ⓒ 2007 WATV
I had thought the overseas preaching was not a possibility for me. However, three years ago, a Ghanaian worker was led to the Church that I attended, and Zion was established in Ghana. For this reason I was sent here.
When I was called by God to be sent to Ghana, I gave thanks to God for using me, who was lacking in everything, as an instrument for the gospel. Rather than being determined to achieve something, I just thought of doing my best for the gospel. I was concerned that I would only cause Mother to worry.
My ability to speak English was not good. I only knew the basic grammar, and had only a couple of opportunities to talk with foreigners. Studying English through the Sermon Book and Father’s Books translated into English, I tried to overcome the language barrier. However, Ghanaians spoke British English and over 50 dialects according to region and tribe, so it was not easy for me to understand them.
Language is very important in preaching. However, through the Jerusalem Preaching Festival, I’ve realized that the gospel work does not depend on language itself. The truth of “Mother” transcends all barriers. The heat of the Preaching Festival to proclaim the glory of heavenly Mother was delivered even to Ghana in West Africa, and the great work of the Holy Spirit happens here, too, every day.
Accra, the Star of Ghana Which Is the Star of AfricaIn the center of Ghana’s national flag there is a black star which represents the lodestar of African freedom. In 1957, Ghana gained independence for the first time in Africa. Ghanaians are very proud of this. Ghana is a peaceful country which has achieved political and social stability as the lyrics of her national anthem say, ”Ghana is a nation blessed by God.” Accra, the capital of Ghana, is the center of politics, economics and culture of West Africa.
Ghanaian people have friendly feeling toward foreigners, saying that they have luck if they see Caucasian people. They also welcomed us who came from Korea, but not the truth that we delivered.
70% of Accra citizens believe in Christianity and the rest follow Islam and traditional religions of their own tribes. In Ghana, Christian culture has been developed and its influence is seen at everywhere. From shop names such as “God-Blessed Shop,” “Holy Forgiveness of Sins Grocery Store,” we can see just how religious they are.
Ghanaian Christianity is greatly influenced by some denominations which emphasize miraculous signs and wonders, not following the testimonies of the Bible. So if we deliver the word of truth, they only argue against it, stressing miraculous signs. Even if they acknowledge the truth, they say their faith is good enough. They rationalize their faith, disguising their spiritual ignorance with false generosity.
This distorted Christian culture was a big hindrance to our gospel work. However, we believed that we would surely meet people who were thirsty for the words of truth. We prayed earnestly and God allowed us to meet the souls one by one, who had been searching for the truth, perceiving the contradiction between their secularized churches and the teachings of the Bible.
Brother Robert was one of them. For about two months, we delivered God’s words to him in poor English, and finally he recognized the Savior in this age and accepted the Spirit and the Bride. He led his family and friends to Zion, and has become a leading worker for the gospel in Accra.
Our present Church building has also been allowed to us by the grace of God. Ghanaians usually build houses in remote places and make the inside of the houses dark with small windows so that they can prevent heat from coming inside. However, we found a house which was remodeled into a European style, having a wide and bright hall with big windows. Its location was also good for our brothers and sisters to come to worship God. Our native brothers and sisters were all amazed, saying that they’d not seen a house with this kind of structure in such a good location.
In Ghana which is called the star of Africa, a true star has appeared that will lead the Ghanaian people to eternal freedom. It is the Accra Zion.
The Work of the Holy Spirit Kindled Through the Nine Angels From the East Heavenly Mother sent angels to the Accra Zion who would kindle the fire of the Holy Spirit of the Jerusalem Preaching Festival after the fire of the Holy Spirit of the Feast of Tabernacles. They were the nine young adults like the early morning dew from Korea.
At first, I worried that it might not be easy for them to preach the gospel in a foreign country to the people who were very proud about knowing the Bible. However, it did not take me long to realize that all of my worry was useless in front of the strong faith that the young people had as they proclaimed the glory of Jerusalem.
The young people who were fulfilling God’s prophecy were burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Even forgetting to eat meals, they proclaimed Mother from early morning until late at night. As a result of their fervent preaching, over 30 souls were led to Mother in only five days. Although they had difficulty making even simple conversations with Ghanaians, they preached heavenly Mother with all their heart, only depending on God.
Seeing the Korean brothers and sisters preaching passionately despite the language barrier, the members of the Accra Zion looked back at the past when they had not positively participated in the Preaching Festival. They realized how to keep in step with the prophecy, and took part in preaching actively.
Even after the Korean youths returned to their country, the members of the Accra Zion were full of fervor to take part in the Jerusalem Preaching Festival. The fervor of the Preaching Festival, which Korean youths had kindled, was delivered to the Ghanaian young adults, so that they all desired to bear fruit with one mind.
In Ghana it gets dark even at 6 o’clock in the evening, and there are few in the street without lamps. However, our young adults did not mind these circumstances; they came to Zion after finishing their work and went out to preach about heavenly Mother with earnestness. If they could hardly read the Bible in the dark street, they delivered the existence of Mother by talking, and if they led the people to Zion, they testified about Mother through the Bible.
Father and Mother blessed the young, who were eager to preach about heavenly Mother, with abundant fruit. Most young adults bore fruit. On the first day, they led six souls to God. Until the last person was baptized, none of them left; they heartily congratulated the newcomers on being born again. Also, they prayed for the members who had not borne fruit yet. This beautiful unity was another fruit granted through the Preaching Festival.
Day after day, new life is born. Now we have no time to bear fruit in order to teach the truth to the newborn souls. Even in this situation, the members continue to bear fruit by preaching heavenly Mother on the way to Zion after visiting the new members. One member, who goes out alone from Zion, returns together with someone.
