Y2K could trigger end of the world, church warns

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

http://www.scmp.com/News/HongKong/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-19991004020845013.asp

Monday, October 4, 1999 Y2K could trigger end of the world, church warns

ALEX LO and RAISSA ROBLES in Manila

Members of the largest Filipino Christian congregation in Hong Kong have been told to stock up goods for the feared Y2K computer meltdown, an event they liken to the biblical flood in the story of Noah's Ark.

The year 2000 may herald the end of the world, according to some members of the Jesus is Lord Church, who are storing canned food and money at home in preparation.

Others have booked plane tickets to unite with their families in the event of an apocalypse.

"They must be ready in their faith any time because no one knows when the Lord will come back again," said Gerry Vallo, chief pastor of the movement's Hong Kong chapter.

Assistant pastor Vhee Cabanting said: "Materially, we must store food, drinks, water and money of course - because we don't know [what will happen]. There might be a computer breakdown . . . a lot of things [will be] affected.

"We are giving them advice to prepare for themselves. In the Philippines we are sending canned goods for our loved ones, and of course money. Yes [the end of civilisation], that's the worst thing to be predicted."

Mr Vallo, who is based in Hong Kong, said he was preparing water and canned goods for himself, his wife and two toddlers because he believed that even if every government claimed Y2K compliance, there was no 100 per cent assurance.

He said his fears were based on the Bible, which showed that "historically, every 2,000 years, some disaster happens in the world".

The current string of natural and man-made disasters - earthquakes, typhoons, unrest in Indonesia and Europe - seemed to be part of the seven years of tribulations predicted in the Bible as a sign of the Lord's second coming, he said.

The evangelical congregation has more than 15,000 followers, a membership that includes one in 10 Filipinos in Hong Kong.

As it marked its 21st anniversary yesterday, Mr Vallo said all members had already been told to prepare for the Y2K bug.

He stressed: "We are preparing, but we are not encouraging people to be in a panic."

Ms Cabanting compared the Y2K bug to the flood in Noah's time, described as having wiped out the known world. "We call it a computer issue, but that is also a spiritual matter because people are thinking it's the end of the world - just like the time of Noah," she said.

Church member Tess Agomas said: "We have always heard from our leaders that we have to prepare for the worst and expect the best.

"The worst thing - computers will shut down, everything would be affected.

"We have to prepare candles, for example, because we are alone here and not with our families so we have to prepare ourselves."

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@Y2KOK.ORG), October 04, 1999


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