Faith & Life

Wake Up Your Family in a Good Mood

How do you usually get up? Some people get up at once when the alarm sounds, while others barely open their eyes after the alarm sounds several times as a heavy sleeper. Also there are some people who dally in bed and spring to their feet, surprised to know that it’s past the wake-up time. It’s not easy to wake up from sleep as a saying goes, “Even a champion wrestler cannot lift up his sleepy eyes.” Also, while sleeping quietly, if you are forced to open your eyes due to noise or physical shock, you may become irritable or feel heavy. However, if you open your eyes in a good mood, hearing someone’s soft voice or a light massage,…

Boasting about Heavenly Father and Mother Every Day

In January, 2019, I flew to Aracaju, the state capital of Sergipe in Northeastern Brazil, to find our lost brothers and sisters who were eagerly waiting for the news of salvation. Thinking I didn’t have much time to stay there, I diligently delivered God’s voice to as many souls as possible. However, people negatively responded to the message: “I already have enough knowledge of God’s word. I don’t need to study the Bible anymore,” “The Bible may testify about God the Mother, but I will believe in God the Father only,” “That’s your own interpretation about the Bible,” and so on. Most of them didn’t want to believe in God the Mother the Bible testifies about. There were some who…

Ha Yun-ah from Jeonju, South Korea

Sixty Years’ Worth of Birthday Present

“Could I pre-order sixty years’ worth of flower bouquets?” About ten-year-old boy named Toby came by a flower shop alone and said that, after looking at the flowers for a while. At his words, I nearly burst with laughter as I had never received such an order and asked him why. “My mother is forty years old now and she may live until a hundred years of age. So I would like to pre-order sixty years’ worth of flowers.” Touched at his pure heart, I promised I would and said that thirty dollars were enough for the total cost of flower bouquets. The next day, Toby came again and drew a portrait of me out of gratitude. I thought he…

Safe Base Station

Antarctica, a continent of ice, is sixty times larger than the Korean Peninsula in size. This vast undefiled continent plays an essential role in the earth system along with the Arctic. It sensitively reacts to climate change, so that we can perceives climate change and predicts its effects all over the globe. Many governments have their base stations in Antarctica, and carry out diverse activities: drilling into Antarctic ice, collecting meteorites, exploring sub-glacial lakes, and making research on geological features, volcanoes, astronomy, and microorganisms. Every activity is centered on each base station established by each country. The most important factor in constructing a base station is safety. A base station is designed to facilitate saving human lives in the strong…

Gospel, God’s Gift to Fill My Weak Faith

It was when I was attending a college abroad. When I went to my home in Mongolia for summer vacation, my mother who had become Christian preached to me the word of the Bible many times. Since I had grown up with Buddhist beliefs, I had no idea of ​​God or the Bible, but gradually the words of the Bible began to get my attention while having conversations with my mom, and finally I converted to Christianity. After graduating from college, my husband and I decided to live in Mexico. There, we tried to find a church to attend. One day, I got a call from my mom. She said she had found the true church, and she arranged a…

Uyanga Shar from Mexico City, Mexico

A Young Eagle Soars Up

A curious and talkative eaglet greeted Dad eagle, who had just returned to the nest after flight, and asked. “Dad, can I fly powerfully as you do?” “Dad, can I fly to that distant mountain over there in a breath?” “Dad, can I also have the title, ‘king of the sky’?” “Dad, can I feel free, giving myself to the wind?” “Dad, how do you feel when you look down on the ground in the air?” “Dad, when can I use my two wings? My wings are small and weak…” Dad eagle, who looked with affection at his young who was not giving him a chance to answer, said, “Why don’t you find the answers by yourself? Now, look at…

Virtue for Unity

Regardless of field, a team that produces a great result with a fantastic team work becomes the subject of interest and study, including their episodes in detail, core technology, and leadership. One managing consultant had been working for decades to see what kind of people makes the best team, and finally paid attention to three things: "modesty" to praise colleagues’ contribution without boasting about one’s achievement; "good sense" to behave, considering others’ situations; and "eager" to find things that one has to do and has to learn. It turned out that the members, who were equipped with these virtues, made a strong team work and received good results by supplementing their lacking points and moving in one direction. In other…

Family Trusts Each Other

Someone lost his life after drinking what someone else handed him; people remit a large amount of money, deceived at a call that pretends to be a public agency. As fraud and tricks prevail in our communities, the expression, “a good neighbor,” is put to shame today. People distrust even their neighbors and lock their doors securely without knowing who is living next door. Since they can’t trust each other, they even raise their guard against a small favor of others and become suspicious of them first, and so 24-hour running CCTVs are installed everywhere. Thus, people do not trust one another, and family members are no exception. For example, some people place GPS tracking devices on their spouses’ cars,…

Redwoods’ Way of Survival

Redwood National and State Parks in California, U.S., is like a forest where giants live. It’s because redwoods, the tallest trees in the world, inhabit in the parks. Redwoods boast of their height; they are as tall as a 30-story building, which is about 100 meters (328 feet). As they are too tall to draw water from the root to the highest reaches of the trees, the upper part of the trees absorbs moisture from fog. The trunk is so big that even a car can drive through it. They look deeply rooted into the ground as much as they grow up into the sky, but their roots are only about three meters (10 feet) deep. Despite that, they do…

Searching for Pearls in the Sand with a Thankful Heart

I was exhausted while working after graduating from university. To regain my strength, I participated in a short-term mission, and then started the overseas mission in earnest. The country I chose to do my overseas mission was India which is known as a land of gods and goddesses. India has much to do with gods. To Indians, religion is life itself. They are religious in their daily lives. Among numerous gods, they pray to gods they believe in whenever they can, and take their days off on their religious festivals. It wasn’t easy to preach to them about God Elohim the Savior in this age. Although we explained that the Bible is fact and that there is God the Mother…

