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International

God's Mighty Work for His Children in Unity

  • Nation | New Zealand
  • Date | July 20, 2010
It seems like only yesterday when we greeted the new year 2009, but now we are at the last page of the calendar again. Whenever I hear the amazing news of salvation and gracious fragrances of Zion, I can feel that the work of the gospel, which God has planned, is being fulfilled swiftly.

During the past one year, the Auckland Church in New Zealand has also received so many blessings from God; through Mother’s prayers, we’ve personally experienced the power of God and achieved fruitful results of the gospel. Giving thanks to God for bestowing boundless grace upon us, we are preparing to take a great leap toward achieving our bigger dreams for the gospel.


Finding the souls prepared before the creation of the world

New Zealand consists of two big islands: the North Island and the South Island. Now the spiritual harvest is in full swing in Christchurch on the South Island and in Auckland on the North Island.
When I belonged to a young adult group, I had the opportunity to preach the gospel in Auckland as a self-supporting volunteer for a year. At that time, I realized the blessings of the overseas mission and its vision as well, so I decided to be a prophet who would accomplish world evangelism. Then to my surprise, God fulfilled my dream. In October, 2007, by the grace of Mother, I was entrusted with the gospel ministry in Christchurch, New Zealand.

At that time, the gospel in Christchurch was in the pioneering stage. There were only a few members from Korea, including my wife and I; our Zion reminded me of the early days of the Church of God. Sometimes, I missed Korea where I used to be together with many brothers and sisters and had everything I needed for doing the gospel work. Still, I was very thankful and joyful because I felt that it was a great blessing just to be able to follow the path of the gospel which Father and Mother had walked ahead of us.

Christchurch—the name of the city itself exhibits a Christian feel. New Zealand was founded on Christianity, and over 90% of its population is Christian. There are a lot of old cathedrals and big church buildings in every part of the city.

However, nowadays, the number of Christians in New Zealand is gradually decreasing, like in Europe where Christianity is on the decline. Furthermore, even though most people are proud of being Christian, they don’t actually have any interest in faith. When we preached to people here, they didn’t realize our message, but just looked at us curiously as we, Asians, were preaching the words of the Bible.

However, we had no doubt that there would surely be the souls who were seeking and waiting for the truth of God here in Christchurch as well. We vigorously took steps to preach the gospel, thinking about the mind of Father, who had walked the thorny path before us in this spiritually dark world. Many people ignored and rejected the word of God, but the children of heaven recognized the voice of Father and Mother and streamed to Zion one after another. Each and every soul, who was reborn into a new life and began to realize the love and grace of God, was truly beautiful and precious.


Gospel workers brought up in Mother

While carrying out the gospel mission in Christchurch for a year, I solidified my foothold in the overseas mission to some degree, and I was sent by God to the Auckland Church. I still vividly remember how excited I was when I came back to Auckland after nearly three years and attended the first worship service in the Auckland Zion.

At that time, I was preparing for my first worship service, being reminded of the time when I carried out a self-supporting mission here with only a few Korean members. As the service time drew near, the members came to Zion one after another and soon filled Zion. To my surprise, there were far more local brothers and sisters than Korean members. My heart was overwhelmed with emotions. Indeed, the work of God was being carried out rapidly throughout the world.

In Auckland, there are not only natives but also many immigrants from other countries. Since the New Zealand government adopted a liberal immigration policy, so many people have been streaming into New Zealand from around the world—from countries in Asia, Europe, South America and North America, including nearby countries of the South Pacific like Tonga, Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa.

Because of that, the members of Zion are also of many different ethnic backgrounds; they are from various countries on different continents. So in Zion, we feel like we are in a miniature world. They each have a different appearance, language, culture and lifestyle, and even a different greeting manner. For this reason, there were some troubles and misunderstandings among the members in the beginning, contrary to their will. I thought it was just a process for us to become one in God since we met again after being separated from one another for such a long time, and I made up my mind to fulfill the gospel mission in unity with the members beyond the national and cultural boundaries. Around that time, however, most of the Korean members who took the lead in the gospel and helped us a lot had to come back to Korea. I was at a loss about what to do because the number of new members continued to increase and we desperately needed gospel workers to take care of them.

However, God turned the crisis into an opportunity for the members to grow spiritually. The members, who had been inactive in the gospel, started to preach. They gathered one after another, saying, “I also want to preach the gospel.” While praying earnestly to God, they gained courage and preached the truth to their neighbors and relatives. They also visited the members who were slow to understand and helped them realize the truth. Thus, they tried to fill the empty void left by the absence of the Korean members. They got Mother’s love and sacrifice from their heads to their hearts, and started to change into good gospel workers.

ⓒ 2010 WATV
Since they knew well how lonely and tough it was to live in a foreign country, they must have been able to deeply fathom the heart of Mother who came to this earth to save Her children, leaving the glorious heaven. The members, who were blessed with abundant fruit, shared their deep emotions with others, and as more members participated in preaching, the fervor for the gospel became hotter and hotter.

As the members became one in Mother’s love while carrying out their God-given mission, the problems caused by cultural differences naturally disappeared. Now the members think about what pleases Mother first and try to put it into practice, rather than insist on their own opinions in accordance with their personalities and habits. Following the example of Mother, they bow to each other politely, and also dress more neatly and properly than before. This is truly by the grace of God.

