Faith & Life

Supporting the Heroes of This Age

“Heroes are born in turbulent times.” It is said that one who will save the world appears in times of confusion and difficulty. Admiral Yi Sun-shin in Joseon Dynasty of Korea defeated the enemy in the midst of an urgent crisis; and independence activists gave their lives to reclaim the country. Without a crisis, they would have lived as ordinary people. However, they sacrificed themselves for righteousness, and we call them heroes. The world is now experiencing a turbulent situation it has never experienced before. No one can guarantee safety, and the way of life has changed drastically. Who are the heroes in this current situation of pandemic? They were not far away from us. In these days when everyone…

Kim Min-gyu from Cape Town, Rep. of South Africa

A Beautiful Comfort

French tennis player Nicolas Mahut, ranked 252 in the world, took part in tennis tournament at the 2019 French Open. As a 37-year-old player, he wanted to fulfill his dream of entering the round of 16 at this tournament. It seemed like Mahut was leading as he won the first set against Argentine player Leonardo Mayer in the round of 32. However, he lost three sets in a row and eventually fell out. Missing the chance that might be his last match, Mahut couldn’t leave the bench. The crowd, too, was sad to see his face grow solemn and tears in his eyes. But then, a kid in the stands ran across the coat and hugged him with small arms.…

Keep Your Happiness with Language Etiquette!

Just as there are driving manners on the road, table manners, and dress codes, which are adjusted to the occasion, there is also etiquette for speaking. You will not be punished for not observing etiquette for dining and dressing. However, in the case of driving, if you do not consider other drivers’ perspectives and drive carelessly, the risk of an accident will follow. Likewise, if you do not keep your language etiquette, you may have a warning sign on the peace of your family. If you regard your child speaking impolitely as an outgoing personality and if you speak ill-manneredly with your family members because of intimacy with them, it can cause discomfort and discord and lead to an irreversible…

A Matter of Course Is What You Are Thankful for

One morning, an office worker got up late because his alarm clock broke down. He hurriedly ran to the bathroom to wash, but water did not come out because the water was cut off. He washed only his face with the water he had stored and roughly brushed his hair. Then he wore a shirt he had ironed, but a button fell off. As he hurriedly left his house, wearing a crumpled shirt, he fell on the stairs and had his knee skinned. Bearing the pain, he ran to the bus stop, but the bus he had to take was just leaving. Anger simmered inside him. On the way home after spending a busy day, he thought how grateful it…

The Regret of a Death Row Inmate

I came to deeply realize how brutal the sin I committed in heaven is and how great God Elohim’s love is. As our Bulawayo Zion is situated near National University of Science and Technology, we have been granted the grace of meeting different kinds of people from different walks of life. One day, I met an old man as I was waiting for the appointment to study with new members. This man started walking towards where I was seated, carrying a plastic bag filled with old books and clothes. When he arrived, I greeted him, and after that, he just started to narrate the story of his life as follows: “My son, I am sorry to bother you but I…

Shava Macdonald from Harare, Zimbabwe

The Characteristics of a Wooden Cock

A king who loves cockfighting gave a cock to a famous fighting cock trainer and asked him for training it. After ten days, the king asked, “Is the cock ready?” The trainer replied, “He has a long way to go. He’s too fierce and arrogant that he believes he’s the best.” The king waited ten more days and asked the same question. He replied, “Not quite yet. He threw away arrogance, but he reacts too sensitively to the sounds and shadow of the opponent.” After ten more days, he said to the king who inquired again, “He is no longer reliant on temper, but he still glares at the opponent with too much fight spirit.” After ten more days, the…

Mental Graejil

In order to build a Hanok (traditional Korean-style house), after leveling the ground and setting the foundation stone, builders set up wooden pillars for framing and put a roof on it. The foundation stone, which is called by many names, such as setting stone, first stone, and cornerstone, serves to strengthen the foundation of the house and maintain it firmly. If you set up pillars on the bare ground without a foundation stone, the roots of the pillars may rot by rainwater and the house may collapse. In order for the pillars to stand firmly on the foundation stone, which is a rugged natural stone, the faces that touch each other must match. For this, the bottom of the wooden…

