Fulfilling My Promise to God
I NEVER forgot the promise I had made to God almost 30 years earlier—that I would give my life to serve him if he would help me. And I felt that he had helped me many times. How guilty I felt for not paying my debt to God!
Life in America was so different from Vietnam. How fine to be able to enjoy freedom—going where you want when you want! Yet I was completely bewildered by the materialistic way of life with its scientific point of view. Moral values seemed so rare! Daily the news was filled with reports of terrible crimes—children killing their parents or vice versa, abortion, divorce, violence in the streets. All of this frightened me. ‘Why so much decadence in a country so favored with beauty and riches?’ I wondered.
Now old questions haunted me more than ever: Was it really God that created man? Are we really the children of God? If so, why is he so indifferent to these faults? Why not punish men now to prevent yet worse things? Or is God waiting for man to repent from his sins? And as for man, if he was created by God, why does he not resemble his Father? Why not try to make Him happy?
From my own experiences, I was convinced that there is a God. Yet I wondered why he is so misunderstood. Does he not have some children who understand him, who love him, and who make him happy by their righteous deeds? Surely he must! But where are they to be found, and how? How can I get acquainted with them?
Such questions obsessed me, and not having the answers made me unhappy. Then one day in June 1981, while living in Pasadena, Texas, an older man and his grandson visited me. They spoke about God’s having a Kingdom, a real government, and that it would bring blessings to the earth. The man then asked me whether I would like to live forever in Paradise on earth.
My response was, “No.” My great desire was to know the true God, and living forever in Paradise was not then of interest to me. Yet their dignified manner engendered my respect and confidence, so I invited them in. I related my experiences of what I believed were God’s protection and loving care. “I’m looking for the God who has these outstanding qualities,” I said. “If your God is really this One, please show me the way to get to know him.”
For nearly an hour the older man read to me from the Bible about the great God, Jehovah. He explained, for example, how Jehovah dealt with his people, the Israelites, showing his love and concern for them. The following week the man returned with the publication My Book of Bible Stories. He opened it and showed me the 33rd story, “Crossing the Red Sea.” Without reading it, by the picture only, I guessed what had happened—God had miraculously delivered his people from the hand of oppressors.
I thought to myself, ‘This really is the God that I’m looking for.’ The following week, I started a regular study of the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and as I studied, all my questions found logical answers from the Bible. Yes, I finally had found the true God to serve in order to pay my debt. To show that I had given my life to serve him forever, I submitted to water immersion.
Now my time is filled with helping others to learn about Jehovah, about his reasons for permitting wickedness till now, and about his means for soon eliminating earth’s troubles. At last I feel a true sense of peace and security, serving Jehovah with his earthly organization of my loving brothers and sisters.
[Blurb on page 23]
‘Why so much decadence in a country so favored?’ I wondered
[Picture on page 23]
With my niece whom I resuscitated during the storm