Faith & Life

Joy of Working Together

During the student camp, a cleanup was scheduled at a welfare facility for the disabled. I have seen and read volunteer services only through the church’s monthly magazines or videos. When I heard we were actually going to do it, I was excited but did not know what to do. So before visiting the facility, I watched a video about other Zion students’ volunteer services at nursing homes. The students of my age who visited nursing homes gave massages to the elderly and entertained them with dances and songs. Just by looking at them, I could tell how hard they prepared. After watching the video, we resolved to unite with each other and do the cleaning well. On the very…

Jeon Ye-rim from Hongseong, Korea

God Does Not Despise a Contrite Heart

Whenever I saw members bearing gospel fruit every month, I was worried about myself as I did not reap any result. I thought to myself, ‘Maybe I’m still not after God’s own heart.’ “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.” Ps 51:17–18 David, who was approved by God as the “one after My heart,” always had a contrite and repentant heart. Furthermore, he gathered materials for Jerusalem temple, eagerly hoping to establish it. As a result, God loved David so much. I want to fill my heart with humbleness and repentance, fully realizing that I…

Andrea Bahena Valdés from Toluca, Mexico

He Showed Them the Full Extent of His Love

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” Jn 13:1 I usually read this verse in Korean, and I thought it meant that Jesus loved them until His death on the cross, until I read it in the New International Version Bible, which says that He showed them the full extent of His love. He did not even spare His own life for His people because He loved them perfectly, 100%. Heavenly Mother, too, said to Her children, “You are everything in My life.”…

Lee Eui-seon from Quezon City, Philippines

Thank God!

When it suddenly showers after you hang out the washing on the line, you may get irritated and think, ‘Ugh! All my hard work is gone!’ But you can find a positive point: ‘Thank God, I’ve handed umbrellas to my children before they left in the morning.’ If you have to do the laundry again anyways, which one would make you feel less difficult? Even if you face a hard and irritable situation, you would be glad if you change your mind. In fact, we live in countless good fortunes. We can drink clean water, we can eat delicious food, we can laugh, we have a family to be together, we have a place to sleep, nothing bad happened to…

On a Rainy Day

One day, we decided to hold a cleanup around the campus with brothers and sisters who attend the same college. We were a little worried because of the bad weather, but we decided to do the cleanup as we’d planned. We picked up not only the trash on the street but also pieces of trash hidden in flower beds and among trees. It was the street that I walked on every day. I regretted having passed by it without paying attention to it. As time goes by, the rain and wind got stronger. Not to mention our pants and shoes, our hair got wet because the hoods of our rain coats came off by the wind. It was also difficult…

Lee Seo-yeong from Incheon, South Korea

Overcoming Prejudice

One day, I was on my way to Zion with a sister to make preparations for the upcoming Sabbath day. Meanwhile, we came across a middle-aged lady waiting for her child in front of an elementary school. We approached her to deliver God’s word, yet thinking, ‘She’ll probably say she doesn’t have time to listen because her child will soon come out.’ Contrary to my expectation, she was willing to listen to God’s word. She fixed her eyes on the Bible. When her child came out of her school, she told her daughter to wait for her in the school for a while and continued to pay attention to our message. Learning about the existence of God the Mother, she…

Song Yu-mi from Tijuana, Mexico

A Book Compiled With a Father’s Sincere Love

In the Joseon Dynasty, the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, there was a custom among the noble families. The family would put the book called ‘Cheon-In-Cheon-Ja-Mun 千人千字文’ on the main feast table when their son celebrated his first birthday. The name of the book means “Each of 1,000 people write one character.” As the name suggests, this book comprises Chinese characters written by 1,000 people. When a son was born into a noble family, his father would visit officials who had accumulated academic literacy through examinations and ask each of them to write down one character from the Cheon-Ja-Mun 千字文 (Thousand Character Classic in English), which is a book of Chinese poem that has been used as a primer for…

A Bow and Dojigae

Gakgung is a representative traditional bow in Korea. Since it is water buffalo horn-based, it is called Gakgung, using the Chinese character called Gak 角, meaning horn. In addition, the bow is made of various materials such as bamboo, mulberry, oak, cow tendon, and the bark of cherry trees. It has great elasticity because each material pushes and pulls each other. When you release the strings that hold both ends, the bow bends back and curls. The process of making Gakgung is a complicated and delicate process; it does require a lot of effort so that it can perform well. It can take a year to prepare and process the materials. When the final stage of making of the Gakgung…

The Tardy Deputy Minister

One day in January 2018, a meeting was held at the UK Parliament Building at 3 p.m. Michael Bates, the Deputy Minister for the Department for International Development, was supposed to answer questions about income inequality during the meeting; however, he came to the meeting and suddenly announced his intention to resign. His reason was because he arrived a few minutes late. “I sincerely apologize for having failed to make it on time from the beginning of a very important meeting to answer inquiries. I am ashamed of it. I will immediately submit my resignation to the Prime Minister.” People usually apologize to others if they are not on time, and move on. Michael Bates, however, did not regard his…

My Ugly Fingers

“I wish I had found you sooner when that happened. I should’ve let you have a surgery . . .” Today, too, my mother’s eyes get all teary, looking at my fingers. When I was little, my mother would stay up until late at night in the cold winter, making rice cake for the national holidays. I, a curious seven-year-old boy, took iron chopsticks from the kitchen in secret while my mother was preparing food. As I brought the iron chopsticks to the bedroom quietly, two small holes on the wall got my attention. I looked at them closely for a while, and stuck the chopsticks in those holes—Bam! I felt a great shock as if someone had hit my…

