A Modern-Day Good Samaritan

BY AWAKE! WRITER IN MEXICO

Many of us have heard the Bible story about a neighborly man often called the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:29-37) In this parable Jesus Christ showed to what extraordinary lengths a Samaritan man went in demonstrating love for his neighbor in need. Do such good Samaritans exist today? Consider the following account from Mexico.

Returning from a trip, Betuel and his family were a few miles away from home when they saw a terrible automobile accident on the highway. They stopped to offer assistance. One of the drivers involved, a doctor, asked them to take his pregnant wife and two small daughters to the nearest hospital for treatment. They did so, and then Betuel returned to the scene of the accident to see what further aid he could render.

Betuel relates: “The federal highway patrol had arrived, and the doctor was to be held for investigation because there had been loss of life. When the doctor asked me why I was helping him, I explained that we are Jehovah’s Witnesses and that we had learned from the Bible that we should love our neighbor. I told him that he did not need to worry about his wife and children, for we would take care of them. With grateful tears in his eyes, he then turned his valuables over to me for safekeeping.”

Betuel and his family took the man’s family home with them and cared for them for several days. Betuel took the opportunity to start a Bible study with them. When the doctor was released from custody, he expressed his gratitude and his admiration for Jehovah’s Witnesses. He promised to continue the Bible study in his hometown, and he said that if his wife gave birth to a son, he would be named after Betuel. Betuel continues: “Now, two years later, we had the opportunity to visit them. To my surprise, they were studying the Bible, and their little boy’s name was Betuel!”

[Picture on page 13]

Betuel