February 27, 1970  
February 27, 1970 - Brethren & Co-Workers Letter
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Herbert W Armstrong 

The PLAIN TRUTH a Magazine of Understanding
BOX 111, Pasadena, Calif. 91109

HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG, Editor

February 27, 1970

Dear Co-Worker with Christ:

   I want to give you, by personal letter, a portion of my "Personal" talk coming in the March number of The PLAIN TRUTH. You will be receiving it in just a few days. But I want you to read this portion IN ADVANCE — and then you may read the rest when your copy of the magazine arrives.. Here it is:

   "The other day at a student assembly, Ambassador College, Pasadena campus, a shocking film was presented. It showed, in full color motion picture film, the horror conditions in Biafra.

   "Seated beside me as my guest was the managing director of a large motion picture corporation from Europe. During World War II he had been a prisoner at Buchenwald.

   "Before our eyes were living scenes of starving, rib-showing children. We were viewing sickening scenes of putrefying sores covering bodies dying from horrible diseases resulting from malnutrition. To most of-us this was a moving, revolting, eye- opening picture. It produced emotions of shock, horror, sympathy for the helpless victims. But still it was a picture! We were not, ourselves, in Biafra. We were in an assembly room on our peaceful and beautiful campus. Surely we were moved! Our hearts went out to the suffering, the dying. It moved us to want to do something about it.

   "Yet, moving as it was, to us it still was a picture. But to my guest who had experienced the horrors of Buchenwald, it was stark REALITY! To him it was actuality — a living EXPERIENCE. He was once again living in the human slaughter-camp. It left him sick in the stomach for twenty-four hours."

   Many are starving to death, and dying of horrible malnutrition diseases in other parts of the world, too — India, Egypt, Central and South America. Just while you've been reading this far, at least FOUR PEOPLE have died of starvation — mostly children.

   This Biafra picture certainly touched our hearts — made us want to DO something about it. The picture ended with an emotional appeal to viewers to send in contributions — liberal contributions — for food and medicine for the starving and disease-ridden of Biafra.

   But what perhaps none of the viewers of such a picture normally would realize is this: THE APPEAL WAS TO TREAT WITH THE EFFECT, NOT THE CAUSE!

   To treat only the effect IS NOT ENOUGH. It is NOT THE SOLUTION! If that is all we do, we shall soon have TWO Biafras to alleviate, then FOUR, then TEN!

   The point I want you to know is that THIS WORK OF GOD is DOING SOMETHING BIG AND IMPORTANT to STOP THE CAUSE — to PREVENT MORE BIAFRAS from starting — to BRING PLENTY, AND HEALTH, AND PEACEFUL, JOYOUS LIFE TO ALL THE WORLD! I want you to realize what WE, guided and led by the LIVING JESUS CHRIST, are doing to PREVENT MORE BIAFRAS from rising up — what we are doing to PREVENT these evils! For we are doing a VERY GREAT DEAL more than you probably realize!

   All these evils have resulted from WRONG CAUSES! We are not now, of course, able to FORCE all humanity to CHANGE in these wrong causes. Of course we are TELLING a hundred and fifty MILLIONS what these wrong causes are. But we are DOING much more! Gradually, this broadcasting and telecasting worldwide is resulting in CHANGED LIVES of constantly increasing THOUSANDS of people. IF and when ALL people CHANGE their lives accordingly, the CAUSE of all the world's evils will have been stopped.

   But we are doing much MORE!

   We are actually setting the LIVING EXAMPLE! We are creating a CHANGED CONDITION — one of peace, happiness and abundant well- being ON THREE COLLEGE CAMPUSES. These are like model communities, totally unlike the world around them. Here the evil results have never occurred and never would! It is a living EXAMPLE — a living MODEL for all the world to follow!

   Do you realize how things GROW — and MULTIPLY — either good or evil? Drop a pebble in the center of a still and placid pool. A tiny ring will form around the spot where the pebble struck. The ring will expand, bigger and bigger, until it has expanded over the entire pool. Jesus Christ, over 1900 years ago, reported the advance GOOD NEWS of a coming world of peace, prosperity, happiness, and abundant well-being. He said it would start the VERY SMALLEST, like a grain of mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. But He said it would expand, and grow, until it became the GREATEST — filling the WHOLE EARTH.