Candies That Made a Boy Reflect on Himself

Tao Xingzhi (1891–1946) advanced the modern Chinese education theory. When he was the principal of an elementary school, he called a student who hit another student into his office. To the student with his head down, he handed a candy. “This is a prize because you have come on time.” To the student who looked confused, he handed another candy. “This is a reward as you stopped hitting him immediately when I told you to stop.” Tao Xingzhi gave him another candy and said, “I found out the reason you hit him. It was because he harassed a girl student against the rules. It means that you have a good heart and courage to fight against a bad man. Don’t…

Neither Hurt Nor Be Hurt

A wound is an injury or a damaged area of the body. Not only the body but also the mind has wounds. Unlike wounds on the body, wounds in the mind are invisible, so they are likely to be overlooked. Visible wounds can be treated with medication, but it is hard to heal the wounds in the mind on your own. As a poet said, “Is there a soul without a wound?” everyone gets hurt at least once in their lifetime. Conversely, everyone hurts others during their life. It is not an exaggeration to say that life is a process of constantly hurting, being hurt, and recovering in the relationships with others. It is easy to hurt, but it takes…

From the Moment We First Met

A few months ago, I met a lady named Kana through a friend in Tokyo. Just as my friend told me we would get along well, she and I were on the same wavelength from the first time we met. Even if we could not meet often, we talked over the phone and always stayed close like family. I was sure that she would be God’s child, who has such a beautiful and gentle heart, and I wanted to go to Heaven together with her; I felt that her soul was seeking God every time we talked. Before the Passover, I made up my mind to deliver God’s sacrifice and love to her. Then, I prayed to God for the…

Oba Miky from Osaka, Japan

A Reply from Mom

“To Mummy in Heaven. Happy Mother’s Day. I Love You. Ella.” This is a letter a Scottish four-year-old girl named Ella Lennon wrote to her mother. Ella lost her mother to brain tumors a year ago. She wrote a letter with the drawing of her family members, and wrote “Mother in Heaven” on the envelope, and put it in the mailbox, praying that it will be delivered to her mother. A few days later, something like a dream happened to Ella. A letter was delivered to her, of which the envelop reads, “Mummy, 1 Angel Gate, in the Clouds, Heaven.” To my beautiful Ella Thank you so much for the very special Mother’s Day card. Millions + billions + trillions…

Love for Her Daughter-in-law

My family had lived with my parents-in-law for six years until we moved out. My mother-in-law took good care of my family while living together, but after we moved out, she is now taking greater care of us. One day, she called me and said she would drop by my house. On the day she appointed, she came with a lot of luggage in her hands. Remembering that it was my birthday, she brought seaweed soup she had just boiled and various side dishes that I had said I liked while living together. On unpacking all the luggage, she hurriedly stood up, saying that she was busy probably because I might feel uncomfortable if she stayed longer. “It’s hard to…

Jeong Hye-su from Daegu, South Korea

Wearing an Oxygen Mask

Before the plane takes off, the crew demonstrates how to wear an oxygen mask, telling the passengers how to cope with an emergency. The crew recommends that the adult wear it first, and then the child. When an emergency strikes, parents instinctively try to put an oxygen mask on their child first. And helping children, who are the weak, be safe first is a social principle. Then, why should adults wear the oxygen mask first? When a plane loses cabin pressure due to an error in the pressure control system during flight, people may lose consciousness within thirty seconds due to lack of oxygen. The time to wear an oxygen mask is very tight. While an adult is trying to…

