t and
high m o ra l stan d ard s
M any jo u rn a lis ts , ju d g e s , a n d o th m o ra l in te g rity . T h e y p ro m o te v a l
e rs have c o m m e n te d on th e p o s itiv e c o n trib u tio n s ues th a t im p ro ve fa m ily life a n d h e lp y o u n g p e o p le
th a t J e h o v a h s W itn e s s e s h ave m a d e to th e c o m cope w ith th e ir p e c u lia r c h a lle n g e s . They a ls o h e lp
m u n itie s in w h ic h th e y live. C o n s id e r s o m e e xa m p e o p le to fin d th e s tre n g th to o v e rc o m e bad h a b its
p le s . A fte r a tte n d in g a c o n v e n tio n o f J e h o v a h s and to d e v e lo p th e a b ility to g e t a lo n g w ith o th e rs .
W itn e s s e s , a re p o rte r fro m s o u th e rn E u rope c o m S uch a w o rk w o u ld h a rd ly be te rm e d p ro p a g a n
m e n te d : T h e se a re p e o p le w ith s tro n g fa m ily tie s , d a . As The World Book Encyclopedia says, in a c li
th e y a re ta u g h t to lo ve a n d to live by th e ir c o n m a te w h e re id e a s c irc u la te fre e ly , p ro p a g a n d a d if
s c ie n c e so as n o t to h a rm o th e rs . fe rs fro m e d u c a tio n .
Awake! June 22, 2000 7
 fabricated by practiced publicists, who play
on feelings as skillfully as a virtuoso plays
the piano.
For example, year is an em otion th at can
becloud judgm ent. And, as in the case o f
envy, fear can be played upon. The C anadi
an new spaper The Globe and Mail, o f Febru
ary 15, 1999, reported the following from
M oscow : W hen th re e g irls c o m m itte d
suicide in M oscow last week, the Russian
The sly art of
propaganda can
paralyze thought
and prevent clear
thinking
m edia im m ediately suggested they were fa
natical followers o f the Jehovahs W itness
es. N ote the word fanatical. N aturally,
people would be fearful o f a fanatic reli
gious organization th a t supposedly drives
young people to suicide. Were these unfor
tu n ate girls really connected w ith Jehovahs
W itnesses in some way?
The Globe continued: Police later adm it
ted the girls had nothing to do w ith [Je
hovahs Witnesses]. But by then a M oscow
television channel had already launched a
new assault on the sect, telling viewers that
the Jehovahs W itnesses had collaborated
w ith A dolf H itler in N azi G erm anyde
spite historical evidence th at thousands o f
th e ir m em bers were victim s o f the N azi
d eath cam ps. In the m ind o f the m isin
form ed and possibly fearful public, Jeho
vahs W itnesses were either a suicidal cult
or Nazi collaborators!
Hatred is a strong em otion exploited by
p ro p a g a n d ists. L oaded language is p a r
ticu larly effective in triggering it. T here
8 Awake! June 22, 2000
seems to be a nearly endless supply of nasty
words th at prom ote and exploit hatred to
ward particular racial, ethnic, or religious
groups.
Some propagandists play on pride. O ften
we can spot appeals to pride by looking for
such key phrases as: Any intelligent person
knows t h a t . . . or, A person w ith your ed
ucation cant help b u t see th at . . . A re
verse appeal to pride plays on o u r fear o f
seeming stupid. Professionals in persuasion
are well aware o f that.
Slogans and Symbols
Slogans are vague sta te m e n ts th a t are
typically used to express positions or goals.
Because o f their vagueness, they are easy to
agree with.
For example, in tim es o f national crisis
or conflict, dem agogues may use such slo
gans as My country, right or wrong, Fa
therland, Religion, Fam ily, or F reedom
or D eath. But do m ost people carefully an
alyze the real issues involved in the crisis or
conflict? O r do they ju st accept w hat they
are told?
In writing about World W ar I, W inston
Churchill observed: Only a signal is need
ed to transform these m ultitudes o f peace
ful peasants and w orkm en into the m ighty
hosts which will tear each other to pieces.
He further observed th at when told w hat to
do, m ost people responded unthinkingly.
The propagandist also has a very wide
range o f symbols and signs w ith which to
convey his messagea 21-gun salvo, a m il
ita ry salu te, a flag. Love o f p a re n ts can
also be exploited. Thus, such symbolism s
as the fatherland, the m other country, or
the m other church are valuable tools in the
hands o f the shrewd persuader.
So the sly a rt o f propaganda can paralyze
thought, prevent clear thinking and discern
m ent, and condition individuals to act en
masse. How can you protect yourself?
DO NOT BE A VICTIM
A fool will believe OF PROPAGAN
anything. Pr o v e r b s 14:15,
T o d a y s E n g l is h Ve r s io n .

H ER E is a differencea big differ No one w ants a m ind contam inated with

T ence betw een education and pro poison. Solomon, a king and educator in an
paganda. Education shows you how cient times, warned: Anyone inexperienced
to think. Propaganda tells you what to think. puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one
G ood educators present all sides of an issue considers his steps. (Proverbs 14:15) So we
and encourage discussion. Propagandists re need to be selective. We need to scrutinize
lentlessly force you to hear their view and whatever is presented to us, deciding what to
discourage discussion. Often their real mo accept and w hat to reject.
tives are not apparent. They sift the facts, ex However, we do not w ant to be so nar
ploiting the useful ones and concealing the row that we refuse to consider facts that can
others. They also distort and twist facts, spe improve our thinking. How can we find the
cializing in lies and half-truths. Your emo right balance? By adopting a standard with
tions, not your logical thinking abilities, are which to m easure new inform ation. Here a
their target. Christian has a source o f great wisdom. He
T he p ro p a g a n d ist m akes sure th a t his has the Bible as a sure guide for his think
message appears to be the right and moral ing. On the one hand, his mind is open, that
one and th at it gives you a sense of im por is, receptive to new inform ation. He proper
tance and belonging if you follow it. You are ly weighs such new inform ation against the
one of the sm art ones, you are not alone, you Bible standard and fits w hat is true into his
are comfortable and secureso they say. pattern of thinking. On the other hand, his
How can you protect yourself from the m ind sees the danger o f inform ation that
types o f people th a t th e Bible
calls profitless talkers and de
ceivers of the m ind? (Titus 1:10) D iscernm ent
Once you are fam iliar with some enables you to
of their tricks, you are in a better
position to evaluate any message
discard irrelevan t
or inform ation th at comes your or m isleadin g
way. Here are some ways to do inform ation
this.
B e selective: A c o m p le te
ly open m ind could be likened
to a pipe th at lets ju st anything
flow th ro u g h it even sewage.

