ⓒ 2008 WATV

New York is the world cultural and economic center, and people of various ethnic backgrounds live together, expressing their own lifestyle freely. However, spiritu-ally, it was like an external territory where numerous souls were under the shade of death, not having received the water of life from Jerusalem, until the end of 2000 when the light of the new covenant began to shine. I had been preaching the gospel in Los Angeles until I moved to New York according to God’s will to accomplish the gospel work in North America more quickly.

At the beginning, we held worship services in the house. However, the New York Church grew bigger and bigger day by day through the grace of heavenly Mother, who gives overflowing love and power to Her weak children. Our Church was blessed to expand twice and branch out into Connecticut, and we’ve begun to preach in Washington D.C. and Boston.

Heavenly Father and Mother Themselves led the amazing work that men could never accomplish with their own abilities, and blessed us with the mission to preach in the eastern region of North America. For this we give thanks to Father and Mother.


Doors Are Open to Those Who Knock

Many people wonder how the gospel work is done in New York, because it is financially difficult to live in New York; prices are much higher than other regions and lives of people here are very busy since the city is highly developed. Actually it is almost impossible to make a living without a job in New York. Even the students have to work, so people are very busy.

In this situation, it is not easy to keep all the regulations of God and preach the gospel, but our brothers and sisters here overcome all difficulties one after another through the words of God. They are willing to gather in groups, study the words of truth until late at night and preach very diligently, realizing and experiencing the amazing blessings promised in the laws of God and the work of preaching. They never make an excuse like “I have to work,” “I have no time,” or “I’m tired,” but diligently keep worship services and preach the gospel, engraving God’s words deep in their hearts. Their goal in life is the “salvation of souls,” so they are willing to devote themselves to preaching the gospel every day. They say they feel comfortable when they come to Zion every day even if they are busy. When they come to Zion, they put all their efforts into cleaning the Church, studying the Word and preaching the good news. They don’t even take a break.

One day, I went to buy something for the Church with a member. I was only thinking about buying what we needed and going back to Church quickly, but the member who accompanied me was preaching to the clerk. Thus, our brothers and sisters here preach the Word in season and out of season, and I learn many things from them.

I believe that God looks at their fervor and gives them abundant fruits. Since they don’t have much time, they do their best to preach early in the morning, in the evening, at night and even during break time at work. They preach to their co-workers while eating lunch together or taking a break. Brother William bore a precious fruit by doing that. Brother William is a gardener. After he received the truth, he willingly laid the lawn in front of the Church. Thus, he has been making every effort to receive the heavenly blessings. He expresses his earnest wish to meet heavenly Mother by preaching the gospel fervently. One day, he went to a house to mow the lawn and preached the truth about heavenly Mother to the owner of the house. Then the owner was surprised and came to Zion by herself. After studying God’s word, she and all her family received the truth. Now they continue to grow in their faith.

Even in unfavorable situations where the door for preaching is closed, if we depend on God and keep knocking on the door, God surely opens that door. As we experienced that, we became more confident of God’s help, and we began to knock on the doors for preaching in many different ways. One of them is “Culture Event.”

Since people of various races live together, sometimes cultural differences cause problems. In order to overcome difficulties caused by the cultural differences and to be one in Zion’s culture, and to become close to our neighbors, we hold a kind of world culture festival; we invite our families and neighbors to the Church and show them each country’s traditional dance and serve traditional food, too. After such a joyful time, the blessing of salvation always follows. Being touched by the brothers and sisters’ bright smiles, our neighbors open their minds and receive the truth.

Truth never changes, but we can change the way to deliver the truth, depending on situations, rather than have a fixed idea. Of course, the result is not always good. Sometimes we get a result different from the will of God, then we abandon our wrong method right away and ask God for wisdom and find another way to preach. Doing so, we’ve come to depend only on God and received abundant fruits.


Mother, the Everlasting Core of the Gospel

The New York Church is called a young Church. Of course, it’s because there are many young adult members, but it’s also because there are a lot of spiritually young members who are full of fervor for the gospel. God’s word is our spiritual food; prayer is our spiritual breath; and preaching is our spiritual exercise. Most brothers and sisters of the New York Zion preach the gospel very fervently, and this means that they do spiritual exercise very hard. That’s why they are young and healthy.

Even if we do not tell the brothers and sisters about God’s sacrifice and love, they are experiencing it by serving the Church in various ways and preaching the gospel. Moreover, they become a good example to new members. As the new members see them change graciously and preach fervently, they try to resemble them and become more eager for the gospel. All the members volunteer to work for Zion, so it is not easy to find something left to be done in the Church.

ⓒ 2008 WATV

When we preach the gospel, the truth we preach first is, of course, about “God the Mother.” A man who doesn’t believe in God the Mother, who is testified in the Bible, can’t say that he believes in the Bible, and if he doesn’t believe in the Bible, how can he receive salvation? That is why we first preach the truth about God the Mother to whomever we meet. We are able to keep the Sabbath day, the Passover and all the other feasts because Mother is with us; only God can give us all the truths written in the Bible. The Bible testifies to heavenly Father and Mother from the beginning to the end, and through Them we are given salvation. So, we ask people to come to the Church where God the Mother dwells and receive salvation by believing in heavenly Mother.

