In November, 2006, I left for Paris, France, which was an unknown land to me, with the same kind of faith as Abraham who went to an unknown land without hesitation even though he didn’t know where he was going, relying only on the word of God. I was really lacking in many ways. Not to mention my poor language ability, I had no experience of going abroad, so I didn’t even know what to do. However, I believed that God told me to “go” since He had already prepared the way for me, and that there were unimaginable blessings waiting for me.

I truly give thanks to God for bestowing upon me, who dreamed of living as a gospel worker since the day I realized the love of Heavenly Father and Mother, not only the blessing of working as an assistant overseer but also the precious mission of preaching overseas.


Flower of life blooms in Paris, the city of flowers

Paris, situated in the middle of the Seine, is a small city which is about one- sixth the size of Seoul. Despite its small size, Paris is the center of art and culture in the world, with the famous Eiffel Tower standing magnificently in its heart. It is also well-known as the “city of flowers” for its profusion of flower-decked homes and luxurious gardens, to fit its reputation.

However, we didn’t have time to enjoy the beauty of the flowers because we had a mission to build Zion in a short period of time and to find our lost brothers and sisters here.

Most of the buildings in Paris are hundreds of years old, and those built in the 1970’s were called “new buildings.” So, it was not easy to find a proper place for God’s temple. The self-supporting mission team members and I earnestly prayed to God with one mind that we would quickly find a worship place where we could serve God with our heavenly brothers and sisters.

Two months later, God finally allowed us to establish Zion in Paris, France. It was the Third Day. During the service, we offered our prayers of thanks to God, shedding tears. There was another blessing: While searching through all the areas in Paris until we were able to find a place for Zion, we naturally became familiar with the roads, traffic, and the lifestyle of the French people within a short period of time.

The greatest blessing of all was the first fruit of the Paris Church, Sister Elodie. There are many parks in Paris. When it is sunny, many people come out to enjoy sunbathing in the park. While we were looking for a place to establish Zion, whenever we passed through the park, we preached the new covenant—the good news of eternal salvation—to people in the park. While doing so, we met Sister Elodie. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, typical of a French person. Although she looked totally different from us, her soul exactly resembled ours. We were all members of the heavenly family.

After she constantly studied the Bible, she received a new life. She lived far away from Zion, and she needed to take a train to come to Zion. For this reason, she was not able to come to Zion often. Despite these unfavorable circumstances, she continued to foster her faith through God’s word. She missed Heavenly Mother so much. One day, when she heard the voice of Heavenly Mother who encouraged Her children through a Church video, she expressed her touching emotions, saying that she was able to feel Mother’s love in her heart even though she didn’t understand Korean.

The flowers of life began to bloom one after another in Paris, the city of flowers. We earnestly hope that the beautiful flowers of life, containing the love of Mother, will bloom throughout Paris and emit the heavenly fragrance to the fullest.


With the truth and love stronger than philosophy

Before coming to Paris, I studied the Bible in French a lot because I thought I should teach French people the words of truth precisely even though I was not able to speak fluently. Thankfully, I had no big problem delivering the truth. However, I ran into another difficulty.

Over 80% of French people are Catholics, but most of them do not know or believe the Bible; and even those who are proud to have faith vaguely adhere to their own beliefs, saying they will be saved if they just believe in God. Sometimes we meet people who willingly listen to the Word and say that they can fully understand what we preach, but their ultimate intention is to talk about their philosophic ideas and debate with us on philosophy. In France, philosophy is deeply rooted in people’s daily lives; it is a required subject at university. Everyone has their own philosophical ideas, and whenever they gather together, they like to discuss about philosophy.

They even regard the absolute truth of God that dominates the soul merely as a kind of philosophy or someone else’s idea. I was very anxious about their souls, and I was able to understand what compassion, which God emphasized, was. If they had known the truth, they would already have run into the arms of God. Since they were accustomed to false doctrines and meaningless studies for a long time, they had lost their spiritual senses. We gathered our minds to shout louder the truth about our heavenly Mother, the perfect truth that they couldn’t argue against.

In order to do that, we had to prepare something first. It was unity. Since the gospel is accomplished in accordance with the methods of God, we believed that obeying the teachings of Heavenly Father and Mother to the fullest is the shortcut to accomplishing the gospel work and the right path as well. So the members of the Paris Church tried to achieve unity first, by loving one another as God always asked us to do.

Every day we gathered together to practice preaching both in Korean and French and study the Truth Books as well. As the Bible says that the Word is God, whenever we delivered the Word, we did it with all our heart, strength and mind, the same way we did for God. According to our attitude and mindset, people’s reactions were different. Even though it wasn’t easy to meet a soul who willingly listened to the truth, we were finally able to meet our heavenly family members whom we missed so much, while we were constantly relying on Father and Mother through prayer.