Awake! June 22, 2000

 Test w h a tever you are readin g or
to see i f it is truthful

is entirely inconsistent with his Bible-based
values.
Use d iscern m en t: D isc ern m en t is
acuteness o f judgm ent. It is the power or
faculty o f the mind by which it distinguish
es one thing from another. A person with
discernm ent perceives subtleties of ideas or
things and has good judgm ent.
Using discernm ent, we will be able to rec
ognize those who are merely using sm ooth
talk and com plim entary speech in order to
seduce the hearts o f guileless ones. (Ro
m ans 16:18) D iscernm ent enables you to dis
card irrelevant inform ation or misleading
facts and distinguish the substance of a m at
ter. But how can you discern when some
thing is misleading?
P u t in form ation to the test: Be
loved ones, said John, a first-century Chris
tian teacher, do not believe every inspired
expression, b u t te st the in spired expres
sions. (1 John 4:1) Some people today are
like sponges; they soak up whatever they
come across. It is all too easy to absorb what
ever is around us.
But it is far better for each individual per
sonally to ch o o se w h at he will feed his
mind. It is said th at we are w hat we eat,
and this can apply to food for b oth the body
and the mind. N o m atter what you are read
ing or watching or listening to, test to see
whether it has propagandistic overtones or
is truthful.
M oreover, if we want to be fair-minded,
we m ust be willing to subject our own opin
ions to continual testing as we take in new
inform ation. We m ust realize th at they are,
after all, opinions. Their trustw orthiness de
pends on the validity o f our facts, on the
quality o f our reasoning, and on the stan
dards or values th at we choose to apply.
Ask questions: As we have seen, there
are many today who would like to delude us
with persuasive argum ents. (Colossians 2:4)
Therefore, when we are presented with per
suasive argum ents, we should ask questions.
First, examine w hether there is bias. W hat
is the motive for the message? If the mes
sage is rife w ith name-calling and loaded
words, why is that? Loaded language aside,

10 Awake! June 22, 2000

 We can confiden tly
look to G o d s Word as
the source o f truth

P opular opinion is
not alw ays reliable

what are the m erits o f the message itself?
Also, if possible, try to check the track rec
ord of those speaking. Are they known to
speak the truth? If authorities are used,
who or what are they? Why should you re
gard this personor organization or pub
lication as having ex pert know ledge or
tru s tw o rth y in fo rm a tio n on the su b ject
in question? If you sense some appeal to
emotions, ask yourself, W hen viewed dis
passionately, w hat are the m erits o f the
message?
Do not ju st follow the crowd: If you
realize that w hat everybody thinks is not nec
essarily correct, you can find the strength to
think differently. W hile it may seem that all
others think the same way, does this mean
that you should? Popular opinion is not a re
liable barom eter of truth. Over the centuries
all kinds o f ideas have been popularly ac
cepted, only to be proved wrong later. Yet,
the inclination to go along with the crowd
persists. The com m and given at Exodus 23:2
serves as a good principle: You m ust not
follow after the crowd for evil ends.
True Knowledge Versus Propaganda
Previously, it was m e n tio n e d th a t th e
Bible is a sure g uide for c le a r th in k in g .
Je h o v ah s W itnesses u n e q u iv o c a lly su b
scribe to Jesus statem ent to G od: Your
word is tru th . (John 17:17) This is so be
cause God, the A uthor o f the Bible, is the
G od of truth.Psalm 31:5.
Yes, in this age of sophisticated propagan
da, we can co n fid e n tly look to Je h o
v a h s W ord as th e so u rce o f tru th . U lti
mately this will protect us from those who
want to exploit us with counterfeit words.
2 Peter 2:3.
IN OUR NEXT ISSUE
Is Life Too Cheap?
Smile Its Good for You!
The Lure of Santeria

Awake! June 22, 2000 11

 YOUNG PE
I wanted to live somewhere
else.-Sam.
I was just plain curious.
I wanted to see something
new.-Maren.
A close friend told me that
breaking away from home a
little would be good for me.
-Andreas.
I was hungry for adventure.
-Hagen.

O YOU ever dream of liv

D ing in a foreign country
perhaps just on a tem po
rary basis? Every year, thou
sands o f young p eo p le are
able to do ju s t th at. A ndreas says o f his
foreign experience: I would love to do it
again.
Some youths make a tem porary move be
cause they want to earn money or learn a for
eign language. For example, in many coun
tries au p air program s are quite popular.
These allow young foreigners to do domes
tic work for a family in return for room and
board, and they are able to use their spare
tim e to study the local language. Then there
are youths who move abroad to gain an edu
cation. Others make the move to find work
so th at they will be able to help their fam
ilies financially. Still others move because
they are not sure what they want to do af
ter school and they want to take a time-out
abroad.
Interestingly, some Christian youths have
moved to lands where there is a shortage of
evangelizers, in order to expand their minis
try. W hatever the reason for the move, living
in a foreign country can be a valuable lesson
in adult independence. It can broaden your
horizons culturally. You m ight even m aster
a foreign languagesom ething th at could
increase your prospects in the jo b market.
Nevertheless, living abroad is not always
a positive experience. Susanne, for exam
ple, spent a year as an exchange student.
She says: I was sure th at it would be abso
lutely fantastic from start to finish. It was
not. Some youths have even been exploited
or have run into serious trouble. So before
packing your bags, it would be wise for you
to sit down and consider the pros and cons.
Analyze Your Motives
Considering the pros and cons would cer
tainly include examining your motives for
wanting to go abroad. It is one thing to trav
el to p u rsu e s p iritu a l in te re sts o r to
care for fam ily responsibilities. But like
the youths quoted at the outset, m any de
sire to move simply because they want ad
venture, greater freedom, or a good time.

12 Awake! June 22, 2000

 This is not necessarily wrong. Af
ter all, Ecclesiastes 11:9 en co u r
ages young people to rejoice in
their you th . However, verse 10
w arns: R em ove v exation from
your heart, and ward off calamity
from your flesh.
If your motive for moving to a
foreign land is to avoid parental
restrictions, you m ight be invit
ing calam ity. D o you rem em
ber Jesus parable o f the p ro d i
gal son? It involved a young m an
who selfishly traveled abroad, evi
dently to obtain m ore freedom. Before long,
though, calamity struck, and he found him
self hungry, im poverished, and spiritually
illLuke 15:11-16.
Then there are those who want to move
because they w ant to escape problem s at
home. But, as Heike Berg writes in her book
Whats Up, if you want to go away only be
cause you are unhappy . . . and you believe
everything will be b e tte r som ew here else
forget it! Really, it is better to face prob
lems squarely. N othing is gained by ru n
ning away from situations th at are not to our
liking.
O ther dangerous m otives are greed and
m aterialism . S p u rre d on by a desire for
w ealth, m any y o u th s n u rtu re grandiose,
unrealistic ideas o f w hat life is like in in
dustrialized lands. Som e im agine th a t all
Westerners are wealthy. But this is far from
true. After moving, m any youths find them
selves in a strange land, struggling to get
out of poverty.* The Bible warns: The love
of money is a root o f all sorts o f injurious
things, and by reaching o u t for this love
some have been led astray from the faith and
have stabbed themselves all over with many
pains. 1 Timothy 6:10.
* See the article Counting the Cost of Moving to an Af
fluent Land, in the April 1, 1991, issue of The Watchtower,
published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New
York, Inc.
Awake! June 22, 2000
Are You Ready?
There is another factor to consider: Are
you truly m ature enough to deal with the
hardships, problems, and conflicts that will
arise abroad? Likely you would have to live
with a room m ate or a family and adjust to
their routine. So how are you doing at home
now? D o your parents com plain th at you
are inconsiderate and self-centered? Are you
prone to be picky about w hat you eat? How
willing are you to do your share of the house
work? If these are difficult issues for you
now, imagine how m uch m ore so they could
be for you in a foreign country!
If you are a Christian, will you be able to
m aintain your own spirituality? O r do your
parents constantly have to rem ind you not
to neglect Bible study, Christian meetings,
and the preaching work? Would you be spir
itually strong enough to resist pressures and
tem ptations abroad th at you might not face
in your homeland? On his first day at school
in a foreign land, one young Christian, an ex
change student, was told where he could get
illegal drugs. Later he was asked out on a
date by a female schoolm ate. In his native
land, a girl would never express her interest
so directly. A young African who moved to
Europe also observes: At hom e you never
see imm oral pictures in public. But here you
see them everywhere. Moving abroad could
13

