The Goodnews - August, 2017

AUGUST 2017

DELIVERING THE GOSPEL & THE TESTIMONIES OF GRACE

∙ Salvation Testimony

∙ New York Times II

∙ Special Article

∙ Gospel Lesson

My Salvation like the Ethiopian Eunuch

2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

Lot Who Came to Save God

The True Gospel that Reveals the Righteousness of God

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Monthly Sermon Four Lepers Who Went to the Syrian Camp

Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

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Special Article II 2017 IYF English Camp Central America

Salvation Testimony My Salvation like the Ethiopian Eunuch

40 Memoirs of a Missionary Whether We Borrowed or Bought Land, God Always Led Us Beautifully

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GOOD NEWS MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2017

Cover Story: Gocheok Sky Dome was the place God prepared for 25,000 people to experience a beautiful night filled with the music of the Gracias Choir and the Word of God from Pastor Ock Soo Park. Although there was a storm raging outside, inside was filled with the sounds of joy of thousands of people being moved by the heart of God. Just like all things from the Lord, it was perfect.

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New York Times II Lot Who Came to Save God

Preaching the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth I Wanted to Give an Amazing Testimony

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Gospel Lesson The True Gospel that Reveals the Righteousness of God

Church Directory

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Sermon of the Month

Four Lepers Who Went to the Syrian Camp Pastor Ock Soo Park | Good News Gangnam Church

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. (2 Kings 7:3-5)

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In people's thoughts, it may seem good that the four lepers are sitting outside the gates of Samaria. However, when we think with God's heart, if they remain at the city's gate, they would only die of starvation.

THUS SAITH THE LORD…

When we read 2 Kings chapter 7, the Syrian army invaded Israel and the people of Samaria entered the city, closed their gates, and resisted. The Syrian army camped outside the gates of the city, and waited for Israel to surrender.

Israel could not farm in the fields outside the city, nor could they harvest any grain. As a result, they began to starve. Countless people were held in hunger and starvation, and some women committed acts so pitiful as boiling their own children for food.

At that time, the man of God proclaimed, “Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.”

Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, “Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?”

The man of God replied, “Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.” This story continues based on the four lepers outside the city of Samaria.

FOUR LEPERS ENCOUNTERED TWO DIFFERENT THOUGHTS

Most people do not stay only at home, but they go outside, work, meet people, and encounter many different things unless they have a specific problem or illness.

A who person sitting down, lying down, or walking down the street will encounter various thoughts in their hearts. The four lepers, at the gate of Samaria, encountered two different thoughts. One thought was a thought that naturally originates from the heart of man. The second thought was the thought of God. The two thoughts they encountered are written precisely in 2 Kings chapter 7.

The thought of man was to live avoiding problems. While they lived in a valley of lepers, during the time when the city of Samaria had plenty of food, they would eat the food that was provided to them from their families living in Samaria. Although

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Sermon of the Month

they were quarantined from their families and lived in the valley, they lived to their own satisfaction.

“My son made me such great food.”

“I think my son is good at farming.

He brought such good vegetables.”

They lived exchanging stories like these.

Their families could no longer provide them food after the Syrian Army had invaded. The people within the city were even starving, and had reached the point of boiling their own children for food. Who could care for the lepers, even if there were family? The lepers in the valley tried to endure and withstand the hunger. However, not being able to, they went out beyond their borders, step by step.

This is how they went to the gate of Samaria. With the vague expectation that someone in their family from the city would bring them food, they continued to sit in front of the gate of Samaria. As they talked with each other about this and that, they continued to try and withstand starvation. However, after one day and the next day, there was no one who brought them any food. It was at this time, the four lepers encountered the thought of God. MAN’S WAY AND GOD’S WAY, WITH WHICH THE BEGINNING AND END ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

The Bible says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8) The thoughts of God are totally different from the thoughts of man. In people’s thoughts, it may seem good that the four lepers are sitting outside the gates of Samaria. However, when we think with God’s heart, if they remain at the city’s gate, they would only die of starvation.

That is why they began to think differently. “Even if we enter the city, because everyone is starving, we will die there. If we continue to sit here, we will die as well. Therefore, let’s go before the Syrian army and surrender.”

With our eyes, when we see God’s way and man’s way, man’s way initially seems safer and better. But the results are destruction and curse. On the other hand, God’s way initially seems very burdensome, but there is hope and joy.

“If we go the camp of the Syrians, do you think the soldiers will let us live?

They might kill us.”

“But at least they have food there.”

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With our eyes, when we see God's way and man's way, man's way initially seems safer and better. But the results are destruction and curse.

For the four lepers, it seemed safer to remain at the gates of Samaria.

Nevertheless, the results would have been that they would have starved to death.

On the contrary, going to the Syrian camp seems burdensome, but because there was food, there was hope.

WHAT WORK DID GOD DO UPON THE FOUR LEPERS THAT WERE HEADING TO THE SYRIAN CAMP?

The four lepers started toward the Syrian camp by the guidance of God. When they arrived at the camp, there would be food, but they didn’t know what the Syrians would do to them. They could kill them, or let them live. It looked dangerous, but there would still be food. In essence, there was hope. The city of Samaria seemed safe, but there was only despair because there was no food. It was then that the four lepers began to head toward the Syrian Camp by the guidance of God. The four lepers headed to the Syrian Camp because they were starving. They were tired, and since their bodies were diseased, their footsteps must not have been smooth. They would have headed toward the Syrian camp, taking each step without any strength, falling down, and collapsing. God always prepares hope for us through following His Word and guidance.

In 2 Kings chapter 7, what work did God do upon the four lepers who were heading toward the Syrian camp, following His Word and guidance? God magnified the sound of the lepers’ footsteps, their stumbling, and collapsing into the sound of a great army with horses and chariots.

The soldiers at the Syrian camp made dinner, and were about to eat when all of a sudden they heard the sound of horses, chariot wheels, and many shouts of soldiers. They were shocked and ran outside their tents. They heard the sound of a great army coming toward them from the direction of the people of Israel.

However, because it was dark, they did not see anything. God made them feel -7-

Sermon of the Month

the earth shaking, and hear the imposing sounds of horses and chariots from the footsteps of the four lepers that were heading to the Syrian Camp.

The Syrian army was shocked. “What sound is this? No doubt it is the sound of a great arming coming. The Israelites have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians against us in order to attack us. Their armies are coming to utterly destroy us!” They were frightened to death, so they didn’t even have time to climb on their horses but completely fled.

ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD, HE FULFILLED THE GREAT WORK OF SAVING THE PEOPLE OF SAMARIA.

When the four lepers arrived at the Syrian Camp, there were no soldiers there.

In one tent, there was a table well set for a meal that some soldiers intended to eat. There was also gold, silver, and other treasure. The lepers were dumbfounded.

The way to follow the Word of God seemed burdensome, but it was unspeakably blessed and glorious. They ate and drank to their heart’s content, and it felt like they were dreaming. They received unimaginable blessings, and went to the city of Samaria and told them what happened according to the Word of God. They fulfilled the great work of God, saving the people of the city of Samaria who were dying from starvation.

As I often think about this story, I imagine that the people of the city of Samaria must have been so thankful to those lepers. They must have wanted to erect statues of the lepers within the city. I felt that on the statue, they would write, “The Lepers Who Saved Us,” and engrave a memorial praising God. Following the Word of God initially feels burdensome, however, there is great glory on that path. Oppositely, following the path of our thoughts is comfortable, but it is a path that leads us to ruin. The Bible clearly shows us this fact. Up until now, I had many instances where I followed the guidance of God. It is a fact that every time it felt burdensome, but while I was following the guidance of God, I saw how God bestowed unspeakable grace and blessings upon me.

Pastor Ock Soo Park

Pastor Park is currently the senior pastor of the Good News Gangnam Church. He is the founder of the Mahanaim Cyber Theology School and International Youth Fellowship. Annually he is the guest speaker for Bible Crusades domestically and internationally and serves as a guest lecturer to university students. He is the author of several titles such as: The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again, Repentance and Faith, and Navigating the Heart. These books have been translated in 17 different languages, and in addition he is the author of 40 other books on spiritual life.

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Salvation Testimony

My Salvation like the E thiopian Eunuch Hon. Claudiana Ayo Cole Minister of Basic and Secondary Education from the Republic of Gambia

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I am the Minister of Education I know that even though of Gambia. I want to say that I’m I have traveled many, pleased to be here, and sharing many miles to come here, in this wonderful service. Psalms God has been with me 100:4-6 says, “Enter into his gates throughout my journey. with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

Indeed, we are all entering in here with praise and thanksgiving in our hearts. To give thanks and praise to our God for all His goodness. And in this hall this morning, there are people of all generations: old and young, and people of many colors, from many nations. I want to share my experience I had with Pastor Park a few days ago. I have been reading the Bible for many years. I was introduced to the Bible, which is the Word of God, as a young person, growing up in the church. I have been introduced to the Bible, and I’ve taught the Bible. I even memorized many Bible verses, and I use a lot of Bible verses in my daily life. One verse that I often say is, “I will be still for I know that the Lord is God. He will be exalted among all nations. He will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is our God. The Lord of Jacob is our refuge.”

One of the verses I like to use to assure myself of the love of God and of His kindness says, “I will be with you always to the end of times.” I know that even though I have traveled many, many miles to come here, God has been with me throughout my journey. And He will continue to be with me to the end. I read the Bible every morning before I start to do anything. As

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Salvation Testimony

The Bible is Word of God, and whatever the Bible says is true.

soon as I get out of my bed, the first thing I do is pick up my Bible, and arm myself with God’s Word for the day.

But two days ago, I had fellowship with Pastor Park. I was like the Ethiopian Eunuch who was reading his Bible and did not understand what he was reading until someone had to open his eyes to the Word of God. I can say that Pastor Park opened my eyes on that day through the Word of God. I had probably read Romans chapter 3, verse 20, 23, and 24 many times. And in the church where I attend, my reverend has probably spoken and read this verse to us many times. But I would say that I never have understood those verses the way I understood it when I had my conversation with Pastor Park.

Romans 3, verse 20 says, “For by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God: for through the Law cometh the knowledge of sin.” Through the Law, we have all sinned; we have lied; and we have done evil things in the eyes of God. For that reason, we have always thought that we are sinful people. And many times, we approached the throne of God feeling like sinners.

