LIFE STORY/I Found Peace With God and With My Mother-AS TOLD BY MICHIYO KUMAGAI

HELP AND OPPOSITION

At the Kingdom Hall, I had met many who were experiencing family opposition.  They had assured me that Jehovah would strengthen me.  (Matthew 10:34-37) They impressed on me that I was my family's main link to their gaining salvation. So I began to pray earnestly, wanting to learn how tor rely on Jehovah. 

In the family, opposition took many forms. Mom tried both pleading and reasoning. Usually, I kept quiet.  When I spoke up, we often became emotional, as we each focused on making our point. I should have acknowledged Mom's feeling and beliefs more, which might have calmed things.  My parents increased my chores in an attempt to keep me indoors. Sometimes I was locked out of the house or no food was left for me. 

Mom turned to others for support.  She appealed to my schoolteacher, who remained neutral. Mom took me to her manager at work so that he could try to convince me that all religions are useless. At home, Mom telephoned various relatives and tearfully pleaded for help.  That upset me, but at the meetings the elders urged me to  think of all the people whom Mom was inadvertently giving a witness.   

Then I faced the issue of going to university.  My parents planned to give me what the considered to be the best start in life. They hoped that I could find a good job. We were too emotional to discuss matters calmly, So I wrote Mom and Dad several letters  to explain my goals. Furious, Dad threatened:  "If you think that you can find a  job, find it by tomorrow or else you can leave this house."  I took the matter  to Jehovah in prayer.  The next day while I was in the ministry, two different sisters, independent of each other, asked me to tutor their children.  Dad was not happy with this development and stopped talking to me altogether; actually, he began to ignore me.   Mom said that  she would rather I be a delinquent than one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Sometimes I wondered whether Jehovah wanted me to resist my parents' wishes to this extent. But more prayer and reflection on Bible texts about Jehovah's love  enabled me  to view opposition objectively and to understand that, in part, it stemmed from my parents' concern for me.   Jehovah helped me to put my thinking straight and to see the way to go. Also, the more I shared  in the ministry, the more I enjoyed it. Yes, pioneering became my goal.   

Next time:  LIFE STORY/I Found Peace With God and With My Mom -AS TOLD BY MICHIYO KUMAGAI-SERVING AS A PIONEER

From The Watchtower magazine