A Young Girl With a Bright Hope

THE publishers of Awake! received a letter from a 12-year-old girl named Stephanie. “I want to tell you how much the publications have helped me in school,” she wrote. “Recently, we were assigned a project with the theme ‘Cultural Diversity.’ My family and I went through the publications, cutting out text and pictures that fit the theme. Then I glued the items we found to a poster board.” Stephanie’s teacher instructed the class to choose which they felt were the best five projects. “The next day,” Stephanie writes, “I found out that mine was in the top five.”

One of the sources Stephanie chose was the October 22, 1998, Awake! with the cover title “Will All People Ever Love One Another?” As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Stephanie firmly believes that people of diverse cultures can live together peacefully. Indeed, she is part of an international brotherhood in which former enemies—including Tutsi and Hutu, Germans and Russians, Armenians and Turks, Japanese and Americans—have been united by Bible truth. Together they strive to imitate their Creator. In what way? One of the Bible texts that Stephanie used in her project provides the answer: “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) Jehovah’s Witnesses work hard to display similar impartiality in their dealings with others.

Stephanie looks forward to the fulfillment of the Bible’s promise that soon God’s Kingdom will bring righteous conditions to our earth. (Revelation 21:3, 4) In a world where many youths face the future with fear and uncertainty, she stands out as one who has a bright hope.