The Most Valuable Work, the Most Special Blessing

Just like most other Korean dads, my life was also a series of days to go to work, seeing the stars early in the morning, and come back home, seeing the stars again late at night. Back then, I didn’t know what the starry world in the distance was and for whom those stars were shining. My only goal was to give my family a comfortable life, not asking others for help, as a head of my family. With this goal, I worked hard without taking a day off throughout the year.

It was not until my wife told me about the truth that I thought this life might not be all. Actually, I didn’t believe the truth at first because what she preached to me was something I had never heard in the Catholic Church which I attended for over 30 years though my faith wasn’t strong there.

It seemed that her older sister too was studying the Bible at her church. Every day, her older sister explained to me what she studied that day, and she asked me what I thought. While listening to the stories about the Bible and God, and having a conversation with her, I was moved by the truth just as clothes get wet little by little in a drizzle.

A few months later, my wife said to me with sparkling eyes, “We’re keeping God’s feast right now. God gives more blessings during the feast.”

The next day, I went to church with my wife for the early morning service before going to work. I was surprised to see many people attend worship though it was very early in the morning, and I was also surprised by their kindness. That day, I received the blessing of becoming God’s son with joy in the Church of God. I felt peace in my mind as if I had finally done something that I should’ve done earlier. Probably because my soul was reborn, the morning air which I had breathed in every day felt different that day.

I wished I had kept that peaceful feeling, but I didn’t go to church for several months because of my busy schedule after baptism. However, despite my hard work, things didn’t work out the way I wanted, and I had to close my business. In the situation where we had to worry about how to survive, my wife must’ve been worried about our future as much as I was, but she didn’t express her concern. Instead, she comforted me, saying, “Everything will go according to God’s will.”

I kept that year’s last Sabbath day and the New Year’s first Sabbath day together with my family, and I realized that all the things I had experienced were God’s will, just as my wife told me. As I began to distinguish the truth from falsehood, I was able to understand how great the blessing of the invisible spiritual world is. As God said, “My people perish from the lack of knowledge,” I was an ignorant soul who could never go to heaven because of my lack of knowledge of God, but God saved me without cost. How can I not give thanks to God?

About one month after I began to worship with joy and amazement, there was one thing that moved me more and more as I continued studying God’s word. What moved me was that God was eagerly searching for some people. As I realized that they were God’s lost children from heaven, just like me, I thought seriously about preaching.

Before, I lived every day, being swamped with work, not knowing where I came from and where I was going. However, I was able to have hope for heaven and feel peace in Zion, because someone had preached to my family. Truly, my life was happiness itself after receiving the truth. Whenever I thought about the everlasting kingdom of heaven which was prepared for me, I didn’t envy anything in this world. I wanted to become a gospel worker to please God by sharing that blessing and grace with others.

Since it wasn’t something that would work out just by making up my mind, I plucked up my courage and participated in the gospel work. But what came back to me was only scold and refutation. I could’ve given up, feeling discouraged, but then God let me bear an unforgettable fruit, which gave me strength.

I was about to preach to one person who was in the same business field as mine, and one day he came to me and said he had a question. Then he asked me if God the Mother is mentioned in the Bible, saying that one day when his son returned home after attending worship at his friend’s church, he asked him, “Dad, people call God Father. Then, where is Mother?” ‘The soul seeking the truth has always been around me!’

I knew for sure that he was a heavenly family member whom I had been desperately seeking. He studied God’s word in Zion and received the truth. A few days later, he also led his son, who had asked him about God the Mother, to God. With firm faith in the truth, they held firmly to their faith, overcoming their family’s opposition wisely.

The mission that God has entrusted to us is truly for us. I started the gospel work for God, but many precious realizations for me were hidden in the gospel work. Actually, even before I preached the gospel, I knew that the brothers and sisters of Zion are the family members who have received Heavenly Parents’ flesh and blood, and that finding our lost brothers and sisters is joyful work. However, that knowledge finally moved me as I began to preach God’s word and bear fruit. As I experienced that each soul was found through the efforts of the brothers and sisters who followed God’s examples, I realized how precious they are.

The “Ten Talent” mission, which God granted us a few years ago, gave me a new viewpoint. At first, I was worried, thinking, ‘How can someone like me, lacking in many ways, lead ten souls to understand the truth?’ As time passed, hearing more and more news about the brothers and sisters who accomplished their goals, I realized that I was wrong. There was a definite difference between them and me. Although I was working for the gospel just like them, I was seized by many meaningless things or was hesitating between useless things and spiritual blessings, while they were doing their best to carry out the mission, only putting their hope in the kingdom of heaven. As their mindset and attitude were different from mine, their result was also different.

Repenting that I had wasted time, I made up my mind once again to live only for the gospel at the thought that I would not have a second chance. When I got rid of the meaningless greed from my mind and tried to be reborn with greater faith, God led my family to a place where God’s great blessings were waiting for us. In India, there are over 1,600 languages, hundreds of millions of gods, and more than 1.3 billion people.

Many times I felt discouraged because people spoke different languages and rejected the truth with their strong faith in their own religions. Looking at the people who did not understand the truth, I felt anxious and even cried several times. One time, my family all became sick because of dengue fever. However, I always gave thanks whatever happened; because while walking the path that Father and Mother had walked, I could fathom even a little bit of how heartbroken Heavenly Father and Mother must’ve been, and how much They love us. Still, whenever I think about Father and Mother who are leading the salvation work, sacrificing Themselves for Their children who are all over the world, all I can say is, “Thank You.”

As the years pass, I realize more and more deeply in my heart that walking with God and following His examples is the greatest happiness and the most valuable thing. The joy I feel whenever my talents of the gospel are added is a blessing that I cannot get from anywhere else in the world. What am I, that God gives me such big grace?

The long-awaited New Year has dawned. I pray that Father and Mother’s wish will come true this year; Father is earnestly waiting for the day He will meet His children again, and Mother is eagerly praying day and night to find more souls. For the day to come more quickly, I will fill myself with the things that I lack, correct what I am doing wrong, and preach the gospel with all my heart.

Yesterday, today, and every day, I miss Father and Mother. I would like to show my appreciation to Father and Mother for the New Year with all the heavenly family members around the world in one mind.

“Father and Mother, we thank You and love You!”