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<2012.02> Letter of Fellowship That Connects Jerusalem and the End of the Earth

The following is the letter exchanged between a Jewish Christian living in Israel and Mrs. Kwon. The man has suffered through the Holocaust and overcome all the distress. Finally, he has found the Messiah and now he? spreading the gospel to his people. This story has been written into a novel, which ended up as a bridge between Korea located in Far East and Jerusalem in Israel.
"And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:17-18)"
To Dear SISTER in THE LORD MRS YOO
SHALOM.
First of all, I want thank you so much for your love for us. And what also thank so much for this great Love gift to our Assembly in Jerusalem. I know that you will have some trouble to read my letter in English. I never studied languages. And all my study in schools was only 3 years in the Elementary school. And this was in Poland. And why all this? So, in the time when I was 10 years of my age. Come the German to Poland. And they started to be very bad, and specially to the Jewish people. And start with those many of concentration camp And special for the Jewish People. And so I lost ALL of my family. At this time I was 10 years old. Hunger start. And we were 3 brothers one sister. And my mother what she said to me. From now, You are not more a child. You are a man. And be strong. GOD WITH YOU. So this start. I start to be a man. From 10 years of my age.
This situation was very bad. no what to eat, Hunger. And I lost all my family. And where? In Warsaw Gettho. All dead from hunger. And was not far the dead from me. I was Skeleton. And many time. I was even JEALOUS for those who were dead, And this was not only few days. But 6 long years. And After The war, I came to Israel. And I have a very nice welcome. From the ship. To the army. This time. We were only in ISRAEL - half million Israeli People. And many like me came from the HOLOCAUST CAMPS. So this was. And this time. Who was waiting of us? Those millions of sworn Enemy. 8 Arab countries. 150 million of those who were so full of their confidence. that they will finish with Israel. And their motto was "BUTCHER the JEWS.?And cast them into the sea.
But we who put our confidence in THE LORD. What said the LORD to HIS CHOSEN People ISRAEL? ISAIAH 41:9, 10 "You ARE MY servant Israel. I have chosen you. and not neglected you. Do not be afraid. Poor worm Israel. For I MYSELF will help you." And this is what I can say, because I was here fighting in all those wars - 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973. and many between. And His word is ETERNAL. It stands firm in the heaven (PSALM 119:89). And you see. what the LORD said. We can see with our eyes now. And what more what the LORD said. Even He gave the name on this promised land. And as is clear written in Genesis 35:9-13. Is clear also written. "I give this LAND. I gave to Abraham. And from NOW You shall be named Israel. I give you the LAND. The Land I gave to ABRAHAM. And I will give this land to your descendants after you." So you see.
How many times our enemy come against us. Like this mighty Locust in Egypt. And they fled before us. Like the frightened rabbits. And how many we were in Israel? Only Half million. On 1948. And our enemy, how many they came against us? Like this mighty Locust in Egypt. 8 Arab countries. And we this poor worm Israel. Who trust in The LORD. The LORD was on our side, and if not? So they would swallow us alive. So you see. The LORD said, "Do not be afraid. I will help you." And here we are. And doing His will. And I the Book of Isaiah is clear written. Chapter 49 verses 3 to 8. "YOU are MY servant Israel." And this is our obligation before the Lord. - To come and bring HIS salvation to those stiff-necked people. And this best living fact you can see.
When our son and few others start this congregation, were only few person. And now? Near three hundreds. And so we can see what was done. And so also this is my greatest Joy.After the Holocaust - what I passed. And when I am coming to Our CHURCH and see this what was done. this gives me the greatest joy. As is clear written in Psalm 126:5. "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of Joy." Yes, this is my greatest joy after the Holocaust which I passed. What I was never dreaming in my life. That this day of joy would come. And here This came.
And why? Because The LORD said. "I will never forsake you. YOU are MY SERVANT ISRAEL. And your obligation are to bring My SALVATION. To the ENDS of THE EARTH." YES, and this is what we are doing. And what said the LORD OUR SAVIOR? "GO. I am SENDING YOU out like the lambs among wolves." And we can see. What was done. And even now. I am not more so young. Only 83 years old. but this is only in body. But in SPIRIT I until now am young. And doing this what our SAVIOR said. LUKE 10:3 - "Go. HERE I AM." But now, our enemy are not sleeping. They are waiting for this great chance. How to destroy ISRAEL? But no way. And what said the LORD.
Exodus 23:22? "I shall be enemy to your enemy. Foe to your foes." And here we are and DOING this what the LORD said. To be the LIGHT for the Gentiles. And bring HIS SALVATION to the ends of the earth and so is written. That this must come from Jerusalem. And here we are. And living in JERUSALEM. And this is our duty before The LORD. How many times they try to stop us from bringing His salvation. But no way.
