The books even went to Korea by means of a district overseer, and blind people in that land were able to learn as well.Nekata
would write letters to the congregation, letters expressing his appreciation for the brotherhood and he would ask the
brothers not to take the Truth for granted.He said if you could see it from my situation, I would even crawl several miles to the meetings and crawl back if I could. He wrote also that they should never take the meeting for granted. Never miss one unless they had a scriptural reason and he said they would never know how much he wanted to be there with them then he would say he wondered what It would be like to preach regularly on the outside, to visit and associate with other families in the Truth. He said do not even take the Truth for granted, and he encouraged them to endure.One night, they got a call at the missionary home while they were all sitting at the table. It was the warden and he told Brother Islop that Nekata would be put to death the following morning at 9am. He said there was no way they could stop the execution, because the government had set the date.Three witnesses hired by the government, three government officials and a doctor pronounced him guilty for his crimes, so he had been tried and nothing could change the decision. What a night the missionaries had, tears in their eyes as they prayed for their brother.Nekata''s father wasn''t even informed until the day after the execution. But the warden had called Brother Islop because he knew of the bond that had developed between them. The warden had made another Concession, and in the morning he arranged for a limousine to pick up Percy Islop, so that he could be with Nekata at death. They drove into the large complex with the guards and way down the field was the gallowsA group of officials were there along with the Warden. They brought Percy in, and about 20 minutes later they brought Nekata out in chains. The news had spread all over the prison, about the study and about the changes and they just hated to see this day coming down.Then everyone there saw Percy take Nekata by the hand and Nekata just hugged Percy. Here Percy had come to encourage Nekata, and he just broke down and cried, and the tears were flowing.Nekata said to Percy, "Be strong, I''m going to be strong. Percy. I''m only going to sleep a little while, and then I''ll be able to serve my God again. I believe in the resurrection .And I''m ready to pay the debt I owe to Jehovah God and the debt I owe to society for the crimes have committed Then he encouraged Br. Islop and told him to be strong.Then Nekata bowed to the warden in typical Japanese fashion and said, "I want to thank This man, I want to thank the warden of this prison for allowing me to study the Bible in the recreation hall. He will never know what that meant to me."Then he thanked the Warden for allowing him to be baptized and for allowing his brothers to be there on that day. And for allowing Br. Islop to be there this day. "He made these concessions, and may he see that it has brought me such joy, the Truth of God''s word." Then the warden jumped up and held his hand and said, I want to thank you for being such a model prisoner, ever since your contact with Jehovah''s Witnesses. We thank you!! And none of us want to see you die; this is the saddest day in our livesYou, Mr. Nekata, are a Credit to your God, Jehovah." What a
witness that was!Now it was time for them to go to the gallows, Percy in a car, Nekata in a truck. They go and pull up by the gallows and all the people come down, the officials, etc. The gallows had a rope with a noose on it and a long flight of stairs leading up to it, with ten armed guards along the way. Now the people are becoming emotional and some fainting, but Nekata is unusually calm. He gets off the truck and walks right up those stairs, Percy is right behind him. Nobody had to push him along. Percy has his book-bag, because he is going to share ekata when they get up there. At the top there is a table and two chairs, with some cake and tea on the table. You may wonder what this is all for, it is the typical Last Meal. They sit down and Nekata offers Percy some, but he is so upset, he can''t eat or drink. So Nekata has his portionHe says "Percy, you will have a lot more time." Percy begins to talk to Nekata, and Nekata starts to talk about the high points of the magazines, from the first Watchtower he read down till the present time, and how the Truth has put his mind and heart on the way to life.They talk of a number of highlights and Percy has tears in his eyes. Then Nekata suddenly says "Percy, you know I''ve never heard a Kingdom Song." Percy says, "You don’t want me to sing, do you?" Nekata says "Yes", so Percy gets out his songbook and tries singing, but he''s crying all the way through. Soon Nekata says, "That''s O.K., I''ll hear you in the new order"" and lets him off the hook.They talk a little more and Nekata says, '' I''ve often thought of being free like a little bird to go out and preach the good news. But if I had been free Percy, I may never have listened to the truth. And Although I''m on my way to death, I''m on my way to life, because I know Jehovah and I wouldn’t trade it for the world."He encourages the brotherhood and tells Percy what to tell the brothers. Then they have a prayer and say good-bye with a big bear hug. Percy then has to go down, Nekata takes his slippers off and starts walking right over to the trap door and then he turns around and says, "Percy, what''s that verse, the one aboutThe heart?, that is, the one they had been talking about.? Percy replies that it is about the Circumcision of the heart and he says, "You don''t have to worry, your heart is Circumcised, you can die clean."Nekata says, "I want to remember that when I die. Percy, just a few steps to the noose and I''ve fought the fine fight, I''ve run the race to thefinish and soon it will all be over for me.My reward is ahead. Percy, you and my brothers are the ones that have the hard fight ahead of you, you''re the ones that have to endure, you''re the ones that will have to stay faithful, and not take the truth for granted.And, if you stay faithful I''ll see you in a little while. Then I''ll be resurrected and restored to life, and I''ll see you there if you were faithful and my brothers if they are faithful. Sayanara!"Then he walked over to the trap door and they put the noose around his neck, and they dropped the trap door. And he was heard to say "Oh, Jehovah help." The rope came tight, and they pronounced him dead 11 minutes later.A further development in this story came to light a little while later. One of the Government witnesses to the hanging worked in a government office with one of Jehovah''s Witnesses and he revealed something to that Witness right away the Witness got in touch with Br. Islop and asked him, "Do you know what Nekata said at death?" Percy said yes, he was there. He said "Oh, Jehovah help." The Witness said that his final words were "Oh, Jehovah help Brother Islop!"Who was he thinking about? when he drew his last breath? He was praying for Brother Islop, and if he had enough breath left he''d be praying for the other brothers too! He was a Christian. He really appreciated the brotherhood and unity; he loved the brothers. What a fabulous Witness he turned out to be.The warden told the father the next day about the execution, and the father went to the Morgue. He had kept up to a degree on the progress that his son had been making in the Truth. At the morgue he demanded to see the face of his son as accorded by law. They took him in, along with Br. Islop, and he saw the face of his dead son and he came into the truth He saw the changes Nekata had made and what he stood for and he saidHe must have had the truth! The father came into the truth and became an elder in a Congregation and Nekata''s invalid mother