Faith & Life

Finding Gospel Workers

Having the short-term mission to Keningau in Malaysia ahead, I was hoping many brothers and sisters would be found, so that Zion could be established and the gospel would spread more and more. Heavenly Mother gave us the words of blessing: “Find gospel workers who are healthy both physically and spiritually and build a house church.” Our short-term mission team left for Keningau in East Malaysia with great expectation of fulfilling Mother’s words. There was no direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Keningau, so we had to fly to Kota Kinabalu first and then drive to Keningau which is about 100 km [62 miles] away from Kota Kinabalu. Throughout the three-hour journey on the serpentine and steep mountain road, we…

Micheal Tan from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sensory Illusions in Aviation

As for flight operations, there are two types—conducting under visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR). Visual flight rules are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft, seeing outside the cockpit, whereas instrument flight rules are the aircraft operations that totally rely on the instrument and get instructions from the control center. In case of VFR, even able pilots are likely to have a sensory illusion in aviation if he enters a spin or the aircraft turns upside down. Sea looks like a sky, night lights on earth look like starlights in the sky. Though the aircraft is taking a nose-dive, the pilot mistakes it as chandelle, which often causes it to crash on…

A special photo

A son is mischievously sticking out his tongue looking at the bathroom mirror and there is his dad looking at his son through the mirror pleased. They are standing side by side in a photo without their shirts on. Their father-son relations look nice in the photo. But if you look at it closely, you see something strange. A white tube is attached on their bellies. The son in the photo was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. So because he can’t eat orally, he uses a feeding-tube to eat. His dad cut and glued one of his G-tube on him on the same spot as his. To cheer his son who is suffering from a…

Respond Enthusiastically for Lively Conversations

How do you respond when you talk with your family? Aren’t you listening inattentively or putting off a conversation with an excuse that you are busy? Having a conversation with your family is important to understand each other. This also becomes the foundation for a harmonious family. If you respond enthusiastically while conversing with them, you’ll have a more joyful conversation. Showing your interest and respect will please the speaker. Thinking you are empathizing with him/her, the speaker will open up. Of course, love will overflow during the conversation. This month, listen to your family and respond to them actively! Tip Listen attentively when someone is speaking. Try to understand the speaker’s feelings by saying, “Yes,” “I see,” or “You’re…

You Can Communicate with Your Child

It is almost never quiet in a home with a child. Once a child begins to understand the meaning of what people say and express his opinions, the wrestle between his parents and him begins in earnest. Although a child is so lovely, when he acts so stubbornly and throws a tantrum, his parents might feel like leaving everything behind. Perhaps, it is natural for a child to act up. Since he too is a human being, he wants certain things and thinks in his own way. Although a child is immature mentally and physically and needs someone to guide him, you shouldn’t look down on him just because he is young; rather, you need to help him think and…

Standard of Tuition Fees

A young man who felt proud of his speech came to see a famous orator to learn about leadership. The young man self-confidently introduced himself to the orator and kept talking about himself. The orator silently listened to him until he finished. Then, he laid down a condition. “I think you should pay tuition twice as much as others.” The young man asked in puzzlement. “Why do I alone have to pay double?” The orator replied. “If you want to be a great leader, you must learn how to control your tongue first before learning how to use it properly. Since I have to teach you more than others, isn’t it reasonable to charge you double?”

Finding Our Brothers and Sisters Appointed for Eternal Life

On my way with a sister to do something, my eyes met a lady’s eyes. We stopped at her unexpected question. “Are you preaching?” She seemed longing for our truth. We stopped everything and started talking with her. She seemed very curious, when we told her that we were from the Church of God and that we were preaching about Heavenly Mother. Even her husband, who was repairing their house, seemed interested, so we began to let them know the Bible on the spot. Both of them were very amazed when they understood about the existence of Heavenly Mother, the importance of the Passover, and the blessing of the Sabbath day, which are the secrets of the Bible. They said…

Genevieve M. Joaquin from Iloilo, Philippines

Rescue Operation for One Man

In June, 2014, a scientist was injured by a falling rock and collapsed while exploring a cave in the Germany Bavarian Alps. The site of the accident was about 1,000 meters [3,200 ft] underground. Its depth was twice the height of One World Trade Center in New York. Between his two colleagues, one stayed with him while the other came out of the cave through narrow and steep, maze-like passages for twelve hours to ask for help. On learning the distress, the German government fully mobilized manpower and equipment. They made five camps and more than seven hundred doctors and specialists from five countries—Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia—participated in the rescue operation. As the inside of the cave was…

Beautiful Mind and Touching Words

My first eight-year-old son is easily frightened. When he went to the bathroom or needed water to drink at night, he had to wake me or my husband up. One day, however, he woke up at dawn and went to the bathroom alone. I wondered how he could do that, so I pictured his movements, giving my ear to the sound. Soon, he closed the door of the bathroom. ‘Oh? Is he not my son?’ Puzzled, I got up and went to the living room. It was him who came out of the bathroom. “Sol! How come you closed the door? Were you not scared?” “I closed it because I didn’t want to wake up my family with the sound…

Jeong Eun-yeong from Uijeongbu, South Korea

What Do You See?

A company was in crisis due to recession. Disheartened employees lost their willingness to work. One day, the company president gathered the staff and showed a piece of drawing paper. There was a large black dot on it. “Everyone, what do you see?” “A black dot!” At the staffs’ uniform answer, the company president cleared his voice and said: “Why can’t you see the white background besides the black dot? The difficulty we’re going through right now is no more than this black dot. Let’s not be blinded by the black dot and miss the white background which takes up a lot more than that.”


