Lesson 04 Who Is God?

[Click for Transcript]|[My Search for the True God]
[David Schaffer]
David: What many notice when they first attend meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that they hear God’s name, Jehovah. In this life story, Soten Yoeun relates the impact that learning God’s name had on her after surviving the killing fields of Cambodia.
[A thick mist sweeps over a dense jungle]
Soten: On the killing fields in Cambodia,
[In the rain under a tree]
I prayed to God,
[Young Soten hugs her knees]
but I didn’t know his name.
[Text: In 1975, the Communist Party of the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia. The brutal regime was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th century, claiming the lives of over one million people]
When I was a very young girl, they separated our family and they put me to work in the rice field from five in the morning till nine in the evening.
[Children wait in line]
When you see some other children that get killed, you really desperately cry for help inside.
[Each is given food]
You always think that you are next.
[Soten slurps hers down]
But in my heart, I always believed that there had to be a true God somewhere, somehow that can help me get through this. One year later, my family decided to escape Cambodia. We walk close to six or seven months to Thailand. And I have 20 brothers and sisters , only 4 of us survived.
[Soten and family trudge single file through tall grass]
I have a blind aunt that holds on my shoulder all the time. But one day, we got caught.
[Stopping they crouch low to the ground then scatter]
As they start shooting, I push my aunt down to the ground and try to pretend that we are dead. And when I got up, I had no idea where my parent was.
[Soten looks around frantically]
We spent many months in the jungle. As I try to survive, I eat whatever I can find, and I also help my auntie to survive. One day when I go out to look for food, I walked so far away I couldn’t find my way back. I start crying really hard underneath a tree and look up to the sky and pray to the true God. I was raised as a child to pray to Buddhas. But on this night when I start praying, I specifically said that I’m not praying to Buddha —I’m praying to the true God.
And I say, “True God, if you are really here, please help me because I am really scared and I’m hungry and I’m cold.”
[She rests her head on her knees]
After I pray, I just fall to sleep under the big tree.
[Photos of Soten as a young woman]
Eventually, I make it into the refugee camp in Thailand, and I was reunited with my family. We lived in the refugee camp in Thailand for about ten years before we come to United States. My searching for the true God, it didn’t stop there. We tried to go to different churches, but we didn’t understand anything. One day when I come home from school, I met this gentleman named Herold, and he asked if he can talk to me about God. I agree because I saw he have a Bible; he must be a good man. When he talked to me, I tried to pay attention so hard, but I still didn’t understand what he was saying.
[She shakes her head]
And he went very slow. And then he said, “Your name?” I said, “My name Soten.” And then he said, “Your name, Soten; my name is Herold. God’s name, Jehovah.”
[He points heavenward]
I never thought that God had name.
[Her face brightens with a smile]
And ever since that day on, I never forget Jehovah’s name. It’s superglued in my heart. He gave me his phone number. He says he gonna ask his wife to stop by someday, but then I move away from where I lived. Even though I didn’t do the truth at that time, I always pray to Jehovah.
[On a bed she bows her head]
After I learned God’s name, I went back to the church. The priest would start out with “heavenly Father” but leave out Jehovah’s name. So, I raised my hand. I asked him, “Sir, when you pray, ‘heavenly Father,’ “why don’t you say, ‘heavenly Father, “Jehovah’? Why you not using God’s name?” And then he told me that God does not force me to be here, so I’m welcomed to leave or stay if I want. So, because I realized that they don’t use Jehovah’s name, I left and never returned.
[She leaves the Bible on the pew and walks out the door]
She after many years, I tried to call Herold, but no one picked up the phone. So, I leave a message. I was hoping that they remembered me. Two weeks later, Herold comes to my door,
[Herold and his wife knock on her door]
but at the time, I was working at night and asleep during the day.
[Soten asleep in bed]
But Herold never give up; he come back.
[Now wearing winter clothing, they return]
And I keep on praying to Jehovah, asking for someone to knock on my door. And finally, one day I open the door, and when I saw him, I almost couldn’t talk. I was teared up. I was so happy to see him because this is the man who introduced me to Jehovah’s name. Eventually, I start to study with a sister, and she helped me grow spiritually. To know that you have a heavenly Father that cares about you, that was the best feeling on earth. It makes me want to know more about him, want to learn more about him. I would ask questions: Did he like this? Did he like that?” And then when I go to the Kingdom Hall, I hear Jehovah’s name so many times. I feel, that’s it! I found my place.
[She warmly smiles]
I got baptized in 2013. My blind aunt that I help her survive through the jungle, she’s still living until today. And now that I can get a chance to talk to her about Jehovah, that was a blessing. And I can’t stress enough how wonderful and big privilege that I receive from Jehovah, just to know who he is and to learn that there is true God. He have a name, and his name is Jehovah.
[Besides a window she reads a chapter on Jehovah’s name in the God’s Kingdom Rules book. She gazes out the window then opens her Bible]
Presenter: Sister Yoeun still carries painful memories from what she and her family suffered because of man’s ruthless wars. But she now has hope for the future and the comfort of knowing her heavenly Father, Jehovah, something we all share with her. Sister Yoeun has the added joy of worshipping the true God together with her husband and young daughter.
(Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2016 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania) [Click to close]