A heart of thanksgiving brings oneself joy and brightens all those around him. Manmin News caught up with 3 individuals – Deaconess Soon-Joo Ryu in whose life blessings overflow amidst God's delicate touch; Deacon Suk-Hun Kim who has experienced God's love in the middle of a disaster; and Deaconess Ok-Ja Suh, who tastes abundant joy after overcoming adversities.

"God is the Master of my life."

~ Senior Deaconess Soon-Joo Ryu (Vice President, Mary's Mission)

What would it be like to live a life in which God intervenes in it every day?
Senior Deaconess Soon-Joo Ryu, after she began working at Heungkuk Life Insurance as a telemarketer, she has been in first place every month in sales.
"At first, it felt burdensome as I had to urge strangers and strike deals with them. So I prayed, 'I can't do this on my own. You have to help me, God. If You help me, I will be faithful to Your work and live by the Word.'"
She began living her life just as she had prayed. Then God began taking responsibilities for her work. As she made such positive confessions as, "What's impossible can be done," and with the prayer of Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee, she received blessings upon blessings.
She felt that God desired to bless His children but the lack of blessings had something to do on the part of God's children. This is why she first looks back at her life if the sales results are lower than usual, and this is why there is no "giving up" in her life. She has experienced many a time God's carrying out His part of the work when she remained thankful to the end. When she strikes a deal so easily over a phone call, she can feel God at work. From this child of God confessing everyday that her life is a series of miracles when she makes God the Master of her life, we could easily tell how the Word "Give thanks in everything" is the key to overflowing blessings.

"God has shown me the joy of sharing."

~ Deaconess Ok-Ja Suh (Sub-district leader, 32 Parish)

The more one practices sharing, the more he realizes that it is more joyful to give than to receive.
At Manmin's Bupyeong Branch Sanctuary, "Sharing of the Meal of Love" takes place every Wednesday. One such member of the Sanctuary inviting some 80 elderly people and treat them to delicious dishes is Deaconess Ok-Ja Suh, who had been dedicating herself to this for the past 6 years. She could not be happier to see the elderly enjoying warm meals and a variety of side dishes she and others had prepared with devotion.
Her husband passed away suddenly 8 years ago. He had always been a kind and warmhearted husband and Deaconess Suh had always relied on him; she was dumbfounded by her husband's death.
She overcame the difficulties and the grief by faith, however. Thinking of those who were in less fortunate situations than she, Deaconess Suh made giving thanks an integral part of her everyday life. Neither did she cease serving her neighbors with love. This was possible on account of the devotion of her fellow Sanctuary members.
Then God raised her 2 daughters in good health and uprightly and has provided for her family whenever they were in need. Deaconess Suh, who says that the service of sharing she had begun in gratitude of God's grace, now gives thanks to Him for allowing her to know such joy.

"God kept me safe from disasters."

~ Deacon Suk-Hun Kim (Cell Leader, 1 Men's Mission, Masan Manmin Holiness Church)

Throughout the course of life, many people face unpredictable disasters and suffer the difficulties from them. Can you imagine how grateful you would be if God had protected you through them?
Around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, October 17, Deacon Suk-Hun Kim received a call, informing him of a fire at his store. At that moment, needless to say, he became devastated. 'Oh, no!' he thought to himself. 'I've lost everything!'
When he arrived at his store, Deacon Kim found a huge crowd gathered with about 10 fire engines on the scene. He pushed aside the people and went in front of his store, and he could not believe his eyes. His store was intact.

His shop was sharing space with a taxi company in a building. Most of the edifice was in a shape of a sandwich, very much vulnerable to fire, and about 8 centimeters (about 3.1 inches) separated Deacon Kim's store and the taxi company. It had taken 2-3 minutes for the tax company office to be completely destroyed by fire and it would have spread to Deacon Kim's store in a few moments. On top of that, the fire engines arrived late and Deacon Kim's store would have faced the worst.
Yet, the fire did not spread any further. The fire engines arrived and began to put the flames out and not even a square inch of his store was scorched. Anyone who saw the scene could have only confessed, "God saved it."
After the opening on February 23, God has kept safe the store of Deacon Kim, who has never stopped giving thanks and being diligent despite difficult financial situations. Remembering the love of God who has protected everything he owned, Thanksgiving Sunday will be particularly sweet and more meaningful for Deacon Kim this year.