But verse 23 tells us, “For all have sinned, and fallen short of the Glory of God.” Indeed, we have all sinned, and we have all fallen short. We have even said, “God, I am not worthy.” We don’t even want to invite God into our lives because we feel our lives are not clean enough. But verse 24 tells us, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” We are all justified. We are all made holy in the sight of God. Christ came to save us from our sins, and He has done that wonderful good by shedding His blood for us on Calvary. For that reason, He has made us free. We have been justified.

If the Bible says so, then who are we to say, “No, Lord, we are sinners?”

Pastor Park preached on that. The Bible is the Word of God, and whatever the Bible says is true. And for that reason, we are all justified through the blood that was shed on Calvary. And if we consider ourselves as the children of God, and if we consider Christ to be His son and our Savior, then we should be assured through His Word that we are saved.

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1. With Pastor Ock Soo Park (Founder of IYF) receiving Plaque of Appreciation 2. With Missionary Ock Jin Oh of the Good News Gambia Church 3. Presenting Welcoming Address at IYF World Camp in Korea

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Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

2017 IYF

WORLD CAMP

South Korea

A new chapter in the history of IYF opened with the 2017 IYF World Camp in South Korea. Although the World Camp has been hosted for years, but this year saw many new works of God throughout the camp. This year, there were 3,500 students, ministers, vice ministers, government officials, and education leaders from 52 different countries attending the World Camp. During the camp, the 7th Ministers of Youth World Forum, the 5th World Education Leaders Forum, and the 4th Christian Leaders Fellowship ran simultaneously.

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Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

Opening Ceremony

We began with the annual Opening Ceremony at the most popular beach in South Korea, Haeundae Beach in Busan. In South Korea, the rainy season is within the months of June and July, so with a grand stage outdoors and open to the public, we were concerned about the weather.

The forecast was 60% chance of rain from 6pm to 10:00pm, and the Opening Ceremony was scheduled for 7pm to 9:30pm. However, there was no rain for the entire day, and although it was supposed to be hot, the weather was clear and cool, in other words, perfect. The concert opened with dance performances from the Righteous Stars, Benin, Finland, China, and the United States. This was also followed by the amazing music of the Gracias Choir. The Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, Byeong-Su Seo, delivered a Welcoming Address. There was a turn out of 40,000 people. There was an amazing fireworks display at the end of the concert. It was truly a night to remember.

During the World Camp, the students were able to listen to the Word of God delivered by Pastor Ock Soo Park, the founder of IYF, and many of them changed. As Pastor Park explained about the clear heart of God within the Word, and through the examples and stories about the world of the heart, the students were able to gain God in their hearts, one by one. There were many special moments, such as when Pastor Park called Missionary Kyung Hyun Nam from the Philippines to the stage to testify how he was healed from Dengue Fever through

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faith. In other sermons, Pastor Park called other people onto the stage and they testified to how God worked in their hearts and lives, and it gave so much hope and strength to the hearts of everyone.

Ministers of Youth World Forum

The Ministers of Youth World Forum was a particularly great success this year. With 19 ministers and vice ministers in attendance, it was very amazing to see how they had changed throughout the World Camp. Over the years, we can see that it was the great plan and purpose of God to begin this program. The Ministers of Youth World Forums of the past have resulted in presidents of many countries meeting with Pastor Ock Soo Park and IYF. Pastor Park met the former President of Benin, Dr. Thomas Boni Yayi, and preached the Gospel. As Benin’s President, President Yayi donated 35 acres of land, and we have already finished construction of the IYF Center there.

One of the Ministers that came this year was the Minister of Sports, Culture, and Youth Affairs, the Honorable David M. Ngcamphalala from the Kingdom of Swaziland. Two years ago, he received salvation at the IYF World Camp. Before the World Camp, the minister had been suffering from an illness in his kidneys for 7 years. It never healed despite having been to many hospitals. As he went to Pastor Park to ask him to pray for his kidneys to be healed, Pastor Park preached the Gospel to him. Then Pastor Park prayed for the minister’s kidneys and God healed him. When he returned to Swaziland, the Minister spoke the King Mswati III. Later, the Gracias Choir and Pastor Park were

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Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

able to visit His Highness and Pastor Park preached the Gospel. Also, this year, the minister brought an official MOU from the King to sign during the World Camp. This will officially establish a promise for the government to work together with IYF in providing youths with hope.

The first thing it will help is the building permit to the new IYF Center we are planning to build on the vast land that the King donated to IYF. This year, the visit from ministers from Ghana and Togo resulted in Pastor Park meeting the presidents of Ghana and Togo this year, during his trip after the Korea World Camp was over.

This year, among the 19 ministers and vice ministers, the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education from the Republic of Gambia, the Honorable Claudiana A. Cole received salvation and gave her testimony at the Gangnam Church where Pastor Park ministers. It was a clear testimony of salvation from her heart. Also, the Minister Delegated from the High Commissary of Civic Instruction and Moral Education, who is also Cabinet member of the president from the Republic of Congo, the Honorable Dr. Daniel Adamo Mateta, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Training, and Innovation from the Republic of Namibia, the Honorable Dr. Becky R. K. NdjozeOjo, the Minister of State from the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tanzania, the Honorable Jenista Joakim Mhagama, the Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology from the Republic of Malawi, Dr. Ken Ndala, and the Minister of Education from the Republic of Ethiopia, the Honorable Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam received salvation. It was truly the work and perfect will of God. This year, MOU’s were signed with IYF between the Kingdom of Swaziland, and the Republic of Mozambique.

There were also a total of 58 government officials from 27 different countries who participated in the program for the Ministers of Youth World Forum. This resulted in most of them receiving the Gospel into their hearts. It was also very interesting and graceful to see that after the 1st Session of the World Camp, on the weekend, every person was assigned to certain church members as part of the homestay program.

The brothers and sisters opened their homes and hearts to the ministers and secretaries. Most importantly, they boldly preached the Gospel to

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Former Prime Minister of South Korea, Dr. Soo-sung Lee, delivered a heartfelt welcoming address to start off the 7th Minister of Youth World Forum.

Special Luncheon for the Ministers prepared by the Mayor of Busan.

Ministers listening to speeches and awaiting their moment to deliver their messages.

Commemorative photo of all the speakers and - 19 participants of the Ministers of Youth World Forum.

their guests through their accompanying translators, which resulted in many of them receiving salvation as well. It was truly an amazing work of God that gave hope and thankfulness, not only to the ministers and guests, but to the brothers and sisters who were used so preciously to deliver the Gospel to their visitors.

World Education Leaders Forum

This year, we also saw the wonderful works of God during the 5th World Education Leaders Forum. Over the last 4 years, many University presidents and vice presidents were able to hear the Gospel and receive salvation. This also resulted in the Mind Lectures and Mind Education to be introduced official to students at their respective Universities. This has also resulted in many of the presidents and vice presidents of the Universities to offer their campuses as hosts for World Camps around the world. Most notably, recently, we were able to host the IYF World Camp at the University of Southeastern Philippines, which was a true blessing to many students and youths who received salvation and the heart of God. In fact, the President of that University, Mrs. Lourdes Cabalquinto Generalao, and sign an MOU with IYF. She gave a congratulatory message and speech at a session of the World Education Leaders Forum, where she stated that all students need to receive the education of the heart to make their education and lives complete. This year, MOU’s were signed with 6 universities in the Philippines, 2 universities in India, 2 universities in Peru, and universities in 23 different countries. With many of the participants

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having received salvation and open hearts, we are very hopeful to see how God will continue to open new doors for the Gospel in the future.

The 1st week ended with the launch of the 3rd book in the Navigating the Heart Series of books. During the book launch, one of the true stories of a person who received a very big change, Inchul, gave his testimony of how God had led him after meeting with Pastor Park and receiving faith into his heart. It was a change that brought a young person who was completely devastated after being lost in his own thoughts to be able to live a beautiful life of faith. Now, he is married and he is living a life that he never could have before. Hearing the brother talk about his story that was recorded in the book really put a real face and voice to the words written in the book. It was a true testament to the fact that content of this book was something God had given to the world through His servant. Hearing how God was able to free him from mental illness to living a hopeful and thankful life, it gave everyone great hope and expectation as to how this book is going to impact and free the hearts of many people around the world. What a hopeful picture God was able to plant within our hearts during the book launch.

In addition to the 3rd Book in the series, the second book launched was the Mind Education Textbook. It is the 1st book the places the content of the Navigating the Heart content was placed into a textbook format. With exercises and case studies, the textbook was like two Mind

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Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

Education books in one. It gave us so much hope when we thought about the potential outreach for the textbook to be implemented in schools for students, teachers, and parents.

Gracias Music Concert

On Sunday, July 9, 2017 we were able to have the Gracias Music Concert at the Gocheok Sky Dome. In preparation for the concert, our churches in the Seoul area prepared Dear Neighbor letters and went out to invite the general public to come to the event. With an attendance counted at 25,000, the Gracias Music Concert has been listed as the largest cultural event held at the Sky Dome. Not only was the concert beautiful, but also we could see how perfectly God had prepared everything. That Sunday night, after the concert had started, there was a severe storm that took place. There were even many flash flooding warnings that were announced. However, because God had provided an indoor stadium, the rain was not a problem. Everyone was able to freely enjoy the concert, and the concert went off beautifully without any problems. It was a truly amazing night that God had prepared.

Another highlight of the 2017 IYF World Camp was the 4th Christian Leaders Fellowship. There were 360 pastors, ministers, and Christian leaders from over 62 different countries who attended this year. Many pastors and bishops had a skeptical heart to attend because they were unaware of what to expect, but then as they attended and were able to hear the Word of God and see for themselves, many people were able to receive salvation.

For example, there was Bishop Vidya Saghar from India, who gave his testimony at the Certificate of Completion Ceremony on the last day of the World Camp: “I ministered in India for 20 years. I preached about the Word of God and taught people to lead a good life. It was through last year's Christmas Cantata that I got to know the Good News Mission. I also attended the Christian Leaders Fellowship led by Pastor Ock Soo Park in Hyderabad, India.

I was the Secretary of the Chung Ryong Denomination Association, and other pastors came to me and told me that the Good News

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Bird's eye view of the Gocheok Sky Dome.

