Faith & Life

Thoughtful Friendship

“Hey, buddy! I finally found someone who would buy your painting!” A nameless painter was glad to hear his friend’s words, but on the other hand, he had a feeling of doubt because his paintings with views of simple rural landscapes had been ignored in the art world. “He even asked me to pick a picture instead, paying the deposit. Here it is.” The friend handed a bunch of bills to the painter and returned with a piece of painting. The money not only saved the family of the unknown painter suffering from a deprived life, but also gave hope to the man having a hard time. Since then, his works began to receive favorable reviews from the art world…

We Give Happiness

During the school holidays in 2019, our church student group members, along with our teacher who was in charge, planned to perform a volunteer service and visited a senior citizen center with a hope to create good memories and spend our vacation meaningfully. The person at the center heard our plan and gladly allowed us to carry out our plan. “I’ve watched how the members of the Church of God conduct volunteer services. If you are students from that church, you are always welcome,” he said. Grateful for such unexpected hospitality, we prepared a program with a resolution to bring joy and inspiration to senior citizens. On the day of our volunteer service, the seniors greeted us with smiles as…

Park Chae-wun from Incheon, South Korea

Definite Hope

There were two brothers who drew a glider against biting wind up to Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S. The engine of the Flyer, which is the airplane made by the two brothers, started, and they successfully made mankind’s first flight with a manned aircraft that flew under its own power. Although the flight lasted only 12 seconds and the distance over the ground was only 120 feet [36.5 meters], it was a great success because their plane blazed a trail in the sky by flying under its own power, not by the wind. To fulfill their childhood dream of flying in the sky, the Wright brothers pored over aeronautics, mathematics, physics papers, and related books as…

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…