lead to spiritual shipwreck if one is not sol
id in the faith. 1 Peter 5:9.
Get the Facts!
Before making a move, you need to get all
the facts. Do not go on secondhand informa
tion. If, for example, you are considering a
student-exchange program, how much will it
cost? You may be surprised to know that it
often involves thousands of dollars. You also
need to find out whether the schooling you
receive abroad will be recognized at home.
Also, gather as much information as you can
about the countryits laws, its culture, its
customs. W hat costs are involved in living
there? W hat taxes will you have to pay? Are
there health risks you should consider? You
may find it helpful to talk to people who have
actually lived there.
Then there is the m atter of living accom
m odations. H ost parents of exchange stu
dents usually do not expect any m aterial
com pensation. Even so, staying with indi
viduals who do not respect Bible principles
can cause great stresses and strains. Staying
with friends or relatives might be an alter
native. But take care not to become a bur-
14 Awake! June 22, 2000
Talk w ith your p aren ts a b o u t
the benefits an d dangers o f m oving
den to them even if they urge you to stay.
This could strain or even destroy your rela
tionship with them .Proverbs 25:17.
If you plan to earn money while abroad,
do not forget your Christian obligation to
obey the secular authorities. (Rom ans 13:
1-7) Does the law allow you to work in that
land? If so, under w hat conditions? W ork il
legally and you can com prom ise your stand
as an honest C hristian and leave yourself
w ithout basic protections, such as accident
insurance. Even if it is legal to work, you will
need to exercise caution and shrew dness.
(Proverbs 14:15) U nscrupulous employers
often take advantage of foreigners.
Making a Decision
It is clear, then, th at the decision to move
to a foreign land is a big oneand should
not be taken lightly. Sit down with your p ar
ents, and consider carefully the expected
benefits and the possible dangers. Try not to
let your enthusiasm override your discern
ment. Be honest when analyzing your m o
tives. Listen carefully to your parents. Af
ter all, they will still feel responsible for you,
even if you are hundreds of miles away. Like
ly you will need their financial support to
survive.
All things considered, it may be th at mov
ing is unwiseat least for the time being.
This may be disappointing, but there are
many other exciting things you can do. For
example, have you explored the possibili
ty of visiting interesting places in your own
country? O r why not get a head sta rt on
learning a foreign language? In time, p er
haps the opportunity to travel abroad will
open up.
W hat, though, if you do decide to move? A
future article will discuss how you can make
a success of your stay abroad.
 rescued

In th e m id d le o f ru in ed vineyards,
a c rip p le d ra ilw a y lin e
now le a d s now here
RELIEF W ORK
IN FRANCE
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN FRANCE

their cars or drowned in their sleep. One

rescued victim likened the horrific No
vember night to the end of time. A
whole region of southw estern France
329 towns and villageswas declared
a disaster area.

R A N ^ O IS E o p e n e d th e d o o r to get Worse Was Yet to Come

F som e logs fo r th e fireplace. I ju s t

couldnt believe my eyes, she recalls.
There was water up to the doorstep, and
a huge wave was coming through the gar
T h e so u th w e st was still d ressin g its
wounds when disaster struck again. An ex
ceptionally strong depression over the Atlan
tic Ocean generated hurricane-force winds.
den gate. Her husband, Thierry, with wa The first gale swept across northern France
ter up to his neck, fetched a ladder from the on D ecem ber 26, 1999, and the second dev
garage. The family reached the attic, where astated the south the following night. Wind
he cut an opening in the roof. Soaked and speeds o f over 125 m iles p e r h o u r w ere
terrified, the couple and their three children recorded. A ccording to official registers,
waited four long hours to be rescued. Final
ly, a French police helicopter located them cars
d o tte d th e lan d scap e
and winched them to safety.
Swollen by to rre n tia l rain, rivers over
flowed their banks, breaking dikes and de
stroying bridges. Waves o f m uddy w ater,
som etim es over 30 feet high, sw ept away
everything in their path. M ore than 30 peo-
ed in
France has not had such a storm since at
least the 17th century.
Helene was eight m onths pregnant when
the gale hit. I was extremely scared, she
recalls. My husband was returning home
on his motorcycle, and I could see branch
es flying everywhere outside. I couldnt help
but think that he would never see his baby.
My husband had hardly arrived when water
started to rise in our home. We had to jum p
out the window.
In France, at least 90 people died. They ei
ther drowned or were struck by falling roof
tiles, chimneys, or trees. H undreds of oth
ers were badly injured, including a num ber
of civilian and arm y rescuers. The gales also th eir m eans o f livelihood, as
affected neighboring countries, killing over greenhouses and orchards were destroyed.
40 people in Britain, Germ any, Spain, and
In just a few hours, the wind wreaked hav
Switzerland.
oc on Frances forests and parks, razing hun
Aftermath dreds o f thousands o f acres o f woodland.
O f M etropolitan Frances 96 adm inistra According to the French N ational Forest Of
tive departm ents, 69 were officially declared fice, an estim ated 300 million trees were de
n atu ral disaster sites. Dam age has been stroyed. Im posing centuries-old trees were
estim ated at some 70 billion francs (11 bil uprooted or snapped like matchsticks. The
lion dollars). The devastation in some towns, wind tore huge swaths through the forests o f
villages, and ports rem inded onlookers of a Aquitaine and Lorraine.
war zone. Roads and railways were blocked On the day after the storm, I went into
by fallen trees or electrical pylons. Roofs the woods, said Bernard, one o f Jehovahs
were ripped from buildings, construction W itnesses who works as a forest warden.
cranes toppled, and boats tossed It was astonishing. Confronted with such
up onto quays. Thousands of a sight, you can t rem ain unmoved! Here,
80 p e rc e n t o f my congregation de
pend on the forest for their

P/ne trees snap p ed
lik e m a tc h s tic k s
in the C reuse d e p a rtm e n t
C h a re y to n /L a M o n ta g n e /M A X P P P
living. People, especially the elderly, are
deeply shocked. On the grounds of the Pal
ace o f Versailles, 10,000 trees were felled. It
will take two centuries for the park to recov
er its form er appearance, lam ented one of
the head gardeners.
As power lines fell, m ore than one sixth of
the population in France was plunged into
darkness. Despite the heroic efforts of pub
lic services, tens of thousands of people were
still w ithout electricity or telephone service
two weeks after the storms. Some small vil
lages were totally cut off. Families forced
to draw w ater from wells and to use can
dles felt as if they were living one hundred
years ago rather than at the threshold of the
21st century.
T h e sto rm s did n o t sp are
public buildings, chateaus,
In th e g ardens o f th e P a la c e o f V ersailles a lo n e ,
1 0 ,0 0 0 trees w ere fe lle d
C h a rle s P la tia u /R e u te r s /M A X P P P
f lic Ull/llllllg a IId ;
In Salnt-P ierre-sur-D Ives,
N orm andy
M . D a n ia u /A F P
or cathedrals. N um erous
religious edifices, including 15 Kingdom
H alls o f Jeh o v ah s W itnesses, were dam
aged. In some places meetings were held by
candlelight or with kerosene lamps.
Approximately 2,000 families o f Jehovahs
W itnesses suffered storm dam age to their
property, ranging from fallen trees or lost
roof tiles to homes th at were completely de
stroyed when rivers overflowed their banks.
Several W itnesses were injured. Tragically,
in the C harente region, a 77-year-old W it
ness drowned as his helpless wife looked on.
Others had a close brush with death. G il
bert, aged 70, recalls: Its a miracle th at I
wasnt killed. The door burst open, and wa
ters surged in with incredible force. I im m e
diately found m yself in five feet o f water.
I was saved by hanging onto my wardrobe.
Providing Needed Help
The storm s generated extraordinary sol
id a rity in F ra n ce a n d th ro u g h o u t E u
ro p e. T h e n e w sp a p e r Le M idi libre o b
served: T here are tim es w hen ch arity is
alm ost obligatory, w hether it is engaged in
 4 * *
'# J.- .

