Misae went through just such an experience of being drawn to Jehovah. She explained: ‘As a child, I was taught that many gods existed. There was a god for the water, a god for the trees, and one for the house. Although I doubted their existence, I did believe that there must be one true God. My strict Buddhist-Shinto upbringing caused me to think of God as being fearsome, someone who meted out punishment for misdeeds. Although I had a desire to go to a church and learn about the Christian God, my Buddhist background held me back. Then a lady came to my house and offered to study the Bible with me. Through that study, I learned that God has a name, Jehovah. I was thrilled to know that he is not a fearsome God but a loving one, always watching over us, not to punish, but to help. I wanted to serve that God, and so I changed my religion.’ She has been enjoying a satisfying relationship with God for some 29 years.

Another freedom to be gained is the freedom from fear of death. The above-quoted Misae says: “When I was 22, I contracted typhoid fever. As I lay there semi-conscious, I could hear friends and family members talk about me as if they expected me to die. But I feared death. My only thought was that I wanted to live, and fortunately I did get better. Through my later study of the Bible, I was freed from that fear of death. I learned that death is simply nonexistence.” The Bible says: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) If someone dies, there is the wonderful hope of the resurrection because God keeps the dead alive in his memory.​—John 5:28, 29.

Sakae, who lives in central Japan, went from one Buddhist sect to another for 25 years to find the truth. She was never satisfied. As she rose to responsible positions in each organization, she always saw things that stumbled her, such as commercialism, immorality, and exploitation. She even traveled to India to search out the roots of Buddhism in the historic spots where Buddha lived and taught. She was greatly disappointed to find very little interest in Buddhism in that Hindu country. Then in her conversations with Jehovah’s Witnesses, she was told that not all religions are from God but are from his enemy, Satan the Devil.​—1 Corinthians 10:20.

This shocked Sakae, but it caused her to think and investigate. She read the book What Has Religion Done for Mankind?a and other Bible publications. She began to see that whereas Buddhism, as practiced in Japan, went through many changes over the years, the Bible has remained unchanged for thousands of years. Eventually her investigation paid off. She found the truth she had been seeking. Her joy was like the joy of the man in Jesus’ parable who found a treasure hidden in a field: “For the joy he has he goes and sells what things he has and buys that field.”​—Matthew 13:44.