Faith & Life

Volunteering Brings Joy to Our Hearts

One day, The members of the Baulkham Hills Church in Australia participated in Bushcare volunteer activities in Kellyville. The main focus of that day was to remove weeds and rubbish. As it rained on the previous day, the soil got softer, which made it much easier to remove the weeds. The members worked for about two hours, and their united efforts achieved an astounding result. More than twenty 100-liter bags were not enough for all the weeds collected, and we even used a truck but it wasn’t enough, either. There were also huge piles of fallen branches from the bush. “You have done a great job. This would have taken us several months,” a regular Bushcare volunteer said in amazement.…

The Baulkham Hills Church in Sydney, Australia

We Are All Parts of One Body

I went to hospital because I had pain in my neck and shoulder. I was diagnosed with a herniated cervical disc. It was manageable with simple medical treatment, but I had to be careful while working on a computer or doing the housework so that I wouldn’t put pressure on my neck, which in turn caused pressure on my waist. Around the time when I was about to have started to feel less pain in my neck, I even had a lumbar disc herniation. After I received medical treatment for my lower back pain, my whole body became so weak that even my hands and feet began to shake. I had swelling and pain in my legs, which caused aches…

Gu Yeon-hui from Suncheon, Korea

Preparation Yields No Fear or Worries

People prepare many things for a new year. They get calendars and diaries, buy new clothes for New Year’s Day or deep clean their homes to renew their minds. They do all these things probably because they wish to spend the new year meaningfully. In the Bible, we can find the parable of the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom with their lamps in their hands. The five wise virgins prepared enough oil for their lamps, so they were able to meet the bridegroom when he suddenly arrived at midnight. However, the five foolish ones were too lazy to prepare their lamps, and while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived, so they could not…

Mother’s Memory

I have an adorable high school son worth ten daughters. He liked to go to sleep in my arms and didn’t ever want to leave my side when he was a little boy. But before I knew, he has grown so tall that now I have to look up at him. Whenever I see him who has grown tall, I’m proud but sad on the other hand because soon he will not need my help any longer. Perhaps this could be the reason I got a strange habit of asking my son whether he remembers his childhood. When he walks up to me, I remember him crawling up to me with his diaper on; when he’s talking, sitting beside me,…

Yun Eun-ju from Goyang, Korea

Bathroom Etiquette

“Come out quickly. I’m in a hurry.” “Who didn’t switch off?” “Who hung the wet towel?” . . .  While using the bathroom together at home, we go through many troubles. If the bathroom is not cleaned up after use, the next user may be unpleasant. So, in the bathroom we need more consideration than in any other places at home. This month, let us observe good bathroom manners so that all family members can use the bathroom pleasantly and hygienically. People with a beautiful mind leave their seats beautiful. Tip Bathroom Etiquette at Home Knock the door before entering. Empty the bin when full. Wash your hands with soap. Yield for someone in a hurry. Replace the toilet paper…

Light in the Fog

During the last national holidays, my husband went to his parents’ house first to take care of things, and my son and I went there the following day. After spending a good time together, we headed back home. It was early in the morning, and the thick fog caused blurry vision on the highway. Then my husband changed the lane, got in front of us, and turned on the hazard lights. Depending on his lights, I drove slowly and carefully. After driving for quite a while, we finally got out of the foggy area safely. However, my husband’s car which was right in front of us until a moment ago disappeared from sight. Through the side-view mirror, I saw that…

Kim Hyeon-su from Gunpo, Korea

Faith Blooming after a Long Wait

One fine day in May, we set up a booth on the street and delivered the news articles about the Church of God, which were featured in newspapers and magazines. Many passersby showed interest in it, and one of them was an old gentleman who worked as a security guard at an apartment complex. He showed interest, saying he had never heard about the Church of God, and asked us to visit him at work. A few days later, we went to see him. However, he wasn’t happy with our visit because he had some misunderstanding about our church after hearing false information from the people around him. It was sad, but we had no choice but to leave. Several…

Kim Mi-ja from Seoul, Korea

The Sister Who Sings for Her Younger Sister

One day in Zion, I overheard the conversation between two sisters, who were elementary school students, as they were talking to each other in the bathroom. “Sister, please sing a song for me!” As soon as the younger sister finished, the older sister started to sing. I was a little surprised to see her singing with a loud voice, because she usually seemed quiet and calm. Shortly after, I heard their story, which moved me deeply. “I need to sing for my younger sister because she is scared to be in the bathroom alone.” I was proud of her for taking care of her younger sister. It made me look back on myself. I was somewhat ashamed of myself because…

Lee Hye-gyeong from Seongnam, Korea

Ask Myself

My wife plays the piano during worship. One day, she said she was worried because the choir song was too difficult this time. Then I said to her, “Try a hundred times, and if you still can’t, then you can’t help it.” After she heard me say that, she practiced more than a hundred times, and she was able to play the piano in harmony with the beautiful voices of the choir to offer up a gracious song of praise to God in worship. It was nice of her not to give up or give it a lick and a promise, with the excuse that it was difficult. From now on, whenever I face a difficult problem or situation, I…

Jeong Jae-pil from Anyang, Korea

Treasure Hunt Continues Every Day

People live for what they believe is valuable. The most valuable thing in my life was money. Probably because I grew up in a poor family, I believed that having economic strength was the most important thing in life. When I was in university, I constantly looked for a job to earn money. One day, I was sitting on a campus bench while waiting for my next class. Two Koreans were walking towards me, so I thought that they were going to ask me something. They did ask me a question though it was a question that I couldn’t answer. “Have you ever heard about Heavenly Mother?” Starting with that simple but mysterious question, they explained to me a lot…