It* -
Team s o f Jeho vahs W itnesses
cle a n in g a hom e fo r th e e ld e rly In
La R e d o rte (abo ve) a n d th e tow n
h a ll o f R aissac d A ude (rig h t)

spontaneously, out o f friendship,

or because o f conscience.
Im m ediately after the storm s,
rescue co m m ittees o f Jeh o v ah s
W itnesses w ere set u p to h elp
m em bers o f local congregations as
well as others alfected by the di
saster. Regional Building C om m it
tees, norm ally used to construct
Kingdom Halls, organized team s
o f volunteers. A fter the N ovem
ber storm in the southwest, 3,000
W itnesses participated in the res
cue and cleanup work, helping the
victims remove the m ud and wa
ter th at had flooded their homes.
W itnesses were among the first vol
unteers to arrive in some villages.
Public buildings, such as schools,
post offices, town halls, hom es for
the elderly, and even a cemetery,
were cleaned up by the Witnesses.
In many cases they worked along
side relief services.
 Help was extended to all, regardless o f
their religious beliefs. We helped out the
village priest. We cleaned the basem ent o f
his house, observed one Witness. With re
gard to others who received Witness aid, he
added: People viewed us as if we had fallen
from heaven to help them out. One official
said: You m ight see it as their way of read
ing the Gospel and helping their neighbor. I
think that those who came lived the G os
pel and their religion. A Witness volunteer
commented: Your heart moves you to come
and help like this. Its a real pleasure to be
able to do something for our neighbors.
After the double gale o f December, doz
ens o f W itness fam ilies were o u t o f co n
tact with their C hristian brothers for sever
al days. Under the supervision of traveling
overseers and local elders, relief aid was
organized. Blocked roads and dead phone
lines sometimes made it impossible to reach
friends living just a few miles away. To help
isolated m em bers o f th e ir congregation,
some W itnesses crossed devastated woods
on foot or by bicycle, despite the very real
risk of falling trees. Once again, volunteers
w orked h a rd cleaning schools, lib raries,
cam psites, and neighbors hom es and un
blocking forest trails.
Creating a Bubble of Love
M any victims o f these catastrophes, espe
cially young children and the elderly, were
traum atized by the experience. Those who
lost th eir hom e or a loved one will need
much time and the support o f family and
friends to reb u ild th e ir lives. Follow ing
the flooding in the Aude region, Dr. G abri
el Cottin, from a psycho-medical emergency
comm ittee, noted: Any support from peo
ple of the same religious body as the victim
is also considerably helpful.
Jehovahs W itnesses view providing such
aid as a m oral and S c rip tu ra l obligation.
There should be no division in the body [of
the true Christian com m unity], stated the
apostle Paul. Its m em bers should have the
same care for one another. And if one m em
ber suffers, all the other m em bers suffer with
it. 1 C orinthians 12:25, 26.
In the hours following the storm, a dozen
Christian brothers and sisters came to our
home to help clean everything, says Helene,
m entioned earlier, who is now the m other
of a lively baby girl. Even W itnesses who
had themselves been affected by the storm
came to help us. The help was so wonderful
spontaneous and from the heart!
Odette, whose hom e was destroyed in the
flooding, said o f fellow W itnesses: They
greatly com forted me. You just cant express
what you feel. I am very, very moved by all
that was done for me. A nother sum m ed up
the feelings of m any by exclaiming in appre
ciation: We are really in a bubble o f love!

BLACK TIDE d iffic u lt. Thousands o f v olunteers, d ie d a fte r th e s u p e rta n k e r Amo

In m id -D e c e m b e r, ju s t b e fo re
th e storm s, th e s u p e rta n k e r Erika
sank in heavy seas a b o u t 3 0 m iles
o ff F ra n c e 's w e s t c o a s t, s p illin g
1 0 ,0 0 0 to n s o f oil into th e w aters.
Som e 2 5 0 m iles o f s h o re lin e fro m
B r itta n y to V e n d e e w a s p o llu t
ed. The storm aggravated th is eco
lo g ic a l d is a s te r by w h ip p in g th e
oil into a m u ltitu d e o f s m a ll gluey
s lic k s , s p re a d in g th e p o llu tio n ,
and m akin g its rem oval even m ore
young and old, cam e from all over
France to h e lp cle a n th is visc o u s
fu e l fro m th e rocks and sand.
The a c c id e n t has c a u s e d s e ri
ous e co lo g ica l m a ritim e c o n ta m i
n a tio n . The oyster and sh e llfis h in
d u s trie s have been badly a ffected.
A c c o rd in g to o r n ith o lo g is ts , a t
le a s t 4 0 0 ,0 0 0 s e a b ird s p uffins,
g re b e s , g a n n e ts , and e s p e c ia lly
g u ille m o ts have d ie d . T h a t is up
to te n tim e s th e n u m b e r th a t
co Cadiz ran a g roun d off B ritta n y
in M arch 1 9 7 8 . M any o f th e birds
w ere w in te rin g on Frances shores
a fte r m ig ra tin g fro m E ngland, Ire
la n d , and S c o tla n d . The d ire c to r
o f th e R o c h e fo rt B ird P ro te c tio n
L e a g u e c o m m e n te d : I t s a c a t
a s tro p h ic oil s lic k . It is by fa r th e
w o rs t th a t we have ever s e e n .. . .
We fe a r th a t rare c o lo n ie s o f birds
w ill be w eakened or even e lim in a t
ed fro m French s h o re s .
 DAILY ASPIRIN
Should I or Shouldn't I?
The following is a true-to-life scenario described by
a doctor. It reflects an all-too-frequent problem.

H E whole fam ily was worried. Now the daily use of aspirin by individuals has in

T even th e d o c to r was too. I f his creased in recent years. Why?

b leed in g d o e s n t sto p so o n , the
d o cto r said, we may have to consider a
blood transfusion.
Enthusiasm for Aspirin
In 1995 the Harvard Health Letter reported
that routine aspirin use saves lives. Citing
The m an had been slowly losing blood several worldwide studies, which have been
through his bowels for several weeks, and repeated m any tim es since then, research
the problem had been diagnosed as inflam ers concluded: N early everyone who has
m ation o f the stom ach, or gastritis. Are you ever had a h eart attack or stroke, suffers
sure youre not taking any m edications? from angina, or has undergone coronary ar
asked the frustrated doctor.
tery bypass surgery should take one-half to
No. Only this natural over-the-counter one aspirin tablet daily unless they are aller
stuff for my arthritis, said the man. gic to the drug.*
Suddenly the doctor pricked up his ears. O ther researchers claim benefits of taking
Let me see it. C arefully searching the aspirin daily for men over 50 who are at risk
in g re d ie n t lab el, he fo u n d w h at he was for a heart attack and for women at risk as
looking for. Acetylsalicylic acid! Problem well. Furtherm ore, there are studies indicat
solved. W hen the patient stopped taking the ing that daily aspirin may reduce the risk
aspirin-containing com pound and was given of colon cancer and that large doses over a
iron and some stom ach-healing medicine, long period can help lower blood-sugar lev
the bleeding stopped and his blood count els in diabetics.
slowly returned to normal.
How does aspirin work to provide these
Medication-Induced Bleeding proposed benefits? Though all is not known,
G astrointestinal bleeding caused by m ed evidence indicates that aspirin acts to make
ication is a serious m edical problem today. platelets in the blood less sticky, thus in
T hough m any m edications can be im pli terfering with the form ation o f blood clots.
cated, the m ajority of such problems come Presumably, this helps to prevent blockage
from medicines used for arthritis and pain. of small arteries to the heart and brain, in
These include a class o f m edications called this way preventing damage to vital organs.
nonsteroidal anti-inflam m atory drugs, or W ith all these presum ed benefits of aspi
NSAIDS. N am es may vary from one coun rin, why doesnt everyone take it? For one
try to another. thing, there is still m uch that is not known.
A sp irin is p re s e n t in m any over-the-
* Awake! does not recommend any particular kind o f
counter m edications, and in m any countries medical treatment.

