Faith & Life

With Uncontrollable Happiness

The ultimate purpose of life is to meet God and return to the kingdom of heaven by receiving salvation through Him. To put it another way, our lives can be referred to as the process of preparing for the eternal kingdom of heaven. Many people live without knowing the essence and meaning of life, but I believed I was different. After converting from Hinduism to Christianity around 1996, I thought I’d finally found my way and there was nothing more I could wish for. A dozen years later, I heard the message of the Bible from a colleague, who I had led a religious life together with and accepted the truth later in Nepal. Then I realized I too was…

Raju Purty from Kolkata, WB, India

Ornaments on the Fine Linen

Recently, I went to a wedding. The bride in a pure white dress was as beautiful as a princess in a movie. The wedding ceremony began, and the bride appeared after the entrance of the gallant groom. The ornaments on the wedding dress shined brilliantly under the bright light. Looking at each ornament shining according to the movements of the bride, I admired how beautiful! It was. Suddenly a Bible verse came to my mind: The righteousness of the saints is the ornaments on the fine linen of Heavenly Mother, the wife of the Lamb (Rev 19:7–8). I looked back at myself to see if my deeds were displaying God’s glory. The ornaments attached to the dress make the bride,…

Kim Nam-su from Seoul, Korea

As Working for God

As the serving leadership is in the spotlight, there are increasing cases of combining the principles of business management and the teachings of the Bible. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Col 3:23) is one of them. It means that we will get far better results when we do things as if we are working for God. Let’s take some examples. When we make products, if we think that God will use them, we cannot neglect anything such as material, design, function and so on. If we serve customers regarding them as God, we come to make sure before others point out, whether the customers have any inconvenience in shopping or…

The Hand That Rules the World

“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world!” William Ross Wallace, an American poet, emphasized the influence of mothers on their children, saying, “They say that man is mighty; he governs land and sea . . . but . . . the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” In fact, most of historic figures who had the world under their control were influenced by their mothers. On the base of the values formed through their mothers from the cradles, they visualized their dreams and marked milestones in world history. Now, there are heroes who are shaking the entire world with a strong weapon called love. They are the Elohists…

The Existence of Mother

Recently, my mother signed an annuity insurance contract in my name. I was not yet in my 30s at that time, and I was not happy with it because I wouldn’t be able to receive annuity benefit payments until I hit my 60s. Then my mother said, “This kind of thing must be prepared in advance.” Honestly, if I become old enough to be covered by the annuity, my mother might not be in this world. So I asked her carefully. “Mom, do you need to take care of me even after you leave the world?” “That’s what mothers do.” My heart ached. A mother loves and cares for her children even beyond her life. How can children fully understand…

Yun Du-nam from Mungyeong, Korea

My Privilege

My husband and I run a small restaurant in Yongin. At first, I was just an assistant for my husband who is a chef, but as time went by, I became more than an assistant. Working in the restaurant from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, I had no time for myself. I wanted to give as much help as possible to my husband who was working so hard, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘When will I get out of this routine?’ Sometimes, I recalled the good old days when I did the gospel work with the brothers and sisters on the front line of the gospel before moving here, and then I got…

Ju Yeong-mi from Yongin, Korea

Failure for Success

According to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation in the U.S., 48% of salespersons immediately give up when they are refused after recommending their customers to buy something; 25% of them recommend twice, 15% three times before they give up, and only 12% of them recommended four times or more. What is important here is that the sales volume of the last group takes 80% of total sales volume. This is something worth considering when things do not go as we expected, leaving us frustrated. If we keep in mind that we can get the best results after going through some steps, we should not just regard failure or refusal as negative. Although we might be afraid of…

Timely Words

It was when I helped organize an event for male adults in the church. As many helping hands were needed, I sent our Zion members a text message asking for help. Soon a brother sent a reply. “Thank you so much for working hard for the members. Even if I can’t help you a lot, I’ll join and support you. I love you.” I’d not done so much, but the brother said he appreciated my hard work and would help me actively. I was very grateful to him. Thanks to that, I was able to volunteer with a joyful heart. “A man finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!” Pr 15:23 As the brother…

Yeo In-won from Daejeon, Korea

Zhiyin

There is a term Zhiyin (知音) in Chinese character. It literally means “to understand the sound,” and is used to refer to close friends who know and understand each other’s innermost feelings. This word was created by Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi who lived in the Spring and Autumn period in Chinese history. Boya was an expert heptachord player, of whom it was said: “When he played, horses looked up to listen.” Ziqi was the only person who ever read what was in Boya’s heart, just by hearing him play the heptachord; he understood even the deep meaning behind his music. But when Ziqi died from a disease, Boya broke his heptachord strings and never played again from then on.…

Breakfast for My Husband

I am not a morning person, so I couldn’t prepare breakfast for my husband to eat before he left for work. Even on the day I woke up early because I couldn’t sleep well, my husband was more concerned about my physical condition than his meal, saying that he could eat a sandwich provided by his company. One day, I put myself in my husband’s shoes; ‘How hungry would I be if I went to work in the morning without having breakfast?’ That evening, I went grocery shopping with a firm determination to make breakfast for my husband. Thinking that my husband would probably stop me, I said to him: “As I wake up late in the morning, I can’t…

