Faith & Life

A Good Example

A Mongolian lady accepted the truth. The sister, who is poor at Korean language, learns the culture of Zion such as how to greet Zion members and how to worship, by carefully watching us. So when I’m aware that she is next to me, my words and actions become godly. As I’m in a situation where I have to be an example to a Zion member, Jesus’ teaching comes to mind. “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” Jn 13:15 Every day, during the three years of ministry, Jesus showed the examples that Christians should do. Also in this age, Heavenly Father sowed the seeds of the gospel for thirty-seven years…

Lee Ji-won from Gimhae, Korea

The Seat for Parents

This is an anecdote of Napoleon that occurred when he marched into Poland after he became emperor. When he was staying in a small village in Poland, he was invited to dinner by the lord of a manor. The lord of the manor welcomed Napoleon at the door and guided him in to his dining room. He passed the first and second seats among the highest seats at the table, and when he reached the third seat, he asked Napoleon to sit there. As Napoleon sat down with an unpleased look on his face, one of his subjects rebuked the lord of the manor for his inhospitality towards the emperor. Then the lord of the manor said. “I am truly…

The Reason That I Cannot Expect Recompense

“The peanut wizard” is the moniker of George Washington Carver, an American agricultural chemist and inventor. Carver planted peanuts as an alternative crop in soil that had been depleted of its nutrients because of the repeated planting of cotton plants. He researched it over and over again, and discovered three hundred products made from peanuts. This made the peanut one of the main crops in America. One day, he received a letter along with a bag of peanuts that were severely disease-ridden. It said that he would be given a hundred dollars per month if he found the cause of the sickness and its remedy. After extensive research and study, he figured it out. Then he replied to the letter,…

My First Love Until the End

Since I was born a second child, I never imagined that I would have to take on the role of the firstborn child. However, when I was fifteen years old, my older sister, who was a lot older than I was, got married and I had to take care of my four younger siblings. Around that time, my family’s financial situation got worse, and I even had to undertake the housework on behalf of my parents who were always at work; as soon as I came back from school, I divided up the house chores among us and hurriedly finished them. I carried my youngest sibling, who was ten years younger than me, on my back all the time. Many…

Yun Hyeon-suk from Incheon, Korea

An Opportunity

In the early 19th century, the Rothschild Bank, which was a big success in Europe, planned to open a new branch in America. One day, the president of the bank called a competent employee and asked, “We are planning to open a new branch in America and I think now is the best time. How much time do you need to get ready to leave?” After some hesitation, he answered that it would take him about ten days. The president sent him away and called in another employee, and asked him the same question. Then he answered he would be able to leave in three days. He called in the other employee and asked him the same question. The employee…

Discrepancy in Harvest

Two farmers went out into the field to harvest ripe barley. One kept working from the morning, and the other seemed to take breaks at intervals. After lunch, they worked in the same way as they did in the morning. The Barley harvest finished at dusk. The one who worked all day without rest wiped the sweat off his brow and turned around to look at the barley sheaves, and he was shocked. The farmer who kept taking breaks at intervals had a higher pile of sheaves than he did. “How can this be? I kept harvesting without a break and yet your pile is higher than mine.” “I kept sharpening my sickle while cutting the barley.”

The Love of God Who Has Swept Away Our Offenses and Sins

As I grew older, I gradually got away from the church I had been attending since I was young. But when I felt that all was futile, I sought God again. Everything seemed very new to me as I began to live the life of faith again. One day, while reading the Bible, I found why I was able to come back to God. “Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” Isa 44:21–22 I left God and…

Park Su-yeon from Zagreb, Croatia

Fruits around Me

I was moved when I heard that the number of Zions around the world was increasing day after day as the gospel was spreading rapidly. The stories of the Zion members, who held a Bible seminar for colleagues at work in the heat of the gospel, were also exciting. I prayed that I too would have the opportunity to preach the word of God in my workplace. Then a colleague suggested that each of the teacher club members have a presentation during lunch time. It was to increase presentation skills and to share good knowledge and information. For me, it was a great opportunity to share the good news of salvation. I waited for my turn and prepared my presentation.…

Kim In-ju from Sacheon, Korea

Challenge

Charles Lindbergh was the first aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In the last phase of his life, he reminisced about his younger days a lot; he felt like he was losing confidence and going negative as he was getting old. One day, he went to the museum to see his airplane which he rode when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his youth. With the museum director’s permission, Lindbergh got on the plane on display and was absorbed in his thoughts for a while. Then he was very surprised, looking at the pilot seat; there was neither an instrument panel nor an altimeter in the plane. Then the museum director said, “You still think it’s surprising, don’t…

Depending on the Mind

An old man was sitting on the hill overlooking the view of a village. A traveler, who was passing by the old man, asked him, “What kind of people are those living in this village?” The old man asked him in return, “What type of people were those living in the villages you passed through?” He answered, “They were dishonest and always angry. They were terrible.” Then the old man said, “You will meet the same kind of people here, too.” After a while, another traveler passed by the old man and asked him, “What kind of people are those living in this village?” The old man asked him in return, “What type of people were those living in the…

