Fragrance of Zion

Good, Great, and Precious

With pride in being a citizen of Korea, I always tried to live honorably before others. Through various jobs, I met many people, and later I went to the United States to study the academic field I had long admired. There, I was exposed to cutting-edge knowledge and technology. Having lived as an engineer and scholar all my life, I was dismissive of religion. I never rejected anyone for their faith, but I was repeatedly disappointed by the improper conduct of some religious people, both at home and abroad. Deep down, I would sigh, thinking, “If you claim to believe, you shouldn’t behave like that.” I resolved never to live that way. Three years after settling in Jeju, Korea, I…

Kim Kwang-min from Seogwipo, Korea

From One to Four

Long ago, after giving birth to my daughter and while still recovering, I met members of the Church of God. At that time, I had been searching for the true God, wandering from one church to another. So when I heard the words of truth, I gladly received God. My husband, however, who placed great value on the Confucian traditions handed down in his family, was displeased that I attended church. The more I felt the piercing stares of my husband and his family, the more I devoted myself to serving my parents-in-law and keeping my faith with sincerity. Since God said, “There is a time for everything,” I believed that if I obeyed His teachings and endured patiently, the…

Kang Min, Suwon, Korea

Erika Reyes-Soto from Ridgewood, NJ, U.S.

I was working as a freelancer, and my work was done. I remember clearly the day I decided that I would travel the world. One day, I was sitting in a coffee shop, watching people passing by. Suddenly, my mind started wondering, and I started questioning things like, ‘What is the purpose of being on this earth? Why is everything so monotone and repetitive? Where is happiness?’ I realized that even if I travel the world, I would not feel complete happiness, because everything was a routine like wake up, shower, eat, and sleep. So I came to the conclusion that this earth is like a prison. Deep down in my heart, I was looking for answers, and I was…

The Cat That Repaid Grace

It happened fifteen years ago. At our detached house, we often had many unexpected “guests” throughout the year. In spring came butterflies, earwigs, and millipedes; in summer, crickets, cicadas, and spiders. But the biggest trouble was mice. One day, my mom and I went around spraying insecticide and setting poison from the rooftop to the bathroom and storage room to get rid of the mice and bugs. Suddenly, we heard a faint “meow” from somewhere. Since we did not have a cat, I did not think much of it at first. But the crying continued through the night, growing louder and more desperate. In the middle of the night, my mom woke up to the sound and quickly ran outside.…

Eun-jin Choi from Tokyo, Japan

Ramie Mac Perfett from Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.

Writing has always been my way to understand the world around me, and I have kept many journals over years. I rarely went back to read old entries that I had written, simply because they always proved to be painful reminders of the constant struggles we face on this earth. They also served as a reminder that I hadn’t gotten any closer to finding answers as to why we suffer, even though they were written years ago. But recently after being blessed to be in the truth for one year—all thanks and glory to Father and Mother for the grace—I found myself reading through my old journals late one night. From one page to the next, each entry seemed to…

Choosing the Narrow Path: The Best Decision of My Life

In Wisconsin, where I was raised, and throughout much of the Midwest, people tend to lead traditional, family-centered lives, rarely moving far from home. So my choice to leave for New York City in pursuit of my dreams came as quite a shock to my family. My dream was to perform on Broadway. I wanted to step onto the world-renowned stages of Manhattan and eventually become a stage director. To pursue this goal, I majored in theater arts, studying everything from acting and directing to costume design and makeup. After earning my bachelor’s degree, I applied to several graduate programs and was given the opportunity to continue my studies in New York. Amid countless plans and decisions, it was God…

Allyssa Dunn from New Windsor, NY, U.S.

God’s Will in Entrusting Me with the Gospel Mission

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” Jn 8:32 God granted the truth of the new covenant in order to give true freedom to us, who sinned in heaven and came to this earth. Ever since I received the truth when I was a student, I enjoyed God’s blessing of spiritual freedom to the full extent. However, I started to change after getting into college. I found more and more things that I wanted to try, and God’s commands and teachings felt like chains that shackled me. Complaints and grumbles began to bud and became huge enough to be out of my control. The love and emotions that I felt at first gradually disappeared.…

Im Hye-min from Hwaseong, Korea

Book of Acts of the Female Pastoral Staff

I am a pastoral staff wife. Before coming here, I carried out the gospel ministry in El Salvador. I’d like to share what happened while I was visiting a doctor’s office in El Salvador. When I finished talking with the overseer’s wife of the main church in El Salvador on the phone in Korean at the waiting room, a nurse came up to me. “I’m learning Korean because I’m very interested in Korea. I heard you speaking in Korean, and I just came to say hello,” said the nurse shyly. She then kindly asked me when I came to El Salvador, and if I was adapting well to the lifestyle here. It was an unexpected situation, but we continued a…

Seo Ha-neul from Puebla, Mexico

Treasure Hunt Continues Every Day

People live for what they believe is valuable. The most valuable thing in my life was money. Probably because I grew up in a poor family, I believed that having economic strength was the most important thing in life. When I was in university, I constantly looked for a job to earn money. One day, I was sitting on a campus bench while waiting for my next class. Two Koreans were walking towards me, so I thought that they were going to ask me something. They did ask me a question though it was a question that I couldn’t answer. “Have you ever heard about Heavenly Mother?” Starting with that simple but mysterious question, they explained to me a lot…

Hazel Marie Victoriano Bonitillo from Iloilo, Philippines

With Uncontrollable Happiness

The ultimate purpose of life is to meet God and return to the kingdom of heaven by receiving salvation through Him. To put it another way, our lives can be referred to as the process of preparing for the eternal kingdom of heaven. Many people live without knowing the essence and meaning of life, but I believed I was different. After converting from Hinduism to Christianity around 1996, I thought I’d finally found my way and there was nothing more I could wish for. A dozen years later, I heard the message of the Bible from a colleague, who I had led a religious life together with and accepted the truth later in Nepal. Then I realized I too was…

