책 소개
When people reach about seventy or eighty years of age, they often look back on their lives. People look back on their lives and realize that life passes by quickly and that the time has come to think seriously about what can be passed to the next generation. Having reached the mid-seventies myself, I began looking back on my life and thinking about my legacy to my children and grandchildren. During this reflection, I realized that the most valuable possession that I have is the story of my faith journey. I would like to share this story especially with my grandchildren in the hopes that it will help them as they embark on faith journeys of their own. I hope that they will be like seeds that fall on good soil, able to sprout, grow and bear fruit in this land of America where God has planted them. It is with this hope that I venture to write this book. My faith journey began as a child growing up in North Korea during the volatile time in Korean history where the country struggled to attain sovereignty and a unified Korean peninsula. Like many Koreans who lived in the communist North Korea during this time, my family lived with hope that one day soon there will be a unified Korea led by a democratic government. More than anything else, my family wanted the freedom to worship God. I was so captivated by the Bible stories taught at the Sunday school that even at such a young age, I chose to attend church despite all the threats. I don’t know how I could have been so bold, but I firmly believed that God would protect those who were faithful to Him. On June 25, 1950 the attack on South Korea by the North Korean People’s army marked the onset of the Korean War. It was a watershed moment for many Koreans living in North Korea as they realized that the time had come for their escape to South Korea. I began my journey from Pyongyang, North Korea to Busan, a city on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. I faced many moments of life and death during my escape to South Korea. One night as bombs exploded all around, I ran through the night trying to avoid being hit by knife-edged shell fragments that fell from the sky like rain. I faced Turkish soldiers at gunpoint and nearly drowned in deep sea water. I also remember feeling utterly devastated when I realized that there was no way to cross the river that blocked the entry to South Korea so close to the border. But in every such moment of peril and despair God provided protection and renewed hope for survival. When I finally reached Busan, yet another difficult time of my life awaited. Life as a refugee proved to be more difficult than I had imagined. It taught me the meaning of perseverance as I had never known. Abject poverty was all around us, and I was forced to begin a series of hard labor to help support my family. I wanted so much to be able to go back to school, but in a male dominant society there seemed to be very little chance that I would be able to attend school before my brothers. However, God helped me not to give up hope, and a few years later, I was able to resume high school. After much hard work, I was accepted to a university, but another obstacle stood in the way as I could not afford the tuition. It was during this time that God sent Ms. Jung Ho Im, who was a Bible study class teacher at the church that I attended. Ms. Im was not well off, but she provided me with my first tuition fee. Although my first tuition fee was covered, it was difficult to come up with the tuition every semester, and again I faced despair. However, God provided me with ways to cover the tuition each time, and through it, I was able to graduate from the university. I become tearful remembering all these moments from my past, and how God was there for me. How could I possibly repay God for everything that He has done for me in my life? It was during college when I made the commitment to live the rest of my life for Christ. I wanted to let others know about God whose boundless, unconditional…
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