26. Finishing work!
Time passed quickly and we were approaching the latter half of 2029. I am already past 67 years old. When I think about it, it seems like the exact age when people retire in this world. However, when I look back, I think that although it is not the same as when I was young, there are still things I can do and things I must do. So, if God gives me some work and role, what would it be? I couldn’t help but wonder.
I thought about it the other day, but when I thought about the many things I experienced when I first came to the mission field as a new missionary, I thought that everyone who first came to the mission field would have encountered various things and prayed with conflict or regret at least once. Thinking about that aspect, I thought that I needed to play a role in helping my juniors not repeat the training and training I had experienced and refined in the mission field.
Previously, when I was creating an NGO that I belonged to in the local or Korean community, I thought that even if I did not directly lead the ministry within the organization, I would be able to do more work in that organization than I alone. In that sense, I thought that if I could exert influence as a missionary alone, I would inevitably fall into limited limitations. Rather, if I could help many missionaries so that they could do their assigned ministry well, I thought that it would have a much greater impact in terms of expanding the kingdom of God around the world than if I were doing my ministry alone. In fact, if you look at it that way, missionaries who do their ministry alone do not do their ministry on their own, but rather, they do their ministry with the help of the prayers and material support of the church that sent them, numerous pastors, and believers. Therefore, missionaries can be said to be like soldiers who fight on the front lines. Therefore, if I could systematically help them, many missionaries would be able to bear more good fruits of the gospel in a more efficient and effective manner. That is why I thought that God was telling me to do such ministry and entrusting me with it.
So I first informed the mission department about this decision. The missionary was surprised. They asked why I was withdrawing when I had worked so hard to create a point of contact and framework for the gospel in ‘Molisha’ and the conditions were starting to ripen a little. So I explained it carefully. If a missionary were to gain such a position and qualification or have such a background without being recognized, it could become a point of contact and framework as you said, but now that it has gone beyond that, it would rather hinder the missionary work, and furthermore, I thought that this was the right thing to do to prevent obstacles from occurring for my son, who will continue the ministry, and that the framework for the ministry that I had built up until now could be a good foundation for the ministry for my son, who will continue the ministry. I explained the situation, and the missionary agreed to my withdrawal, saying that in that case, they could not do it. Then I said that I would return to headquarters to discuss the matter further and hung up the phone. Finally, I contacted my teacher to let him know about this, made an appointment to meet him, and went to see him. And when I told him my decision, at first, the teacher and Nana tried to stop me, but when they realized that my decision was firm, they shed tears of regret until their eyes turned red. Then, I said that I wanted to give them a medal and a title as a way to show my appreciation for their hard work, and that I wanted to hold a grand ceremony for them, so he also tried to persuade the teacher, saying that it would be difficult, but if they gave them unofficially instead of an official ceremony, I would receive them in case of emergency, so he asked his secretary to bring what he had prepared, and he gave me the highest medal of ‘Molisha’ along with the title on the spot. And while receiving them, I suddenly remembered that I had been teased by the teacher once, and I thought that I had to get revenge on him. So after receiving the medal and title, I stepped back like a soldier and suddenly saluted the president and greeted him in a military manner, shouting, “Loyalty!” Then, the teacher and Nana, as well as the secretary in the room, and everyone else who was accompanying me were surprised by my sudden, loud greeting in a military manner. Although I was in my mid-60s, I showed that I still had the spirit of a former officer who had received officer training in the Republic of Korea. The attendants who were far away were surprised, but they couldn’t laugh loudly at the president’s surprise, so they turned their faces to the side and snickered. Then, I approached the teacher and quietly said in Korean,
“This is revenge for the last time you put me in handcuffs and made me remember!”
The teacher responded,
“Teacher!
Let’s see on the day I leave the country.
We’ll arrest you again at the airport.”
Then I said,
“If I have this medal, I’ll be automatically pardoned, so I’ll just go…!”
While laughing with Nana, the secretary standing next to me said this.
“Your Majesty!
I think I should learn Korean quickly.”
At those words, everyone in the room laughed together once more.
As I was leaving the teacher and Nana, I asked them to leave Ye-hoon alone, since my son, Ye-hoon, would probably do well on his own, and that it would be better to just pretend not to know until he asked for help. Then I added a word, saying that he had been doing well in all his governing as president so far and was receiving favorable reviews from many people, so I asked him not to lose that spirit and to continue to do so until the end. I held the teacher and Nana’s hands and prayed for them one last time. Then, leaving behind my regrets, I quietly left the president’s office.