20 Awake! June 22, 2000

Even the ideal dosage is unclear. Recom
m endations range from one standard tab
let twice daily to as little as one baby aspi
rin every other day. Should the dosage for
women be different from th at for men? D oc
tors are not sure. W hile enteric-coated as
pirin may be considered som ewhat helpful,
the advantage o f buffered aspirin is still con
troversial.
Reasons for Caution
Though technically aspirin is a n atural
su b sta n c e A m e ric a n In d ia n s o b ta in e d
com ponents o f asp irin from the bark of
a w illow tre e it has m any side effects.
Besides th e fact th a t it c au ses bleeding
problems in some people, there are many
o th e r p o ten tia l co m p licatio n s w ith aspi
rin, including allergic reactions in aspirin-
sensitive people. N eedless to say, daily aspi
rin usage is not for everyone.
A person who is at risk for heart attack or
stroke or who has significant risk factors,
however, may w ant to ask his or her doctor
about the risks and benefits o f daily aspi
rin use. Certainly the patient would want to
make sure he or she has no bleeding prob
lems, no aspirin intolerance, and no stom
ach or gastrointestinal problem s. O ther po
tential problems or m edication interactions
should be reviewed w ith the physician prior
to beginning therapy.
As noted before, aspirin and aspirinlike
m edications ca rry th e significant risk o f
bleeding. And th at bleeding may be subtle,
not im m ediately apparent, and slowly cu
m ulative over time. O ther m edications too
need to be considered w ith care, particu
larly other anti-inflam m atory medicines. Be
sure to inform your physician if you are us
ing any of them. In m ost cases it would be
wise to discontinue the m edication prior
to surgery. Perhaps even regular laboratory
m onitoring of blood levels would be helpful.
If we want to protect ourselves from fu
ture problems, we will heed the Bible prov
erb: Shrewd is the one th at has seen the ca
lam ity and proceeds to conceal himself, but
the inexperienced have passed along and
m ust suffer the penalty. (Proverbs 22:3) In
this m edical m atter, may we be among the
shrewd ones so th at we suffer no penalty
with our health.

Who Might Consider Taking Aspirin Daily

P e o p le w h o h ave c o ro n a ry h e a rt d is e a s e o r n a rro w e d c a ro tid a rte rie s
(th e m a in b lo o d v e s s e ls in th e neck).
P e ople w h o have had a th ro m b o tic s tro k e (th e k in d c a u s e d by c lo ts ) o r a
tra n s ie n t is c h e m ic a tta c k (a b rie f s tro k e lik e e p is o d e ).
M en o ver 5 0 w ith o n e or m ore o f th e fo llo w in g ris k fa c to rs fo r c a rd io v a s
c u la r d is e a s e : s m o k in g , h y p e rte n s io n , d ia b e te s , e le v a te d to ta l c h o le s
te ro l le ve l, low HDL c h o le s te ro l, s e v e re o b e s ity , heavy a lc o h o l c o n
s u m p tio n , fa m ily h is to ry o f e a rly c o ro n a ry d is e a s e (h e a rt a tta c k
b e fo re age 5 5 ) o r o f s tro k e , and a s e d e n ta ry life s ty le .
W o m en over 5 0 w ith tw o o r m o re o f th o s e ris k fa c to rs .
Source: C o n s u m e r R e p o r ts on H ealth

You m ay wish to consult your physician before

m a k in g any decisions on this m a tte r.
 A B i g Lesson
From a Tiny Island
APA N U I, a 64-square-m ile volcanic
R outcrop virtually devoid of trees, is the
m ost isolated piece of inhabited land in the
world * The entire island is now a histori
cal m onum ent, partially because of its rock
statues called moai. These are the work of a
once vibrant civilization.
Carved from volcanic rock, some are
buried so deep that only their giant heads
are visible. In other cases, the torso is above
ground, and some moai still sport a rock top-
knot called a pukao. By far the majority lie
unfinished in quarries or scattered about on
ancient roads, as if the workers just threw
dow n th e ir tools and walked off the job.
Those standing vary from isolated statues
to rows num bering up to 15, each one with
its back to the sea. Understandably, the moai
have long mystified visitors.
In recent years science has begun to un
derstand not only the mystery of the moai
but also the puzzle of why the once thriving
civilization th at built them collapsed. Signif
icantly, the facts coming to light have more
than historical value. According to Encyclo-
pcedia Britannica, they offer an im portant
lesson for the m odern world.
T hat lesson concerns m anagement of the
earth, especially its n atural resources. Of
course, the earth is far more complex and bi
ologically diverse than is a small island, but
that does not m ean that we should ignore
* Although the inhabitants call both their island and
themselves Rapa Nui, the island is more commonly known
as Easter Island, and the inhabitants are known as Easter
Islanders.
22 Awake! June 22, 2000
the lesson of Rapa Nui. Let us take a few
moments, then, to review some highlights
of Rapa N uis history. O ur account begins
about 400 C.E. when the founding families
arrived in their oceangoing canoes. The only
eyes watching were those of hundreds of sea
birds wheeling above.
An Island Paradise
The island did not boast a broad variety of
plants, but it was well endowed with forests
of palm, hauhau, and torom iro trees, besides
shrubs, herbs, ferns, and grasses. At least six
species of land birds, including owls, herons,
rail, and parrots, were thriving in this remote
area. Rapa N ui was also the richest seabird
breeding site in Polynesia and probably in
the whole Pacific, says Discover magazine.
The colonists may have brought chickens
and edible rats, which they viewed as a deli
cacy, to the island. They also brought crop
plants: taro, yam, sweet potato, banana, and
sugarcane. The soil was good, so they im
mediately began clearing land and planting
a process th at continued as the popula
tion grew. But Rapa N ui had a limited area
and, though well forested, a limited num ber
of trees.
The History of Rapa Nui
W hat we know about Rapa N uis histo
ry is based m ainly on th re e fields o f in
quiry: pollen analysis, archaeology, and pa
leontology. Pollen analysis involves taking
pollen samples from the sedim ent of ponds
and swamps. These samples reveal the va
rieties of plants and their abundance over
 m any hundreds o f years.
T he d e e p e r the pollen
sam ple is lodged w ith
in a bed o f sediment, the
earlier the time period it
represents.
Archaeology and paleon
tology focus on such things
Easter Island as dw ellings, u ten sils, th e
M o u n ta in High M a p s moai, a n d th e rem ain s o f
C opyright 1 9 9 7
D ig ita l W isdo m , Inc. anim als used for
food. Since any
Rapa N ui records are in hiero
glyphic form and difficult to
decipher, dates preceding E u
ropean contact are approxim a
tions, and m any o f th e a s
sum ptions ca n n o t be proved.
A dditionally, certain develop
m ents, as set o u t below, may
overlap adjacent tim e periods.
All dates, shown in bold, are in
the Com m on Era.
400 Between 20 and 50 Poly
nesian settlers arrive, probably in 50-foot or
longer double canoes capable of carrying
m ore than 18,000 pounds each.
800 The am ount o f tree pollen in sedi
m ent decreases, suggesting deforestation is
under way. G rass pollen increases as grass
spreads into some o f the cleared areas.
900-1300 A bout one third o f the bones o f
anim als caught for food during this peri
A p p ro x im a te ly 1 ,0 0 0 s ta tu e s w ere pro d u ced
V*
od are dolphin bones. To bring in dolphins
from the o p en sea, the islanders em ploy
large canoes m ade from the trunks o f big
palms. Trees also furnish raw m aterials for
the gear used to move and erect the moai,
the construction o f which is by now well
under way. Expanding agriculture and the
need for firewood continue to nibble away
at forests.
1200-1500 S tatue co n stru c tio n is at its
peak. The R apa N ui p o u r vast
re s o u rc e s in to m ak in g moai
and the cerem onial platform s
on w hich they stand. A rchae
ologist Jo A nne Van T ilburg
writes: The R apa N ui social
structure em phatically encour
aged the p ro d u ctio n o f m ore
and larger sta tu e s. She adds
th at approxim ately 1,000 stat
ues were produced over some
800 to 1,300 years . . . , one for
every seven to nine people at
peak population estim ates.
A pparently the moai were not w orshiped,
though they played a role in burial and agri
cultural rites. They may have been viewed
as an abode for spirits. It seems th at they
also symbolized their builders power, sta
tus, and genealogy.
1400-1600 The population peaks at be
tw een 7,000 and 9,000. T he last patch es
of forest disappear, in p a rt because o f the
 extinction o f native tional Rapa Nui culture essentially comes to
'w m m m r w ^ r birds, which had polli- an end.
J k y """ nated the trees and dis- 1864 By now all the moai are to ppled,
| \ persed the seeds. With- many deliberately beheaded.
o u t e x c e p tio n , every 1872 Only 111 indigenous people rem ain
species o f native land on the island.
bird becam e ex tin ct, says Discover. Rats Rapa Nui becam e a province o f Chile in
also contributed to deforestation; evidence 1888. In recent years Rapa Nui has had a
shows that they ate the palm nut. mixed population of about 2,100. Chile has
Erosion soon takes hold, stream s begin declared th e e n tire islan d a h isto ric a l
drying up, and water becomes scarce. Dol monument. In order to preserve Rapa N uis
phin bones stop appearing about 1500, pos unique character and history, m any statues
sibly because of the absence of trees large have been reerected.
enough to make oceangoing canoes. Any A Lesson for Today
chance of escape from the island now dis Why did the Rapa Nui not see where they
appears. Seabirds are wiped out as people were headed and try to avert disaster? N ote
become desperate for food. M ore chicken is the com m ents of various researchers regard
eaten. ing the situation.
1600-1722 A bsence o f trees, intensified The fo re st... didnt simply disappear one
land use, and soil depletion contribute to in dayit vanished slowly, over decades. . . .
creased crop failures. Large-scale starvation Any islander who tried to warn about the
takes hold. The Rapa N ui polarize into two dangers of progressive deforestation would
opposing confederacies. The first signs of so have been overridden by vested interests of
cial chaos appear, possibly even of cannibal carvers, bureaucrats, and chiefs.Discover.
ism. This is the w arrior heyday. People begin T he price they p aid for the way they
living in caves for protection. About the year chose to articulate their spiritual and politi
1700, the population plum m ets to approxi cal ideas was an island world which came to
mately 2,000. be, in many ways, but a shadow of its for
1722 D utch explorer Jacob Roggeveen is mer natural self.Easter IslandArchaeolo
gy, Ecology, and Culture.
the first E uropean to discover the island.
This occurs on Easter, so he names it Eas W hat happened to the Rapa N ui suggest
ter Island. He records his first impression: ed th a t u n controlled grow th and the im
pulse to m anipulate the environm ent past
[Easter Islands] wasted appearance could
the breaking point were not merely aspects
give no other impression than of a singular
of the industrialized world; they were the hu
poverty and barrenness.
man condition.National Geographic.
1770 A bout this time rival clans of the re
W hat if today there is no change in the
maining Rapa N ui begin toppling each oth so-called hum an condition? W hat if hum an
e rs statu es. W hen B ritish explorer C ap kind persists in imposing upon o u r earth
tain James Cook visits in 1774, he sees many our island in spacean ecologically un
toppled statues. sustainable way o f life? According to one
1804-63 C ontact with other civilizations writer, we have one big advantage over the
increases. Slavery, now comm on in the Pa Rapa Nui. We have as warning examples the
cific, and disease take a savage toll. Tradi histories of other doom ed societies.

