AS A young man, I was disillusioned by the hate-filled history of religion. I also did not understand why God had not put an end to poverty and injustice or why so many religious people do not practice what the Bible says. So I became an atheist, believing that only political revolution could fix the world.

In 1962, I began reading the Awake! magazine. Then, in 1963, I agreed to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. What I learned had a powerful impact on me. I came to understand that God was not to blame for the atrocities committed by various religious groups and that he has a loving purpose for mankind. Two months after my first study, I started telling others that God’s Kingdom will replace this corrupt system of things. I was baptized  in 1964 and was appointed as a special pioneer in 1966. I believe that the truth saved my life, because many of the young militants with whom I associated either died a violent death, were imprisoned, or had to flee the country. I thank Jehovah that he transformed me from an atheist without hope to a servant of the God who promises a righteous new world.