People say that the darkest hour of the day is right before sunrise. My life before meeting God was like that. While I was experiencing many things after having a baby, my self-esteem took a hit, and I felt depressed every day. Even after moving to Jejudo Island which is my hometown, I felt like I was all alone in the middle of the desert.
The words of the Bible, which I learned for the first time through the members of the Church of God, were like a streak of light. Seeing how the prophecies of the Bible had been fulfilled without missing a bit, I was convinced that God exists, and I was overjoyed, comforted, and moved by the fact that God is my Father and Mother and that They love me and regard me as everything to Them.
I was eager to share this precious truth with my family; this is probably a desire that all the Zion family members can understand. I had no hesitation to preach the Gospel to my mom and younger siblings. I thought that they would receive the truth as soon as they heard the truth, but their reactions were different from what I had expected. My mom and my first younger sister shook their heads even before I was done talking. Thankfully, my youngest brother, who was in the military service, and my second younger sister received the blessing of becoming God’s children when she came to visit us here in the hometown where she hadn’t visited in a long time. They became God’s children, saying, “That’s true!” but they soon grew apart from God.
‘I really want my family to be saved . . .’ Although I was eager to save them, I didn’t know what to do.
“Sister, in order to lead one soul, you have to be changed into love first,” said the deaconess who led me to the truth. I was cut to the heart, but it made so much sense. Even before I went through hard times, I was an unaffectionate daughter and a prickly sister. It was no wonder that my first younger sister, who had a lot of disappointment in me, didn’t want to accept my words positively and that my other younger siblings felt pressure by attention from me.
I wanted to be reborn as a child of love as God is love. It was such a hard work for me because I had never shared heartwarming words with my family. It felt awkward, but I had to change because there was nothing more I could ask for if my family members could open their hearts and accept the truth through my little change.
In my daily life, I tried to avoid a negative and aggressive way of speaking such as “So what?” and tried to talk more softly. It was so hard to say things like “It must’ve been hard for you,” but after trying it for the first time, it got pretty easy. When I saw how awkward my younger siblings must’ve felt, I reflected on myself even more.
There were fruits prepared for me at the end of a long waiting. My second younger sister who was living alone in Seoul for five years suddenly announced that she wanted to move back to Jejudo Island, which she put into action immediately. After helping her move her stuff and catching my breath, I asked her carefully, “Do you want to come back to Zion?” My younger sister who was obviously weary of her work and relationships with people said yes right away. I guess God’s word was a light to her as it was to me. As she studied God’s word in Zion every day and received love from God and from the brothers and sisters, I could definitely see her become bright and healthy both physically and spiritually. Saying, “I feel happy to go to Zion,” she started keeping God’s commands and making efforts to preach to her friends. I felt overjoyed.
Now I am dreaming of the day when we will lead our mom and other siblings to God together. I believe that all my family and everyone I get to meet will understand God Elohim, who is the reality of love, and come to salvation, if I change my personality which is a little rough around the edges. Today too, I reflect on myself and pray to God to help me become gentle, polite, humble, and only have love that endures everything.