As part of a convention program in Japan, a sister was asked to give her experience of how she came into the truth. She explained about how she had wanted to study with the Witnesses, but that she first had to get permission from her father. Her father however was involved in the Japanese Yakuza and was a very hard man. The Japanese Yakuza have a reputation for being very harsh and brutal in their dealings with people.
For example: rather than kill someone, they’ll disfigure or maim them to cause them to suffer for the rest of their lives. When she asked her dad if she could study with the Witnesses, he immediately responded with an emphatic, “NO!”. He told her that he would not allow any daughter of his to study with those people. She tried to explain how much this meant to her, but he still wouldn’t give in to her pleadings.
After many attempts on her part, he finally told her if it was that important to her, then she should be willing to sacrifice something for it. She told him that she was. He said that the price that she would have to pay in order to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses would be to have one of her fingers cut off. She tried to reason with him; but soon realized that this would be the only way she would be able to study, so, she agreed!
He had the first finger of the right hand cut off. She began her study. After a time, she wanted to start attending the meetings. She again had to ask her father for permission. He again told her that she would have to sacrifice another finger if she really wanted to attend the meetings. She agreed. And her father had the middle finger cut off.
Then, she progressed to the point of baptism. The Scenario was the same as before: He told her that she knew the price, and the ring finger of the same hand was cut off. Through all of this, she was so grateful to Jehovah for allowing her to be baptized and to serve him, that she gave no thought to the sacrifices she had made. The brother conducting the interview then asked the sister, “Now that time has passed, has your father any remorse over his actions towards you?”
She said, “Why don’t you ask him yourself…he’ s here today getting baptized!” Her father came out on the stage, hugged his daughter, and began to cry. He tearfully expressed how sorry he was for hurting his daughter in such a cruel way. He said he felt as if he could never make it up to her.The brother then asked the sister if she had any feelings of anger towards her father over what he had done to her. She replied, “If all it took was three fingers to gain my father as my brother, then it was well worth it!”
