(A Mustard Seed) First Fruit at Apgok-dong

In 1963, I was staying at a village called, “Saeteo” in Apgok-dong and witnessing the gospel. One day, a young man called me early in the morning, “Minister, minister!” because a young man, who had gone to the army from his village, worked as a driver in the army and died in an accident, and his corpse was sent to the village. According to the tradition of the village, a person who died outside the village cannot come into the village, so they placed the corpse outside the village. Not knowing how to go about the funeral, the villagers discussed what to do. “There is a minister living across from our village, so let’s do it the church way,” and he came to ask me to lead the funeral. I was often starving during that time, so I was able to eat well and lead the funeral.

Since then, I went to the village, called “Apshil,” every Thursday and preached the Word. I would visit houses all afternoon to witness, and during dinner time, I would sit in the woods to take a rest and pray. It was because the chief of the village told me that everyone in the village was so poor that if I were to ask for a spoonful of rice, then I would be kicked out of the village right away. When dinner time is over, I would gather people in a small room to preach the Word, and come back home late at night as I crossed over the mountain. At the time, there were many animals in the mountain, so the road was very dangerous.

Soon, there were many more people who listened to the Word, so I moved from Saeteo to Apshil. I rented a small room in a house and preached the gospel. I spent most of my morning reading the Bible. One day, someone visited the landlady. In the countryside, it is so quiet that one could hear a chicken crowing or a dog barking, and as the landlady was sitting on the floor, smoking, a lady came, and they spoke to one another. ... Read More