Family Changes by Efforts

Whenever I came back home, being exhausted, my wife must have felt sorry for me because she said, “Welcome home! Tired, right?” or “Oh, you’re home. I missed you.” She always welcomed me with a bright look. But I used to say bluntly, “Yes.” That was all. Despite that, she always smiled at me undauntedly, trying to plant a positive mind in me. One evening after two months, when I came in through the front door with a smile, saying, “I’m home.” At this, my wife said that she was very happy and felt rewarded for not giving up on making a happy home. At first, my wife and I had hard times because of different ways of thinking and…

Baek Gwang-wun from Gimpo, Korea

The Place Where I Belong

Dr. Schweitzer was a great humanitarian, who dedicated his life to serving the people of Africa as a medical missionary. This is an episode that occurred when he got on a train for Denmark to receive the Nobel Prize in 1952. A lot of reporters flocked towards the first class section of the train to interview Schweitzer, but they couldn’t find him. So they looked for him in the second class section, but they couldn’t see him there, either. At that time, one of the reporters found him treating some poor rural people at the corner of the third class passenger coach filled with a noisome smell. “Doctor, what are you doing here? Please go to the first class section…

Goal

A man named Anderson became the new president of a railroad company in the United States. When his limousine pulled up, an old railway worker got out of the car. Seeing this, a new employee came up to him and asked. “Why were you in the president’s car?” “Well, the new president turned out to be my friend who dug ditches with me 20 years ago.” “Really? Your friend became the president of the company, so why are you still digging ditches here?” “You know, I’ve just realized the reason. At that time, I worked just to make some money, but Anderson worked in order to fulfill his dream.”

Right Words and Considerate Words

“Honey, isn’t this coffee cup so pretty? I bought a set of cups on sale today.” “How many cups do we already have? I think you’re spending too much.” “We have several cups, but not with this design. Don’t be so stingy with inexpensive things!” “Whether it’s expensive or not, there’s no reason to buy them.” “If others hear you say that, they will think I am a big spender.” “I don’t mean it.” “That’s enough. Stop please!” The wife was making great efforts to save money as much as she could. Usually, she is meticulous in buying things that are even at a discount. So she was happy to buy the coffee cups that she wanted to buy at…

Judgment

There was a six-inch-long ruler. Whatever the ruler met, he first measured its length. “2.6 inches, 4.3 inches, 3.6 inches . . . Oops, you are just an inch long!” One day, the ruler met a scale. Suddenly, the scale approached him and weighed him. “17 grams? Is that all? How ridiculous! Ha, ha, ha!” The ruler was so hurt that he almost burst into tears. Only then did the ruler realize that it was his fault to judge everything only by its length. After that, the ruler regarded things as beautiful, respecting them as they are.

Learning the Hard Work of Farmers and Sharing the Joy of Harvest

#1 Jo Seong-chan from Daejeon, Korea In October, when autumn was in full swing, the young adults in Daejeon made a plan to help some farmers who were having a hard time due to a shortage of labor. Overcoming the temptation to sleep in on the weekend, more than 150 young adults hurried to a sweet potato farm and a ginseng farm in Jinan, North Jeolla Province, as well as a turmeric farm in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province. I went to the sweet potato farm to give a helping hand. “Poke the soil with a trident, lift it up a couple of times, and carefully dig up the sweet potatoes with a hoe. Put all the stalks together on one corner of the furrow.…

Daejeon, Korea

“That’s All Right!”

How many times do people suffer a great blow while living their lives? In fact, people are more likely to be worried or concerned about small and trivial matters than big ones. It is the same for the cases of being offended by other people’s behavior. Most cases are just a little displeasing, and there are only a few cases where your whole life gets ruined by someone else. If you make a big deal out of a trivial matter or overreact, it becomes a big problem. Everything depends on your mind. If it is not that big of a deal, why don’t you think, ‘That’s all right,’ and put it aside? Tip Think, ‘That’s all right,’ when you feel…

Traveling Around the World with Dad

A photo of a dad and his daughter posing together with the background of famous tourist destinations such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Blue Dragon Ice Cave in Iceland, and the Colosseum in Italy and its story were introduced on the Internet news. The reason these photos caught others’ attention was because the dad in the picture was a life size photo of the dad. The daughter is a second generation Korean-American living in Manhattan, New York. Her dad was a protector of the family, but suddenly he died of a stomach cancer. She was in despair and lost any motivation. Even though she lived in a luxury apartment and had a good job and she was able…

A Heavenly Family Member Whom We Never Gave Up Looking for

Many souls were led to Zion through the preaching festival in Brazil. Among them, I would like to share the stories of some brothers and sisters found in the 2nd São Paulo Church. A few days after the preaching festival started, I heard from a sister that she met Sister Simone, who had stopped coming to church a long time ago. Sister Simone received the truth when she was young, but as she got married, we lost contact with her. At that time, the members made every effort to meet her, but they couldn’t get a hold of her. However, Heavenly Father and Mother never gave up on her. The members ran into her on the street. She gave them…

Lee Kang-mi from São Paulo, Brazil

The Most Beautiful Performance

A talent show was held at the end of the year in a kindergarten in Florida, U.S. The children sat side by side on the stage and showed their parents the songs and dances that they had practiced, but a blonde girl was doing something totally different. She rolled her fingers in a circle and held them around her eyes, or waved her arms while moving her body left and right. From the beginning of the song to the end, she did not stop moving and did not follow how other children did, so the rest of the children looked at her and gave her a puzzled look. The child who diligently did her own movements, looking at one place,…