Yu Hui-jin from Gwangju, South Korea

Qualities of a Mature Adult

A full-grown person is called an adult. When you become an adult, you need to be mature. What does it mean to be an adult? One writer said that only those who have fulfilled their duties as adults are true mature adults. For about a decade, he has had meaningful conversations with about 200 celebrities, including writers, doctors, and choreographers, and defined a person who performs his/her duty well as an adult: Someone who does not complain, does not brag, and always stays in a good mood. We gradually grow in the truth. We are gradually becoming spiritual adults while maintaining a smile and loving heart by being grateful in all circumstances without any complaints, being humble, and not bragging.…

A Happy Family Made with Care

My husband who works in a construction site, my daughter studying in the lab, and I are living together. My husband and daughter are so busy that it is difficult for us all to get together. However, since I diligently put into practice the “Mission of the Month” in the Happy Home booklet, a little change started to appear in my family. For my husband who goes to work at dawn, I didn’t see him off with the excuse that I was washing the dishes. Unlike before, now I hug him with greeting full of love. On his payday, I always prepare special dish for him with gratitude. Recently, I carried out the mission, “Wash your family’s feet,” in order…

Kim Eun-suk from Seoul, South Korea

Children of Heaven

A boy goes to repair his little sister’s shoes, but he loses them on his way back. His sister, who lost her only shoes, was very disappointed. The boy knows that his parents cannot afford to buy new shoes but will scold him even if he tells them the truth. So he asks his sister to share his shoes. As the girl goes to school in the morning and her brother in the afternoon, when his sister comes back after school and takes off the shoes for her brother, he then goes to school. The sister runs to hand the shoes to her brother quickly, and the brother runs not to be late for school. Meanwhile, they hear the news…

Calling

A college in the U.S. made a research on the relationship between career and happiness among people working in the same industry. They divided them into two groups—those who took their career as a calling and those as a means of living, which showed a considerable difference. Those who worked for living found no special meaning in their jobs. On the other hand, those who had a sense of calling had much joy and confidence in their work as they believed they were doing what the world needed. Apostle Paul gladly took up the mission of preaching despite all sorts of hardships—being captured in prison, beaten, robbed, and hungry. It was because he realized that he was called by God…

Compliment & Criticism

Which one do you make more, compliments or criticism? A research team at Duke University in the United States revealed that the human brain treats compliments and criticism in different ways in different parts. Negative things like criticism are handled in the amygdala in charge of emotions, whereas positive things like compliments are processed in a more logical approach without stimulating the amygdala. For this reason, people tend to judge others’ good behavior to be coincidental, but react emotionally at a negative behavior, regarding it as what they meant to do it. However, if you want to be happy, you should be accustomed to complimenting than criticizing. The person who refrains himself from criticizing and compliments often can make himself…

On Earth Day

On April 22, 2018, since it was Earth Day, the ASEZ Church of God University Student Volunteer Group carried out a street cleanup in our efforts for a cleaner community. Early in the morning, about eighty volunteers gathered at Suitland Parkway. Included in the volunteers were not only ASEZ members but also ordinary citizens. At first glance, the area where we would be cleaning looked clean. As we started the cleanup, however, there was a lot of garbage hidden in every corner. Although we planned to clean up for two hours, it was not enough. We piled small pieces of garbage scattered everywhere, waste tires, and abandoned pieces of furniture. The pile was so high that someone could stand behind…

Florencia Riquelme from Washington D.C., U.S.

Giving Love than to Receive

A renowned American columnist wrote an article about the powerful traits of successful leaders during World War II. Based on research on the traits of those who rose to the position of officers in the military, there was a distinguishing quality that was more helpful to their promotion than their physical strength or resourcefulness. It was their relationship with their mothers. Having received love and care from their mothers and maintaining good relationships with them, they could become officers who did not lose humanity even in times of brutal wars and took care of their subordinates with sincerity. “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may…

Let’s Play ‘The Glad Game’

Pollyanna, the major character in the American novel Pollyanna published in 1913, is a very positive character who finds joy anytime, anywhere, and in any matter. For example, when she came to live in the attic with no window curtains, she said she was so glad to have nothing that screened the view outside the window. When she was late for supper and had to only eat bread and milk, she said, “I like bread and milk!” Her positive way of thinking called “The Glad Game” spread throughout the town, making even gloomy face relax into a broad smile. It is not always when something excellent happens that we are glad and happy. Happiness and unhappiness depend on how we…

Not a Loss but a Lesson

An employee in a small company that is responsible for product supply to a large company made a mistake and defects were found in the product. The company suffered tremendous losses, and the employee who caused it could not fall into sleep in great torment and finally decided to leave the company. The next day, the employee went to see his boss and knelt down, asking for forgiveness. He then handed in his resignation and said that he would resign, taking all the responsibility. Then the boss raised him and said, “You resign as you wish? Not on your life! I paid so much tuition, but where are you going now? You must’ve got a lesson as much as I…

Only God Makes Things Grow

One Sabbath morning, I received a text message from a sister in New York. “Maria got baptized!” The moment I checked my text message, I was overwhelmed, remembering vividly what happened a year ago. About a year ago, I went out to preach with a sister from New York, and we met Maria from Colombia, who was traveling the U.S. We invited her to our church, and she was willing to accept our invitation. She was very surprised by the words of the Bible about God the Mother. That day, she had dinner with Zion members, had a fun time together, and then went back to New Jersey where she was staying. A few days later, she came to church…

Kim Seon-ju from Baltimore, MD, U.S.