#1 Oh Seung-gwon from Osaka, Japan
Now it is not easy to preach the gospel to our hearts’ content like before due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, a preaching festival titled “Bear Good Fruit” was held throughout Japan in obedience to Mother’s words to “show more love and care to our families and friends as the times are difficult.” A sister was led to God during the festival.
She attended a Japanese religious organization with her parents and older sister when she was little. However, she found nothing but contradiction in the doctrine education that she had to receive there, regardless of her will. Disappointed by the corruption of the members and their oppressive style, her older sister and she made a conclusion that there was no truth there after they were grown up, and stopped going there. Afterwards, she wandered around, looking for the truth that must be somewhere, but then she drifted away from religion little by little in the midst of the hectic life. Nevertheless, she never stopped thinking that there must be the Creator of the universe.
Our Creator God extended His hand of salvation to her. It was through her co-worker, who was making every effort to lead a soul to salvation through the preaching festival. Hearing the words of the Bible from her co-worker, the sister showed great interest and came to the church. After studying the truth deeply, she said, clapping her hands,
“This is really the truth!”
She was baptized, shedding tears. And she called her older sister immediately and expressed her joy, saying, “I found the truth today!” Hearing the news, her older sister too visited Zion with her younger sister, studied the Bible, and was reborn as God’s child.
The younger sister also led her older daughter, and her younger daughter who always used to say, “Mom, I used to be an angel. God gave me special love.” Also, she delivered the news of salvation to her friend who lives far away. Hearing the words of the Bible briefly over the phone, her friend said, “Now that I’ve heard of the words, I can’t just sit back. I’m going there.” And she traveled 620 km [385 mi] by express train and received the truth.
God’s planned work of salvation was carried out without fail even in the situation where things had changed greatly due to the pandemic and where it was hard to meet people in person. More than forty brothers and sisters were reborn into a new life in Osaka within a few months after the government declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There must be many more souls who are eagerly waiting for salvation. We will proclaim the gospel without rest, following the example of Father and Mother who are still working to save every single soul.
#2 Oh Seung-gwon from Osaka, Japan
I’m happy to share a gracious fragrance of Zion from here Kyoto as well.
I preached the gospel to my co-workers several times. However, many of them had a prejudice about religion, and quite a lot of them had no interest in the Bible or in God. Some of the co-workers even ignored me or expressed their uncomfortable feelings about my preaching because they had negative feelings against Christianity. As people started avoiding even having a conversation with anyone due to the coronavirus pandemic, it felt even harder to preach the news of salvation.
However, the preaching festival started around that time and it was an opportunity to have a turning point. Receiving Mother’s message that “we must not stop carrying out our mission to save souls until we enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” I gained a new strength and started looking around to see whom I could preach to, reminding myself of my mindset that I had at first, which was to preach the gospel with all my heart, regarding every soul as precious. However, I needed more courage to preach the gospel again because all the failures and frustration of the past came up to me. Depending on God all the more, for God always helps us, and asking God for faith and courage through prayer, I preached the truth to people around me one by one.
Many people were taken aback as they had never heard of God’s word, and the journey of bearing good gospel fruit still felt far. However, as I kept trying without giving up, God allowed me to meet a soul more beautiful than a precious stone. The one who received the blessing is an employee who works in my company building.
At first, we only greeted each other briefly, but then I asked her if she could listen to my preaching, and she was willing to do so. I preached to her whenever I had some free time at work, and she listened to me carefully without pointing at my poor preaching ability, and she accepted that the Bible is fact and that God the Mother exists. I can never explain enough the joy I felt when she said she wanted to keep listening to my preaching.
One day, she opened her heart and told me about all the hard times she had gone through. The sister had lived a rough life even from her childhood. After telling me her story, she said with tears, “After telling you my story, I feel so happy. I feel like I’ve been saved,” so I said, “Only God can comfort our injured hearts.” She told me without hesitation that she wanted to become God’s child, and came to Zion before the Third-day worship began, received the promise of salvation, and also kept the worship service in a godly manner.
I truly give thanks to God Elohim for leading her soul to Zion. I know that my mission from God is to diligently seek the souls who want to be comforted in God and long for Heaven like the sister. I will proclaim the gospel without giving up until the prophecy of God, “The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation” (Isa 60:22), is fulfilled throughout Japan.
I pray that hope and blessings will overflow all over Japan and all throughout the world, and that all mankind will hear the news of salvation and gain peace both physically and spiritually in this New Year.