A Busy Life Is a Blessing

“Sir, congratulations on your retirement. You’ve written only at night so far. As you can work on it during the day, your works will shine more.” “As I can now see the sunlight while writing, it will definitely shine more than when writing, seeing starlight only. Haha!” English writer Charles Lamb (1775–1834) retired from the company he had worked for 33 years, receiving congratulations from his colleagues. Because of his family’s financial difficulty, he had to work as an accountant while writing in his spare time, dreaming of a day when he could concentrate on writing. He felt lack of time to read books or write because he was spending most of a day in working. Finally, Charles Lamb was…

Angstblüte

Plants produce beautiful and fragrant flowers in order to preserve their species. Blooming, bearing fruit, and spreading seeds away are their instinct. But there are times when plants are more faithful to their instincts than ever before. Bamboos seldom flower because they grow by expanding their underground rhizomes, not seeds. But when they are in an extreme situation where they cannot expand their roots, they bloom. In order to leave their seeds, they flower one last time before they die. Firs too produce unusually colorful and abundant flowers when they are in a bad environment. Oriental orchids too give out flower stalks when their survival is threatened. Plants’ desperate effort to preserve their species by flowering in endangered situations is…

The Last Opportunity

Gurye, located between Mount Jirisan and the Seomjingang River, is famous for persimmons. However, an embankment along the Seomjingang River collapsed due to torrential rain, and the persimmon farms were severely affected. Restoration efforts had to be made quickly to save the persimmon trees and harvest the remaining persimmons, but due to the successive heat waves, it was difficult for the elderly farmers to work long hours. We, the Church of God Young Adult Worker Volunteer Group [ASEZ WAO], visited Gurye to help the farmers in trouble. The head of the village welcomed us, being thankful to us for coming all the way despite the hot weather. Almost all the trees in the large field had fallen. It seemed that…

Kim Shin-hyeong from Gwangju, South Korea

A Cup Warning of Overflow

In the late Joseon Dynasty in Korea, there was a potter named Woo Myeong-ok in a mountain village of Gangwon-do Province. He wanted to make beautiful porcelain beyond the earthenware, so he entered the Bunwon, which produced porcelain for the royal family, with a great ambition. There he learned hard from his teacher and his skill finally reached artistic mastery. As a result, he could earn tremendous wealth and fame. However, forgetting his first resolution, he became arrogant and led a dissolute life. After he lost everything he had, he came to his senses. Afterwards, he kept his mind and body clean and made a cup with all his strength. The work was called a “Cup Warning of Overflow.” When…

Keep Your Face as Bright as Sunshine

The weather is not only in the sky, but also on the face. A cold look, a warm smile, a bright look like sunshine, and a gloomy look like dark clouds … . Facial expressions are compared to weather. Just as we are pleased and excited on a clear sunny day for no special reason, so are we when we meet a person with a bright look. When the other person gives a bright look, it not only pleases you and softens your heart, but also drives away your uncomfortable feeling just as sunshine pushes away dark clouds. How is the weather on your face now? Why don’t you keep your face as bright as sunshine, this month? You’ll feel…

To Keep a Dying Boy Alive

In September 2018, an eight-year-old boy was carried to a hospital in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. His illness was fulminant myocarditis. It is very urgent illness that causes cardiac arrest due to sudden inflammation in the muscles surrounding the heart. Doctors urgently performed artificial respiration and cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR]. But the heart of the child did not revive. In this urgent situation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [ECMO]1 therapy was the only way to save the child. Unfortunately, the hospital was not equipped with that medical device and had to be supported by a larger hospital. It took five hours to transport and operate the complex equipment. However, the child who was on the verge of death could breathe again at the end…

Power of Change

Recently, a new sister received the blessing of leading her younger sister to God. She loves God’s word. Whenever she had time, she would come to Zion to study the Bible even though she was tired from work, and she would share the word of God with her family members when she went home. Then she led her mom to Zion. However, as the Movement Control Order was implemented due to the COVID-19, she could not come to Zion to study and worship. She was sad and discouraged. What was worse, she faced financial difficulties, so she had a hard time. But she thanked God for helping her in time of need and did not lose her faith. Since she…

Lim Chia Kee from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia