For example, when an earthquake paralyzed the city of Armenia in western Colombia early in 1999, more than a thousand lost their lives, and many more were left in a state of shock and despair. Said psychiatrist Roberto Estefan, whose own apartment building was destroyed in the disaster: “Wherever you go, people are asking for help. I go out for a hamburger, and most of the people who say hello seize the moment to tell me about their insomnia and their sadness.”

Providing Hope Amid Despair

In times of such crisis, Jehovah’s Witnesses make efforts to help survivors not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally. For example, immediately after the Colombia earthquake referred to earlier, the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses there organized a local emergency committee. Thousands of Witness volunteers from all parts of the country donated food and money. Soon, some 70 tons of food was sent into the affected area.

Often, spiritual support is most crucial. One morning after the Colombia earthquake, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses noticed a particularly dejected-looking woman walking down a street in the devastated city of Armenia. She approached the woman and offered her a tract entitled What Hope for Dead Loved Ones?a

The woman took the tract home and read it carefully. The next time one of Jehovah’s Witnesses called at her door, she just had to tell her story. The earthquake, it turns out, had destroyed several homes that she owned in the city, which had provided her with a good income. Now she was in poverty. But that was not all. During the earthquake, the house in which she lived with her 25-year-old son had collapsed, killing him. The woman told the Witness at her door that she had never been interested in religion before but that she now had many questions. The tract had given her real hope. Soon a home Bible study was started.