ⓒ 2019 WATV

There are the women pastoral staff members, that is, the pastoral staff’s wives, who are serving the church members and keeping the church frugally, along with the Church of God men pastoral staff members who are devoted to the gospel work to complete the movement to preach to seven billion people around the world. On April 27, the Global Leadership Conference for the Women Pastoral Staff was held at the Pangyo New Jerusalem Temple in Korea. The program lasted for five days, attended by the women pastoral staff from 400 Korean churches and from 52 countries including the U.S., Peru, Philippines, Mongolia, and India. The branch church leaders who visited Korea during the same period, too, participated in it and reaffirmed their gospel vision and duties as a prophet.

The program began in earnest with the Sabbath worship service (April 27). At the morning worship, Mother complimented the women pastoral staff, calling them “flowers emitting sweet fragrances behind the scenes at the lowest place,” and encouraged them, “As you’ve inherited the love of God, who is willing to save His children by sacrificing Himself, you’ve overcome difficulties you face while working for the gospel with joy and gratitude and taken care of the brothers and sisters like your own body. Thanks to your efforts, the world evangelism is being accomplished more swiftly.” Under the subject, Love Is the Greatest of All, Mother gave a lesson: “Love enables what cannot be done with knowledge and common sense to be done. Though love grows cold in the present climate of selfishness and financial difficulties, I hope you will diligently deliver love and the food of life to people in and out of Zion with gracious and godly words as children of God.” (1 Co 13:1-11; 2 Ti 3:1-5; 1 Jn 4:5-11; Ro 13:10; 1 Pe 4:7-8). Mother joined the whole process of the program, including the Happy Church Global Conference and the Global Bible Seminar, taking great care of the participants’ meals and accommodation. Seeing Mother’s careful touch, the women pastoral staff learned the virtues they need such as consideration and a mindset of serving others.

ⓒ 2019 WATV

“Moved by your devotion that resembles that of Mother, God will grant more abundant blessings to each church,” said General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol. He carefully examined the characteristics of leadership that are required from the women pastoral staff. The first one is the importance of words. A word can leave an indelible scar or heal a broken heart. Therefore, words should be used with caution as a means of delivering God’s love and truth. For this, the pastoral staff in charge of the house of God needs a gentle and humble attitude and a way of thinking that considers God’s will the first priority. General Pastor Kim gave a special lecture on the theme of “Difference in Perspective,” where he mentioned various examples and experiences of the ministry, so that they could recognize cultural differences between the East and the West, and differences between the pastoral staff and lay members. “Today, preaching to seven billion people is being carried out rapidly. Just as the sea receives all dirty things and purifies them, all of us should have a broad mind enough to recognize differences in thoughts and perspectives and cover the faults of our members. Then, we can fully unite,” he said, emphasizing generosity and tolerance (Lk 23:39-42; Mt 12:35-37; Eph 4:26-32; Ps 132:12-15; Isa 51:3).

During the program period, the women pastoral staff shared their experiences and knowledge with one another at various events such as the Arise & Shine Global Bible Seminar 2019, the Happy Church Global Conference, and the Global Workshop for the Women Pastoral Staff, seeking their roles suitable for God’s will. On the last day of the program, the Korean women pastoral staff looked around “Father’s True Heart” Exhibition (in Gwanak Church, Seoul) and “Our Mother” Writing & Photo Exhibition (in Sahngdaewon Church in Seongnam), where they fathomed the holy love of the physical parents and the spiritual Parents. The overseas women pastoral staff toured famous places such as Korean Folk Village, Hanok (traditional Korean house) Village, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and Seoul N Tower to see the traditional culture and development of Korea, imagining how greatly the gospel would be completed in the future.

ⓒ 2019 WATV

“Through this program, Mother showed us a hundred percent picture of what our roles are and how we should bear up. I will live the rest of my life for the heavenly family just as Mother has been, away from self-centered thoughts and deeds,” said Deaconess Sindy Quintero (Baltimore, MD, U.S.).

“It is all thanks to Father and Mother’s love that even villagers of the Himalayas were able to receive the truth. My mission is now to embrace all the members so that I will not lose even a single one of the souls Father and Mother have found with tears and sacrifice,” said Deaconess Rama Humagain (Dharan, Nepal), showing her resolution for the gospel.

The women pastoral staff, who listened to the words of the Bible, observed Mother’s examples of love, and spent time in repentance and gratitude, and returned to their churches with smiles on their faces and the hearts full of gratitude.