Volunteer Service Review

With Mother’s Mind and Mother’s Hands

Around noon on April 25, 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. All of a sudden, everything began to shake, and it seemed like the sky was falling and the ground was sinking. The members who were having a peaceful Sabbath day were shocked by the violent shaking; they held on…

Tejendra Gautam from Kathmandu, Nepal

Volunteer Service, a Special Time

One Sunday in December, around two hundred student members, young adult members, male and female adult members from the Donghae, Samcheok, and Gangneung Zions gathered together in a hilly village by Mukho Port in Donghae, Gangwon Province, Korea. We gathered to deliver two thousand coal briquettes to four senior citizens…

Hong Sun-tae from Gangneung, Korea

A Beautiful Mind

With the hope of giving our neighbors in need even a little bit of help so they could get through the winter, we planned a volunteer service to deliver the warmth of Mother’s love with Zion members. It was to visit senior citizens living alone and to clean and insulate…

Choi Yun-heui from Daegu, Korea

In the Apple Orchard

Whenever the harvest season comes, farmers need a lot of helping hands. They are so busy that Koreans describe the situation this way: “Even a poker which is used for stirring the fire has no time to lie on the ground.” And also, they are always short-handed. Feeling sorry for…

Lee Sahng-hwa from Daegu, Korea

At the Flood Recovery Site

At the end of this summer, the southern part of Korea was hit by regional torrential rains. Even people who had lived in Busan for a long time said that they had never seen that much rain. Since it was a sudden natural disaster, there was severe flood damage. Many…

Wahng Ga-ram from Busan, Korea

Digging Out Potatoes

On Sunday, May 25, we went out to help a potato farm as it was a harvest season. As you can find it everywhere nationwide, farming villages are shorthanded during their busy season. So we couldn’t miss the opportunity to lend a hand. About 30 members—male adults and students who…

Kim Dong-ho From Tongyeong, Korea

Giving Love in a Lunch Box

I am a young adult—a youth like the dew of the dawn with full of energy. But it sometimes puts me to shame and I feel sorry to people around me. At home, I just eat at the table that my mom prepares; and in Zion, members older than me…

Lee Si-won from Seoul, Korea

Good Deeds Open People’s Hearts

We, the Wolpi Church in Ansan, clean up streets every month. Since we don’t carry out volunteer services in a cursory way, residents, store owners, and street cleaners near the church compliment us. This time, we cleaned up Seongpo Art Park and Wolpi Park. We picked up garbage not only…

Yu Hui-sun from Ansan, Korea

We Share the Warmth of Love

My husband and I volunteered to deliver coal briquettes. I was filled with emotions as it had been a long time since I had last attended that volunteer service due to some reasons. On the day before the event, with great excitement I told our members that I would do…

Kim Hyeon-kyeong from Gangneung, Korea

Dusting Out Every Nook and Corner

The Delaware Zion members cleaned several playgrounds in Newark on the last Sunday of January. The playgrounds were located in a good neighborhood, and so we thought it wouldn’t take much work to clean up. But it turned out they were not sanitary at all. A few playground rides were…

The Church of God in Delaware, OH, U.S.

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…

The Recife Church in Brazil

Volunteer Service = Joy² + Thankfulness²

I heard the news that the college students of our church were to do a street cleanup in the afternoon on a weekday. I eagerly wanted to participate, but I had a job without flexibility. The opportunity came to me who had been envious; young adult workers, too, decided to…

Park Su-bin from Seoul, Korea

The Most Beautiful Mind, Devotaion For Life

A few months ago, some members from the Lima Church in Peru donated noodles, rice, sugar, oil, and water to volunteer fire fighters. When we asked what kind of food they needed, they answered with excitement, “We all like noodles because it’s easy and simple to cook.” Fire fighters were…

Elton Wilson Zelaya from Lima, Peru

Helping Ginger Harvest

When it was still early in the morning, I went to Zion in a hurry because we planned to go to the city of Andong and help harvest gingers. Gingers are one of the essential ingredients of kimchi and are good for hot tea to prevent catching a cold during…

Choi Yun-hee from Daegu, Korea

Working Together Voluntarily

We, the members from the Cape Town Zion and the Bellville Zion, rolled up their sleeves to clean the streets in the downtown of Cape Town. When we went there, the downtown looked clean but there were lots of weeds and trash right outside of the downtown. The members made…

Park Eun-gyeong from Cape Town, Rep. of South Africa

The Reason for Donating Blood

Before becoming a high school student, there was something I wanted to do most. It was blood donation. I wanted the souvenirs I could get after the blood donation, and liked the fact that donating blood once is acknowledged as four hours of volunteer service at school. After I became…

Park Min-ji from Seoul, Korea

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.…

The Seogu Church in Gwangju, Korea

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…

The Kaohsiung Church in Taiwan

Corn Ripening with the Farmer’s Sweat

At the end of June when the sun blazed down and the heat persisted, the members of the Wonju Zion went to a tomato farm and a corn field located in Sillim-myeon to help with weed removal. To make things smooth, they made two teams, and I got in the…

Shin Hae-yeong from Wonju, Korea

Make Even the Hidden Place Shine Bright

Streets in Taiwan are very clean since the public order is highly regarded. Due to thorough management, people are forbidden to drink beverages including water after passing the subway ticket gates. If they violate the law, they are charged with a fine of about NTD 7,500 [USD 245]. The ASEZ…

Kim Bo-ra from Gyeongsan, Korea