Team China performing their cultural dance.

Gracias Choir finishing their concert and thanking the audience.

Team Benin performing their cultural dance.

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Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

Mission was a cult, teaching the wrong doctrine. They told me that it would be wrong for me to work with them. And when I attended the Denomination Association pastoral meeting, they told me that the Good News Mission would say that God has perfected us forever, and we have received eternal salvation. Therefore, even if we were to commit adultery, we would not be sinners. These words made me confused, so I began to think deeper.

What people said around me made me ever more confused. I was then no longer sure if I should attend this camp or not. I came to this camp with two hearts. My first heart was to find out more about the Good News Mission in detail. The other heart was that if this church ends up being a wrong one, then I'll just go to tour Korea and return home.

However, after listening to the words Pastor Ock Soo Park preached on the first night, I realized that I had the wrong heart. The Bible that I had read for the last 20 years was different from the words Pastor Park preached.

It was true that the blood of Jesus has washed all our sins forever. We have become righteous forever. We are holy. We are God's children.

When I heard the sermon about the woman caught in adultery, that woman had to die under the Law of Moses. But Jesus gave us a new law. He gave us the new promise of forgiveness. She could never enter the Kingdom of God through her own works. It was only through the grace of God, and the blood of Jesus that she gained eternal life. I have become a completely new righteous man after coming to Korea. When I return to Hyderabad, I will return with a new heart.�

Muju Taekwondo Center

The second week began with the World Camp continuing the first two days at the Muju Taekwondo Center. It is a taekwondo sports facility built on 569 acres of land in the mountains of Muju, which opened in 2014. It is the world’s largest taekwondo center in the world.

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It was a beautiful place to host the World Camp. With many modern facilities, and a large taekwondo arena, it was the perfect place to host the sermons, musical performances of the Gracias Choir and also to host the 2nd sessions of the World Education Leaders Forum and Christian Leaders Fellowship. The remainder of the World Camp was held at the IYF Center at Daeduk Mountain and IYF Pine Field camping ground.

It was also a great week filled with afternoon schedules of rafting, mini Olympics, the popular Foreigner’s Korean singing contest, and a Gracias Music Concert in the City of Daegu. There were also great guest lecturers who spoke to the students during the morning sessions.

Dr. Hyo Jung Hwang spoke about how the Word of God led him to discover the cure for the Buruli ulcer. A former Good News Corps volunteer, who now works with UNICEF in Korea gave a lecture about how God changed her and worked in her life. Then the camp ended with a beautiful Closing Ceremony in Daejon. Although it was the end of the 2017 World Camp, we can see that it was actually the beginning of the works of God that would take us to 2018. Hundreds of students were able to receive salvation and receive a new heart, and we are very hopeful to see how God is going to work throughout the world.

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Special Article 2017 IYF World Camp South Korea

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World Camp Sketch

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Special Article 2017 IYF English Camp in Costa Rica

2017 IYF ENGLISH CAMP

Central America

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For 2017, the IYF opened this year's English Camp journey in 5 different countries in Central America and the Carribean. This year, the camps in Mexico, Haiti, and Dominican Republic were joined by camps held in two countries for the first time, Costa Rica and Panama. Although the works of God took place in every country, we will visit the two new countries where God planted new seeds of hope through the IYF English Camp.

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Special Article 2017 Costa Rica English Camp

2017 IYF ENGLISH CAMP

Costa Rica

Liceo de San Antonio

THE IYF ENGLISH CAMP TEAM departed from the U.S. with 35 members. There were 12 volunteers who were completely new to the IYF and the IYF English Camps. During this trip, 8 out of the 12 new volunteers received salvation. Besides our U.S. volunteers, the Costa Rica church also recruited about a dozen Costa Rican students to volunteer for the Camp. There were also many youth and brothers and sisters from our church in Costa Rica who volunteered as staff and translators. Some of our church members were doctors, engineers, optometrists, office managers, and many other professionals. However, they took time off of their work to volunteer for the entire duration for all of the English Camps. Throughout the camps, the church brothers, sisters, deacons, pastors, and even youths would have fellowship with the new Costa Rican volunteers. Many volunteers received salvation and those who had not truly opened their hearts completely. Two Costa Rican volunteers in particular gave testimonies at the end of the Camp and spoke about how our Good News Mission was so different from other churches they’ve

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been to. They both testified that they would keep attending our church and work with IYF. The first English Camp took place at school called, Liceo San Antonio, which lasted for 2 days. There were approximately 300 students who attended the camp. The students were between the ages of 15-18 years old. The English Camp took place at this school because an English teacher who enthusiastically invited us and arranged to host the camp. The students were very introverted and would try to hide in the back classrooms. Our volunteer instructors would stay in their assigned classrooms, and taught every day for 8 hours. The volunteers all said that they enjoyed it, and they told us that they had never lived for others in this manner. By the evening, the students opened their hearts and started to even participate in the Song and Dance time. There were difficulties that arose, such as three students getting injured during the Healthy English program.

One girl fell down and fractured her wrist, while another dislocated her knee. One student sprained a finger. We told them to be careful, but they were all girls who were over-excited and got careless as they were playing. One of the volunteers, who was a member of our church, was a doctor so she took care of the injured students. The principal

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1 Pastor Philip Song preaching at Liceo de San Antonio 2 Inmates at Unidad de AtenciĂłn Integral Reinaldo Villalbos during Song Time 3 Pastor Khun Htaik preaching the gospel at the men's prison 4 Student at Colegio TĂŠcnico Bilingue during Song Time

Volunteers at Hospsicio de Special Article 2017 IYF English Camp in Costa Rica Huerfanos, an orphanage

was upset at first, but we explained that the activities were safe and that the students were a little careless. And when he saw what we were actually doing, he even started to enjoy the program, and he invited us to come again next year.

We also held an English Camp at a male prison. This was possible because the IYF branch in Costa Rica went to the Ministry of Justice and requested to hold an English Camp in prisons. The Minister of Justice wrote letters in behalf of IYF, and with that letter the doors to a male and a female prison opened. At the male prison, the prison inmates requested that we host Bible studies in the prison. This resulted in most of our church volunteers having a Bible study. Many prisoners received salvation, and this resulted in a Bible study being formed, once or twice a week. This prison is for prisoners sentenced for less than three years, or who were well-behaved prisoners. After this English Camp we were able to have hope that many of these inmates will be connected to the church after their release.

Another English Camp was held at the Colegio Cientifico Biligue, which is a foreign language high school, for 2 days as well. Around 200 middle and high school students attended. This was a private

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school where only exceptional and wealthy students attended. Due to restraints and limits of the school building, we had to change the programming up by dividing the students into 2 different rotational courses so that everything would be more manageable. We also focused heavily on preaching the gospel to Costa Rican volunteers here. There were about 40 volunteers and many of them were not saved. We called each volunteer, and preached the gospel individually.

All of the ministers and pastors had fellowship with the volunteers and many of them received salvation on the 3rd and 4th day. Many of them want to come to the U.S. as a Good News Corps volunteer.

The volunteer instructors that went to the female prison were moved to tears at what took place at the English Camp there. Here, the U.S. volunteers were able to continue preaching the gospel. Even the professional teachers, who came with Sister Kerry, were originally there to teach English. However, they were able to see that teaching English was not helping the inmates very much. Therefore, they requested and began to learn about the world of the heart. These teachers actually said that even though they were teachers, but teaching only knowledge was meaningless. They had not really realized it at the time, but they came to learn many things. And then at this prison, a Bible Study was formed as well.

There was another high school called, Liceo del Sur, where we held an English Camp. There were around 130 students who attended.

At this school, we also had to split the students into different Mind Lecture groups similar to the last school. We had excess of volunteer instructors, so we arranged the schedule so that one pair of teachers would teach, while the other pair would rest. Then they’d rotate later.

Pastor Song told the resting pairs to have fellowship. The good thing about this was that it allowed our church people to grow closer to the new people on a personal level. They were able to have lots of gospel fellowship during this time. Also, in some classes, like Sister Kerry’s class, she would teach her English lessons using a Mind Lecture. A lot of students opened their hearts and cried while sharing their personal stories with one another. I saw some of these students come to the church on the following night.

A principal of one of the high schools said that he did not want to

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Special Article 2017 IYF English Camp in Costa Rica

hold the English Camp before. He opened his heart at a principals meeting, and decided to host the camp. A total of about 180 students participated and they were very involved. There were some students who were physically challenged, and they were also participating in the camp. We talked to the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees and we felt that it was God who sent her to us. We talked for about 2 hours and she received salvation. She kept asking us to do something to help her school. She wanted us to work together as she showed us some empty land in the back of the school. I was talking about the woman who was caught in the act of adultery whose heart was led by lust. I preached the gospel by explaining how this woman was clean in the eyes of Jesus. Four of the teachers from New York specifically requested to go to the orphanage, so we sent them there. They collected money among themselves, bought shoes and gifts for the children. The kids were very young, our volunteer instructors were able to preach the gospel very easily.

We also held an English Camp for the local Boy Scouts. We were told that around 100 boy and girl scouts would be attending.

However, because of mismanagement and miscommunication around 30 scouts attended. We had more IYF volunteers than students, but we still held the English Camp. We prepared recreation time for both the scouts and volunteers on the last day. There was a mountain nearby, so we took them for a hike on the last morning. At the camp all of the volunteers were encouraged to have individual fellowship after the evening services. We had a bonfire on the last evening where some volunteers gave their testimonies. The hearts of the volunteers really came together through this. Everyone had an open heart and was easily sharing with each other. Not everyone received salvation, but I could see that nobody left with a closed heart.

Alex, 17-year-old, was a volunteer who lived with a closed heart towards his parents. However, after he received salvation, he sent a text message to his mother, telling her, “I love you.� He shared his testimony at the evening service and it brought tears to many people. There was a mother and her son from New Jersey who also volunteered to go to Costa Rica. When they heard his testimony, their hearts changed as well. Andrew, who is 15 years old, son talked to his

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Tabitha Sasso on the far left and Sister Kerry next to her at the right with other fellow teachers, Tatiana and John.

mom about his heart for the first time upon hearing the testimony.

