Walking with Heavenly Father and Mother
Park Chan-jeong from Jeju, South Korea
One Sunday, on my way to a church that my relatives introduced to me, nearby my matrimonial house, I met members from the Church of God. They delivered to me news like a bolt out of the blue—the cross is an idol.
Following the example of my devout Christian parents, I always had a cross around my neck from a young age, and felt at ease during sleep only when I had a cross in my hand. It was extremely unpleasant to hear that the cross is an idol; it was to shake the foundation of my faith. However, they proved it from the Bible, and I could not refute them. A few days later, I became a child of God, and got rid of all the crosses in my house and my mind as well.
Having learned the truth, I could not sit still. I preached the truth to my family, including my father who regarded the cross as more important than I did and put the cross patterns on his belongings like his Bible, bag, and even shoes. I had a high expectation that my family would easily realize the truth. However, the reality was very different from my expectation. My father did not allow me to even say the word church, and my sweet-tempered older sister said harshly to me, “Don’t ever call me again,” whenever I preached the truth to her over the phone. I cried a lot.
But I could not give up on my loving family. I taught them God’s words little by little over seven years. One day, my older sister invited me to hers. She was trying to have it out with me over who was right in regard to religious faith. Thinking that the time had come, I went to my sister’s after eagerly praying to Father and Mother. The Bible study that started in the afternoon continued till the dawn of the next day. I felt very refreshed after preaching God’s words to her as much as I wanted face to face.
After listening to my preaching, my sister told me to pack my belongings. I thought she was about to tell me to go home, but she rather said,
“Let’s go and get baptized.”
At that moment, I doubted my ears; for the past seven years, she’d been cold-hearted towards the truth. Much later, my sister admitted that the regulation of the Sabbath day deeply remained in her heart when she heard about it over the phone. That was the reason she kept on answering my phone call though saying she didn’t want to listen anymore.
The changes in my sister immediately brought about changes in my father. She’s been a very smart person from a young age, and handles all her tasks flawlessly. So when she said she would attend the Church of God, my father did not hesitate to find out about the Church. After carefully studying God’s words, my father received a new life, and changed dramatically; he abandoned his bad habits that he couldn’t do throughout his 30-year religious life, became mild-tempered, replaced his music with New Songs, and got rid of the cross patterns which he had inscribed on all his belongings.
Afterward, he graciously kept his faith and passed away peacefully despite his chronic illness. In the Bible which my father left, there was a folded letter. Every word on it showed how much he was moved in the true God.
“God loved you so much that He gave you all this blessing. I didn’t even try to take some time to learn about the truth, and distressed you. Please forgive me.”
In his letter, he wrote that he offered the prayer of repentance with tears every early morning and thanked God Elohim for Their grace of salvation after receiving the truth. After reading that, I offered up prayers of thanks.
I realized many things while my family was led to Zion and changed in God and while I was walking the path of an evangelist: How joyful it is to preach the Gospel and what blessings those who rely on God can receive. Every realization was like a textbook that teaches me the virtues that I need in order to be born again as a being worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Five years ago, I moved to Jeju-do Island because of my husband’s business. I was sad to leave the place that I was attached to, but I really liked Jeju-do which was remarkable for its scenery. But there was one thing that captured my heart all the more. By the time I arrived in Jeju-do, Jeju Church Association carried out the united preaching where members from three different local churches regularly gathered together to preach the Gospel.
There was a reason the word unity sounded particularly important in Jeju-do. On this island, people have been worshiping over 18,000 gods from a long time ago. There are many temples, and people attach amulets to their front doors, like doorplates. Their place of life is surrounded by stormy seas, and as a result, they want to be protected from unexpected dangers by powerful gods. The problem was that since the folk religion became a part of their lives, many people had never heard about the Passover which contains God’s promise that God would let disasters pass over them. In order to change the spiritual environment of this island, we had to shout together in unity.
First, the pastoral staff set an example of working in unity. They gathered together and discussed how they would graciously lead the gospel work on Jeju-do, and meanwhile, the members too became one in mind spontaneously. The awkward moments did not last long; soon we became one in mind, preaching the Gospel. In this way, the power of unity started to take effect. While we were preaching in the rural villages where even the native members had never been to before, we were overwhelmed to meet many souls who were eagerly waiting for the truth.
Just a few years ago, not many people of Jeju-do heard about the Church of God. However, after we preached in unity, the situation totally changed. People even in remote villages and tourists, too, said that they heard about the Church of God, and many more souls from a far distance came to Zion. We delivered God’s words in shopping districts located at the center of Jeju-do, and a number of merchants have been led to God; after receiving the truth, they were born again and their fragrance of Zion spread. In this way, everyone came to learn about the Church of God.
In Jeju-do, we realized why God told us to work in unity, and we cherished in our mind that obeying Heavenly Father and Mother’s words is the way for our soul to live. During my journey of faith, which was not short, God gave me realizations and touched my heart at the right time. Even so, I used to often complain about difficulties and envy the world, breaking the heart of Heavenly Mother. However, Mother always stayed beside me with love, and as a result, I’m now looking forward to the glory of Heaven under the grace of Heavenly Mother.
Today too, I excitedly set out on a preaching journey to seek my lost brothers and sisters on beautiful Jeju-do, walking with God who loves me. I want to bring a smile to Heavenly Mother’s face.