Lee Je-bong from Hwaseong, South Korea

The Best Vacation

Every summer, my husband and I go for a two-day trip with his hometown friends and their wives. He’s had this trip with his friends for more than thirty years since before marriage. The ten families remember their childhood, traveling together around mountains and seas. My husband and his friends grew up together from childhood, and they spent much time together, raising children. So he had made efforts to preach the truth to his friends. Unfortunately, however, the majority of them were not interested in the truth. This year, we decided to spend our vacation quietly in the hometown. One of his friends, the leader of the gathering, had an operation for cancer; so they decided to support his medical…

Kim Sang-hui from Anyang, South Korea

Blessing Granted Through Love

My family is pretty close and open to each other. My parents are always like friends to me, and we are always bright and active when we are together. My friends who have older brothers say that they often argue with each other, but I have good relationship with my older brother, too. That’s probably why my family was the first one that came to my mind when I received the truth through my friend when I was in high school. Since I had just moved to a city from a rural area, I was worried that I might meet some bad friends, but Zion members were so kind that they made me think, ‘I didn’t know there were still…

Kim Hye-ji from Anyang, South Korea

The Courage to Save Lives

Those who pass away or get injured while trying to save another's life in danger or disaster, even though it was not their responsibility, are considered righteous. Some became famous like Lee Soo-hyeon who saved someone who fell on the tracks at the subway station, and Ahn Chi-beom who ran into an apartment on fire and helped the residents escape by going to every door to let them know. Nimal from Sri Lanka, who was burned while saving an elderly neighbor whose house caught on fire, is also regarded as righteous. Those people are remembered as the righteous for a long time. It is impossible to risk their own lives to save others in such an urgent situation without outstanding…

Apology Brings Home Peace

Everyone makes big and small mistakes. We sometimes step on another person’s foot in a crowded bus, spill water on someone and get their clothes wet, hurt someone’s feelings with too much joke, or make someone angry with actions that lack consideration. Not only the immature children but also the elderly who have abundant experiences of life are constantly experiencing trial and error because they are not perfect. What is important is the attitude to cope with the situation in the positive direction when we make a mistake. It is natural that compensation should be followed if you have done harm to others by careless words and actions. The best compensation you can make in a situation where you have…

A Rejection Letter with Consideration

Due to the competitive job market, there are many things job seekers must go through in order to find employment. Receiving constant rejections after taking assessments or going through many rounds of interviews can hinder a person's confidence and passion for their field. In addition, many companies do not let applicants know if they were hired or not. This in turn leads to frustration because the applicants made many preparations to apply for the positions. Although receiving a rejection letter can impact the applicant’s self-esteem, there are companies that send a rejection letter with thoughtful words. One company sends a text message to the applicants who did not make it, saying, “It is our fault that we cannot hire more…

An Actor Who Gave the Gift of a Special Memory

“My grandson said you are famous. May I have your autograph?” An old man approached Roger Moore, who was reading the newspaper in the airport lounge. Roger Moore is an actor who played the role of James Bond in the 007 Series. He gave his autograph on the back of his plane ticket, however, the 7-year-old grandson, who did not know his real name, was disappointed that the autograph did not say, “James Bond.” When his grandfather asked him to give him another autograph for this reason, Roger Moore whispered to the grandson, “I had to use a different name. Otherwise, Blofeld (the name of the villain in the movie) can notice that I am here.” The little boy was…

A Tower of Strength to Me

Recently, I had to prepare something personally, so I worked till late at night for several days. I could neither sleep nor do housework properly. One day, I came home around eight in the evening, utterly worn-out after work. When I entered home, the light was on and the grocery store leaflet was opened wide on the table. I laughed in spite of myself. My husband, who came back from work, must have gone grocery shopping after seeing the leaflet put on the front door. When I looked at my cell phone to call him, I already had a few missed calls from him. I called him. “Did you go grocery shopping?” “Oh, you’re home early! I wanted to cook…

Ahn Ha-jeong from Hwaseong, South Korea

The Street

During commuting times, we can easily see the streets messy with all kinds of garbage. I want to go to work with a refreshing mind and return home in a good mood. However, when I see cigarette butts and garbage in every corner of the streets, I come to frown. There came a good opportunity to change such an environment. Young adult workers living near Songdo New Town planned to clean up the streets. Songdo New Town is a cosmopolitan city with more than 10,000 companies and 110,000 employees. I volunteered to help them work in a pleasant environment. On a holiday at 10 a.m., more than 120 young adult workers overcame the temptation of oversleeping and gathered at a…

Lee Gahng-hui from Incheon, South Korea

The Talent of Hard Work

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics ended with great success. Regardless of the results, the athletes who endured until the end received loud cheering and applause from the audience, which moved their hearts. Among them was a Korean female figure skater who made constant efforts and broke her best record in the Olympics. Because of this, she was able to compete with other world-class athletes. In order to become a competitive figure skater, one must master difficult techniques and have a good presentation. As she was practicing, she felt she was lacking in these areas and complained to her mother, saying, “I don’t know why I was born without any special talent or skills.” Her mother, however, responded, saying, “It’s also…

Kindness to a Stranger

In August 2016, Kasey Simmons, a 30-year-old man who lived in Dallas, TX, went grocery shopping and saw an elderly woman with a gloomy face. Other people passed by without noticing her, however, he talked to her because he was concerned. He couldn’t find out what happened to her, but he comforted her with warm words and paid 17 dollars for her groceries. The next day, Simmons encountered an unexpected incident at the restaurant where he worked as a server. A customer ordered a glass of water and paid 500 dollars as a tip. It turned out that the customer was the daughter of the elderly woman whom he showed kindness toward. The day he comforted the elderly woman was…