Andrew’s mother attended 3 previous English Camps, and 2 World Camps as well, but she was never connected to the church. She told us she wanted to come to church and would send her son to the Student Camp. It was good that all the volunteers were able to talk a lot individually in a family-oriented atmosphere.

Tabitha Sasso was one of the three teachers who came through Sister Kerry. She is a mother of two, and she spoke about how she’s been having difficulties at home. She listened particularly well to the sermons and shared her heart during group meetings. She expressed how thankful she was to our church volunteers who would work all day preparing the food they ate. After having fellowship during the English Camp, she was able to confidently say that her sins were eternally cleansed, and that she was righteous. Upon her return to New York, Tabitha invited Pastor Htaik, from Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit and preach the gospel to her husband. It was so graceful to see the works of the gospel open during this new English Camp.

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Special Article IYF English Camp in Panama

2017 IYF ENGLISH CAMP

Panama

PANAMA HELD ITS FIRST IYF ENGLISH CAMP from June 27th through July 5th of this year. With only a few member at the IYF branch in Panama, we were able to see how greatly God worked to give the Panama English Camp everything it needed. The camps were held in four different schools spread across Panama City: the University of ISAE, the National University of Panama, Medalla Milagrosa, and Buen Pastor. There were volunteers from Panama and Costa Rica, who joined our volunteers from the United States. The accommodations for the volunteers were prepared at the National University of Panama, which is one of the top three schools in the country. It was very challenging because the volunteers from America and Panama and Costa Rica couldn’t fluently communicate with one another.

However, all of the volunteers were able to overcome the language barrier, and unite their hearts as they worked together over the next couple of days.

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T

Panama

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IYF ENGLISH CAMP IN

he University of ISAE is one of the best private universities in Panama. There were 190 students who attended the English Camp. The university’s staff members worked diligently to get the campus ready for the English Camp. Each room was furnished with projectors and air conditioning. As we saw how our lesson plans brought smiles to the students’ hearts, everyone learned joyfully, and the students began to absorb English each day. There were also some senators who attended all four days of our first English Camp at the University of ISAE. One senator opened his heart towards our camp and the IYF and genuinely expressed his will to help with our camps in the future. Two congressmen opened their hearts to our Mind Lectures so they wanted to invite us to a congressional meeting to promote our program. Furthermore, they promised to prepare a meeting between IYF and the president. A married couple attended the camp, and they were able to resolve their conflicts as they listened to the Mind Lectures. Many of the students, who attended the English Camp, wanted to join the IYF and even become Good News Corps volunteers to the USA.

Special Article IYF English Camp in Panama

The National University of Panama is known to be one of the best public universities in Panama. With a generous heart, the Board of Education provided our volunteers with rooms, offices and showers for our entire stay in Panama. They welcomed us with open arms in support of our camp and opened the very first Panama IYF English Camp with a welcoming ceremony on campus. We were all so thankful to be able to interact with the students, staff and professors as we roomed on campus. We spent most of the little time we had to ourselves with the Panamanians, after hours, and learned that they were all very interested in English Camp and what the IYF had to offer.

At Midalla Milagrosa, the school’s board of directors visited during the middle of the classes to see how the students were responding to our camp. Although it was tough to get the students to follow and participate in the lessons in the beginning, as each day passed, we were able to see the students change. The heart of God was slowly entering into these students through fellowship with our volunteers, and through the Mind Lectures. As the board of directors came to check up on the kids, they were shocked at how the students were so attentive and well behaved. One of the directors asked the students, “What is it that you like about this camp?” One of the students stood up replied, “In school, our teachers don’t care about us. But at this camp, the teachers here really care about our future!” Then that student turned around and asked the other students, “You guys feel the same way right?” As we heard this story at our meeting at the end of the day, we could feel how precious the camp was to the students.

The school here was a lot more diverse as we saw students of Chinese, Indian, and European descent.

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IYF ENGLISH CAMP IN

Panama The school, Buen Pastor, allowed us to preach the Gospel openly.

There was also another charter school that bused their own students to this school to participate in the English Camp. The classrooms of the school were relatively small and we could only fit a maximum of 30 students at a time, but it was such a wonderful time as God poured His grace on every part of the English Camp.

On the first day of the program, the team of 7 American volunteers struggled with the student group rotations of about 450 kids.

However, as our IYF Mind Lecturer shared the heart of God through our Mind Lectures, the members of the board of directors for the school told us that they believed that we were sharing something extremely important for the youth. They also noticed that what we shared was something God taught us through the Bible, and as a result, openly allowed us to preach the Gospel through the Word of God. As we heard many testimonies of how God prepared ways for people to receive salvation, and how He had opened doors for us to share the Gospel in Panama, we are so thankful to be apart of His work.

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Memoirs of a Missionary_Cote d'Ivoire

Memoirs of a Missionary Episode 10

Whether We Borrowed or Bought Land, God Always Led Us Beautifully So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. (Psalm 73:22-23) The Psalms of Asaph, written in Psalm 73, became a testimony of Missionary Jung Do Lee. Although the missionary was continuously deceived by people and fell into troubles while purchasing land to build a chapel, God held him by His will and led him beautifully. He is now sharing his testimony praising God. Pastor Jeongdo Lee (Missionary of CĂ´te d'Ivoire)

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From a Life Living as Me to a Life Living by the Word

As the members of our Abidjan Church increased, we had to look for land to build a new chapel on in 2009. In spite of having many members, we were going through financial difficulties. We were not able to pay our monthly rent, $400, for 5 months. Around that time, there was the Bible Crusade in Manhattan, New York. By grace, I was able to attend the conference and listened to the Word of God from Pastor Ock Soo Park. Pastor talked about Peter in Luke 5. During that time, I was able to move my heart from living as me to a life living by the Word. After I came back to Ivory Coast, we held “World Culture Festival” in October. I never had an event cost more than $2,000, but the World Culture Festival cost more than $4,000. We started from having nothing, but God provided all needs.

In November, a lawyer, Doumbia, who heard the Gospel during the conference, but was not coming out to our church, introduced us to a piece of land. It was about 5.72 acres, and cost $300,000. The brothers and sisters wanted to buy a small piece of land, but I thought we needed a large piece of land because I saw Africa in the heart of God as I listened to the Word from Pastor Ock Soo Park in America.

At the end of November, we signed a contract, and decided to pay $50,000 as a deposit by the middle of December.

That’s when a miracle happened. The brothers and sisters gave about $65,000 in offerings. Just how Peter caught so many fish that the net was almost ripped, whenever we opened the offering box, it was full. With the offering of the brothers and sisters, we were able to pay $50,000 for deposit and $10,000 for a lawyer. With the remaining $5,000, we were able to build a shelter for a temporary chapel in front of the church. It felt like a dream.

Without realizing it, Christmas drew near. However, we could not decorate the church because we were running out of money. One day, Sister Ocean brought a boxful of decorations. “Pastor, my boss suddenly told me that he would clear out his store and told me to take everything.

Since it was the end of the year, Christmas decorations - 41 -

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Memoirs of a Missionary_Cote d'Ivoire

With the brothers and sisters in front of land for a new chapel

were selling well, but he still wanted to clear them out. So, I brought them all.” It was amazing to see God working from ‘A to Z’. We fully decorated the temporary chapel, and had a beautiful and merry Christmas. We spent the rest of the year in a graceful way.

I could understand why Peter called himself a sinner in front of Jesus. I was a sinner, who lived in difficultly and was not able to pay the rent for 5 consecutive months. I was a sinner who lived within the works of man, not believing the Word.

I Bought Land Originally Planned for a Road

In the beginning of 2010, with the landowner’s permission, we started building a temporary chapel. However, after 2 weeks, Mr. Kuruma, the chief of the local police department, came and proclaimed that the land we purchased belonged to him, and told us to destroy everything we built. He also said that he would charge us a $600 fine for every day we hadn’t complied. We met Mrs. Goya, the landowner, and explained the situation. She said our land was located just below the land of the chief of police. This lady owned three pieces of land, and our land was not the land that was owned by the police chief, but the land was located right next to his land.

We misunderstood the actual location of our land.

Soon afterwards, we discovered something new. The Y-4 was - 42 -

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a 70-meter-wide Abidjan expressway that was going to be built across our land. Mr. Kuruma knew about this, and conned us into buying that land. Actually, the police chief, and other people in the town conned Mrs. Goya, who was illiterate, by bringing her fake documents. And now that the expressway was going to be built, they sold the useless land to us. Eventually, I was stuck in the middle, between Mrs. Goya and Mr. Kuruma, and ended up buying the useless land. When I stood up in the middle of our land and looked around, there was nothing. It was obvious because it was meant to be an expressway. David’s story in 1 Samuel 30 became my story. I felt like the brothers and sisters would stone me to death if they found out about this. God, however, told me, Thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. (1 Samuel 30:8) For a while, I just stood there, when I happened to see a land surveyor working afar. I started a conversation with him wishing to find more information about this land. He told me that he compiled all of the real estate document around that area. He said, “Pastor, your land is not the one that Y-4 will be built on. Your land is the land just under it. Would you like me to draw up the documents for the land that will be used for the expressway?” This land surveyor showed up out of nowhere, like the Egyptian youth that David met along his way. We discovered that our land was neither the police chief’s land, nor the land in the middle, but actually, it was the along the outside of the three different pieces of land.

Yet, that did not solve all of our problems. According to the state Building Department, Mrs. Goya was the owner the land. According to the town’s Building Department, it belonged to Mrs. Goya’s younger sibling. In Ivory Coast, if the record in the state Building Department and the town’s Building Department were not the same, the record of the state Building Department was invalid. On top of that, because Mrs. Goya’s sister had passed away, it now belonged to her three sons. There were even more problems. Before Mrs. Goya’s sister passed away, she promised to give the land to Mr. Gibenu. Mr. Gibenu promised to build her two houses - 43 -

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Memoirs of a Missionary_Cote d'Ivoire

instead. However, he did not keep his promise. He sold the land to many other people without building the two houses.

Mrs. Goya’s nephews found out about this, and sued Mr. Gibenu. However, they lost the suit after the final trial. It was because Mr. Gibenu bribed the Judge. They appealed the case, and the appeal was still being processed. In the middle of all that, we bought that land.

We needed a lot of money to pay off Mrs. Goya’s nephews, to pay for our lawyer, and to prepare the numerous documents.

