Basic HTML Version
PAGE 8
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 21, 1984
The film "Behind the Work" was eye-opening and made me even more
aware of the urgency to get this work done and to draw even closer
to God. I am very thankful for the knowledge God has given us and
for being able to help spread this knowledge to others.
G.J. (Milwaukee, WI)
We thank you and the Young hmbassadors for the wonderful film.
We enjoyed their singing and dancing. We also enjoyed being in
your home through the film and listening to you play the piano.
We have a lot to pray for this coming year, especially for God's
Kingdom to arrive soon.
Mr. & Mrs. B.T. (Kennard, TX)
The film about the Summer Educational Program shown at the Feast
of Tabernacles was an eye-opener.
I've been a member of the
Church for ten years and have never really understood what the
camps were about. I had envisioned them much as the world's sum
mer camps, except for the Bible studies. After all, what could a
few weeks in a child's life really contribute towards his/her im
provement? Well, I found out without a doubt it is planting a
seed in those children that can mature to lead them into God's
Kingdom eventually. I thank God for giving you [ Mr. Armstrong]
the wisdom to see the need for such a program.
ON THE WORLD SCENE
P.W. (FPO, NY)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
THE POLITICS OF FAMINE Each day, the grim news coming to light from Africa
gets worse. While the plight of Ethiopia gets top bi11ing, thirty other
countries in Africa are affected by drought and famine to one degree or an
other. The fact is there are two broad famine belts, one running just below
the Sahara, spanning the continent from east to west, together with another
band stretching along the East coast, from the Horn of Africa down almost to
the tip of the continent.
The immediate cause of the multiple famines is, naturally, drought. But
other more fundamental factors lie at the root of the crisis. First of all,
there is widespread abuse of the land, such as deforestation, overgrazing
and improper cultivation techniques. Then there are wayward governmental
policies. Throughout Africa since independence agriculture has been sorely
neglected. In addition, leaders coveting the political allegiance of the
urban masses, have found it expedient to clamp price controls on the rural
food-growers, discouraging production. It is no coincidence that "famines
and pestilences" follow, in time sequence, after "for nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Matt. 24:7, RAV).
Here,
first of all, is a summary of the cause-and-effect relationship, as pub
lished in the November 26 issue of NEWSWEEK:
It is the worst famine in African history.••. Already, as many as
200,000 people may have died in Mozambique.
In Ethiopia, the
famine has helped kill at least 300,000 people, and an additional
million may perish before the disaster is over••.•
Drought is, of course, a normal occurrence in Africa. But •..some
Africans agree that part of the damage is self-inflicted--that