Mother’s waiting for a soul

There is a brother named Gilles who has grown as a good gospel worker in the Paris Church. When he first heard the gospel on a bus, he promised to study God’s word once more, but he continually postponed his appointment. One day, he came to Zion to keep his promise and studied God’s word carefully. After studying the Bible a few more times, he received the blessing of becoming a child of God. At first, he was very slow to understand the truth because he had never read the Bible before, like many other French people. However, as time went by, he became convinced of the truth and felt the love of the brothers and sisters in Zion, and began to accept the existence and importance of the heavenly family in his heart.

Just in time, the short-term mission team came to Paris. Brother Gilles was greatly moved to see them preaching Heavenly Mother fervently. He joined the overseas visiting group to meet Mother in Korea. As the dates to visit Korea fell during his holidays, he was touched again by the love of God who opened all doors for him.

While visiting Korea, he realized the love of Heavenly Mother, and returned with a more mature faith. In the past he just followed the members, but now he actively practices the sermons and preaches the gospel together with the members. Whenever he speaks, he first gives thanks to Mother. Recently, he had another opportunity to join the overseas visiting group. Since he returned from seeing Mother again in Korea, he has grown up to be a more mature child of heaven. He even sets his own goals for the gospel and tries hard to bear fruit, being firmly resolved to visit Mother with his fruit next time. Seeing how he has changed, other French members who have just started to understand the truth also dream of meeting Heavenly Mother face to face.

Generally, French culture is called a “culture of waiting.” You have to wait a long time for anything in France; for example, it takes a few months just to set up the Internet connection. So, most French people are accustomed to the relaxed way of life, and it often makes us feel frustrated because we are used to doing things quickly.
However, we needed to wait. It took quite a long time for the French people to keep their appointments, study the Word, realize the truth and become a child of God. We were distressed a lot at the beginning, but we thought about the heart of Mother who had waited for a long time until we became spiritually awakened. We had to possess the same heart as Mother. When the members were slow to realize the truth, we tried to understand each of them and wait for them until they were spiritually awakened, instead of becoming nervous and hasty. By doing that, we learned the incredible enduring love of Heavenly Mother.


Mother opened doors for the gospel in Europe

Actually, we were a little bit depressed because we produced no outcome of the gospel although quite some time passed by. Meanwhile, there was a turning point for us all. This past summer, we had the opportunity to watch a video showing the sacrifice of Heavenly Mother, and all of us shed tears of repentance. Moreover, the General Pastor called on our Zion while visiting the Churches in Europe. Then the sleeping souls began to wake up. The General Pastor delivered the words of blessing, “Mother has opened doors for the gospel in Europe.” After that, we were able to really feel that the minds of the French people were wide opened.

Before, it was not even easy to talk to one person a day; we were very frustrated and anxious because we couldn’t deliver the good news of Heavenly Mother, whom we were eager to preach about. However, now we deliver the truth about Heavenly Mother to the fullest; we preach it to about a hundred French people a day. Even the people, who were indifferent to us before, ask us seriously, “Is it true that the Bible testifies about Heavenly Mother?” When they confirm it through the Bible, they are very astonished. We are also surprised by their response because we never imagined it before. Every day, we are busy meeting many souls and delivering the words of life to them.

Now, people recognize us first and call us the “people who preach God the Mother.” Among the people we met, there was a young man who promised to study the Bible, saying that he came to know about our Church through the website written in the brochure his roommate brought him. Some people paid attention to our message, saying that they had happened to hear about Heavenly Mother while having a meal with their family or while having a gathering with their friends.

As the Bible says, “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge” (Psalms 19:2), the glory of God Elohim is being proclaimed even while we are not aware of it. What we have to do is just to shout sincerely and boldly. Just as the walls of Jericho fell down when the Israelites gave a loud shout with one voice after marching around the city seven times, the gospel work in France will surely be accomplished by God in an amazing way when we shout aloud with one mind.

Now I’m very excited by the fact that we can preach about Mother to the fullest, and that more amazing works of God are waiting for us. If we don’t preach, no one can know this truth. So, we will shout the truth about Mother like a clear trumpet sound.

Heavenly Father and Mother desire all the people in the world to come to salvation. Following the will of God, we’ve come to France as God’s messengers. The gospel work of the France Church is just starting now. Our God, who fulfills everything in its due time, has opened a highway for the gospel in Europe and doors for preaching in France, too. Our goal is to let the fire of the Holy Spirit arise in the Paris Zion and the Lyon Zion so that the gospel will be preached throughout France and Zion will be established in all regions.

Now we experience the amazing power and love of God in France, a barren land where the gospel has not been fully known yet. We believe that more wonderful works are waiting for us. With that belief, we march forward today, too, toward the amazing works that our God has prepared for us. I earnestly give thanks to God Elohim for allowing us, who are lacking in everything, to stand on the stage of the world mission, and guiding us every day.