Grandpa's Faith Journey

At about this time in the interview, Grandma said, "Oh! Look at the time. It's 2 o'clock."

I asked if they had something to do and they said no. When we told them we have no place to go, Grandma began laughing and said, "Ask us some questions now."

"Do you want to know how we came to the United States now?" asked Grandpa.

"Yes, please!"


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Grandpa's sister-in-law (Uncle Sam's mom) had a vision in a dream that Grandpa would become an elder in a church. This was surprising to him since Grandpa was not a Christian. My mother also had a dream when she was in high school that a bulldozer came and ripped through their family business at the time and the only thing that was left was a Bible.

Their business didn't last, as prophesied in the dream, and the family ended up moving to Soowon and opened a clothing store. Grandma mostly ran the business and as a hobby Grandpa went hunting and fishing. "Your Grandmother lived a hard life. She always told me that I should have no regrets because while she lived a hard life, I got to do everything I wanted." Grandma added that he even flew to Jeju island to go hunting.

On Christmas day, the family (Grandma and the kids) were on their way to church and asked Grandpa to watch the store. "Christmas? People stay home and drink on Christmas, who's going to come to buy clothing?" Unhappily, he stayed at the store alone. He realized he was 50 years old and, reflecting upon his life, he got to do everything his heart desired, yet in the end he felt pathetic or hopeless. Maybe what he was feeling was the void that the writer of Ecclesiastes spoke about. No one had ever told him to believe in Jesus Christ during his lifetime. And he wasn't one to believe just because someone tried to persuade him. But at this moment, he thought, "Maybe I should go to church in the new year."

The first week of the new year came around, and as Grandma and my mom were gathering their things to go to church, he told my mom nonchalantly, "Sookhee, why don't I visit that church of yours?" Grandma remembers my mom being so excited and Grandpa remembers them getting his clothes ready one by one.

Walking the alley on the way to church, he suddenly felt like a cow being taken to the slaughterhouse. Grandma said his face was pale and blue. When he entered the building, the church members began greeting him as 박사장 - basically, a term of respect for someone who is pretty successful, literally translated as boss. His first impression after the first two weeks was that the lifestyle of the congregation was extremely different from his lifestyle and didn't sit well with him. He remembered a proverb "After three years at a village schoolhouse, even a dog can recite a poem." 서당개 삼 년에 풍월 읊는다. So, he decided to stick with it for 3 years.

One Sunday, an elderly woman began praying for their country and this touched him. He never knew anyone who prayed for anything beyond themselves. Slowly, Grandpa was being transformed. A funeral was being held for a young man in the congregation and Grandpa asked the pastor if he could attend. At the funeral, he jumped in to help the other young pallbearers, to experience the fleeting nature of life and to lower himself in humility.

Ironically, after Grandpa's resolution to attend church for three years, Grandpa's heart was being transformed in only three weeks. He said he was filled with joy to his heart's content. No money in the world could replace the joy he experienced. Everyone was filled with the Spirit; prophesies were being made and fulfilled in our family.