Kim Yun-ok from Hwaseong, Korea

String of Love

A biologist discovered an interesting phenomenon while observing the spiders living in the branches or bushes. Even when a mother spider was far away, if any little dangerous thing happened to the baby spiders, the mother spider fleetingly came to its babies to protect them. The biologist got curious to know how the mother spider knew when the baby was in danger and came. So he observed the spiders more carefully. The result was interesting. The mother spider and baby spiders were connected to each other by a very thin string. When the babies were under a threat by the enemy, they moved their bodies and the string was pulled. When the mother felt the oscillation, it came straight to…

Zion Full of Love

One Sabbath day, a deaconess sat at the end of a pew while leaving an empty space for one person to sit on the inside of the pew. When a sister saw it, she asked the deaconess to fill the empty space first. Then the deaconess said with a smile, “I am heating up this spot for a sister because she’s coming soon.” Through her act, though small, I was able to feel her love for the sister and it brought warmth to my heart. Zion always feels warm because it is full of love from my brothers and sisters who resemble Heavenly Father and Mother.

Kim Hyeon-im from Suncheon, Korea

Wanting Everyone to Finish the Race

I went to volunteer at the National Sports Festival in Chungju. My role was to stand at the halfway point of the half marathon course and encourage athletes and prevent their deviating from the course. The marathon started and I waited for the athletes to come in. Not long after, a bunch of athletes passed in front of me. I cheered on them, applauding them. I thought that there were no more athletes left behind. But it turned out that they were athletes of the first group. The athletes passing me by were all exhausted and distressed, gasping for breath. Some of them hobbled, and some wobbled as if they were going to faint. Most of the athletes were students,…

Choi Hyeon-ah from Chungju, Korea

Mother & the Sea

A broad sea receives all sorts of things from the land, but it does not decay. There are many reasons for it: Sea water contains salt that purifies pollutants; it moves constantly in the form of waves; microorganisms in it decompose harmful substances, and so on. The sea, which accepts and purifies impure and dirty elements, resembles a mother. A mother embraces all faults of her children and changes them with her endless love and sacrifice. The sea is written as 海 in Chinese character, and it has 母 [mother] in it. In French, mère [mother] contains mer [sea]. It is very meaningful when we think of the characteristics of the sea and the mother. “As the sea receives all…

Complaint, the Antonym of Happiness

A family went on a journey for a change. The whole family members were excited about their first overseas trip. On the day of their departure, the wife frowned as it rained in the morning. “It’s raining! Why today of all days?” On the way to the airport, the wife again grumbled. “We don’t have time, but the traffic jam is terrible! What’s wrong with this car? Why is it so slow? It’s frustrating!” When they arrived at their destination, the wife’s complaints continued. “I don’t like this hotel,” “I don’t like food here,” “My legs hurt because of a long walk,” . . . The husband got angry with her constant complaints. As a result, the family ruined their…

Enjoying the Sight of Persimmons Rather Than Autumn Leaves

In autumn, when the leaves turn colorful and grain turns gold, we often see on the news heavy traffic with people leaving to see autumn leaves in the mountains or streams. They look relaxed, going on a trip not to miss beautiful sceneries which will be gone soon. Meanwhile, there are people who are up to their necks in work; they are farmers who have harvest ahead. This autumn, we, the members of the Hoiwon Church in Changwon, volunteered for a persimmon harvest to give some help, though not much, to the farmers who desperately need a hand. We arrived at a farm after quite a long drive through colorful autumn roads under the blue sky. A farmer couple welcomed…

The Hoiwon Church in Changwon, Korea

From a Spiritually Premature Baby to a Perfect Child of God

I worked as a midwife before. Midwives are specialists in pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum care, and infant care. My mom had a big influence on my decision to be a midwife. When I saw how hard she had to work to raise her four children, I always wondered, ‘Why does she have to live for her family with no time for herself? Will I be able to become like her?’ I began to think deeply about the role of a mother, and it made me decide to become a midwife. The questions that I had whenever I looked at my mom were all solved after I received the truth in my school days. The love and sacrifice of mothers reminded me…

Matsumoto Miwa from Osaka, Japan

The Most Beautiful Way to Share

“Room temperature 6℃” It is a memo written on the lab note of Madame Curie who won the Nobel Prize even twice. She devoted herself to experiments day and night in a warehouse where there was no heating. Through thousands of experiments of separating and refining uranium ores, she extracted radium and opened the age of radiation therapy. Madame Curie gave up her patent, which was an opportunity to live comfortably for herself and even for her descendants. She poured her entire fortune into the research, and even though she contracted a disease from the radiation exposure, she allowed everybody to use radium to cure sick people. It is noble to share what one has without expecting any worldly benefit…

Help Your Family and Neighbors!

If someone comes to help you carry a heavy load, if someone kindly shows you the way when you are lost, if someone lends you an umbrella when you are floored by a sudden rain . . . You will be very happy and thankful when somebody stretches out a helping hand to you in those moments of need. In our everyday life, we need other people’s help. Why don’t we all become willing helpers this month? When our family or neighbors need help, let us help them without expecting anything in return. But that doesn’t mean we have no rewards at all, because helping others carries its own rewards. When we willingly help others, it always brings us joy…

If It Is the Will of Father

In Zion, I was given an unexpected duty. At first, I gave thanks to God for using me even though I was lacking in many ways. However, as time went on, it was felt beyond my capacity. ‘It was too much for me.’ ‘If another sister had been given that duty, she would have done it better.’ Around the time when I got frustrated and enervated, I happened to read a verse from the Bible that gave me courage and strength. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Mt 10:29–30 It…

Yu Eui-jeong from Pohang, Korea