At worship services, so many people attend that I’m not able to recognize who is who. At every service, I am so happy, and I often think, ‘Who is that brother?’ Although we do not have enough workers or time, the gospel is being accelerated more and more.
“Mother,” the Perfect Truth Putting Out All Arguments“There is One who gives us salvation, eternal life and love. That is the heavenly Mother. She has come to the earth to seek and save us, and always prays for us. Mother’s love cannot be compared with anything in the world.”
Thus, we testified about Mother through the Bible, trying to let them know about Mother’s love even though it’s beyond words.
In the past, whenever I preached the truth, people argued against it. When I delivered one word to them with language barrier difficulty, those who were raised with a Christian background answered me with ten words. However, as I testified about Mother, something unexpected happened: their eyes opened wide and they could not say anything; they just kept their mouths closed tightly.
“...so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand” (Isaiah 52:15).
This was the moment the above prophecy was fulfilled. However much they might claim to know about the Bible, they shut their mouths in front of the secret of the heavenly Mother that they had never heard of. Mother was the perfect truth that did not allow any arguments. And the hardened and frozen souls began to melt in the love of Mother.
Mother gives us love. There is no one who rejects love. Therefore, many souls streamed to Zion to become the children of Mother who is the source of love. The atmosphere of preaching has also changed from heated dispute to warm and bright atmosphere since we testified about Mother who is love.
I felt very anxious about the souls that didn’t feel the deep love of God contained in the truth, arguing against the truth. However, as we testified about Mother who is the most profound truth, new members easily realized that all the truths of the new covenant such as the Sabbath and the Passover are from the love of Mother, and kept the commandments with faith.
Preaching about the Sabbath day, we deliver the blessing from Mother the Creator who has come to the earth and blesses us on the seventh day. Preaching about the Passover, we deliver the sacrifice of Mother who saves us through Her flesh and blood. Both the preacher and the listener are moved by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that the more the water of life flowing from the sanctuary is measured far, the more the water rises and becomes deep. In the same way, the more we preach about Mother, the more we become one in Her love.
We’ve all experienced that the best way to preach is to obey God. Although we preached Mother in obedience to the will of God who told us to proclaim the glory of Jerusalem Mother to the whole world through the Preaching Festival, even in our dreams we did not expect this kind of work of the Holy Spirit would occur. This is a miracle performed by Mother.
Mother is the strongest power to break the people’s obstinacy, and pure love to move the souls. I’m very happy and thankful to Mother for allowing me to testify about Her who is perfect and honorable.
The Jerusalem Preaching Festival Full of HappinessAt first, our native brothers and sisters were somewhat passive about preaching. They lost confidence before the people who reputed the truth with many words. However, they were totally changed as they testified about heavenly Mother through the Preaching Festival. It’s because no one did not argue against the truth of Mother as he had done before, however much he knew about the Bible.
Even the tone of their voice changed. Now they proclaim the glory of Mother with great confidence. Just seeing them preach, I am encouraged.
There is a deacon among the self supporting gospel workers from Korea. He has difficulty with walking. It is hard for him to walk for a long time, and also he is not good at speaking English. However, he preached from early morning until late in the evening, giving thanks to God who allowed him to preach about heavenly Mother. Seeing his earnest heart, God allowed him to lead over 15 souls to the truth in two weeks.
During the Preaching Festival, Sister Araba led her husband into the arms of God a year after she received the truth. Her husband had studied the Bible with us, but did not open his mind. During this Preaching Festival, he became the hundredth child of God.
Sister Araba regarded this Preaching Festival as a great chance to lead her husband to God and told him about the truth once again after praying earnestly. To her surprise, his mind was already opened wide. After baptism, he explained why he decided to receive the truth. For the past one year, he observed that his wife and daughters always looked so happy whenever they returned home after attending worship services of the Church of God. Finally, he concluded that the Church of God had the true love of God, and he too wanted to be drenched into happiness. Mother’s love defrosted his frozen soul and blessed his home to be a nest full of happiness. The brother was very touched, seeing Mother serve us through the videos.
“Mother shows us an example of love and sacrifice. So we serve our neighbors according to the teachings of Mother.”
Listening to the narration of the video, the brother willingly accepted Mother’s love and teachings, saying that true love was not in words but in action. Other members also shed tears, saying, “If She were not our Mother, She would not humble Herself for us like that.”
We do not ask each other how he or she bore fruit. It’s because we know the answer very well. Our bearing fruit does not depend upon our ability. Mother’s love gathers Her lost children. During this Preaching Festival we are happy to be able to participate in the work, which God surely fulfills. Attending the Preaching Festival, we are awakened from our spiritual sleep and delightfully preach the gospel with one mind, which makes the Festival a true festival.
During the Preaching Festival, over 100 people have been led to Zion within a month, and many souls are still being born again as the children of God. It would take us over a year to find that many brothers and sisters if it was before the Festival. However, thanks to the love and power of God who leads all history, we’ve achieved such amazing results.
The Preaching Festival is still going on. In the grace of Mother, we will fill our barn of Zion with good fruits. Like the Ghana national anthem, “Ghana is a nation blessed by God,” we will forcefully advance toward the kingdom of heaven even more, so that we will become children blessed by God.
Also, we pray that the Accra Zion will be a lodestar leading all Ghanaians and West Africans to Mother.
Heavenly Mother, thank You very much for allowing this weak child to participate in the overseas mission and to preach Your love to people. I will follow You to the end, keeping in step with the prophecy Father and Mother fulfill. I love You, Mother!