24 Awake! June 22, 2000

 Yet, it m ight be asked, Is m ankind taking
note of these histories? M assive deforesta
tion and the continued extinction o f ea rth s
living things at an alarm ing rate suggest that
it is not. In Zoo Book, Linda K oebner writes:
The elim ination o f one or two or fifty spe
cies will have effects th at we cannot predict.
Extinctions are creating change even before
we understand the consequences.
A vandal taking one rivet at a tim e from a
plane does not know which rivet will cause
a crash; but when th at critical rivet is gone,
the fate of the plane is sealed, though it may
not crash on the very next flight. Likewise,
hum ans are elim inating ea rth s living riv
ets at the rate of over 20,000 species per
year, with no sign of letup! W ho knows the
point o f no return? And would such advance
knowledge really m ake a difference?
T he b o o k Easter Isla n d Earth Isla n d
made this significant com m ent: The person
who felled the last tree [on Rapa Nui] could see
that it was the last tree. But he (or she) still
felled it.
We Must Change Our Religion
If there is any hope, adds Easter Island
Earth Island, it is surely in the idea that
The w h o le e a rth , In clu ding re m o te islands, w ill b eco m e a p a ra d is e
we m ust change o u r religion. O ur present
gods of economic growth, science and tech
nology, continuously rising standards o f liv
ing, and the virtues of com petitiondeities
that we consider all-powerfulare like the
giant statues on the Easter Island platforms.
Each village com peted with its neighbours
to erect the largest statue__ M ore and more
effort went into the resource-consum ing. . . ,
but pointless, carving, moving and erecting.
A wise person once said: To earthling
man his way does not belong. It does not be
long to m an who is walking even to direct
his step. (Jerem iah 10:23) O ur C reator is
the only one who can show us how to direct
our step. He is also the only one who can lift
us out o f our sad condition. This he prom
ises to do in his Word, the Biblea book
that also records m any good and bad exam
ples of past civilizations. This book can, in
deed, be a light to o u r roadway in these
dark tim es.Psalm 119:105.
Eventually, th at roadway will take obedi
e n t h u m an s to a p a ra d is e o f p e a ce and
plenty a new w orld th a t will include
that tiny patch in the South Pacific
called Rapa N ui.2 Peter 3:13.
 my
The Hazards of
Hitchhiking
On a hot summer day in 1990, 24-year-old British
backpacker Paul Onions was hitchhiking on the Hume Highway,
south of Sydney, Australia. Paul was grateful when a stranger
stopped to give him a lift. He had no idea that accepting it would very
nearly cost him his life.*
BLIVIOUS to danger, Paul sat in
O the front seat o f the vehicle and
c h a tte d w ith th e d riv er. W ithin
m inutes the seemingly benevolent driver be
cam e aggressive and argum entative. Then
the driver suddenly pulled over, saying that
he wanted to get some music tapes from un-
* It should be noted that in some places hitchhiking is
illegal.
BY AW AKE! CORRESPONDENT
IN AUSTRALIA
der the seat. He took out, not tapes, but a
gunwhich he pointed at Pauls chest.
Ignoring the d riv e rs com m and to stay
seated, Paul ripped olf his seat belt, dove
out of the car, and ran with all his m ight
up the highway. The driver chased him on
foot, in full view of other motorists. He final
ly overtook him, grabbed him by his T-shirt,
and flung him to the ground. Breaking free,
Paul ran in front of an oncoming van,
forcing the frightened driver, a m oth
er w ith children, to stop. At P a u ls
pleading, the m other let him in, swung
the van across the median, and sped
away. Only later would Pauls attacker
be identified as a serial killer who had
m urdered seven backpackers, some of
whom were hitchhiking in pairs.
W hat m ade these victims such ap
p ealin g ta rg e ts fo r th e m u rd e rer?
At the killers trial, the judge noted:
Each o f the victims was young. They
 P a ren ts can avoid undue w orry
by providing th e ir children
w ith phone cards or som e
o th e r m eans to c a ll hom e
were between 19 and 22 years old. Each was
travelling far from home, the inference be
ing that they would not have been missed for
some time if anything happened to them .
Freedom to Roam
International travel is within the reach of
far m ore people today th a n it was ju st a
few years ago. For example, within a five-
year period, the num ber o f Australians visit
ing Asia more than doubled. In search of ex
perience or adventure, stream s of teenagers
and young adults board airplanes bound for
far-off destinations. M any of these travelers
plan to hitchhike to keep their expenses to a
minimum. U nfortunately, in m ost parts of
the world, hitchhiking is no longer the inter
esting and relatively safe m ode o f travel that
it once waseither for the hitchhikers or for
those who pick them up.
A positive attitu d e and enthusiasm for
travel sim ply ca n n o t su b stitu te for cool-
headed, p ractical w isdom . E agerness to
travel often m eans th at young people de
part insufficiently prepared for the journey
and w ithout fully understanding the dangers
or their responsibilities, observes a book
let written for families searching for missing
children.
The booklet adds: People who travel with
an organised to u r group, on business, or
who follow well planned itineraries rarely go
missing. W hether in A ustralia or in anoth
er country, m ost people who are eventually
classified as missing, seem to be those who
back-pack and travel on the cheap.
W hether one is hitchhiking or not, trav
eling w ithout an itineraryalthough attrac
tive to some who do not want to feel tied
downcan leave a person m ore vulnerable
Awake! June 22, 2000
to harm . W hen relatives and friends are
in the dark about a travelers w hereabouts,
they are not in a position to be o f m uch help
in case of emergency. For instance, what if a
traveler wound up unconscious in a hospital
and no one back hom e knew where he was?
Keeping in Touch
In his book Highway to Nowhere, British
journalist Richard Shears wrote about sev
en missing hitchhikers who had abruptly
stopped com m unicating with their families
and friends. O f course, at first, families may
not be sure whether their relatives have dis
appeared or are just not keeping in touch.
This can make them reluctant to alert the
authorities when they do not hear from the
travelers.
One of the hitchhikers had often had tele
phone conversations with her parents cut
short when she ran out o f change. Consider
ing this in hindsight, her parents .urged fam
ilies to provide their children w ith phone
cards or some o th er m eans to call home.
W hile this may not have saved the life of this
young woman, regular com m unication can
often help the traveler to avoid, or at least
deal with, lesser difficulties.
The seven backpackers who lost their lives
may have read the travel books that call Aus
tralia one of the safest countries in the world
for hitchhikers. N evertheless, hitchhiking
once again proved to be foolhardyeven in
pairs and even in the safest o f countries.
