Once, it was pouring heavily as I was about to go to church and I couldn’t even step outside to go for service because of the rain. However, I told myself that I couldn’t skip going to church without a reason just because it was raining. Thinking that I would be able to go to church once the rain stops, I wanted to wait for the rain to stop. But, it seems like the rain won’t be stopping anytime soon so I covered my head and head over to church even though I did not have an umbrella.

Due to the continuous heavy rain through the night, the rushing waters in the stream was about 3 meters high. It was impossible for me to cross that stream as it was really scary and I wondered to myself if I should head home instead. In spite of that, I was determined to go to church so I weighed out the other alternative route that I could take. Another option was to walk along the rice paddy and stay dry, but with just one slip on the rice paddy, I would be totally drenched too.

With that, I decide to cross the stream. However, it was really not easy crossing the stream without military training. As I was walking across the stream, my leg was lifted off the ground and I couldn’t go forward or place my feet back down. Feeling my body leaning into the water, I frantically searched for something to hold on to. I was able to grab hold onto something which did not break even when I pulled it while taking a few more steps to cross the stream.

Right after that, I had to cross another stream and this time, it had a lot more water and it was wider. Though it came up all the way to my thighs, I managed to cross over and reached church safely only to find that there was no one around in church. Even the female elder, who always arrives earlier than my mother to ring the bell, and my mother was not there that day. I immediately went to pray alone for the people.

Jung Myung Seok Pray in Mount Dadeun

While I was praying, something miraculous happened. I thought about how God felt when He saw that no one was around to pray in church during dawn. And with a determination of wanting to comfort God’s heart. I prayed confessing that I would make up my mind to be faithful in doing His work and set all the conditions that people failed to set.

This church existed before Songmak church but now it no longer exists. As I was praying from the pulpit, I saw a vision; a huge fireball the size of the sun coming towards me, right at that moment, a surge of energy came upon me and I could with God’s burning and anxious heart, with that feeling, I prayed even more earnestly and petition to become a person of God and accomplish what people would not accomplish.

Many years had passed since then, through this encounter and the struggles I made to get closer to God. I realized only through one’s effort of being persistent and perseverance, could we come to understand and feel God’s presence and His love for us. I understood this principle while taking action to love God throughout my life.