Hazel Marie Victoriano Bonitillo from Iloilo, Philippines

Although God Gives Us Everything We Need On Our Journey of Faith

Last winter, when an extreme cold warning was issued, my wife, said that there was no hot water coming out at all during her shower, and she asked me to check if the boiler was working. When I checked the boiler operating system, the red light was on. I turned the switch off and then on, but it still didn’t work. Thinking what I should do, I went out to the veranda where the boiler was installed and carefully read the instruction manual on how to deal with the problem. It was suggested that I should clean the heating filter. As soon as I located the filter, I took it apart. It was full of small pieces dirt and sand.…

Yeo In-won from Daejeon, Korea

The Right Time for Treatment

At some point in time, one of my teeth started to hurt. The toothache disappeared soon, and I delayed going to the dentist. As time passed by, the pain became unbearable. Finally, I went to the dentist. As I expected, the tooth was severely decayed. Cavities had started to develop in my other teeth as well. So I decided to fix them all. It was easy to fix the slightly decayed teeth, but it was very painful to fix the severely decayed tooth. The doctor said: “The deeper a cavity goes and the longer you delay treatment, the more pain you will experience and the longer it will take to fix.” Due to the bad cavity, I had to go…

Kim Se-hun from Sejong, Korea

Labor Pain Continues Even Today

One day while preaching overseas, I met a young man at a shopping mall and asked him if he had ever heard about God the Mother. He said it was his first time to hear about God the Mother and gave ear to the words of the Bible. He wanted to learn more, but had to leave soon because his friend was waiting for him. We promised to meet again the next day, and I waited for the next day to come. On the following day, we went to meet him. He said he had already arrived forty minutes before our appointment time; he had come straight from work to keep his appointment with us. I felt excited as I…

Park Ji-hye from Seongnam, Korea

The Happiest Moment Is Now

My company invites lecturers once a month to train employees. The lecturer of this month asked a question during his speech on the importance of time: “Do you know when dead people are most envious of us? It is now. If you do not know how happy you are while spending these precious moments, you cannot be happy in the future, either.” His words struck me. God told us to give thanks in all circumstances and be joyful always. It means that we should realize how happy we are as God’s children. However, I didn’t appreciate the present time given by God and I didn’t rejoice in all circumstances, so I couldn’t feel happy. Suddenly, I was scared that I…

Park Geum-ryeong from Busan, Korea

Yielding Is Easy If You Love

“How many times have I told you what I want from you is not a good grade but your getting along with each other?” This is what I say every time my children quarrel. My son and daughter who are both in elementary school seem to regret what they did the moment I scold them, but soon after, they easily squabble again. Wondering how I could help them get along, I came up with an idea: I decided to give a star sticker to the one who yielded to the other, and to award them with some pocket money when they gathered ten stickers. They prepared some paper where they were going to put the stickers, and discussed how they…

Gwon Sun-hye from Daegu, Korea

The Good Samaritan

Those who do not help others in a dangerous situation, even though they are able to rescue them without exposing themselves or people close to them to danger, shall be punished by imprisonment for no more than three years. Article 247 of the Polish Criminal Law, 1932 Those who do not rescue another person from danger, despite the fact that it is not a situation where they may become endangered, shall be punished by imprisonment for no more than five years or by a fine of no less than 360 francs nor more than 15,000 francs. Paragraph 2 of Article 63 of the French Criminal Law Some countries like Poland and France have laws to punish those who see others…

Dew of the Dawn

The Bible likens young adults to the dew of the dawn (Ps 110:3). As I am also a young adult, I have often heard the words “dew of the dawn.” However, I didn’t know what it really meant when I heard it before. I just thought, ‘Does it mean that we should always take the lead in doing something, like the dew that forms early in the morning when everyone is sleeping?’ Then I happened to know the meaning of it. In Israel, the setting of the Bible, the dry season lasts for about six months. Despite no rain during that period, plants can survive thanks to the early morning dew that forms as a result of the temperature difference…

Yeon Bo-ra-mi from Jeju Island, Korea

Something Small and Trivial

My sister-in-law runs a restaurant by herself. When she asked me to help her with wallpapering the hall, I immediately went over to her place with comfortable clothes. “I think we have to tear it down from the upper part,” I said to her. Then she brought out a small ladder from the storage. I climbed up the ladder and moved my arms around to tear down the wallpaper. At that moment, I fell off the ladder and landed on my hip. Surprised, my sister-in-law rushed up to help me stand up. “Are you okay? That’s strange. This ladder isn’t that weak.” As she was sorry about that, I reassured her that I was fine. Then I picked up the…

Kim Im-suk from Daegu, Korea

Focus

When taking a picture, you can get many different photos from the same scene according to the focal point; your photos may turn out bright or dark, blurry or clear. It is the same with your faith. You may have a completely different feeling about the same situation according to what you focus your faith on. Aren’t you focusing your faith on yourself and feeling satisfied with your own efforts? My feelings, my pain, and my thoughts—this self-centered faith makes us focus only on things right in front of us and it eventually leads us to complain. We must put God at the center of our hearts. Moving away from childish faith and trying to match ourselves with God, we…

If You Can’t Stop Time, Enjoy It!

Whenever the end of the year comes, we hear people grumble, “I’m going to get another year older.” Everybody wants to live long, but doesn’t want to get old. It is not a pleasant thing to get old, because getting old means losing physical strength and having less time to live. As 365 days—the time takes for the earth to revolve around the sun once—pass, we become a year older and our bodies get older. We are just riding on the earth that revolves like a spinning top, but our bodies get older, which is something interesting in a way. There are many theories on the cause of aging. The Wear and Tear Theory of Aging proposes that some of…