OPEN MIND

On a flight to Seoul – Hyungbae (Joseph) Park (S.G Kim cell)

I’m writing this message on my flight to Seoul. I first came to God’s Vision Church in Sept 2016, after 2 years of living in Berlin. At the time, I was going through a wilderness experience in my life. I came back from Berlin, having experienced failure(?) in my love life. Moreover, after a week or so, I woke up to find that I lost sensation on my left hand. The doctors were unable to diagnose and I could not find a job, given the circumstances. The following 10 months could have been the most uncertain and darkest days of my life, but somehow, I’m only filled with gratitude when I reflect back on those moments. It was at that time when I resolved to worship God through the difficult times, began to attend Wednesday services and re-joined the Praise team.

It was also the time when I started the Book Club and served as a B2 course mentor. I began to live by a personal faith principal that I will give more of my time to God in challenging times. I met a lot of great people through GVC and was able to learn from their lives. The 3 years before COVID was thoroughly enriched by members of GVC. There are so many names that comes to mind, and I would like to thank them all through this message.

As this is ‘Open Mind’, I’d also like to share a bit more openly. Ever since we began to have our church services online from last March, my worship went through many ups and downs. Before COVID, I thought that I had given my life to worshipping God. But seeing how my worship fell down just because there wasn’t anyone around me, I struggled with self-doubt and guilt. I had prided myself in loving and serving God, so I felt all that time had been nullified. I have recovered emotionally since then, but I feel as though I’m having to build the foundations of my faith once again. Please pray for me in this regard.

I would like to end by sharing the lyrics of a worship song, which I had intended to dedicate last week.

“My life has passions, but it is still like a rough stone. By the hands of God, it will be polished and smoothed. Although it may be a long process, I will persevere in faith and be made new”

When I reflect on the last 4 years, I was busy ‘running around’ and serving the church in various ways (I know this from reading the Christmas cards I received during the retreats). As I encounter big changes and begin a new chapter of my life, I hope that I will focus my passions on truly loving God and my neighbours in my life. I hope that I will persevere in faith and be made new. I look forward to sharing good news when we next meet. Thank you once again for everything!

예배시간 변경 안내(service time change)

  • 3월 3일(3월 첫 주만) 센트럴 주일예배가 영국교회 행사 관계로 오후 3시로 변경되었습니다. 윔블던 예배는 동일하게 오전 10시 30분 입니다.
  • Sunday’s service(3rd, Mar) of Central campus will be held at 3 p.m. due to an English Church event. Wimbledon campus’s service is the same as usual(10.30a.m.).