27
 W A T C H I N G
Planet Earth Unique
According to astronomers,
new planets continue to be dis
covered as scientists measure
the slight wobblecaused by
the gravitational pull of the
planetof the distant star the
planets orbit. As of 1999, 28
such planets are claimed to ex
ist outside our solar system.
The new ones said to have been
discovered are about the size
of Jupiter or larger. Jupiters
mass is some 318 times greater
than that of Earth. Like Jupi
ter, the planets are thought to
be composed of helium and hy
drogen. Because of the orbit
al distances of those planets,
it is said to be highly unlike
ly that any earth-size planets
could coexist with them. More
over, unlike Earths circular or
bit of 93 million miles, they cir
cle their stars in oval orbits.
One orbit, in fact, goes from
36 million miles to 214 million
miles away from its star. It is
beginning to look like neatly
stacked, circular orbits such as
we see in our own solar system
are relatively rare, said one as
tronomer.
Whistle Communication
Spanish schoolchildren on
the island of Gomera, one of
the Canary Islands, are be
ing required to learn the whis
tling language used for centu
ries by local shepherds, reports
The Times of London. Origi
nally developed as a means of
communicating across valleys
in the mountainous terrain,
the Gomera silbo, or whistle,
uses sounds to imitate sylla
bles of speech. Whistlers put
their fingers in their mouths to
28
T H E W O R L
vary the tones, and they cup
their hands so that the sound
will carryup to two miles. Al
most lost in the 1960s, the silbo
has become popular again, and
the island now has an annual
whistling day. There are, how
ever, limitations. You can car
ry out conversations but there
are not many things you can
talk about, says Juan Evaristo,
a local education director.
Children and Sleep
Parents must set limits, not
only on how late school-age
kids can stay up but on what
they can do before bedtime,
says Parents magazine. Watch
ing TV, playing computer and
video games, and surfing the
Net are stimulating activities
that keep kids minds work
ing overtime. And a full plate
of after-school commitments
prevents them from finishing
their homework at a reasonable
hour. Research shows that
sleep deprivation often has a
different effect on younger chil
drenthey become hyperac
tive and uncontrollable, where
as adults become sleepy and
quiet. As a result, when at
school, sleep-deprived children
lack the ability to concentrate, screen lulls people into a sense
pay attention, retain what they of false security and can in
learn, and solve problems. The crease their risk of skin can-
Awake! June 22, 2000
experts say that parents need to
set a time for their children to
go to sleep and make it a prior
itynot a last resort after ener
gy or activities run out.
AIDS Worldwide
According to a new Unit
ed Nations report, worldwide
more than 50 million peo
ple have been infected with
HIV-AIDSthe equivalent of
the population of the United
Kingdomand 16 million have
died, says The Globe and Mail
of Canada. Research in nine
African countries has revealed
that 20 per cent more women
than men are now infected with
the disease and that teenaged
girls [are] about five times more
likely to be infected with HIV-
AIDS than teenaged boys. Pe
ter Piot, executive director of
the Joint United Nations Pro
gramme on HIV/AIDS, de
scribes the situation in Eastern
Europe as explosive. The re
port points out that the HIV
infection rate in the former So
viet Union has more than dou
bled in the past two years, the
steepest increase in the world.
Experts say that it is a reflection
of the increase in intravenous
drug use in that region. Around
the world more than half of
those infected with HIV-AIDS
contract the disease by age 25
and they typically die before
their 35th birthday.
Sunscreens and Cancer
Putting on high-factor sun
 cer, reports The Times of Lon
don. This is because they
spend longer in the Sun and
absorb more radiation. Re
searchers from the European
Institute of Oncology in Mi
lan, Italy, found that those us
ing factor 30 sunscreen spent
25 percent more time in the
sun than those using factor 10.
Says Phillipe Autier, the studys
author: The protective effect
of sunscreen use against skin
cancer, particularly melano
ma, has not been demonstrated
in the general population, but
there are compelling data that
show a strong relationship be
tween duration of recreational
sun exposure and skin cancer.
Health professionals are now
warning against prolonged ex
posure to the sun, regardless of
the level of protection a sun
screen gives. Christopher New,
cancer campaign manager of
Britains Health Education Au
thority, advises: Dont stop us
ing sunscreens, but do remem
ber you shouldnt use them so
that you can sunbathe longer.
The Ideal Transport?
Pedicabs, also known as tri
shaws or cycle rickshas, have
been in use in India for de
cades. However, the magazine
Outlook notes that they have re
mained unchanged, having a
heavy wooden structure, large
cast-iron chassis, awkwardly
tilted seats and no gears. In
recent years, there has been
much opposition to their use
because of the strain put on
their drivers, who are often old
er, undernourished men. Now,
with air pollution reaching haz
ardous levels in India, the cy
cle ricksha has been given a
new lease on life. A Delhi-
based firm has come up with
a design that features a much
lighter and sleeker structure
that cuts down wind resistance,
a gear system that greatly re
duces pedaling effort, ergo
nomically correct saddles, han
dlebars that reduce wrist strain,
and roomier, more comfort
able passenger seats. According
to T. Vineet, the project leader,
it fits into todays politically-
correct scenario where human
rights and a pollution-free en
vironment are the buzzphras-
es. Says Outlook: The humble
rickshaw could turn out to be
the ideal means of transport in
the 21st century.
Irreplaceable Mail
highest mountain, is even tall
To date, technology has not
succeeded in replacing the im
pact of a letter, states the
newspaper Le Figaro. In 1999
the French postal service de
livered a record 25 billion let
ters. Of these, 90 percent were
business mail, and only 10 per
cent personal correspondence.
Nearly half of all mail sent
enclosed some form of adver
tising, which 98 percent of
those questioned claimed to
have read carefully. Each day,
Frances 90,000 mail carriers,
of whom 40 percent are wom
en, make more than 72,000
rounds to deliver the 60 million
letters posted daily.
Awake! June 22, 2000
Worried Underwriters
The French newspaper Le
Monde reported that 1999 was
an accursed year for reinsur
ance. Natural catastrophes in
1998 caused 90 billion dollars
of damage, of which 15 billion
dollars were reim bursed by
insurance companies. How
ever, 1999marked by earth
quakes in Turkey and Taiwan,
typhoons in Japan, floods in
India and Vietnam, and oth
er disastersmay cost insur
ers even more. Insurance un
derwriters are concerned about
the increasing likelihood of
major catastrophes in densely
populated areas. The worlds
leading insurance underwriter
warns of the devastating ef
