I started working when I was a sophomore and learned that social life was not easy. Stress from relationships was indescribable. But the people of the Church of God, I met through my sister, were different. It was joyful to do anything together with them who were like angels.
About a year after I received the truth, I volunteered for the overseas mission. I lack preaching experiences, let alone overseas experiences, but I made such a decision with conviction that God is in Zion and everything we do in Zion has God’s blessing in it. The mission place was Sydney, Australia. Several Korean young adults were working for the gospel in Australia with the ambition to establish a church in Sydney, and I joined them.
My ambition was as strong as that of the brothers and sisters, but the wall of reality was high. I hadn’t had many chances to preach even in Korean, so when I tried to preach in English, quite often I found myself stammering. Yet, the locals came to Zion one after another, hearing the word of God. It was amazing to see not only Australians, but Pacific Islanders, Asians, Europeans, Africans, and Americans receive the truth, regardless of their environments and religions.
My passion for the gospel work burned more and more. I wanted to receive more blessings by staying in Australia as long as I could. While preaching in Sydney, where people of many different races live, I felt the joy of accomplishing the prophecy, “Preach to all nations,” which couldn’t be compared with anything else.
I met a good person, started a family, and settled in Australia. The Sydney Zion, which only had Korean members at first, got filled with Australian brothers and sisters.
I put serious thought into my role in Zion which was growing. Until then, I’d been only teaching the words of the Bible and helping the brothers and sisters distinguish the truth from falsehood, but I felt like it was time for me to help the new members learn the mindset and behaviors of gospel workers. However, I had a hard time communicating with them. I didn’t know if it was because of my poor English, cultural differences, or my impatience. I happened to hurt some brothers and sisters’ feelings though I didn’t mean to. Around that time, my husband told me that he wanted to live in the United States where his brother lives. I felt frustrated as things were going against my will, but I moved to the U.S. with him.
The U.S. has so many immigrants that it is even called a nation of immigrants. Since there are brothers and sisters of all different nationalities in Zion, I assumed that it would be hard to have one mind.
But I was wrong. The brothers and sisters respected and embraced each other’s culture. They acted like one body to preach the gospel without discord. They were truly one family that received God’s flesh and blood. While living in the U.S., I keenly felt that languages or different backgrounds didn’t matter for having one mind and that understanding the brothers and sisters and having love to embrace them are the top priorities for gospel preachers along with the passion and ability to teach the truth.
When I was adapting myself to my new surroundings, we had to go back to Australia for some reasons. Thinking about meeting the brothers and sisters in Sydney again made me excited but embarrassed at the same time. As if they had known how I felt, they welcomed me with bright smiles when I arrived there. Their heartwarming smiles let me get the burden off my chest.
God helped me in many ways so that I could change. Sharing grace with the brothers and sisters who came back from visiting Korea was one of the ways God helped me. The brothers and sisters, being moved, said that Heavenly Mother took care of each and every one of them with a great consideration. When they explained how Heavenly Mother was with them in every moment, took good care of them, considered their lifestyles, and kept pace with them while eating, my face burned with embarrassment at the realization that I was totally the opposite before.
Through the new brothers and sisters, I could feel that the gospel work is being led by God, not by what I do. Sister Ane is from Samoa, one of the islands near Australia. After we met her for the first time, we couldn’t get hold of her because she was away from her house to take care of some complicated matters. Then one day, her daughter noticed her having some difficulties and suggested they pray to God. The sister said okay, and then her daughter asked her, “Mom, what’s God’s phone number?”
Her question made the sister remember us. She met us immediately and received the truth. She preached the gospel wherever she went, and later she went back to her home country Samoa and became a great prophet, leading her family and relatives into the arms of God. Another sister received the truth after praying earnestly to God for her child who was going through puberty. She wasn’t interested in religion at all, but she prayed before she knew it and met us a few days after she prayed. It made her think, ‘It must be God’s will that I go to their church.’
Like this, brothers and sisters come to Zion with all different stories. What will they need more than heartwarming love? The gift of the Holy Spirit, which I mainly asked for at every feast, was the language ability. But now I know that the gift I should’ve asked for was love. Now I ask for the gift of love every day. I must do so because it’s easy to lose it, even after having it once. I tell myself to embrace the brothers and sisters with the heart of Father and Mother, but then I often turn around and judge them with my narrow viewpoint. Sometimes, I thought I was being considerate of the brothers and sisters, but it was only from my standard. I know all these problems can be solved when I truly love them. I thought it was my choice to come to Australia to complete the overseas mission, but now I understand that it is God who has led me so that I can learn love and fill myself with love. I want to have a deep and wide faith that can embrace all my brothers and sisters, bind up their wounds, cover their faults, and share my heart with all of them.