⁸ A modern example of this was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who was conducting a Christian meeting in an African land where the Witnesses, largely at the instigation of local Catholics, were accused of being terrorists. Suddenly, military police with fixed bayonets appeared. They sent the women and children home but began beating the men. The Witness recalls: “I do not have words to describe the manner in which we were treated. The corporal in charge openly declared we would be beaten to death. I received such blows with a wooden club that later I vomited blood for 90 days. But my concern was for the lives of my companions. In prayer I asked Jehovah to care for the lives of these, his sheep,” who all survived. What an example of keeping calm in terrible adversity and of lovingly considering others! Yes, our loving heavenly Father does answer the requests of his faithful servants, granting them his peace. One of the puzzled soldiers in that case remarked that the God of the Witnesses “must be the true one.”

11. How did a brother in the Netherlands manifest a need for spiritual food?

¹¹ Arthur Winkler was one who deeply appreciated the Bible, especially during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, when the Witnesses had to carry on their Christian activity underground. The Gestapo had been hunting for Brother Winkler. When they finally captured him, they tried to make him compromise but failed. They then beat him into unconsciousness. With his teeth knocked out, lower jaw dislocated, and body beaten raw, he was put into a dark cell. But his guard was sympathetic and friendly. Brother Winkler sought Jehovah’s guidance in prayer. He also felt deeply a need for spiritual food and asked the guard for help. Later, the cell door opened, and a Bible was thrown in. “What a joy it was,” recalled Brother Winkler, “daily to enjoy the pleasant words of truth . . . I felt myself getting stronger spiritually.”a