Fortunately, the nephews acknowledged the deposit that we paid to Mrs. Goya, but it was not easy to pay the rest, not knowing who would win in court. The nephews came to us whenever they needed money. It was not much, so we were able to give them some, but I had to fight each time with my worried wife. I also had to gather the hearts of the brothers and sisters. The nephews received the money that they were supposed to receive with the heart to ask for grace.

God Protected Our Land for Our Church and the Gospel

One day, the lawyer, Doumbia, returned $1,000 to us, and said, “Pastor, I’m sorry. I did not mean to, but I made you go through many hardships. Just give up the land. You can never get this land. If the owner has other land, then receive the other land as compensation. There’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry that I can’t help.” The brothers and sisters who had distrust about paying off the land started to express their hearts. My wife was also not on my side. Although no one was on my side, I did not feel disappointed because I understood them.

At that time, I remembered the story of Isaac. In the Bible, there was a story of Isaac only in Genesis 26. Which aspect of Isaac in this chapter appealed so greatly to God that each time He introduced Himself as, “the God of Isaac”? When Isaac dug a well, he would tell his servants, “God has prepared water for us here.” However, that well was buried, and Isaac dug another well. At that time, he would have said again, “Water that God has prepared for us is here.” He dug that well, and yet again, it was buried.

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The bridge that was built right next to our land

I thought, “If this well was truly prepared by God, then why did it not remain open, but was buried? Because of this, wouldn’t he be seen as a servant of God, who did not actually know about God’s will?” Still, Isaac led his servants to dig yet another well. I was able to think about this.

“How and with what words did Isaac lead his servants?” I thought he would never be able to lead his servants without the assurance that it was the will of God. Without that assurance, he would have hesitated before the situation, and suffered, doubting the will of God. Yet, Isaac kept going forward. Although all of his situations went against the will of God, his heart became cleaner, and only God was established in his heart. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3) Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8) It was saying that I could see God, if my heart was pure. Just like David, who ran forward to Goliath, the people who saw God feared nothing. Goliath was not an obstacle that blocked him, but it was a tool to reveal God that was in the heart of David. I searched my heart. My heart was pure toward God. Buying land started from the Word of God I heard from the servant of God, not - 45 -

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Memoirs of a Missionary_Cote d'Ivoire

from my own desire or want.

On September, 2014, we won the second trial. Though the third trial remained, the case would be dismissed, if they other party did not appeal within a month. They weirdly did not appeal. As soon as the appeal deadline was over, the Building Department gave us permission to take down all buildings on our land. Because people bought the land being deceived by Gibenu and built buildings, we had to take those buildings down. One day, after the police finished taking all the other buildings down, a crowd came to our land. Prosecutors and former ministers, who had money and power, came to us, hearing that their buildings, which were on our land, were taken down. However, everything was already finalized. Later, we discovered that Gibenu was put into jail even before the result of the second trial because he was involved in another crime. When he finally came out of jail, it was already too late for him to appeal. If Gibenu had been discharged earlier, he would have won the case, bribing judges. However, God protected our land for our church and the Gospel.

We also received grace while paying off the land. At first, we built the temporary chapel on the land of the police chief, and had to take it down. Because of that, the nephews gave us a discount of $20,000 as compensation. While we were paying off the land, we had some difficulties, but the words

We renovated the office building that was being used as the sleeping quarters and storage for the construction crew that built a bridge nearby.

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in Proverbs remained in my heart. Many seek the ruler’s favour, but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD. (Proverbs 29:26) It was not that I had to be a ruler trying to do everything, but I had to seek grace from my ruler. I called Pastor Ock Soo Park and said, “Pastor, we have to pay off the land, but it is difficult. We need your help.” Pastor replied, “Brother Lee, thank you for calling. I will help you.”

The next day, he sent $50,000 to us. Thankfully, because there were many problems with the land, we were able to pay off the land, little by little, throughout a 5-year period.

On August 23, 2014, we finished paying off the land.

All I Did Was Be Deceived

Soroubat, a construction company, borrowed our land from December of 2014, while working on a construction project to build a bridge next to our property. Our land was rigid and there was a waterway running across the land. The construction company flattened the land for us because they need to use the land. It was a huge construction project, costing close to $100,000. It was so expensive that we could never think of doing such a thing. However, the construction company did everything for us, and they even laid out water pipes. In addition, from the company, we received $1,000 per month until March 2016 as a rent for the land. We also were able to use the building they built as our office and sleeping quarters. One of the soccer clubs asked to borrow some of our land for their practices. After we allowed them to use it, they built a full soccer field with grass. However, the soccer club was disbanded, so, now, we run soccer classes on that grass field.

There was an even more amazing thing that happened.

During the construction of the bridge, the length of the bridge was extended. Because of that, the expressway had to move even more upward, resulting in the expressway passing through the land owned by the poice chief. Through that, we were able to use even more of our land. It was originally 5.72 acres, but it became more than 7.35 acres we could use.

Just how Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared - 47 -

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Memoirs of a Missionary_Cote d'Ivoire

for Mordecai, although the chief of police tried to deceive the church, he rather fell into his own trap.

While we were proceeding with purchasing the land, we had to find a place to stay temporarily, because not only was our chapel small, but there were many neighbors who complained that we were too loud. On December, 2011, we found a vacant lot with a collapsed building near our church.

The building was used as a bar, but it collapsed and was no longer in use. We met the owner, and made a contract to use the land for $80 a month for 3 years. It was almost free.

Normally, it would be hard to rent that land even if we would pay $600 per month. In 2012, we paid one year’s rent at once, and started to organize and renovate the building.

However, one day, a person named Al-Mustafa came and stopped the renovations. It was the owner of the building. Since we made the contract with the owner of the land, we started working disregarding the owner of the building. Yet, because of this, the police put Minister Doja and Brother Dodo, a missionary school student, in jail. Without any documentation and any reasonable evidence, they stopped our work. Al-Mustafa claimed that we had to pay for the loss of the broken building during the war if we wanted to use the building. Although it did not make any sense, because he knew many prosecutors and came from a well-connected background, the police came right away when he called them. We called Al-Mustafa asking for forgiveness and grace, but he would not change his mind.

Later, we found out that the owner of the land made

The land and surrounding area before construction (Left) and after construction (Right)

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a H w r

A chapel that we built on rented land

the $80 per month contract with us, knowing that such a thing would happen. Even though it was his land, he was not able to use it. Luckily, Sister Patricia knew Al-Mustafa well. Through her, we were able to convince him. In 2013, we paid $960 to Al-Mustafa for rent and wrapped up everything. However, there was another incident that happened the next day. The land was not owned by a person, but by a family. When the other family members heard that the land was being rented for $80 a month for 3 years, they came and tried to stop the construction. The owner of the land, the representative of the family, made the contract with us thinking that it would be impossible for us to solve the problem with Al-Mustafa, but we actually solved that problem. Because of this, the representative of the family changed. Regardless, since the contract was already made, the other family members had to return. Three years later, from 2015, we are still using the land, paying $500 every month. When I bought land or borrowed land, all I did was be deceived. However, God led everything beautifully.

So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is non upon earth that I desire beside thee.

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New York Times: Notes on Genesis II

Lot Who Came to Save God Pastor Ock Soo Park Good News Gangnam Church

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

(Genesis 19:5~8)

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but when they differed, it seemed that I would fail if I followed the Word of God. It would have been nice to follow the Word of God, but it seemed that I would go through difficulties and be ruined so I followed my thoughts.

Even so, I labored to be good. I thought, “I can go to heaven if I pray, read the Bible, and live as a good person. God will look favorably upon me.” This was how I had thought.

In the Bible are many conversations between God and man.

Abraham, Noah, Moses, and many others spoke with God. The unique elements in all these conversations between God and man is that God always speaks as God and man always speaks from the humancentered perspective. Because man cannot see God and lives only in his own world, man appears to himself to be big. It is apparent to man that he has more power than he actually does, causing him to have unrealistic expectations on what he does.

People Intoxicated with Themselves There were not ten righteous people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, rather than leading more people to receive salvation, was falling more and more into sin

NEW YORK TIMES

Man Who Trusts in Himself I have attended church ever since I was young. Back then, I did not know anything about the Bible, yet with the small Bible knowledge that I had, I just assumed that keeping the law and living honestly was doing well in spiritual life. But eventually, I felt the limits to that as I lived spiritual life. It did not work out no matter how hard I tried to do good, and I came to realize that my heart was dirty and evil.

Afterwards, I received the grace of God and received salvation.

I b e c a me b or n a g a i n not because I did good deeds or was sincere, but actually because I was evil and wicked. “I cannot keep the law anymore. I cannot do anything good anymore. I cannot please God.” This truth came strongly upon my heart one day. In other words, the heart to believe in myself came crumbling down, and amazingly, I was able to believe in God. For a long time I had a strong heart to trust in myself and I decided everything by my own standards. Thus, when the words of God and my thoughts differed, my thoughts took priority over the words of God. There was no problem when the Word of God and my thoughts were the same,

New York Times: Notes on Genesis II

with his family. There was no need for Lot to remain at a place where people are not receiving salvation.

Therefore, the angels went to that city to destroy it and save Lot. But when the angels arrived, the people of Sodom saw that some new people had come and went to Lot's house at night. They shouted for Lot, saying, “Lead those men out. We will know them.” It means that they wanted to have sexual relations. Lot went out and closed the doors behind him and spoke to the men of Sodom. “My brothers, do not do this. These people have come to me, but I have two daughters that have not known men. I will give them to you and you do with them as you please. But do not do this to these men.” Lot knew that they had come from God. When I first read these words I thought that Lot was very good. I

saw him going as far as to sacrifice his own daughters to protect the angels and I thought, “Wow, Lot has such a blessed heart. That was why he was saved.” That was what I thought. However, as time passed and I reexamined those scriptures, it was not so. Did Lot indeed save the angels? No, he did not. It is God who is supposed to save Lot. How could Lot save the angels of God? People are self-indulgent and think of themselves as being great.

They say, “I preached the gospel for God. I built a church for God,” and they live being indulged by doing something for God. There are so many people like this. This is why they cannot receive what God has done for them. This is a big problem in their spiritual life.

