The Words of the Kang Family
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The Words of the Kang Family |
Li-sonne
(left) with her two sisters
Hi! This is Li-sonne Kang. I'm half Korean, half Welsh. I have lived in Korea my whole life. Now I want to share about my life, which became happy and brightened because of Chung Pyung. My dream from God
In my final year in high school, I had to decide on a major and a university. My mother thought that studying Pure Love Culture at Sun Moon University would be a good choice for me. But she also said that it was my decision, something between God and myself and with which nobody could interfere. On her suggestion, I did a forty-day prayer condition but could not find a clear answer. She then suggested that I attend a workshop in Chung Pyung for three days and pray about my future. But I did not go. I thought I didn't have time to do more, and that if I studied hard to go to a better university it would make God happy. I discussed this with many people, listened to many viewpoints and finally decided to enter Dongguk University to study Social Science.
After one semester, my mother suggested I go to Chung Pyung for the 2010 forty- day International Summer Workshop to work as a staff member and to pray about my life. I thought it would take up a huge part of my summer vacation and did not want to go. However, my oldest sister also recommended the workshop very deeply, and, fortunately, I went.
During the workshop, I knew I needed to make myself center more on God, find myself, and know God's plan for my future. I approached this by asking fundamental questions in the Jeongshimwon prayer hall, along with offering some small conditions. One day in the middle of the prayer, I received a strong answer: the words "pure love" echoed throughout the entire prayer hall over and over again.
So, I said to God. "Okay God, if You want me to keep purity forever, I will do that. But God, what's Your plan for me for Your great work? For what did You create me? I want to know Your thinking. I don't know what to do in the future. Please tell me... and show me."
Surprisingly, the same words "pure love" echoed again around the prayer hall. I realized that God wanted me to be a pure love missionary. Furthermore, I could see an image above my head. In the image was a lecture room filled with people listening to a speech I was giving. At that moment, I naturally felt that was me giving a "pure love" lecture someday in the future.
On that basis, I decided to change my major from Social Science at Dongguk University to the Department of Pure Love Culture in the Family, at Sun Moon University. It was the strongest answer I had ever received from God.
Even after I had received such a strong answer from God, back at home my mind was swayed by what many people said. Some said to just stay in Dongguk, which is a well-known university, or alternatively to take an exam to get into an even more famous university. Fortunately I had my mom and big sister who cared about me much more than I cared about myself. They had also received inspiration from God that I should change to the Pure Love major.
So I transferred to the Department of Pure Love Culture in the Family and now I am so happy studying here. I'm enjoying my current studies much more than my former major. I feel it is just right for me. Whenever I study, I want to quickly learn many things for the sake of those who don't know these precious values, about keeping absolute purity. I want to be able to give a lot of love through my lectures. I want to move people's hearts so that they change their lives to center on absolute love.
The
Coming of Age ceremony held at the Chung Pyung training center was
attended by seven hundred young members.
In the summer of 2011 I was on the staff for the Korean middle and high school students at their fourteen-day workshop. I wasn't fully convinced about my leadership ability, or that I could give lots of sincere love to the brothers and sisters at the workshop. That's because I never had any younger brothers or sisters myself. So I went to the Jeongshimwon prayer hall when I felt unable to guide the second-generation trainees well with my ability. One prayer theme struck my mind. This was expanding the capacity of my loving heart in order to truly love all people, so that I could become closer to being an ideal person. I learned this in my pure love major class. I deeply wanted to have relationships with the trainees and other staff members that are based on heart, so I asked God to make me more sincere and able to see other people's original minds.
Praying in the prayer hall had led me to have an amazing experience. There were almost thirty students on my team and I didn't know how to speak to them, how to have confidence, because on the inside I am really so shy. Nevertheless, when I stood in front of the trainees my voice was strong. Sometimes I even made them laugh so they would feel more relaxed.
There were a few students whose countenance and thinking were negative. As you know, inside I am not really that strong and my heart is not broad enough to bear all the negative expressions or attitudes other people might have. But thanks to prayer -- my prayer for my team, especially for those negative trainees -- the negative faces changed bit by bit. One such student even opened her heart to me, and one day we could talk deeply about our dreams, our families and our characters.
From that day on, in my heart I realized how much Dae-Mo nim, Heung-jin nim and Hoon-Mo nim love all the trainees and forgive them with a deep, deep heart.
The words that the Blessing is not for me alone, but for God, for our spouses, and for our descendants were deeply engraved in my heart at the Chung Pyung training center. With this in mind, I participated in a "Coming of Age Ceremony" for second- and third-generation members. I think there are several reasons the tears never stopped flowing down my cheeks during the ceremony.
The Holy Song Session that I attended before the ceremony was a spiritually powerful one. Almost for the first time I felt strongly that spiritual beings were moving about and helping us to rid ourselves of bad spirits. With each new part of the program, I felt gratitude and inspiration, and tears came to my eyes.
When we sang the Korean song Sarang Hae [I love you] together, the words "You don't know how many tears I shed when you left me" seemed as if they were spoken by True Parents to us and to me in particular. I had wandered around trying to find myself as a second-generation member and had been stained by the secular world and culture. I thought to myself that I had really hurt True Parents' hearts. I also thought about how much True Parents had had to endure as they waited for me to grow up; and unexpectedly, I shed tears of gratitude and remorse.
Dae-Mo nim said to us during the ceremony: "Forget all the wrongdoings you have committed. You have been reborn today as adults," When I reflected on these words, I thought about how many devotions had been offered and how much had been forgiven to make this significant ceremony possible. I was filled with gratitude and emotion once again for the love and devotion of God and True Parents, for the Chung Pyung work carried out by Dae-Mo nim, Heung-jin nim and Hoon-Mo nim, and for my beloved parents for giving birth to me. Hoon-Mo nim said, "Do not go to places for drinking, smoking or taking drugs. Do not look at or touch' someone of the opposite sex." She also emphasized that second generation members do not have the root of sin; and that to see this with one's spiritual eyes is an amazing thing. Because, the root of sin is the cause of illness and of the difficulties that make people miserable, we of the second (and third) generation should try very hard to get rid of our fallen nature. If we don't, God will be so sad.
I renewed my resolution to overcome Satan's temptations, even if it meant denying myself completely, and to bring him to voluntary submission.
I came to the realization that I was no longer so young that I could live in an easy and carefree manner. I realized that I should pull myself together! And when the poem "The Crown of Glory," which True Father wrote at the age of sixteen, was recited, I thought to myself that I would inherit the heart of living for others and the heart of true love as a daughter, laborer and elite soldier of God.