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From Our Readers

Watching the World I’m a newspaperman, and many of my colleagues love to read the column “Watching the World” to get ideas for their own work. I confess that I have been inspired by some of the articles myself. I particularly admire your translators and proofreaders. Such high standards for language are not common in the mass media.

J. B., Czechia

Years ago when I started reading Awake!, “Watching the World” was the part I least enjoyed. Now I consider it to be extremely informative. In fact, many world events that I have not seen in TV news broadcasts have been covered in “Watching the World.” Keep up the good work!

I. K. M. C., Brazil

Pestilence The series “Pestilence—Will It Ever End?” (November 22, 1997) stated: “Infectious disease remains the world’s leading cause of death, killing over 50 million people in 1996 alone.” However, a World Health Organization report says that of over 52 million deaths in 1996, over 17 million were due to infectious or parasitic diseases.

B. B., United States

Our source for these comments was the German newspaper “Nassauische Neue Presse.” The World Health Organization was evidently misquoted by this newspaper article. So we appreciate this clarification.—ED.

Stuttering Thank you for the article “Understanding the Fear of Stuttering.” (November 22, 1997) In our congregation we have a few youths with this problem, and I’ve always felt uneasy about associating with them. So I was glad to read the practical suggestions you gave to help us deal with stutterers. You motivated us to give support to such ones, and you let us know how to do so.

Y. N., Japan

In my class at school, there are two people who stutter. They almost never give answers in class, and as your article mentioned, when they are asked to read aloud, they are noticeably nervous. Thanks to your article, I can better understand the fear they must overcome in order to speak in class.

S. L., Germany

I am 16 years old, and I am a stutterer. I want to thank you with all my heart for the encouragement I received from reading the article. Sometimes we feel downhearted because we can’t do all we would like to. So it is wonderful to see how Jehovah thinks of us and encourages us. I hope everyone who reads the article is helped to appreciate the efforts stutterers make.

S. D. A., Italy

The article unlocked so many painful memories. But it also made me realize just how much Jehovah cares and how much he has blessed me over the years. When I was baptized at the age of 11, my earnest desire was to praise Jehovah as a public speaker. I thought I would have to wait for God’s new world to achieve that goal. But over the past 37 years, I have been privileged to give countless public talks as well as talks to circuit and district convention audiences.

R. F. D., England

Because of my fear of stammering, I hold back from commenting at congregation meetings. I also worry about stammering in the door-to-door preaching work, especially when working with someone who is fluent. This article helped me to see that Jehovah understands my problems.

C. C. L., Brazil