Faith & Life

Time of Learning and Being Filled

After becoming a young adult, I got to know the warmth of Zion, attending gatherings full of love of leading sisters. One day, we watched a video and shared fragrances of Zion with the members. One sister shed tears, saying that she was thankful and sorry to Mother for sacrificing Herself for us. I too cried. I didn’t know why but I was touched by the sister who repented wholeheartedly and at the same time felt ashamed of myself for not paying attention to the precious words of God during worship services. Soon afterwards, I tried to change and be born again. Unlike in my student days when I used to go home right after a service, not wanting anyone…

Shin Nu-ri from Bucheon, South Korea

Senses Under Illusions

ⓒ Edward H.Adelson / http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson/checkershadow_illusion.html / Copyrighted free use “What are the colors of part A and part B in the picture?” “Part A is gray and part B is white!” Most people may answer like this. Then, are they really right? The correct answer is “The colors of A and B are the same.” If it is difficult to believe, cover everything else and look at just the two parts without any surrounding colors. Among the senses of human bodies, the largest percentage of the sense that receives information is sight. But sometimes the sense of sight falls into an illusion. This is called optical illusion. One of the reasons that cause optical illusion is that the brain does…

Secret of Fine Speech

Former US president Barack Obama was the chief editor of the journal published in his college during his college years. In the process of editing, he tried editing the negative sentences as positively as possible. For example, he changed “If you do not change, you are in big trouble” into “Change to grow.” Even after he became President, he edited his speech by himself. The editing work was repeated a number of times. The words he uses sound humble and logical without being intimidating even if they are the same word, and he is regarded as the President who left numerous positive words from the media after his retirement.

Hoping to Be the Protagonist of the New Book of Acts

‘O God, I will do anything if I can go to heaven, so please give me confidence in salvation.’ This is what I always made sure to say whenever I prayed, because I wasn’t confident in my salvation though I went to church. Although I was young, I was so scared of going to hell that I went for all kinds of retreats, praise gatherings, and early morning prayer meetings. I also read the Bible every day, and waited to have confidence in going to heaven. One cold winter day, I met two angels who were preaching the truth, and I learned about the Sabbath day, the Passover, and many more. I received a new life immediately, and studied the…

Song Hye-ju from Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic

Beginner’s Mind

When you start something, you have certain attitudes toward it at first—pure and humble mind and eagerness. This is the beginner’s mind. An online job market information site conducted a survey of 960 employees on how long they kept their beginner’s mind at work. On average, it was less than a year. When a person gets a job, he rejoices as if he is on top of the world. The resolution to work hard and heart-throbbing excitement on the first day to work! As long as you do not lose the beginner’s mind, you will never be stuck in a rut or fall into a slump. Then, how can you keep the beginner’s mind? If you have an object that…

The Secret of a Great Flight

The biggest bird among the seabirds is the albatross. The Albatross, however, is not attractive on land. Its tottering steps with its long wings draped down on its heavy body looks rather funny. Some even call it “a dumb bird.” However, here’s a different story when it is in the sky. Its wingspan is 2 to 3 meters [8.2 to 11.6 ft] long when its two wings are stretched; and with these wings, it flies farthest and highest. It’s just a little difficult at first but once it ascends in the air, it can cover hundreds of kilometers for days without rest. The way it flies in the sky without flapping its long, outstretched wings is fabulous. The beautiful glide…

How to Help a Bereaved Person

All people experience big and small losses in their lives. The losses can be their friends, family members, co-workers, acquaintances, and so on. The grief and pain followed by such loss varies, depending on people, but the sadness of losing the loving family members is bigger than any other sadness. Sorrow of losing a family member is a kind of feeling that everybody wants to avoid, but anybody can experience it either temporarily or permanently. Little children lose their grandparents whom they are close to; dispersed family members cannot meet each other even though they want to; some sons and daughters miss their fathers who died after many years of struggling against diseases; some wives lose their husbands whom they…

Something Nicer Than a Luxury Car

Around an open market in Seoul, a boy was pulling a handcart instead of his grandmother. But he accidently scratched a luxury car that was parked. Seeing his grandmother being all in a fluster without knowing what to do, the grandson was about to cry. Passersby too felt so sorry for that. As the car was one of the highest quality brands, it seemed to cost too much money to fix it. If its owner knew this, it must have been obvious that he would get angry. One person who was observing this situation called the owner of the car and explained what had happened in detail. Soon, a middle-aged couple appeared and suddenly lowered their heads before the old…

To Seek Souls More Precious than Pure Gold

By God’s grace, our Kota Kinabalu Zion was blessed to have the very first short-term mission in 2017. The first trip was to Paparand in February and the second trip was to Tuaran in March. Paparand is one of the districts in Sabah. Preaching in Paparand was my biggest hope after I received the truth several years ago because this is my hometown. Just as the Bible prophesied that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (Mt 24:14), now is the time for the prophecy to be fulfilled, and what made me amazed most was that God chose me to join this short-term mission. Heavenly Mother had blessed us…

Steffy Aquiline Adelbert from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Give Thanks to God!

