God has patiently waited for this foolish child, who was slow in understanding

Eternal thanks be to Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother for patiently waiting for this foolish child, who was slow in understanding. Ever since my childhood days, I went to a Protestant church along with my parents. I spent almost all my time there. The church was my home and playground and everything in my life. Attending worship services and praying to God was a natural part of my daily life. However, as I reached puberty, all the daily routines which I had been comfortable with felt like a burden to me.

Whether at school or at home, there were a lot more things that I should not do than I was allowed to do. As for certain things, I could find no record of prohibition for them in the Bible. So, I did not really understand why the church was trying to control my every single behavior. However, I endured it all because I believed that the church was a place where God dwells. I kept trying to suppress my feelings by saying to myself, ‘Since I’ve received salvation here anyway, I have to be patient.’ But when I was twenty eight years old, I reached the limits of my patience. So, despite my parents’ strong opposition, I quit going to that church.

For quite some time, I felt very relieved, doing what I had wanted to do to my heart’s content. Afterwards, I got married and also had a lovely daughter, the apple of my eye. Whenever I saw my daughter smiling brightly, I was incredibly happy; I only wanted to give her the best. Sometimes, however, my heart sank because I was worried about her salvation. In order for my daughter to receive the promise of salvation, I had to attend church again. At first I thought about going back to my previous church, laying my pride aside, but I did not want my daughter to live such a suppressed and unreasonable life as I used to do before. I truly wanted to find the church that has the truth. Whenever I had time, I went to many different churches, including a big church and a church whose pastor was famous for his preaching. However, I couldn’t find any special difference among them except the fact that there were some doctrinal differences.

One day, my wife began to talk to me about something I had never heard of before, saying that it was written in the Bible. And she said that she wanted to attend the Church of God. Though I had stopped going to church, I had been in church for a much longer period of time that her. So, I felt very offended by the fact that she would try to go to a church I had never heard of before, without any prior consultation with me. I could not shake off my suspicion, so I followed her to the church and listened to their preaching just for a while. However, no words caught my ears probably because my mind had been firmly closed for a long time. I strongly opposed her faith for quite a while. I tried so hard to persuade her many times, but whenever we talked, our conversation always ended up in an argument; we remained as far apart as ever. Later, I didn’t let her even say anything about the church. I just expected that time would solve everything.

After some time passed by, one day my wife said, “Please just go with me to celebrate the Passover.” That day, she looked so earnest that I could not refuse her request. I decided to follow her will, and went to Zion with her. When I arrived there, I felt abashed because I remembered what I did on my first visit to Zion; at that time I coldly turned away and left there in the middle of studying the Bible. Despite that, however, when I visited Zion again, the members welcomed me so kindly with warm smiles and friendly handshakes. I felt a bit awkward, but not bad. After keeping the Passover, I thought that I should learn more about this church.

While studying the Bible, I saw that God’s word is absolutely true – without a single error. Then I gradually became convinced of the truth. However, I still felt uncomfortable because I was afraid that I might be bound and restricted again as I used to be before. It was only after attending worship services that I realized this: Our soul can finally be set free when we abide in the true God.

At last, I feel that everything is in its rightful place. My wife was right. Although I just stubbornly insisted on holding on to my pride, she did not give up on me, but continued to serve as a bridge to bring me to the true Church, the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG). I’d like to say “thank you” to my wife for all her help. God has patiently waited for this foolish child, who was slow in understanding, to come back to Him to receive true salvation and spiritual freedom. I can’t express in words, my gratitude for the wonderful grace of God. Now I want to repay God for His grace. As a faithful child of God, I will take off my old self and put on the new self. Additionally, I will store up rewards in heaven by spending every single moment of my life working for the gospel.

SG Kim, Anyang, Korea