Raju Purty from Kolkata, WB, India

My First Love Until the End

Since I was born a second child, I never imagined that I would have to take on the role of the firstborn child. However, when I was fifteen years old, my older sister, who was a lot older than I was, got married and I had to take care of my four younger siblings. Around that time, my family’s financial situation got worse, and I even had to undertake the housework on behalf of my parents who were always at work; as soon as I came back from school, I divided up the house chores among us and hurriedly finished them. I carried my youngest sibling, who was ten years younger than me, on my back all the time. Many…

Yun Hyeon-suk from Incheon, Korea

Change

I’ve been attending the Church of God ever since I was in my mother’s womb. This means that I’ve been a member of the Church of God since birth. It was when I was in middle school that I started growing in my faith, not depending leaning on my mother’s faith. As I met many friends in school who had different religions from mine, I started wondering, ‘What truth can lead me to the kingdom of heaven?’ It didn’t take long for my question to be answered. As I studied the Bible diligently in Zion, I was able to understand the truth of the new covenant clearly. However, my life of faith was put on hold when I was in…

Jang Ye-jin from Ansan, Korea

A New Dream Found in My Country

When I was about to enter middle school, my family’s circumstances got bad suddenly, and I had to leave my family and live with my aunt in America; I had to emigrate out of the blue, leaving my loving family. Fortunately, the life on the opposite side of the world wasn’t so bad. At school, there were many friends of my age from Korea, and I quickly became a friend of American students. Not long after I moved to America, my grandmother who was worried about me came to America and she left me no room to feel lonely or alienated. But I still missed Korea. A few years passed and I was more familiar with my life in America…

Lee Min-gyu from Seongnam, Korea

Because I Love Them

From morning, the rain sounds so nice. It brings back my old memories of the time I met the members from the Church of God for the first time long ago. As far as I can remember, I’d never had that kind of sincere conversation about the world’s future which I was very afraid of. I used to go to the Buddhist temple, believing that I could go to paradise as long as I lived a good life without causing trouble to others. Of course, I didn’t live a good life enough to guarantee that for sure, but I still believed that I could fill the rest of my life with good deeds. The problem was the period of my…

Yang Seong-rim from Gimhae, Korea

Where I Need to Return

I was always sick while raising my three children, probably because I became exhausted physically and mentally. Many nights, I couldn’t sleep. I went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with the initial stage of depression. I tried many things that the doctor suggested for treatment. I had time to learn new things, and met my friends and talked, eating delicious food together. However, it was still painful though I spent more time and money for taking lessons, eating, and traveling. The fun time was temporary and I soon got tired, and my mind was covered with darkness again. Whenever I lay down on the bed at night and thought about the day, tears came out of my eyes…

Oita Ai from Togyo, Japan

So That It May Go Well With You in the End

On February 17, 2016, my son graduated from elementary school. My husband who worked two hours away from home even took a leave take time off work to participate in his graduation ceremony with me. At the graduation ceremony, the names of the graduates were called one after another, and they were given their certification of graduation. Some were called to come up to the platform to receive awards, and my son was one of them. I was so happy that tears welled up in my eyes. People might think that he received an academic excellence award or something like that, but what he received was an athletic award that was given to those who had talents in athletic activities.…

Lee Sun-deok from Gumi, South Korea

The Greatest Joy

Long hair that comes down below the shoulders, beard, a denim jacket, sunglasses, and cowboy boots! This was me before receiving the truth. I let my hair and beard grow because I was shooting a film at that time. As an actor, I was in quite many movies, and made one or two movies myself. I felt satisfied with my talent and lived according to my standard, not thinking about how other people viewed me. However, it was different when it came to religion. Although I claimed to believe in God and know the Bible, it didn’t make sense whenever I read the Bible. Although my pastor didn’t really teach me the Bible, I believed him more than God, but…

M. Dorjdagva from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Blessing Granted Through Love

My family is pretty close and open to each other. My parents are always like friends to me, and we are always bright and active when we are together. My friends who have older brothers say that they often argue with each other, but I have good relationship with my older brother, too. That’s probably why my family was the first one that came to my mind when I received the truth through my friend when I was in high school. Since I had just moved to a city from a rural area, I was worried that I might meet some bad friends, but Zion members were so kind that they made me think, ‘I didn’t know there were still…

Kim Hye-ji from Anyang, South Korea

All Joy and Happiness Are in Mother

When my son introduced his future wife to us, my wife and I liked her right away because she told us that she went to church. Since we were Christians, there was nothing more I would want as long as they made a harmonious family, living an upright life of faith. Soon after our son got married, we found out that our daughter-in-law’s church was the Church of God. Although we were unhappy about that, we couldn’t show it to such a good daughter-in-law. At our devoted daughter-in-law’s request, we had been to “Our Mother” Writing and Photo Exhibition hosted by the Church of God, and listened to the church news she often delivered to us. Then one day, our…

Lee Sil-geon from Daegu, South Korea

Time to Repay God Who Has Waited for Me for a Long Time

In the barren desert where it was difficult even for a clump of grass to grow, manna which God sent to the Israelites was food of miracle. However, as they ate it for every meal for forty years, they began to regard it as miserable food. My parents received the truth when I was about five months old, and they chose to walk the path of prophets a few years later. Thanks to that, I grew in much love and care from many brothers and sisters in Zion. My life at Zion was only full of joy until I became a teenager. During my school days, I started to feel unhappy that I had to keep worship services in Zion…

Seo Jun-yeong from Seongnam, South Korea