In order to commemorate the passing of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the century, people throughout the United States turned off their electrical power for a minute. It was to be grateful for bulb his invention. Then, have we ever given thanks to God for His operating the heavens and the earth? According to a virtual scenario made by a professional documentary channel, if the earth that spins on its axis at a speed of 1,600 kilometers [994 miles] per hour stops completely, days last for six months and nights too last for six months. During the daytime when scorching sunlight beats down on the surface of the earth, the temperature rises up to 55℃ [131℉] and by night it…

“I Want to Become Old”

Just as no one can stop the flow of time, no one can stop aging, either. In order to hide the traces of aging, people dye their hair or get facial Botox injections. Maybe no one would accept their aging pleasingly. However, there was someone who wished to grow old. Charlotte Kitley, a mother of two kids and an ordinary housewife in the U.K., was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, and she keenly realized how grateful it was to wake up her children every morning and have a cuddle and kiss them. She had many things to do; she drank coffee her husband brewed every morning and braided her daughter’s hair, and found her son’s lost toys. But the…

Something Much More Valuable than a Jewel

A woman bought a coat in a store. She came back home and tried on her new clothes again. When she put her hand inside the pocket, she got surprised. A jewel was in it! “I can keep this because it was inside my clothes I bought, right?” “No, it’s not mine. I need to give it back to the owner.” These two thoughts wrestled in her mind. The woman was troubled, and so she went to the sage in her village. The sage heard the story and said, “It is right to return it because you didn’t pay for it. But I suggest you take your child with you when you go to the store. Then, you’ll be able…

Dad’s Most Concerned Child

I am the third oldest one of four daughters. There is an old joke in Korea, “The third oldest daughters are so pretty that men are willing to take them as their wives without even seeing them.” However, I was my dad’s most concerned child in my family. When I was a kid, I had a high fever from polio. I survived, but I was at a risk of becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Thanks to my parents, who even sold their farms and fields to cure me in any way possible, I was able to walk though I became lame. My dad felt sorry for me, so he raised me as a dear child without spanking me even…

Ha Jeong-oh from Jinju, South Korea

Though Living a Single Day

As we don’t need to teach fish how to swim, so we don’t need to talk about a short life before mayflies. Mayflies live for a very short time as an adult. Their lifespan varies by species; the maximum time is two weeks. Do you know how long they wait in order to come into this world? It is as long as a thousand days. While living in water as nymphs, they cast skin over 20 times until they become imagoes. As if they show that no life, though too short, can come into this world easily, they come out of water after repeating molting patiently for a long time and then fly busily for the mission to breed. They…

Better Is Two than One, Three than Two

You can often see trash and graffiti in many streets of Recife, Brazil. Regular cleanups were needed, but it was more urgent to change the way people think about the environment. That’s why we visited a TV station before the cleanup. The broadcasting company viewed our event positively that it decided to cover our street cleanup. A reporter came on the day of our cleanup. We cleaned streets diligently, hoping to raise environmental awareness and to encourage public participation, which was captured on camera. The next morning, however, the news was not broadcasted at the scheduled time. We were disappointed, thinking it had been edited. But that evening, we got all cheered up; the news was aired in the evening…

The Recife Church in Brazil

What Was Most Difficult

One reporter asked a runner who finished a marathon. “What was most difficult during the run?” then an unexpected answer came back to him: “What was difficult more than being thirsty and controlling my breathing was the coarse sand that got into my shoe.” Sometimes, a small problem that seems nothing can dominate your whole body.

Say Good Morning!

In the past in Korea, there were manners in which children greeted their parents with regards every morning. After washing and dressing neatly, they greeted their parents and arranged their bedding or brought water for their washing up. In this busy modern society, such customs have already disappeared, but the value of greetings remains unchanged because it is a way of expressing love and care, wishing each other good health. This month, let us gladly greet our family in the morning. “Did you sleep well?” or “Good morning!” Saying good morning with a smile can help you start your day with happiness. Let’s get ready for a happy day with a good morning greeting! Tip Wake up a little early…

Fruit of Patience Borne in Chana

The Bhopal Zion is blessed with many young adults, thanks to Heavenly Mother who prays day and night for Her children. Under the consideration of male and female adult members, we can only focus on preaching and welcoming new brothers and sisters. That’s why we value each other all the more. When we gathered to preach, we earnestly asked Heavenly Father and Mother to let us fulfill the gospel mission. Father and Mother heard our prayer and blessed us to bear many precious souls. Among them is Sister Sushilla. At first, it was difficult for her to accept Heavenly Mother, but when she read Galatians 4:26 that reads, “The Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother,”…

Shivansh Gupta from Bhopal, India

Overcome to the End

No matter how good a product is, unless it is neatly finished, its value drops considerably. It is the same with the wood for a pillar. In order to set up a pillar strong enough to support the weight of the entire building, the wood should be hard, large and straight. However, even straight-grown wood cannot be used for a pillar if its top is warped or broken, although it is of good quality. “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God . . .” Rev 3:12 In order to become the pillars of the heavenly temple, we must overcome to the end. Although we have been only looking ahead and running the way…

Parents’ Love that Rejoices Over a Child Who Returned

For parents, the ones who are beautiful and lovely like flowers must be their children. Anything in this world cannot be compared with the devotional love of parents; they can even give up their lives for their children, the source of their joy. The reason it is hard to understand parental love is that it is like a precious pearl hidden in the deep sea. When I was little, my father took me wherever he went. Whenever I saw kids playing outside on the way back home from my father’s work, I wanted to play with them, but my father didn’t want me to. So sometimes I got in trouble as I went outside to play without telling him. However,…

John Pariyar from Kathmandu, Nepal