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 staying on the earth. Whenever I heard about disasters occurring around the world through news and documentaries, being a good person didn’t seem enough to take me to paradise. Whenever I saw on TV that good-natured people were at a loss in the midst of disasters, I was afraid that I, too, might die from one of disasters.
The fear of disasters made me distrust God. I couldn’t understand why so many incidents and accidents occurred in this world full of people claiming to belong to God.
When I was talking with the members from the Church of God, I couldn’t resist my doubts and questioned them closely. Our conversation, however, always ended with the prophecies of the Bible or God’s word about salvation.
I met them a few more times, and I was able to gradually understand the ways of the world and the truth of the soul, which made me more interested in God’s word. I thought I had to study the Bible for the sake of my beloved son.
All moms, as long as they do not go against the maternal instinct, would want to protect their children anytime and anywhere. However, I couldn’t keep my child safe when he wasn’t with me or in a situation beyond my control.
“If you become a child of God, God will keep you as the apple of His eye.”
This cleared away my long-standing distrust that had made me hesitate. I received a new life together with my son.
I thought I would no longer need to worry about religious matters. But I was wrong. My family stood against my faith, saying that they couldn’t have two different religions in one family. I wasn’t bold enough to start my life of faith in this situation. After several months of wandering, I came to think, ‘I am an adult, and none of the things I’ve learned is wrong!’
I wanted to discern through the Bible whether or not the religion would harm my family. Firmly determined, I went to the Church of God and studied the Bible every day.
All the words of truth were so clear to me. The more I studied the truth, the more I became convinced of God’s existence. When I realized the mission of preaching, I couldn’t just sit back any longer.
While I was keeping God’s law and carrying out my God-given mission, my family’s attitude toward me gradually softened. My older sister said I looked more peaceful ever since I started going to church. My mom too agreed with her and acknowledged my religion. My husband received the blessing of being a child of God.
The more I was blessed by God, the more I desired spiritual things. Just in time, a member who had preached overseas for a long time said something that caught my ear.
“Our members overseas are very short-handed. Just being with them can be of great help to them.”
I became so eager to go abroad. With an earnest desire to receive blessings reserved for me in a region where gospel workers were urgently needed, I prayed to God every day to open the way for me to preach overseas. Finally, God blessed my family to preach in Brazil.
We went to Brazil, determined to boast about God to our hearts’ content. However, the reality was far different from what I had expected. The Brazilian culture and lifestyle are completely different from Korea’s. So, sometimes I felt strange and even scared in Brazil. I also found it so hard to learn the local language, and I had many days of crying because of the language barrier.
However, having such a hard time was not a waste of time. The number of the heavenly family members gradually increased, and God allowed us to build a new temple.
As the construction work started, we had extremely busy days. The male adults participated in the construction work while fighting against the heat for a long time, and the female adults too worked so hard in poor working conditions where they had to break concrete walls with hammers due to inadequate equipment.
While I was piling up blessings, I was faced with a trial. As the construction work continued, I became exhausted both physically and mentally. One day, when I woke up in the morning, I didn’t feel like taking even one step out of my room. I kept imagining myself eating cool watermelon and cold noodles while sitting in the room with the air conditioner on.
As I was looking for all kinds of excuses to rest, something suddenly came to my mind.
‘Ah, Father and Mother!’
The daily lives of Heavenly Father and Mother must have been much harder than my life. Yet, They walked the gospel path constantly without expressing Their pain and suffering.
To give us salvation to us, Father willingly sacrificed Himself and lived an uncomfortable life, and Mother is still living a sacrificial life. They are truly the realities of love set the perfect example of true love which humans could not possibly imitate. Tears gushed out of my eyes and wet my pillow.
Just by thinking about Heavenly Parents who walked the painful path of the gospel, I gained strength. I braced myself up, and after that day, I did the construction work wholeheartedly with our brothers and sisters. The construction work was completed graciously, and we started the march of the gospel in earnest.
As I realized God’s love, it changed the way I preached and brought different results than before. The souls that returned to Zion realized the love of Heavenly Father and Mother faster. Recently, I asked a member, “Sister, when and how did you realize Heavenly Father and Mother?”
Then she replied.
“I once saw you cry for me. At that time, I wondered, ‘Why is she crying for me? I’ve never cried for anybody.’ Then I realized a little bit of Mother’s love.”
She grew up to be a beautiful child of God, who fully understood Mother’s love.
Another sister grew in hope for heaven, longing for Heavenly Father. Shortly after receiving the truth, she learned that Jesus had already come a second time and that He had ascended to heaven according to Bible prophecy. Then she burst into tears and said, “When did it happen? I didn’t get to see Him.” She just cried without saying anything for quite a while. After overcoming her sadness, she studied God’s word more deeply, thinking of Father’s sacrifice.
It’s been a few years since I came to Brazil. Now I am very inspired by our young adults. With their God-given talents, they conduct Bible seminars on campus and in Zion, holding family festivals visiting senior citizens’ homes as well. They handle four to five events every month. It reminds me of a Bible verse in the book of Psalms, which says that the youth of God like the dew of the dawn will be willing. I learn an undying passion for the gospel from the young adults who force their way into the kingdom of heaven.
I wasn’t changed fully enough to be like an angel before, though I eagerly wanted to go to heaven. However, living in Brazil gave me a lot of realizations. Among them, what I have realized through preaching is a precious gift from God, which cannot be exchanged for anything else.
To me, preaching the gospel was like having a crush on other people. Since they didn’t know what was in my heart, they didn’t smile at me and showed no reaction; sometimes they were even rude to me. It hurt me and I shed so many tears in secret. But I couldn’t give up on them, because I loved them.
The love I have is from God. It is the love of Heavenly Father and Mother who love me deeply and wait patiently for me to realize it.
Even if I have to have a crush on more people and it hurts me a lot, I will not stop this work. I will run this path powerfully until God’s pure and holy love, which the world cannot give, reaches out to all people.