'God Is Everywhere', Witnessing

Kojin Tranberg
December 24, 2007

God is everywhere! I have truly come to this realization that can only truly come when you're confronted with the stark reality of experience. Yes I have had the amazing opportunity to see God working directly in our witnessing efforts. I have seen how when we are completely object to God and his Will, God will use us as his instrument to bring about amazing change.

Through this testimony I will share only two experiences that showed me the necessity of consistency and internal focus / preparation. Witnessing, Mito san explained, is about sharing your happiness with others, so if you're unhappy being a part of this movement then its truly impossible to witness. This being said when our STF 2nd year team came back from Boston Massachusetts pioneering Harvard, we went out to eat at a local Chipotle restaurant.

At this point our witnessing condition had finished; however God was not finished, He still had plans for us. The Chipotle was extremely full of people and our team of five members was having difficulty finding a seat. At this point a brother who was sitting in a booth by himself invited us over to sit with him. This is when the real conversation began.

Amazingly enough the brother we ended up witnessing to is named Eyal. He is from Israel close to Tel Aviv. He has been in the US for 2 years and has been searching for meaning and a way to end the suffering of the world. At this point we cordially invited him to a workshop to hear the Divine Principle. Upon reflection we were shocked. Truly God sends amazingly prepared people if your open and willingly to be the hand that reaches out to God's children. God does not rest and so neither should we.

Finally God worked again on my way home. I was sitting in my airplane in Washington D.C waiting for the plane to take off, when a problem occurred. The flight was overbooked and the airline was looking for volunteers who would be willing to take another flight. I was really struggling because I didn't want to upset my parents, but I had lots of time and this was a really good opportunity to live for the sake of others. So I volunteered.

Since I wasn't going home I was accommodated with a 5 star hotel, free meals, and a free ticket redeemable at anytime within the next year. This I thought was an awesome blessing from God, and I thought this to be the extent of craziness for the night. However, as I'm waiting to go to the Sheraton Crystal, the shuttle driver for the hotel picks me up. This is when the surprise of the night occurred.

At 9:45 pm, I had the pleasure of meeting a brother named Ebenezer. Ebenezer is an African brother from Liberia. Liberia has just concluded a 14 civil war, and Ebenezer is a casualty of that war. When I shared my experience in Harvard, and shared with Ebenezer that kids in Harvard are smart but they are in their own world. Ebenezer laughed and agreed. Ebenezer shared that life hit him full in the face when he had to run away from rebels and their killing spree. Life hit him full in the face when he had to wade through piles of mutilated bodies to reach a refugee camp, and then when he came to America life hit him again with the reality that American people are in their own world.

So since that time, Ebenezer is attending American University trying to obtain his Graduate Degree in International Relationships with a focus on Peacekeeping. He is working with other scholars to write a book titled, "Is Total World Peace Possible?" At this point I began to explain that it already is happening. I shared about the peace efforts in the Middle East, I shared about the Global Peace Festival that happened in the Philippines, and I urged Ebenezer to attend the Global Peace Festival in Washington D.C. I told him I'd email him information so that he can plug into the many events and programs were having in D.C.

Actually at an earlier date Ebenezer has had the privilege of coming into contact with the UPF, and is actually really good friends with the Liberian leader of our movement. Ebenezer's dream is to build a school and resource center in Liberia that can teach kids traumatized by war how to be peaceful and exist for the sake of each other. There is already a Peace Resource Center established by the leader of our movement, and Ebenezer is excited to work with this effort.

So amazing things are happening everywhere, and I truly believe this is because God is everywhere. There is nowhere that God is not investing his 110%, and through these precious experiences I have come to realize we cannot but invest our 110% everywhere as well because then and only then will God have the true power to bring Cheon Il Guk and the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Lets all give our best to establish the dream of God! "One Family under God. Aju!"