fects of global warming and
the consequences of human
activities on climatic condi
tions.
Mount Everest Now Even Taller
Mount Everest, the worlds
er than scientists previously
thought, and is still growing,
says a recent Reuters report.
Using sophisticated satellite
systems, climbers measured
Everest at 29,035 feetabout
five and a half miles high . . .
That is seven feet above the
previous official measurement
of 29,028 feet, made back in
1954. The new measurement is
the height of the snow-covered
peak. The height of the actual
rock summit underneath is still
unknown. The National Geo
graphic Society is adopting the
new figure for its maps. Besides
moving upward, the mountain
actually the whole Himala
yan mountain rangeis mov
ing in a northeasterly direction,
toward China, by 1/16 inch to
1/4 inch each year.
29
 F R O M O U R
Drugs The series Are Drugs Taking Over
the World? (November 8, 1999) was well
researched. I work as a probation officer in
an area where there are a lot of young drug
addicts. This issue will help many to get
free from the drug habit.
J. T., Germany
I was so encouraged by the story of Pedro
and his wife, Ana. For six years drugs ruined
my life. By studying the Bible and speaking
to others about what I am learning, I have
gained the spiritual strength to break free
from the drug habit.
D. J., United States
I have been teaching h e a lth classes in
school for 15 years. This issue of Awake! was
perfectly timed, since we are presently cover
ing the subject of alcohol, drugs, and driving.
I will surely be using the information in this
issue!
C. J., United States
Tagua Nut I have read every issue of your
magazine since 1954, and I never cease to
be amazed at the articles that describe the
versatile uses of things Jehovah created.
The Tagua N utCan It Save Elephants?
was one such article. (November 8, 1999)
Thank you for helping us to appreciate
more and more the marvelous wisdom of
our God.
D. H., United States
Witchcraft Thank you very much for the
article W hat Is Behind Witchcraft? (No
vember 8, 1999) A lot of people used to
think witches were ugly and old. But the
Wicca movement is now attracting many
young men and women. My own daughter
started getting interested in this. However,
she had asked for her own subscription to
Awake!, and the first issue that came con
tained this article! It came at the proper
time.
B. H., United States
30 Awake! June 22, 2000
R E A D E R S
Angels Congratulations on your frank se
ries of articles W hat Is the Truth About
Angels? (November 22, 1999) It is about
time someone had the courage to write a
respectful, but honest, expose of the dan
gers posed by distorted beliefs about angels.
I especially appreciated the picture on
page 9, showing that the angels themselves
reject the flattery and prominence they have
been given today.
J.L.A.H., Brazil
Medical Ordeal The story of the M ajor
family in the article We Learned to Rely
on God Through Adversity (November 22,
1999) encouraged me. Our son had a num
ber of serious heart defects that required
surgery. The doctors told us, Your son is
going to die w ithout a blood transfusion!
The doctors even separated my husband
and me to increase the pressure on us to
consent to a blood transfusion. But like the
M ajor family, we prayed for strength and
courage. Our son survived the surgeries and
is fine now. He has expressed his wish to be
baptized as one of Jehovahs Witnesses.
B. C., United States
My husband was hospitalized, and the doc
tors said that he could be there for months. I
was growing very tired of trying to tend to
three children while also visiting my husband
every day. My Christian brothers and sisters
proved invaluable in helping with the chil
dren. Just when it seemed I couldnt take it
anymore, my husband came home. When I
read this encouraging article, I could not help
but shed tears of heartfelt empathy and sad
ness for everything the M ajor family has been
through. How happy I am to see how much
they relied on Jehovah!
J. A., United States
 A Corpse
C om es to Life
By A w ake!
I N D O
N JULY 17, 1997, an unusual an
O nouncem ent was m ade on the
national evening news in Indone
sia. One of the largest floral structures
in the world had blossomed. Why would
the mere blossoming o f a plant be judged
a worthy topic for the evening news? Be
cause this plant is differentit may blos
som for just two or three days three or
four times in its 40-year life span. After
the announcem ent the num ber of visitors
to the Bogor Botanical Garden, where the
plant is kept, increased by 50 percent. In
fact, the plant had upwards of 20,000 vis
itors in just one day!
The plants full botanical name is
phophallus titanum . Som e call it titan
arum for short, b u t m ost Indonesians
call it th e c o rp se flow er b ecau se the
odor it produces when it blossoms re
minds them o f the corpse o f a
rotting fish or o f a decay
ing mouse. The putrid
odor signals to polli
nating bees th at the
flower is in bloom.
correspondent in
N E S I A
B esides its d istin c tiv e o d o r, a n o th e r
thing that makes the titan arum unique is
its size. The m ature plant towers over all
but the tallest o f hum ans. One plant in Bo
gor Botanical G arden grew to be 8 feet
tall and emerged from a huge vase-shaped,
pleated spathe 8.5 feet in diameter. This
floral giant developed from a tuber that
weighed nearly 220 pounds!
In spite of the enorm ous size of its
blossom, titan arum cannot boast the
worlds largest flower because the plant
is really com posed of, not one, but nu
merous small flowers.
The titan arum is but another ex
ample th at illustrates the truthfulness
o f the psalm ists statem ent: M any
things you yourself have done, O Je
hovah my G od, even your wonder
ful w orks . . . T h ere is none to
be c o m p a re d to y o u .
Psalm 40:5.
Finding What Was Lost
Last year, in Maryland, U.S.A., a man
politely refused the Watchtower and
Awake! magazines. His young daughter,
however, asked if she could have them ,
and the father said that she could. The
two were cleaning their car and putting
trash in a nearby trash container.
Concerned that the magazines might be
discarded, the Witness who had offered
The magazines were not there, but a
purse and a wallet were. Im m ediately a call
was m ade on the w om an whose address
was in the purse. Upon approaching her res
idence, the two Witnesses m aking the
call saw a middle-aged w om an leading a
stallion to the barn. W hen they gave her the
items, the w om an exclaimed: Thank God
everything of im portance is heremy pass
port, checkbook, credit cards, and horse
docum entation. She said that the item s
had been stolen the night before.
Since the trash container was about
to be em ptied, it was fortunate that it
had been checked.
The wom an offered a reward, but
instead of accepting it, the couple
returning the purse and wallet
gave her the brochure What Does
God Require of Us? To express her
appreciation, the wom an wrote a
check to be used to further the
worldwide distribution of such Bible-
based publications. And since then,
has taken a real interest in Bible
study.
00-E 6 /2 2