Seeing the members grow up spiritually day by day in Mother’s love, I deeply realized again that the master key of the gospel in this age is Heavenly Mother. I also kept in mind that we could receive the great blessings of the Holy Spirit when we became perfectly united with one another, as the Bible says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Ps 133:1).


God’s mighty work for His children in unity

At the beginning of 2009, we, the members of Auckland Zion, pledged ourselves to “please Mother by sowing the seed of God’s word more diligently and bearing plentiful fruit.” We used to feel very sorry toward Mother because we had failed to widen the foothold of the gospel until then. Thinking that there would be no more opportunity for us to receive blessings if we stayed complacent about the present situation, we reaffirmed our commitment to fulfill our goal without fail.

First, we went to Manukau, a city in the southern part of the Auckland region, where a few members lived. It was not an easy trip; Zion was very far away from Manukau, so it was difficult to travel to and fro between Zion and Manukau every day, and there were only a few members who could afford to preach the gospel full-time in that city.

Nevertheless, the members were fired up with enthusiasm, saying, “We should not waver by our circumstances.” They went to the city and preached the gospel together whenever they could afford to, and those who had no spare time during the weekdays supported and helped the gospel work by participating in preaching the good news on the Sabbaths and holidays.

Four months passed by like that. Finally, God’s mighty power was revealed; as many souls were led to God, the 2nd Auckland Church was established in Manukau at last. Witnessing their earnest dream become a reality, the members were overwhelmed with joy and gave thanks to God. Instead of just being content with our results, we asked Mother for greater blessings.

‘Please help us raise the flag of Zion in Auckland City as well and lead many souls there to salvation!’
Auckland City is a downtown area where many companies and universities are concentrated. We had been preaching there for a few years, but because of the long distance many people gave up coming to Zion. The members used to hope that Zion would be established there also, and as they experienced the power of God through the establishment of the 2nd Auckland Church, they were convinced that the banner of Zion would be raised in Auckland City as well.

We ran to Auckland City. In most parts of Auckland, stores close around eight in the evening and it gets dark outside then. In Auckland City, however, we can meet many people on their way back home from work and many university students as well on the streets even late at night. Thinking that it is also the grace of God, all the members preached the gospel diligently until late at night.

Hearing this, the 2nd Auckland Zion members also joined us in preaching the gospel in Auckland City. Moreover, Mother sent us a short-term mission team, and the members who gathered in Auckland City carried out the preaching festival joyfully and unitedly together with the short-term mission team. Every day, new lives were born and many souls were led into the arms of Heavenly Mother. At last, God granted us the 3rd Auckland Church in Auckland City. It was an amazing work of God that was accomplished just a month after we started to preach there.

The members were extremely delighted, saying, “What seemed like a dream has become a reality.” Some just knelt down on the ground and offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God, and others shed tears, being speechless. Since we were so happy, how much more pleased Mother must have been! We truly gave thanks to Mother who had been earnestly praying for us with unceasing love until we became united with one another and received so much blessing.


For the mission of the gospel engraved on our hearts

The members, who had received the Holy Spirit of the latter rain abundantly through the past autumn feasts, are now concentrating on Bible studies; whenever they sit down in Zion, they practice preaching the 46 sermons and read the Truth Books written by Father. They say they have to fill themselves with the truth of life—the food of God’s word—in order to quench the spiritual thirst of people from all nations who are streaming to Zion according to the prophecies of the Bible. Whenever they testify about the love and sacrifice of Father and Mother with conviction, their eyes start to well up with tears; they are so beautiful.

Sister Violet who is very enthusiastic about everything—preaching, serving the Church, and much more—like an young adult even though she is older in age, Deaconess Nesa who practices the Teachings of Mother by taking care of the members always with a warm smile, and Brother Jitendra who preaches the gospel on every holiday although he is not in good health. Besides, there are many more members whom I’d like to talk about, but I’m sorry I can’t because of limited space. Thanks to the members’ tears, efforts and prayers, and above all else, by the grace of Mother who always loves and encourages us behind the scenes, the gospel work in Auckland church has been able to go forward.

During the year 2009, we’ve received so much blessing. However, it doesn’t mean that we’ve completed all our goals. Rather, we are now standing at a new starting point since we have all opened our spiritual eyes to the blessings of the gospel. In the new year 2010, we will achieve a bigger dream for the gospel with a more thankful heart. We will raise the banner of Zion quickly in the North Shore of Auckland, where people are waiting for gospel preachers, and then we will proclaim the truth of salvation in Wellington, the capital city, and throughout New Zealand. Since people of all nations are gathering in New Zealand from around the world, we believe that it is our definite mission to run to them and let them know about Heavenly Mother, their eternal refuge.

Although we still have a long way to go, we will go forward, believing that it is Elohim who manage our plans and goals for the gospel and fulfill them. The reason why Peter, who was just an ordinary fisherman, was called to be an Apostle and later received the key of heaven was because Christ chose him. In the same way, God has personally chosen us and guides us by His mighty hand, so there is nothing we can’t do. Since God has planted love and faith in the hearts of these weak and feeble children and has made us become one by the Holy Spirit, we, the members of the Auckland Church, will carry out our God-given mission with all our hearts.

I give thanks to Mother for allowing me to share the fragrance of Zion with the members of our heavenly family throughout the world. Mother, we, the members of the Auckland Zion, feel that You are always with us and lead us in joy and in sorrow. Being united with my loving heavenly family members in You, I will quickly accomplish the gospel in New Zealand.
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