Lesson 14 How Can Our Worship Be Pleasing to God?

[Click for Transcript]|[Liberated by Truth]
[Boniface Kwamlah]
Boniface: At a tender age, I had a troubled mind
[Interview and re-enactments]
as to how I would be pleasing to God and also at the same time be pleasing in the eyes of the voodoo.
[Sitting on a bench, pre-teen Boniface rests his chin in his hand]
Two of my siblings died before I was born. So, my mother was seeking protection all through her pregnancy with me.
[His pregnant mother carries a load on her head]
My mother was made to believe that when she goes to the voodoo shrine regularly,
[She trudges down a dirt road]
she will be protected from the witches. This means she had to walk about four miles (6 km) to the shrine regularly, barefooted.
[She walks on rocks]
After my birth, I was sent to the voodoo shrine to be protected from the attack of the witches. I was kept there.
[Smoke rises around pots]
I got baptized into the Catholic Church. There we were taught that those who worship idols, the voodoos, would be burnt in an everlasting hellfire. I was terrified. One day, I asked my father, “Won’t the priest be angry if he knows that we, “after going in for the communion, still go into the shrine?” My father came back with the news that the priest said I can still go ahead being an idol worshipper and at the same time being a Catholic. I became disturbed. 
[Back on the bench his father speaks to him]
I became confused.
[Pre-teen Boniface covers his face with both hands]
I came across Jehovah’s Witnesses when I was of age and left the village. I bombarded them with questions.
[Sitting with two witnesses he rifles through a Bible]
So, I demanded a book.
[One hands him the truth book]
I read the book before daybreak. So that night, in my heart I broke away from the voodoo worship and also from the Catholic religion.
[He strikes a match and lights an oil lamp]
I was afraid to confront my father over the issue. In our culture, it’s not easy for a young man to take such a crucial decision.
[Light from the lamp illuminates his face as he bows his head in prayer]
Before I could be aware, there was the news in the village that now Donkor has joined a new religion. So, any time I’d go home, relatives would knock on my door, at dawn, to advise me to rescind my decision. My worry was how to inform my father.
[Outside his cement block home, his father sits in the shade, a stern expression on his face]
And one day, my father invited me
[He beckons Boniface to sit with him]
and then inquired of me what was really happening.
[Boniface sits calmly]
And it became a very strong confrontation.
[His father’s eyes widen, and he gestures emphatically. Boniface stands pointing heavenward)
I told him: “I’ll worship Jehovah. Jehovah is the only God I’ll worship.” So, he flared up, left me, and then went into his room. So, I also entered my room and started singing: “Once with confusion our sad hearts were filled, drinking the cup false religion distilled.” I was singing so vigorously, as is somebody who has been liberated. Because I felt that initially I was in prison, but now I am a freedman.
[Present day, while preaching, Boniface approaches two men]
So since then, I’ve been serving Jehovah. The fear of man has been overcome.
[He shakes their hands, as boys play ball behind him. Calling the boys over he shows them a picture of the resurrection from the Listen and Live brochure]
I am no longer a captive of the fear of death or even the dead. I no longer engage myself in any practices that are contrary to Bible standards. I feel liberated. 
[He and his wife sing at a meeting, after he laughs and chats with the congregation]
It makes me happy when I see my children also serving the only true God, Jehovah.
[His children walk in front of him and his wife]
Now I live a very happy family life.
[He and his wife beam]
(Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2015 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania) [Click to close]