After becoming a young adult, I got to know the warmth of Zion, attending gatherings full of love of leading sisters. One day, we watched a video and shared fragrances of Zion with the members. One sister shed tears, saying that she was thankful and sorry to Mother for sacrificing Herself for us. I too cried. I didn’t know why but I was touched by the sister who repented wholeheartedly and at the same time felt ashamed of myself for not paying attention to the precious words of God during worship services.
Soon afterwards, I tried to change and be born again. Unlike in my student days when I used to go home right after a service, not wanting anyone to talk to me, I diligently participated in the gathering to study the Bible and volunteered to do whatever it was to receive blessings. I got interested in the overseas mission. I had thought it had nothing to do with me before, but it felt like my mission then. The young adults like the dew of dawn were preaching the gospel to find our lost brothers and sisters in foreign countries with confidence and earnestness, which ignited my fervor.
Once I was determined to fulfill my wish, depending on God, the way for the overseas mission was widely opened despite various obstacles. I was so happy and thankful that I excitedly preached the gospel on the plane to Brazil.
The gospel had just begun in Recife, a port city and the capital of the Pernambuco State in the northeastern Brazil. As the ceiling of the pre-branch church was made of an iron plate, loud rain drops made it hard for us to hear the sermon on rainy days, but the members were graciously growing in faith without any complaints.
With expectations that we would find such beautiful brothers and sisters, I knocked on the door of the gospel in Brazil. I was poor at Portuguese; the locals could barely understand me. Nevertheless, many people paid attention to my preaching with patience.
When I met Sister Naid for the first time and told her about Heavenly Mother, she said she had heard it before and was glad to meet us. It turned out that she had received the truth about four years ago when the gospel field was being cultivated in Recife. Although she was blessed to become a child of God with her two daughters and her granddaughter, she had to stop coming to church due to severe opposition of another daughter. After a long time, she tried to come to Zion again, but she couldn’t because she lost the telephone number and location of the church. She told us how sad she was at that time.
The sister longed for the truth and became curious about the phrase “Church of God” in the Bible. She asked the pastor of a Protestant church about it, but she couldn’t receive any answer and got more frustrated. When we testified through the Bible that the Church of God is the place where the Passover is celebrated, she was delighted. The sister led her acquaintance, who was listening to the word beside her, to Zion right away, and then led her daughters, who had grown apart from the truth, and the daughter who had opposed the Church of God, to the true God.
The story of Sister Cleide is also gracious. Although she kept studying the Bible, she neither came to Zion nor received God, making us anxious. One day, she came to Zion with her daughter, walking in the heavy rain. Surprised to see her all wet, I asked her what happened. She said she got finally confident about the truth. She came to the church, asking for directions. Since she received God, she has been storing up heavenly blessings, keeping God’s regulations sincerely.
As the beautiful heavenly family members came to Zion, the house church became crowded that we had to look for a bigger temple. Just in time, we found a suitable building and decided to finish constructing the new temple before the Passover. All the members rolled up their sleeves for the work. Though all became exhausted after building up the walls, cementing, and cleaning, we were thankful that we could help establish the temple.
The new temple built in the blessing of Father and Mother and in unity of the members got filled with faithful souls soon: A sister had wondered about the existence of the female God since her childhood and received Heavenly Mother through a Zion member in her neighborhood and led her husband and sons; a brother had watched our General Pastor’s sermons about the Sabbath day on the Internet while attending a Protestant church and looked for Zion. Whenever I saw the members happy like a little child in the arms of his mother, my heart got full of joy beyond description. Sometimes, I had persecution and sufferings. Sometimes, I was hurt and sad. However, I could depend on God more and the joy of bearing fruit was even greater.
Back to Korea, now I am at the new beginning. I look back on God’s will of granting me the mission to preach in Brazil. I didn’t even think of doing something for the gospel one year before going to Brazil. My going for the overseas mission could’ve been impossible without the blessing of God. I only had superficial knowledge of Father and Mother’s love and sacrifice and the value of the truth. The three years I spent in Recife, Brazil, was the time of learning and being filled to realize more. God gave me such an opportunity not because They needed my ability for the gospel work in Brazil, but because I needed to experience and realize all that to grow in faith. While concentrating on the gospel work for three years, I could realize even a little bit of the utmost love and sacrifice of Father and Mother who have worked restlessly to save us and learn how to unite with my brothers and sisters.
I still have many things to learn and to be filled with on the gospel path in Korea. As God prepared the time and process for me to become worthy to receive blessings, I eagerly hope that I can be a help to God’s work. To fulfill this wish, I will diligently preach the gospel at any place and find my brothers and sisters who are waiting for the voice of God, with joy and thankfulness that I had in Brazil.