I, too, for a long time thought that I did many things for God. I read the Bible, woke up early to pray, taught Sunday school students...

Although I had many sins, I thought that if I did even more and better works, God would look upon these good deeds and receive me into heaven. However, later on, as I read the Bible, I came to know that God does not accept anything from man because we are dirty sinners. I also came to realize that anything I do for God is absolutely useless. I came to realize that I was such

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If there is one thing that could most dent God's pride, it would bethat God survived through the help of man.

If that were the case, then God would not be God.

Why Was Uzzah Killed?

When David was bringing the ark into the city of David from the house of Abidanab in Second Samuel, it was carried on a new cart. As they arrived at Nachon's threshing-floor, the oxen shook the cart and Uzzah held on to it.

God struck and killed Uzzah on

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the spot. Many people ask me about this.

“The ark would have fallen over had Uzzah not held onto it. Uzzah held the ark to serve God. Why did God then strike Uzzah?”

I always give the same answer. If there is one thing that could most dent God's pride, it would be that God survived through the help of man. If that were the case, then God would not be God. If the falling ark was preserved through Uzzah's holding on to it, it means that man upheld God. Each time this happened, God coldly struck down the arrogant man.

“I did something for God; I did something for the church; I built this church; what would happen to the church if I'm not here?” All of these are cursed thoughts.

God Is Not a Salesman I once went to a hospital and a person there who was terminally ill said this to me: “Pastor, pray for me.

If I am healed of this illness, I will give half of my wealth to God.” I replied to him, “Sir, if you do

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a shameful and foolish being before God. You think that you do good and that you do many things for God. Anyone who thinks that he can work for God is completely intoxicated with himself. Drunken people lose their sanity and cannot think logically and think of themselves as being great. People not only get drunk with alcohol, but they often become intoxicated with themselves. People who are intoxicated with themselves think that if they try to do something, they can do well; and if they do something, that thing will go well.

They feel that if they get involved, then God's things will go well and the church will go well.

New York Times: Notes on Genesis II

that, God will curse you.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Do you think God is a salesman receiving money if He heals you?

This is what God hates the most.

When God gives something to man, He does not do so through wages but He wants to bestow grace freely.”

Man is not qualified to receive the grace of God. God gave us our bodies, the rain, air, sunlight....

We do not pay $50 for a pretty nose, $30 for a flat nose, $20 for a pig-shaped nose like we pay extra for an air conditioning option on a car, do we? We have received our bodies through grace. God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to be crucified in order to forgive our sins. This was given to us through grace. We did not pay any kind of wage whatsoever.

God is not a salesman. “I did this, so help me. I gave a tithe, so bless me.” This is what offends God the most. W hen a beggar is a sk ing for alms, he must say, “If you do not bestow grace upon me, I can only starve. Have compassion on me and bestow grace upon me. Please give me some money.” This is the attitude of a beggar. If a beggar says, “I will pay you $1,000 later, so give me food right now!” That person is not a beggar but an extortionist.

When we go before God, we

are people who could only have been cursed and who do nothing well. Even if there is something you do well, it is nothing before God. There is nothing good you can present. That is why we must simply receive the grace God gives through His compassion for us.

“God, my life ended here because I was sick, but I will be thankful if you will bestow your grace upon me and heal my disease.” Saying this is the correct attitude. “Heal me because I will pay this much money.” This is paying a wage, not receiving grace. Grace can only be grace when it does not require any sort of wage.

I said to the ill man, “Sir, God is not pleased with that. Do you think God is in suffering because He has no money? I think it is good that you are offering a large sum of money, but God isn't happy about that. God hopes that you would say, 'I am a person who can only be destroyed. Have compassion on me and bestow Your grace upon me and save me.'

God is pleased with that.”

God hates it the most when we say, “Save me since I have done good.” “Help me since I have been loyal to you.” “Bestow your grace on me because I have done this and that.” Therefore, when we come to God, we must come empty-handed,

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The prodigal son did not become clean through doing something himself when he returned to his father. He was wearing filthy rags and returned as a starving beggar. seeking grace and mercy.

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There Is No Path to Salvation Other than Grace When God was about to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gommorah, He went there to save Lot and his family. Foolishly, Lot tried to save God himself. He tried to protect God. This is what God hates the most. He wants to teach us this.

When God saves man, He does so without receiving any help from man. It is this way in each salvation story. The prodigal son did not become clean through doing something himself when he returned to his father. He was wearing filthy rags and returned as a starving beggar. But the father cleaned him up, sanctified him, and made him whole. There is nothing the prodigal son added whatsoever. It was 100% of the father. The filthy rags were removed and new clothes were put on him, a ring was placed on his hand, new shoes were put on his feet, the fatted calf was killed and fed to him. All of this was through the father.

This is also true with the

parable of the man who fell among thieves. There was a certain man who fell among thieves as he was on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. A Samaritan happened to be passing that way, saw him, and had compassion on him.

The Samaritan approached him, poured oil and wine over the wounds, bound him up, put him on his beast, took him to an inn, and took care of him. Then the next day, he gave two pence to the inn keeper and said, “Take care of him. If you spend more, I will repay you when I come again.� There is nothing the man who fell among thieves did to receive salvation. All he did was realize that he was a man who could only die and left himself to the Samaritan.

What did the man who fell

New York Times: Notes on Genesis II

Lot 's attempt to save God failed, but the salvation accomplished

by God was achieved. among thieves think? “The priest passed me by and so did the Levite.

Unless he bestows his grace upon me and saves me, I can only die!”

He only had hope in the Samaritan and looked to him.

Likewise, there has to be no way other than the blood of Jesus and the grace of the Lord for us to receive the grace and mercy of God. However, people are foolishly deceived by Satan and think that if they do good and work for God, God will save them.

There are so many people who, in this way, put hope in themselves.

Lot’s trying to save God was all vain labor. Lot offered his daughters to the men of Sodom, but they still tried to tear his door down. Lot failed in trying to save God and God began to work from that point on. He blinded all the men who were outside. Then He told Lot to escape quickly. As soon as Lot escaped, God held his hand and led him to a safe place. Lot's attempt to save God failed, but the salvation accomplished by God was achieved.

Everyone, we are truly dirty sinners who can only be destroyed. That is

why we have to receive grace. The person who has the most faith is the person who seeks the grace of God and leaves himself to God to be led by Him. I Served for 14 Years in Prison, So Why Can't I Go to Heaven?

I once went to Vietnam and met a pastor from an underground church. He was a person who had been imprisoned for 14 years for Jesus. I wondered how, for 14 years, he could keep his faith and not betray God. He was very admirable.

However, as I spoke with” him, I was startled. He believed that he could go to heaven because he kept his faith in prison for 14 years. It is something tremendous to serve 14 years, but how could that compare to the cross of Jesus? However, in his heart, his service in prison for 14 years was greater than the blood Jesus shed.

“I suffered and was in anguish for the Lord here in prison. My family suffered so much. Of course I am saved.”

He was zealously loyal, but he did not know the Bible. I

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we have nothing. However, Satan makes it seem that if we bring forth a few things we have done well and our goodness, God will accept them. Satan makes us believe in this to keep us from trusting in Jesus.

Everyone, we have been categorized as evil before God. There is none righteous, no not one... (Romans 3:10) God is t he only one who is good. That is why we must become a part of Jesus. You are good when you have the things of Jesus. Our goodness seems good in our eyes, but it is nothing in God’s eyes.

Lot foolishly tried to save God by himself, but God saved Lot instead. Now let us stop foolishly trying to do something for Jesus, like Lot, in order to be rewarded.

I hope that we will realize that our actions are nothing before God but are empty and deny everything of ours. Jesus said, “Whosoever will follow me should deny himself.” A person who denies himself must deny every action of his as well. This is denying yourself.

You must deny yourself and accept into your heart what Jesus has done for you. Then when you put hope Out from Lot's Foolishness and faith in what Jesus has done and Hoping in God and come before God, you can You must have nothing when receive the grace of God and gain you come before God. In reality, eternal life.

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explained it to him in detail.

“Sa lvation is not achieved through our works. We are not saved because we do something. It is through the grace of Jesus.”

He did not want to accept this.

“You! Have you been imprisoned for 14 yea rs? Tr y it! Do you know how hard it is? I kept my heart through this. Why can't I go to heaven?”

“No. We can never be saved by works no matter what our works are. If we could be saved through some work one hundred times, one thousand times greater, it would not have been necessary for Jesus to be crucified. However, because we cannot do it, Jesus was crucified. We are evil by nature and God has already scored us as ‘evil.’ Now we need to receive the righteousness of Jesus in order to be righteous. It cannot be through our own actions.”

I saw how disappointed he became as he listened to what I said. The rich young man went away in anxiety upon hearing the words of Jesus, and this man, too, went away in anxiety because he felt he had done so much for God.

Gospel Lesson

The True Gospel that Reveals the Righteousness of God Pastor Han Gyu Lee Good News East Seoul Church

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“You’re Saying That You Must Go There to Know?”

When I was ministering in Daegu, I heard the salvation testimony of Sister Ahn Soon Song. She went to church with her mother from a young age. She naturally learned the life of a weekly churchgoer where holy water, tithing, services, prayer, volunteerism, and witnessing was a norm. She considered keeping the Ten Commandments as something obvious to do, so she tried to keep all of the laws including the Ten Commandments.

One day, when she was praying, she started speaking in tongues. She considered that to be the work of the Holy Spirit.

As she believed that God had given her a special gift, her spiritual life became lit with the fire of zeal. Everyone at her church complimented her: “She is so kind. Her faith is really good. She is so precious.” She was sure that she was the child of Heaven. She had the pride to even think, “If I cannot go to heaven, who can?” while she served the Lord diligently in her own way. That is why her life in church was everything for her and the sum of all of her happiness.

She entered theology school thinking, “There is no life more beautiful than giving one’s life completely to God.” She admired the pastor of her church immensely. He prayed so much that there were more days when he fell asleep behind the podium while praying than actually sleeping in his parsonage. He shed so many tears when he prayed that his eyes ulcerated. His life appeared to be so noble and holy. She thought, “Is there anyone in this world

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Gospel Lesson

more precious than my pastor? There is not a single pastor more spiritual than he is.” She continued to admire and follow him.