   We believe this same LIVING Christ started Ambassador College. It started 22 1/2 years ago here in Pasadena. It started the VERY SMALLEST — FOUR pioneer students! It started GOD'S WAY — according to HIS WAYS revealed in the Bible. That WAY is the CAUSE of RIGHT and DESIRED RESULTS. It is the CAUSE of good vigorous health, of peace, of happiness, of beauty, of abundant well-being!

   The college grew in that way!

   But we saw the evils of letting this one campus grow too large — of having thousands of students on one campus. Many universities have fifteen, thirty or forty thousand students! Students lose their identity. There is no character building. It is assembly-line mass-production of educated minds seeking FALSE VALUES.

   So we limited the number of students we would accept on any one campus. The college GREW — and GREW — and is STILL GROWING! The second year there were 7 students, the third year 12, the fourth year about 22. Today there are 700 on the Pasadena campus. Now there are 250 on the English campus and about 400 on the Texas campus — total 1300 to 1350.

   These campuses may be termed "OPERATION HAPPINESS." The students and faculties on them are applying, in living human experience, the CAUSES that produce the RESULTS of peace, good health, happiness, abundant well-being.

   There are NO student protests, sit-downs, riots or violence. There is no faculty opposition. There is harmony and close cooperation between students, faculty, and administration. There are no weirdos, hippies or — freaks. There is BEAUTY, but the CHIEF beauty is not in the buildings and grounds but in the happy, smiling, joyous faces of the students. It amazes visitors — and we have many every week. We are PIONEERING in the WONDERFUL WORLD TOMORROW!

   We know what's CAUSING the world's evils — its unhappiness, unrest, its poverty, ignorance, filth and squalor, starvation and disease. We know what's CAUSING all the Biafras with their pitiful starving and dying children. We can't FORCE an about-face on the whole world — we can't force all humanity to start living THE WAY of the living Christ which is producing so much HAPPINESS in our three college communities. But we can SET THE LIVING EXAMPLE, and let the world SEE the RESULTS.

   A few months ago the New York TIMES sent a feature writer out here to Pasadena to spend two days observing the beaming, smiling faces, and the beauty of HAPPINESS that is here. The Los Angeles TIMES ran a big feature article on this campus, with a headline on the top of the FRONT PAGE of a Sunday edition of over 600 pages, calling it a UTOPIAN campus.

   We have dropped our pebble of bursting-over happiness in the pond that is this world, and the ring of its influence is EXPANDING and EXPANDING.

   And from these campuses goes out, by TV, by RADIO, by PRINT, the MESSAGE of the living Christ — the MESSAGE of the WAY to happiness — the Message of how to PREVENT THE CAUSE OF MORE BIAFRAS — to the WHOLE WORLD. And already 150 MILLION people are listening and reading. And already multiple THOUSANDS are LIVING IN THIS SAME WAY and learning what HAPPINESS really IS!

   My dear Co-Worker, YOU are having A PART in spreading Christ's Gospel of HAPPINESS, leading to ETERNAL LIFE and total salvation, TO THE WHOLE WORLD.

   More people have DIED of starvation since you read about the four. It is all right for people to contribute money to feed the starving in Biafra. But HOW MUCH MORE IS IT NEEDFUL THAT WE AROUSE OURSELVES TO KEEP SPREADING THE GLORIOUS MESSAGE TO MORE AND MORE MILLIONS, PREVENTING MORE BIAFRAS — RIDDING THE WORLD of such Biafra conditions and sufferings — changing the world into one of peace, joy, and salvation! Right HERE is the MOST IMPORTANT WORK ON EARTH TODAY.

   But it NEEDS YOUR HELP — MORE AND MORE. GIVE generously as you are able. Send as a LOAN what you are not free, as yet, to give. NEVER was the need so great. The way to DO SOMETHING about the starving and dying In Biafra, India, Egypt, and other such areas suffering evils, is to DEAL WITH THE CAUSE, not the effect — to HELP IN THIS GREAT WORK OF THE LIVING CHRIST!

   The need right now is SERIOUS! THANK YOU for your part!

With love, in Jesus' name,
Herbert W. Armstrong

Publication Date: February 27, 1970
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