Most people are very surprised to hear about the existence of God the Mother. Among them, those who have been seeking God sincerely listen to the voice of Mother and come to Zion. When they accept heavenly Mother, they come to understand all the truths and regulations and obey them.

Those who have realized Mother and come to Zion give thanks to Mother for Her grace, saying, “God our Mother has personally called me to Zion.” After each service, we gather together and share the fragrance of Zion; we are deeply touched by each other’s emotions and realizations. What is more touching is that our brothers and sisters always give thanks and praise to God not only when they overcome a dangerous situation, but also for all the things that happen at the work place, school and home. They know that everything is done not by chance, but by heavenly Mother’s grace.

They depend on God whenever they have a hard time and are greatly encouraged by Mother’s words, and work harder for the gospel. I firmly believe and realize that the core of the gospel is “Mother.” I am very proud and happy that I am a child of Mother and able to preach Her to all nations.


Longing for Heavenly Jerusalem

The brothers and sisters of the New York Church are moved to tears whenever they hear the word “Mother.” It’s because they have realized the love of heavenly Mother, who came all the way to the earth and has been walking the sacrificial path alone for the sinful children. Their hearts are full of love for Mother.

Before, I thought a lot how I could deliver Mother’s true love to the brothers and sisters. However, the answer for this question was already written in the Bible. I found the answer through the prophecy that God’s sons and daughters would come from afar and be carried on the arms of heavenly Jerusalem like clouds and like doves.

Heavenly Mother’s boundless love can’t be put into words. So, the best way to let them feel Mother’s love is to help them to be the prophesied heroes who fly to Jerusalem, so that they can experience and understand Her love fully. The brothers and sisters of the New York Church fly to Mother, wanting to get closer to God, to be made perfect and to give more joy to God. Many of them have already visited Korea by joining the overseas visiting groups, and there are still many who want to fly to Jerusalem that I need to adjust their schedule.

All the brothers and sisters, who saw the glory of Jerusalem in Korea and returned with their hearts filled with Mother’s love, have now become great workers of the gospel. They are all trying to correct their wrongs and preach the gospel more eagerly to please Mother. The reason why they are so happy to come to Zion despite their busy life is because of their love towards heavenly Mother. “Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode . . . ” (Isa 33:20). As this verse says, they truly feel the presence of heavenly Mother in Zion, so they try to come to Zion every day and follow Mother’s example of sacrificial love.

Brother Steven was hindered after receiving the truth and was having a hard time even attending worship services. However, he distinguished the truth from falsehood by God’s grace and received the blessing to visit Korea. In Korea, he received boundless love from heavenly Mother and when he came back, he read to us 1 Corinthians chapter 13 with tears:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not ‘Mother,’ I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not ‘Mother,’ I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not ‘Mother,’ I gain nothing. ‘Mother’ is patient, ‘Mother’ is kind. ‘Mother’ does not envy, ‘Mother’ does not boast, ‘Mother’ is not proud. ‘Mother’ is not rude, ‘Mother’ is not self-seeking, ‘Mother’ is not easily angered, ‘Mother’ keeps no record of wrongs. ‘Mother’ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ‘Mother’ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. . . . And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Our ‘Mother’ fulfills the love.”

He realized that Mother is the source and substance of love, so he replaced the word “love” with the word “Mother,” and it greatly touched our hearts. Now, he has become a great gospel worker who is ready to follow the sacrificial path of Mother, and is trying to lead his family to faith.

Sister Nicole is very soft and quiet. She found it hard to preach the gospel to strangers, but she changed after she visited Korea. As soon as she came back, she preached the gospel so fervently and led her friend, Sarah, to Zion. Sister Nicole gave thanks to God, saying, “Mother opened my lips to preach the gospel.” Sister Sarah also realized the truth and conveyed his wish to lead all her friends to the truth.

All the brothers and sisters who visit Korea say, “Heavenly Mother has come all the way to the earth to find us. What is so hard that we cannot go to Korea to meet Mother? It’s already prophesied that we will fly to Jerusalem. We want to be the prophetic heroes and give glory to God.” Their longing for heavenly Mother is the motive power for the gospel work of the New York Church.


The Biblical Heroes Who Accomplish the Gospel

All the members of the New York Zion have one wish: It is to accomplish the gospel as quickly as possible to shorten the painful days of Mother, who is suffering on the earth for our sins. So they work very hard for the gospel every day. They know that God has called them early so that they may find the heavenly brothers and sisters who haven’t been found yet.

The winter in New York is very cold. In the mid winter there is almost no one in the street. However, God always gives us more fruit in difficult situations. Although the weather is very cold, we will preach the gospel harder with the heart of heavenly Mother who is sacrificing Herself to save souls. We will melt the cold weather that freezes even the hearts of people, by preaching the burning love of heavenly Mother.

Now, the members of the New York Church, who are always longing for heavenly Mother with the hope for heaven, are asking Mother to bless them to be the gospel workers, so that they can establish Zion not only in the eastern regions of North America but in all other regions of it. We will shine the glory of heavenly Mother even more by diligently cultivating the gospel field which Mother has entrusted to us. Mother, we love You with all our heart. Please let us be the Biblical heroes who will accomplish the world mission!