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작성일 : 02-06-22 22:26
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From Beggar's Haunts to New Hope(from New Evidence)
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글쓴이 :
조동호
 조회 : 5,710
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originally written for New Evidence, in 1996
I was born on February 4, 1951 in a small city in the south of Korea. It was near the end of the Korean war and I lived with both my parents until my mother and I were forsaken by my father. When I was six years old my mother could not take care of me properly so she sent me back to my father and step mother. But I could not stand the abuse they gave me so I ran away again. I was just nine years old when I ended up wandering the streets. That was the beginning of my story.
One freezing cold night, I was kicked out of the Railway Station where I had been huddling in a corner, shivering and hungry. I tried unsuccessfully to find shelter inside one of the buses parked at the plaza of the Station. Eventually I found myself in the beggar's haunts under a train tunnel begging for food.
One day an American came by and he introduced me to the New Hope Boys' Home. I can still remember the day I first set my feet inside the garden at New Hope Boys' Home. It was 27 January 1962. That night, I had the best meal of my whole life. My sleeping place was unbelievable and I still cherish the memory of that moment. I also remember the sunrise prayer meetings and worship services we enjoyed at the New Hope Boys' Home. At last in that place a lonely and broken little boy began to find the new hope he had been looking for all his life.
From that time on my life improved dramatically. In 1972 I entered the Korea Bible Seminary in Taejon. I studied for four years all the while working hard to make a living. Then I became assistant minister at Kajangdong Church of Christ and I taught at Hansung Technical High School in the evening.
God continued to bless me abundantly and a wonderful opportunity for me to study at Winston-Salem Bible College and Cincinnati Bible Seminary in the United States. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree and then a Master of Divinity degree. In 1987 I was ordained as a Christian minister. That was when I returned to Korea to teach at Hansung Theological College. I also received the degree of Doctor of Ministry from Hanshin University in Seoul, Korea in 1994.
When I first sat on a garden bench at New Hope Boys' Home all those years ago I dreamed that one day, with God's help, I would make some thing truly worthwhile of my life. My dream has come true. I am now a professor and also minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have decided my life to equipping seminary students to become good Christian workers and to helping the Korea Christian Church continue to grow. I am also publishing Christian resources to help them.
Right now I teach New Testament at Hansung Theological College. I am an Associate Professor and Dean of the Academy. But I also preach at the Love Church of the New Hope Boys' Home where the blessing of God first began to transform my life. Praise the Lord who has created us in Christ Jesus for good works. He certainly has made some thing of my life. GOD WORKS IN MANY WAYS AND JESUS NEVER FAILS!
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