Helping My Children Spiritually

My sons were always with me at the meetings and in the preaching work, but some things that happened made me see that they were growing in Bible knowledge. One day Masahiko, my six-year-old son, was playing outside the house. I heard a loud noise and someone shrieking. A neighbor burst into my house, screaming that my son had been hit by a car. Was he dead? I forced myself to be calm as I rushed outside. The sight of his mangled bicycle made me tremble, but then I saw him walking toward me, just slightly hurt. As he clung to me, he said, “Mummy, Jehovah helped me, didn’t he?” Seeing him alive and hearing those beautiful words made me cry.

Another day, in the ministry we met an old man who shouted: “What do you think you are doing dragging a young child around like that? I pity him.” Before I could reply, eight-year-old Tomoyoshi said: “Grandpa, my mother does not force me to preach. I preach because I want to serve Jehovah.” The old man just stared and could not say a thing.

Spiritually, my sons were fatherless boys. It was up to me to teach them Bible truths, though I had much to learn myself. I cultivated my own love, faith, and zeal and tried to set a good example. Daily I gave thanks to Jehovah in front of the children. I told them of my experiences in the preaching work. This encouraged them. When later asked why they had become pioneers, or full-time ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they answered, “We saw that our mother was happy serving as a pioneer, and we wanted to be happy too.”

I took great care not to speak disparagingly of their father or of anyone in the congregation. I realized that negative talk could have a damaging effect on my children. They might lose respect not only for the one spoken against but also for the one speaking.

Our friendship with the Witnesses in Taiwan strengthened us. One missionary couple, Harvey and Kathy Logan, helped us immensely. Brother Logan became a spiritual father to my boys. He showed them that serving Jehovah is not a joyless, rigid life. I believe that it was while in Taiwan that my sons made their decision to serve Jehovah.

Tomoyoshi and Masahiko went to an American school, where they learned English as well as Chinese. That education equipped them for future service as ministers of the true God, Jehovah. I am deeply grateful to Jehovah for changing what could have been a difficult period for us to a time of lasting blessings. After three and a half memorable years in Taiwan, our family returned to Japan.

The boys were now teenagers and began pushing for independence. I spent many hours reasoning with them on Scriptural principles, and Jehovah helped them through that difficult time. On leaving high school, Tomoyoshi began to pioneer. He was able to help four people to dedication and baptism during his first few years of pioneering. Masahiko followed his brother’s example and started to pioneer right after secondary school. He helped four young people to become Witnesses in his first four years of pioneering.

Then Jehovah blessed the children even more. Tomoyoshi studied with the husband of a woman whom I had helped to learn Bible truths. Their two daughters also became Witnesses. Later, Tomoyoshi married the older girl, Nobuko, and Masahiko married the younger one, Masako. Tomoyoshi and Nobuko now serve at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York. And Masahiko and Masako are missionaries in Paraguay.