The Park Cleaned and Beautified by the Church of God

There are two small children’s parks near the church. One of them was almost abandoned. The rides and the exercise facilities at the park were too old to use, and the dense shrubs didn’t allow people to even look inside it. The residents were reluctant to go to the park. Although it was called “children’s park,” it was actually a crime-ridden area and a place for illegal littering. However, this park has completely changed as our Church of God participated in the “Decorating the Flower Garden of Our Town” policy conducted by the resident committee since last year. The dense scrub that surrounded the park was removed; the old stains on big slides, outdoor pull-up bars, swings, and other equipments…

The Seogu Church in Gwangju, South Korea

Following the Dream

There was a man whose dream was to become an actor. He went to as many auditions as possible to fulfill his dream. However, he was rejected each time for the reason that he had no distinct individuality or face. He auditioned more than eight hundred times for ten years. He had to have many jobs, working as a bartender, doorman, painter, and more, but he never gave up on his dream. One day, the critics complimented him after watching him act in a play. His future seemed promising. However, he received sad news like a bolt from the blue: he had a brain tumor. After a big surgery taking ten hours, his tumor was removed, but he became deaf…

Nudge Effect

If both stairs and escalator are equipped side by side, most people tend to use the convenient escalator. But at a subway station in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, the stairs are more popular than the escalator. Guess why? At first, here too, people rushed to the escalator like other subway stations. The Swedish government recommended people to take the stairs to avoid the crowded escalator and to improve people’s health, but it was useless. After much study, the government devised a piano staircase. When pressure is applied on each step, a musical note is played. So, many people from kids to the elderly, and even the disabled began to take the stairs. This is called Nudge Effect—inducing people…

The Best Choice That I’ve Ever Made in My Life

It has been three years since I became a child of God. So far, I’ve preached the truth to my family, wishing to share the heavenly blessing with them. Though it was hard, I didn’t give up and prayed to God day after day, asking to save all of my family members. During the last prayer week of the autumn feast, my prayer became even more earnest. I have a nephew whom I raised from his childhood. He is now working in Macao. He used to attend our church events like the “Our Mother” Writing & Photo Exhibition, and studied the Bible when he was in Korea. I wanted my nephew, who is like my own child, to stay in…

Kim Geum-ja from Ansan, South Korea

Articles with No Malicious Comments

Some say malicious comments are better rather than no comments. But if they go through malicious comments about themselves, they will change their thought. Although many groups are trying to get rid of malicious comments, there are still many problems that must be solved. But there is a posting that became well-known for no bad comments. The posting goes as below. “If you are in your mid or late forties and have a daughter, I know it’s brazen, but would you call me just once, ‘My daughter’? I have no mother who can call me gently, ‘My daughter.’ So I really want to hear that at least once.” At this short writing, thousands of comments were posted. “I love you,…

With Burning Fervor despite Rain and Wind

We keep hearing news about voluntary services actively carried out throughout the world in obedience to the teachings of Heavenly Father and Mother. To participate in them, the members of the Kaohsiung Church in Taiwan conducted a cleanup around Kaohsiung train station. The station located in the center of Kaohsiung was built in the 1940s and is still there now when the once-fishing village Kaohsiung has grown to be a big city with a population of 2.8million. We started the cleanup, hoping that Kaohsiung station will be the first step to a beautiful journey for citizens with a cleaner environment. Many family members and friends of the Zion members participated in the cleanup. From a little 7-year-old child to a…

The Kaohsiung Church in Taiwan

Decision

When a volcano on French island Martinique was about to erupt, one ship was taking on cargo from the port. The captain, who detected the signs of volcanic eruption, stopped what he was doing and immediately made himself ready to leave the island. He urged people around him to leave the island now. But nobody listened. They hustled to load cargo on the ship. Without any further delay, the captain ordered the ship to move. As the ship was getting away from the port, a customs officer and the cargo owner threatened the captain that they would sue him. At that moment, the volcano exploded with a tremendous roar. The city turned into ruins within a few minutes and the…

Reason for Casting

A five-year-old daughter of Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie made a surprise appearance in a movie, drawing people’s attention. She played a role well even in her young age, probably because talent runs in her family. But the reason she was cast is interesting. It was not planned for her to play the role from the beginning. All the other child actresses, who had to play the role of a young princess who is not afraid of the witch, cried when they saw Jolie with the scary witch costume. The dark witch costume with long nails and scary horns on the head scared four- or five-year-old children. Because all child actresses ran away, the daughter who was not afraid of her…

Dad’s Crash Diet

Eduardo Camargo, 35, who had never jogged after his school days and only failed in his diet, went on a crash diet this time. Cutting down on his meal, he monitored his food intake, stuck to a diet consisting of fresh fruit and vegetables, drank water only as for something to drink, and set the goal of running 20miles (32km) a week. Halfway through, he actually felt like he was going to vomit, but kept running with the only resolution to lose his weight. As a result, he, at 210pounds (95kg), lost 40pounds (20kg) in two months. What made him put all his strength in losing his weight? It was not to have a good figure but to save his…

To the New World of the Gospel

“Do you want to hear some words of wisdom?” My friends asked me as we walked back from school on the last day of our junior year in high school. Seeing their eagerness, I wanted to hear them. One who lived close had run to his house and brought his Bible, and they explained the truth about Heavenly Father and Mother and God’s regulations. The words of God were amazing and undoubtedly certain. That very afternoon, I went home and highlighted every verse I had been taught, not wanting to forget even one point. The next day, I was scheduled to leave to boot camp in high school, so I was not able to go to Zion right away. However,…

Nathalia Salvatierra-Abuid from Morgantown, WV, U.S.