However, one day, the theolog y school assigned a task. She went to meet her pastor to seek his help and to borrow some books from him. When it became time for her to go home, she asked, “Pastor, you are sure that you will go to heaven, right?” without much thought. But her pastor gave her such an unexpected answer.

“Oh, God knows whether we will go to heaven or hell. Because this matter is inside the authority of God, people are unable to know, and they must actually go there to find out.”

The moment she heard his answer, she became dizzy and felt like the ground beneath her was caving in. She was thinking, “What? You are saying that you have to go there to find out whether you will end up in heaven or hell? If a pastor such as him is saying such a thing, what will happen to me? I lived my spiritual life with the assurance that I was a citizen of heaven. Is he saying that this assurance as well is nothing? Then who gets to go to heaven?”

She became doubtful and very confused. However, she continued to attend her church. One day, a student came to her home to evangelize. He said, “Lady, do you believe in Jesus?”

“Yes, I attend church. I even graduated theology school.”

“Oh, is that so? If that is the case, when your sin or your blemishes are revealed as you live your life, how do you resolve such problems?”

“Jesus has forgiven my original sin already, and when I sin and have actual sin, I receive forgiveness through repentance prayer.”

“Ma’am, it seems you do not know the Bible well as the words “original sin” or “actual sin” do not appear even once. Did all the sins of your heart become forgiven when you prayed the repentance prayer? If you were to stand in front of God right now, will you honestly have no sin in your heart?”

“No, I have sin. Is there anyone in this world without sin?”

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“If someone has sin, do they go to heaven or hell?”

“They go to heaven.”

“If someone has sin, how can they go to heaven? It is written in the Bible that the just go to heaven. There is no mention of sinners going to heaven.”

“That is why I repent of my sins every day.”

“If you still have sin in your heart after you pray the repentance prayer, isn’t that because the repentance prayer is unable to wash the sins of your heart? Doesn’t your conscience testify of this fact?

Sins are not washed by the repentance prayer.”

“Then how do you wash away sins?”

“What are the wages of sin?”

“Death.”

“Yes. Then, if you have sin in your heart, are you a person who should die or pray a repentance prayer? “…? Oh. If the wages of sin is death, then repentance prayer cannot wash sin away. The wages of sin must be paid for!”

The conservation started in this fashion, and the sister was able to realize that the spiritual life she had lived until then was wrong.

In the end, she was able to hear the true Gospel of how the blood of Jesus washed away all of our sins in detail and received salvation.

In order to receive salvation, Jesus must be established as Lord in your heart.

The Salvation of Cornelius Let us turn to Acts chapter 10, verses 43 and 44. Here, Cornelius met Peter, and he heard the Gospel, as Peter told him that whosoever believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins through His name. Then it states that the Holy Ghost fell upon him and he received salvation. The truth of salvation is recorded precisely here in Acts 10. Cornelius lived a reverent life before meeting Peter. His entire household feared God, he gave much alms to the people, and he prayed to God always. He also saw

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Gospel Lesson

a sure vision when he was praying, and he met an angel. He was a role model, both in a worldly and spiritual sense, to the extent of even being praised by the Jewish people, despite being a gentile.

However, his soul was not saved until he met Peter. Since God loved his soul, He sent Peter to preach the Gospel of salvation to him. Cornelius put down his position, and religious experience in front of the man of God, and listened to his words with an emptied and humbled heart.

While he was listening to Peter, the forgiveness of sin and the Holy Ghost fell upon him (Acts 10:44). If you look at John 14:16, it is written that when the Holy Ghost falls upon someone, it never departs from them. Then that means before Cornelius met Peter and heard the Gospel of salvation, he had never received the Holy Spirit before. That is why he was unable to live a true spiritual life.

The Bible also says, Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9) Why did God send Peter to Cornelius? Was it because Cornelius did not fear God, or because he did not pray enough? Was he not diligent enough? He saw a sure vision and met an angel. He has his own spiritual experiences and testimonies. However, he had one problem that he had to resolve, but he could not. It was the problem of sin. Although Cornelius lived a reverent life and was diligent, reverence is not spiritual life. Diligence is not faith.

Actually, a person tries to cover and atone for their insufficiencies more if they do not have faith. Although Cornelius saw a vision and met an angel, the Holy Ghost was not in his heart.

Today, many people are replacing the Spirit with signs, and the Word of God with the goodness of man. Today, Satan is leading people astray from the path of finding true salvation with false religion and deceitful doctrines. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

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The Guards Did Not Receive Salvation What is true salvation that the Bible is talking about? Romans 10:9 is written about the precise promise of salvation: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Believing the fact that Jesus died and was raised again is not salvation. When you know the meaning and accept it, this is when you are saved from sin.

In order to receive salvation, Jesus must be established as Lord in your heart. Also, you must believe in the death of Jesus, and in God, who has raised Him from the dead. In other words, you must believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today, many people who go to church confess that Jesus is Lord and say that they believe the death and resurrection of Jesus to be true.

However, they still have sin in their hearts. They became, “sinners who believe in Jesus,” and assert that, “even though I have sin, if I believe in Jesus, I will go to heaven.” If you have sin, that means you do not believe in the power of the precious blood of Jesus. If you have sin, then you did not receive salvation. Then why do people say that they believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus even though they have sin? It is because they do not know the true meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Believing the fact that Jesus died and was raised again is not salvation. When you know the meaning and accept it, this is when you are saved from sin.

If you look at the Scripture from Matthew 27:57 to Matthew 28, after Jesus passed away, His body was wrapped in a clean linen cloth, and put it in a tomb hewn from rock. Then a great stone was placed at the entrance. Afterwards, soldiers were guarding the entrance. However, there were women who went to the tomb early

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Gospel Lesson

in the morning of the first day after the Sabbath Day, and saw that Jesus had already resurrected and the tomb was empty. The angels of the Lord came down to roll away the stone, and sat upon it. When the guards saw the angels, they were afraid and became as dead men. However, these guards were bribed by the Jewish religious leaders to spread a false rumor that Jesus’ disciples came while they were sleeping and stole the body. These soldiers surely

His resurrection means that since He paid for the price of all of our sins in our stead, we are righteous and without sin in front of God. witnessed, and were very clear on the death and resurrection of Jesus, but had they received salvation? They believed that Jesus died and rose again, but they did not know the true meaning of these events. Although they witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with their own eyes, this event had no connection with their spirit.

The True Meaning of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Then what is the true meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? What do those things have to do with our spirit? Let us look at Romans 4:25, which reads, Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. The reason Jesus died was to pay for the wages of all of our offences. His resurrection means that since He paid for the price of all of our sins in our stead, we are righteous and without sin in front of God. For example, let’s say that a person named, “Marcus,” committed a great and terrifying sin. According to the Law, he must be punished, and the sentenced Marcus received was 10 years in prison. Because there are laws that run the country, we can only be freed from a sin we’ve committed if we pay the penalty for that sin. Because the

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price of his sin is 10 years in prison, he must go to prison for 10 years to pay that price. Marcus cannot leave the prison until all 10 years of his sentence has been served. Even if there is only one day left of his sentence, he cannot be released.

However, no matter how heinous the crime was that he committed, if he spends 10 years in prison and pays the price for his sin, then he will surely be released. It is breaking the Law to release someone who had not fully paid the price of his sin.

Also, no matter what sin he committed, if he pays the price, but they do not release him, that is also against the Law. One day, Marcus was released from prison. Then the people who know him can think, “Oh, they released him. He must have received all of the punishment for his sin. Now, that sin can no longer restrain him. He has been freed from his sin and the Law.” The death and resurrection of Jesus carries the same exact meaning. Marcus received a punishment because of his sin. However, Jesus did not have any sin, so why does He have to go to the “prison” called, “death”? The only reason was to stand in our place and receive the death we were supposed to receive.

However, our offenses, as written in the Bible, does not point to merely my own sins, but to the sins of every single person, who is a descendant of Adam, that has ever been born on this earth.

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) Therefore, every sin committed by Adam, the first man, to every sin committed by the last man to be born from Adam, in the Mandarin translation of the Bible, is expressed as every sin “under the heavens”. In other words, it means all the sins of every single person who has ever lived under the sky. He bore the sins of every single person born upon the face of the earth, without leaving a single one, and He paid for all of that sin with His own life. Through the death of Jesus, all of our sins have been paid.

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Gospel Lesson

If I had a debt that I could not pay, but my loving and close friend paid for it, I no longer have a debt although I have done nothing. That is how our sins have been taken care of. We have no sin that needs to be punished anymore. Jesus passed away while bearing our sins, and He served the sentence of three days in the prison of death. Then He resurrected on the third day.

Resurrection signifies being released. Just like how Marcus paid for the punishment of his crime and was released from prison, and as a result, no longer has any sin that needs to be punished; because Jesus has paid for all of our sins and He has resurrected, all the sins of the people of the world have been paid for and we have been freed from sin and the Law. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:2) The time of all of our prison sentences has ended with the resurrection of Jesus. We have become righteous. Jesus has destroyed death through His resurrection, and He has broken the power of death by giving us eternal life. Now, we can no longer have sin, and the Law can no longer have dominion over us. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have become righteous forever. That is why it is written in 1 Corinthians 15:17 that: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

This verse says that if Jesus were not raised from the dead, we would still be in our sins. This means that if Jesus were not released from the prison of death, we would still be sinners.

This is because if Jesus had not been released from the prison of death after 2,000 years, it means that we had so many sins that 2,000 years in prison could not wash them away. However, the fact that Jesus resurrected means that the judgment and

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penalty regarding our sins have been finished. Because He has received all of the punishment for our sins, He could no longer be contained in the prison called, death, and that is why Jesus had to be released: resurrected.

If you restate the meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:17, we can no longer be within sin after He has risen. We are no longer sinners, but we are eternally just. The resurrection of Jesus has become

The evidence of our salvation is accepting the righteousness of God into our hearts by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. our righteousness. It has been 2,000 years since Jesus rose from the dead, so the people who assert that they are sinners every day and wail as they ask for the forgiveness, actually are saying that Jesus had died in vain. Begging for the forgiveness of sins is invalidating the power of the cross of Jesus.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30) That is why Romans 10:9 is telling us that if we believe in this truth, we receive salvation. And verse 10 is telling us that if we believe in this Word, we are free from sin and have reached righteousness. The evidence of our salvation is accepting the righteousness of God into our hearts by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The true Gospel is testifying of the “righteousness of God.� The true Gospel is not to chat about whether we have sin or not, or about materialistic blessings, or blessings of health. It is to testify about the righteousness of God and the saving of the soul.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17) This is where our spiritual life starts.

