was a regular pioneer until his death at age 88 in 1985. Paula Mariano started pioneering at age 71 and is still in full-time service despite infirmities at 88. What sterling examples of faith and devotion these and other older ones are!

Rejoicing in the Progress Made

Looking back over the past half century, Jehovah’s blessing on the zealous efforts of his Witnesses has been evident. From a handful in 1935, what a joy to see 88,113 share in the field ministry in February 1986! The one small congregation on Rizal Avenue in Manila has now grown to 2,454 congregations countrywide, organized into 120 circuits.

And what of prospects for the future? An encouraging indication is the outstanding attendance of 268,526​—more than three times the number of Witnesses in the country—​at the Memorial celebration on April 4, 1985. Additionally, in February 1986, 63,248 home Bible studies were being conducted with interested persons. And no doubt continued growth will be seen with Jehovah’s blessing and approval.

We are glad that Jehovah has made very fruitful the work started by his early anointed witnesses in these islands over 50 years ago. With his blessing and guidance, it is the goal of his people in the Philippines to continue expanding their preaching and teaching work in the days to come.

Questions From Readers

◼ In Jesus’ illustration about a rich man who was not rich toward God, who were the “they” that demanded the man’s soul?

Jesus was not referring to any group of humans or angels. In Luke 12:20 he used an indefinite “they” simply as a way of expressing what was going to happen to the man.

This illustration is found at Luke 12:16-21. The rich man in it was not satisfied with his adequate material things. He continued to concentrate on his business so as to increase his wealth. Jesus concluded: “But God said to [the rich man], ‘Unreasonable one, this night they are demanding your soul from you. Who, then, is to have the things you stored up?’ So it goes with the man that lays up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Some translations use a passive rendering, such as: “This very night your soul is required of you.” (New American Standard Bible) “This very night the demand will be made for your soul.” (The Jerusalem Bible) “This very night your life is being demanded.” (The Twentieth Century New Testament) “This night your soul is to be called for.” (Byington) However, Hebrew (in which Jesus spoke) and Greek (in which Luke wrote) employ an indefinite third person form. The Greek text at Luke 12:20 literally says “to this the night the soul of you they are asking from you.” The verb is in the third person plural. Hence, rather than needlessly changing it to a passive form (as in the examples above), the New World Translation and others use renderings such as “they are demanding.”

We do well, though, not to allow grammatical technicalities to obscure Jesus’ clear admonition about materialism. He was not specifying how the rich man would die. The point was that by some means the man was going to lose his soul, or life, that night. But how did he stand with God? Any of us could become absorbed in improving our material situation and similarly miss out on being rich toward God. The business world fosters a spirit of ‘ever more.’ Even people whose companies make substantial profits from sales in the millions of dollars, pounds, marks, and so forth, may be tempted to seek more​—more employees, more sales, more profits, more luxuries, more in the bank. Jesus’ question is as valid today as when he first posed it: “Who, then, is to have the things you stored up?”​—Luke 12:20.