Zvi KALISHER13. 10. 2011
Dear Reverend Zvi
Shalom! I gladly received and read your earnest letter. As I read the incredible story of your life, the persecution you faced from your own people for believing in Jesus Christ, and the fact that even in such situations you worked tirelessly to preach Jesus Christ to this day, I felt encouraged to wonder in what way I might partake in this work. Please allow me to take a moment to introduce myself.
I was born, on October 23rd, 1943, into a family whose members were part of the The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea for four generations. When I was eight years old, my father became a pastor. As a child I loved listening to Bible stories in Sunday school. The story of God? six-day creation of all things; the story of Moses leading his people, the Israelites, out of Egypt, and the events throughout that journey; the various miracles that we, as humans, simply cannot imagine; the story of Samson; the story of David who killed Goliath with a single stone from a brook; Jesus? walking on water; His feeding a crowd of five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish, and gathering twelve baskets of the leftover fragments; Jesus? healing the blind; raising Lazarus from the dead; and other such stories....
As I listened to all these wonderful stories, around the time I was in the fourth grade I thought, "Indeed, the One who has done all these extraordinary things is God. And since I cannot do even one of these, I am but human." It was then that I came to believe in the absolute existence of God; and that heaven, hell, and everything else in the Bible were all His words.
Thus I diligently attended Sunday school, and as I entered junior high and high school and reached adolescence, "my conscience" began to examine my "self." In order to resolve the many problems of sin that arose in my heart, I began to attend early morning prayers in an effort to turn to God. The God I learned of in Sunday school was omniscient, knowing all of man? thoughts and deeds. Hearing that we cannot hide anything from Him frightened me very much.
I often hated my mother. This was because while I was a student, she never encouraged me to study; instead, she only made me do housework or look after my younger siblings, thus I was never given time to be with my friends. Every time this happened, I hated her, and I felt like she might in fact be my stepmother. I thought it would be better to simply not have a mother like her. And as I observed this heart of mine, I saw how evil it was. In Matthew chapter 5 verses 21-28, which I came to know later on, Jesus already addressed this; but at the time I didn? even know a passage like this existed, and so I continued to think according to my own heart and conscience.
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.?But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Raca!?shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!?shall be in danger of hell fire. ... You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28)
Every morning I prayed like this: "Please give me a clean heart throughout the day, and help me to refrain from any thought that is sinful in your sight." As I daily prayed in this way, one day, then two days passed, then a week, then a month, and I came to think that the problem of my sin would not be resolved through this kind of prayer. I also came to think that repeating a prayer with no answer was an act of deceiving both God and myself. But this did not mean I knew of any other way. At this time I did not know that I had original sin.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.  (Psalm 51:5)
As I attended a Christian school, I listened to the preacher very carefully during church service, as well as my father's sermons, but still couldn't find the answer. I just couldn't understand why man was born into a world like this to live a life in which he could not even find the answer. Still, I was a person already born into this world, and I could not, must not, reject the reality of walking ever closer towards the day of my death. Also, even though my flesh would one day perish, I knew my spirit could never die, that it would never disappear; and so when I thought about passing through death's door and standing before the judgment of He who made and ruled over me, and when I wondered who, then, could carry this burden of my problem, I realized there is no one on this earth who is able to do this. I would but stand alone before God and confess everything, and as I thought about these things, I was terrified and speechless.
For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God."  (Romans 14:11)
At that time I didn't know there was such a passage. I was wandering lost, always carrying with me the fear of hell, and before I knew it, I had led three years of a life without purpose. Then, on Saturday, November 18th, 1961, early in the evening, I heard the sound of a hymn coming from my father's room.
Everything is changed since my sins were forgiven, Everything is changed since I knew the Lord;Now my feet are walking the pathway to heaven;All the guilty past is now under the blood.Everything is changed, praise the Lord!Now I am redeemed through the blood:Free from condemnation, God is my salvation,Everything is changed, praise the Lord!  (New Hymn 611)
I could feel that he was singing with a true gratitude rising from somewhere deep within his heart. Throughout my life I had both heard and sung a countless number of hymns, but they were only being sung with lips. This was about four months before my high school graduation. I was sick in bed, staying home from school with a severe flu that had been going around. The sound of my father's hymn was only making my frustrated heart all the more uneasy. As a Christian from birth, my father had attended church for almost forty years and spent ten years as a pastor, so I wondered what great event had him suddenly singing a hymn with such a thankful heart. I thought, "I have never sung a hymn with such a sincere and thankful heart, I wonder what has happened to him...."
Alas, at dinner my father said to us, "You children may be the sons and daughters of a pastor, but you all have nothing to do with God." Then he continued, "If you do not receive salvation, you will all go to hell." This was the first time I had heard anything like this. At that moment I knew the problem that had been leaving me lost was a matter of salvation. So I prayed to God, asking Him not to take my life just yet, to please
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