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T E S T IM O N Y O F PA S TO R O CK S O O P A R K

I Wanted to Give an Amazing Testimony

路路路路

When I lived in Daejeon, a Mr. Lee severely persecuted his wife, Sister Shin, constantly telling her that our church was not the right one.

Not only did he persecute her, but he cursed the minister of the church as well. The two eventually divorced, but Sister Shin continued her spiritual life at our Yeong Deung-po Church.

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Preaching the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth

One day, I got a call from Mr. Lee at around 3 AM. As soon as I picked up the phone, he cursed me out, saying, “Ock Soo Park, you heretic mastermind!” Telling myself that it would be no use going to sleep tonight, I spoke to Mr. Lee. While speaking to him, I thought how miserable he must have felt to have called me this late at night when I was sleeping. I felt bad for him, so we talked for a while.

“Don’t do this over the phone. Why don’t you come down to Daejeon?”

“Fine. I’ll go right away! I’ll be there tomorrow.”

The following day, he drove down from Seoul in his old truck.

Throughout our conversation, he mentioned countless times how he would never get back with his wife, even if it were to be the death of him. Nobody told him to get back together with his wife, but he said, “Pastor, don’t even think about trying to make me and that woman get back together.”

Listening to him, I could feel that he still cared about his wife. He had come to meet me since I was someone he could talk to. At times, he would drink, call me, and curse at me. At other times, he would say “Pastor, can I think of you as my older brother?”

Although he kicked his wife out and got a divorce, through his words, I felt his heart that continued to care about his wife. I felt thankful about that so I invited him over once more, and he told me that he would come. The day he was supposed to come, I called for Sister Shin to come as well. The two came over in the morning, but I came around 1 PM after getting some work done. When I got home, the two seemed to be getting along quite well.

While talking, Mr. Lee said, “Pastor, I cannot get back together with her. The whole country of Korea knows I’m divorced. Everyone in Seoul knows I’m divorced. It’s so embarrassing. How can I get back together with her?”

“Why don’t you move here to Daejeon? I’ll get you a room.”

“Pastor, could I do that?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Come down and live here.”

I couldn’t be happier as I watched the two drive back in the truck.

A few days later, the couple came to Daejeon and got a room. Mr. Lee listened to the Gospel and received the assurance of salvation. He was

happy for a while, but once again, he called and cursed me out.

“Pastor, even though you’re saved, how could the church be more important than your husband? Am I nothing?”

“Hey, little brother, what kind of woman would want to live in a household like this in this day and age? Having to change her bedridden father-in-law’s diaper, and constantly care for her sick mother-in-law… are you that slow? How could your wife live without coming to church and receiving strength?”

“Yes, pastor. You’re right…but…”

Because he had not made up his mind, he would curse me out even while treating me as a pastor. However, I couldn’t get angry at him even when he cursed me out. I felt thankful instead that he always called me to ask for my opinion and advice whenever he felt frustrated. After a long time passed, on a busy day, the brother and his wife came to see me. I took him to a quiet room and opened the Bible quickly before he could begin complaining. As I was preaching, I saw that he was crying.

He was not a person to cry.

“Pastor, no matter what people say, I received salvation for sure. I was so happy after receiving salvation and wanted to give a testimony. I wanted to give an amazing testimony, so I gave one during the Sunday morning service. Afterwards, I felt that I didn’t say what I wanted to say. I felt so frustrated. Later on, I told myself, ‘I guess I’m just not fit for God, since I can’t give a good testimony. I just ended up saying nonsense. Since I’m not fit for spiritual life, let me just take good care of my father and grandfather. If I go to church with my wife, who will take care of them?’ Within these thoughts, my heart became more and more spiteful towards the church.”

“Hey, do you know how many times I go up to the podium to preach, but end up talking about something completely different? If all newly saved brothers said everything they wanted to say at the podium, they would all be pastors, wouldn’t they?”

“Are other people like that too?”

“What are you talking about? That’s only normal.”

“I had no idea.”

“But pastor, my father and grandfather are bedridden. If my wife and I come to church, who will take care of them?”

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Preaching the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth

“If it’s God’s will for the both of you to come to church, wouldn’t He take care of your father and grandfather? Put your trust in God for once!”

“You’re right. God will do it. Then I should come to church.”

The brother began to change. One day, we were having a meeting, and that brother came near the end. When the meeting ended he came to me and said, “Pastor, I didn’t know we had a meeting tonight. I came in because I saw that the lights were on. If you’re going to have a meeting you should have told me!”

The only one who has power among us is God. If we have received salvation, it’s a fact that Jesus is in us. Jesus wants to work powerfully in us. That is why even when left alone, those who are saved grow within the spirit, and are shaped in the image of Christ. However, because the Lord is within our hearts, when our hearts are blocked, he cannot work. That is when we need a leader.

I saw countless times how the Lord led and freed the hearts of the brethren whose hearts are blocked by giving them faith through the Word.

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Church Directory (North America) EAST COAST Good News New York Church 718-878-4246 300 Nassau Rd, Huntington, NY 11743 Good News Manhattan Church 917-678-3344 2152 3rd Ave, NY, NY 10035 Good News Bronx Church 646-339-6432 685 Morris Park Ave 2nd Fl, Bronx, NY 10462 Good News Brooklyn NY Church 917-526-7498 765 43rd St 1st FL, Brooklyn, NY 11232 Good News Flushing Chinese Church 631-535-1169 134-24 Cherry Ave, Flushing, NY 11355 Good News Atlanta Church 404-966-6352 11000 Rogers Circle, Johns Creek, GA 30097 Good News Atlanta Spanish Church 678-387-9271 2635 Fairlane Drive, 2nd FL, Doraville, GA 30340 Good News Philadelphia Church 215-379-0501 305 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027 Good News Chicago Church 847-329-0237 4825 W Jarlath St, Lincolnwood, IL 60712 Good News Washington Church 703-973-7975 7461 Miramar Dr, Manassas, VA 20109 Good News Memphis Church 901-646-0055 764 Chatwood Cove, Memphis, TN 38122 Good News Minneapolis Church 612-275-3348 3000 West Broadway Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55411 Good News Orlando Church 407-312-4028 301 S Oak Ave, Sanford, FL 32771

Good News New Jersey Church 201-406-4677 1075 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666 Good News Detroit Church 248-608-1409 1181 Harding Ave, Rochester Hills, MI 48307 Good News Indianapolis Church 317-294-5329 383 S Emerson Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46219 Good News Miami Church 954-667-7753 331 NW 65th Way, Hollywood, FL 33024 Good News New Orleans Church 504-602-9930 3720 Saratoga Dr, Metairie, LA 70002 Good News Jacksonville Church 904-646-7885 3850 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207 Good News Boston Church 617-320-3296 180 Blue Hill Avenue #3, Boston, MA 02125 Good News Charlotte Church 704-500-6063 2009 W Arrowood Rd, Charlotte, NC 28217 Good News Fort Wayne Church 260-797-3412 3316 S Calhoun St, Fort Wayne, IN 46807 Good News Nashville Spanish Church 615-927-8980 120 Arbor Knoll Blvd, Antioch, TN 37013 Good News Maryland Chinese Church 301-250-1138 900 Westmore Ave, Rockville, MD 20850 WEST COAST Good News Central Church 213-386-0097 3500 W 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90004 Good News Tacoma Church 253-582-3599 10103 South Tacoma Way, Lakewood, WA 98499

Good News Albuquerque Church 505-300-9807 3001 Cuervo Dr, NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Good News Dallas First Church 972-272-4724 4502 Lawler Rd, Garland, TX 75042 Good News San Jose Church 619-559-6287 1548 Curtner Ave, San Jose, CA 95128 Good News San Jose Spanish Church 408-784-0163 1710 Moorpark Ave, San Jose, CA 95128 Good News Las Vegas Church 702-248-0572 2880 Red Rock St, Las Vegas, NV 89146 Good News Salt Lake Church 801-656-5299 2364 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Good News O.C. Church 714-814-9436 3330 W Lincoln Ave, Anaheim, CA 92801 Good News Anchorage Church 907-258-9987 1020 W Fireweed Lane, Anchorage, AK 99503 Good News El Paso Church 915-309-7075 6869 Enid Ct #74, El Paso, TX 79912 Good News Portland Church 971-300-1127 6225 SW Dale Ave, Beaverton, OR 97008 Good News San Antonio Church 210-993-9414 405 Walton Ave, San Antonio, TX 78225

Good News Hawaii Church 808-679-2800 1219 Keeaumoku St, Suite 400, Honolulu, HI 96814 Good News Houston Church 346-400-1812 2516 Wavell St, Houston, TX 77088 Good News Phoenix Church 480-273-2199 5239 N 17th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85015 Good News Sacramento Church 916-996-4655 3501 Bradshaw Rd #115, Sacramento, CA 95827 Good News Oklahoma Church 405-535-9553 5801 S Pennsylvania Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73119 Good News Amarillo Church 806-447-9993 927 N Mirror St, Amarillo, TX 79107 CANADA & CARIBBEAN Good News Vancouver Church 1-778-881-5508 409 Goyer Crt, Coquitlam BC V3K 6A2, Canada Good News Ottawa Church 819-431-0377 132 Rue Brodeur, Gatineau, QC J8Y 2R2, Canada Good News Toronto Church 1-416-321-2004 70 Mcgriskin Rd, Toronto, ON M1S 5C5, Canada Good News Jamaica Church 1-876-318-0189 63b Deanery Road, Kingston 3, Jamaica W.I.

Good News Denver Church 720-308-3442 6400 W 26th Ave, Edgewater, CO 80214

Good News Dominican Republic Church 1-809-350-1429 Calle 26 #2, Valle Verde 1, Santiago, La Republica Dominicana

Good News Kansas Church 816-437-5440 1301 E 100th TER, Kansas City, MO 64131

Good News Haiti Church 509-70-8253-2511 Rue Jeremie #22 Delmas 33, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

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