The announcement of a moneyless mission trip brought back memories of the grace I had received during the one I had participated in 1987. Looking forward to the chance the church was giving us, to experience God¡¯s helping hand, we all gathered at Daejon mission center to be teamed up. I was placed in a group with Co-pastor Soo-won Sohn and Brother Terry. Our course was to pass through Chungeup, Changsung, and Dahmyang.

With only 3,000 won, we left Daejon on the city bus, and headed towards the bus terminal, to board a bus that would take us across country. However, we ended up at a different place; having long passed the bus terminal, we once again rode the bus back. From the start, God showed us how we were full of mistakes and can only depend on Him. While riding the city bus back towards the terminal, I witnessed to a soldier who was on leave, returning home towards Nonsan. We too decided to take the bus which headed towards Nonsan. As a soldier in charge of the religious aspects in the army, he was a young adult with a strong sense of religion. After having preached the gospel to him we parted with the promise to have further fellowship through letters.

Enthusiastic about the guidance God will provide during our penniless mission trip, with hope in the One Who changes our mistakes to righteousness, we got off at Nonsan. There we hitchhiked on a van headed towards Icksan. The driver had told us that he had been thinking that, ¡°If I stop the car and give these gentlemen a ride, they¡¯ll be very happy.¡± Realizing that God had given him this thought, I started witnessing to him. Although he was not a churchgoer, he told us that he had previously tried to believe, but it didn¡¯t work out. The driver seemed interested in what I had to say, so I briefly preached the gospel. He listened with sincerity and thanked me afterwards. After handing him the sermon tapes I had brought along, our team got off at an unknown place.

We entered a village and witnessed door-to-door. As the day came to an end, we grew hungry. The countryside was real quiet and we had no idea of where to spend the night. I was then able to understand how Jacob must have felt when he had to make due with a rock as his pillow. We had walked for a while, then stopped to take the time to pray to God, who would lead our footsteps. After our prayer meeting, we went on our way. As we passed a house we encountered a person who later asked us to stay for dinner. Believing that God had provided this meal, we ate the feast that was prepared for us.

Hitching a ride from a passing car, we left the village and witnessed in a different town. Someone informed us that there were many diligent churchgoers in a small town located in the subcounty Leesuh.We once again departed, headed for this small town. When we arrived at the place, it was already 8 o¡¯clock and the night grew darker. As we passed through the streets of the village, we found that all the doors were locked. It seemed as if no one would welcome us. All we wanted was to find a house where we could hold services. With this heart we walked on and encountered the town¡¯s public meeting house, but to our dismay, the doors were locked. We were about to walk away, when we noticed that someone was home nextdoor. As we inquired about the meeting house, we asked if we could hold a Bible study at their house that night. The young lady who had answered the door invited us in. Fellowship lasted for about an hour, and the the young lady¡¯s heart was very good. She presently worked at the local church office, and shared with us the troubled heart she had towards the scandals she witnessed while working close with the church. She was grateful when we were able to resolve her heart through the Word, but it seemed as if she felt constrained due to her mother¡¯s wary attitude towards us.

Her mother, being a deacon at the local church, took caution against us, and avoided us by excusing herself to make korean food Kimchee. Her expressions suggested to us that she was tired and wished for us to leave. Knowing that she didn¡¯t approve of us having service there, we were about to leave saying, ¡°We came here with the desire to have service in this house, but I think we will just leave.¡± Her heart changed for that split second, and she asked us to stay and have service. While listening to the Word, her heart opened and she was even able to receive counciling for her family problems. After preaching the gospel, we fellowshipped about many things. That night her heart opened up, and she asked us to visit her one more time on our way back.

It was past ten o¡¯clock when we first set out the door. I was hoping that we could spend the night at that house, but because her husband was a non-believer I didn¡¯t expect it to happen. Although graceful for the service, we had no where to go. All we could do was pray to God. As we walked we saw the county building and knocked on the door to the security office. At that instant, a car stopped beside us and the driver asked why we had come. He was an officer of the 119 fire department who was on duty that night. The officer welcomed us to spend the night at the fire department office, but suggested that it might be a bit uncomfortable.

In contrary, to use the office seemed like a hotel room to us. The officer was away working in a different room when Co-pastor Sohn spied three unripe persimmons, wishing he could eat them. I shared Pastor Park¡¯s sweet rice-cake testimony and told him to wait and see what happens. Only ten minutes had passed when the officer returned with a box of deliciously ripened persimmon for us to eat. ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± he said. Seeing how God had rapidly listened to our prayers, we joyfully ate. We spent in a warm and cozy room. We got up on the second day, washed our hair in warm water and left the office after having a prayer meeting. We were suprised to see how easily people stopped to give us rides. Being the three of us, we thought that it would be difficult to catch rides, but starting from a Tico to a Potentia, all we had to do was raise our hands, and the cars stopped. It astounded me to see these people readily give rides to strangers, because I knew that I would never have been able to do so. I felt as if God had prepared these cars for our transportation.

I hoped to find a churchless town where we could invite the people to the town¡¯s meeting house and share the Word. The provincial chief director of general affairs at the Eebahm bureau of Chungeup city introduced us to the area. We settled on going to Bongyang village. When we arrived at the village by car, we met a village elder at the meeting house, and he happily welcomed our plans of holding a Bible study. After unpacking our bags, we went around and witnessed from door-to-door, inviting everyone to our night service. At around four o¡¯clock in the afternoon, when an old lady from one of the houses we visited said, ¡°You probably haven¡¯t had lunch yet, why don¡¯t you return after witnessing a bit more, and I¡¯ll have lunch prepared.¡± So, we went and witnessed to a couple more families, then returned to eat the meal carefully prepared for us.

At the elderly meeting house in Bongyang village (From the right Terry, Pastor.Lee)

The old lady told us that she usually pulls out only one radish a day from her garden to cook soup for herself. Oddly enough, that day she felt like pulling out two and ended up with two large radishes. She had wondered if maybe her children or some guests were to arrive. ¡°I think these radishes were pulled for you,¡± she told us. Being grateful, we offered to have Bible study there, which she gladly accepted. The gospel we preached entered her heart, and she was so happy saying, ¡°Now I too am righteous!¡±

It was in the evening while we were waiting at the elders¡¯ meeting house for people to arrive, a drunken old man walked in. It seemed as if he would disrupt the Bible study if he stayed, so we told him we were going to step out for a while to invite others to the bible study; but he followed us. We walked throughout the village trying to loose him, when we stopped to invite a high school student to the Bible study. Suprisingly the old man had left while we were talking to the student.

Our mission team waited at the meeting house when a moment later three adults, and the high school student and her sister whom we had invited earlier arrived. Brother Terry gave his testimony, and I preached the sermon. After the service, we took the time to have individual fellowship. I spoke with the adults, and Co-pastor Sohn preached the gospel to the high school student and her sister. Their fellowship had lasted past 11:00pm and when it was over, the two sisters had truly received salvation.

The older sister, Hye-young, worked at Hanjun, a Korean electric company. The next day was a company holiday, so I told her she could listen to more of the Word. It seemed as if God had exactly planned it this way, so I knew this was a soul He had prepared. Later that day, two girls brought us some apples and Korean panfried food, which we ate with a grateful heart. With chief elder¡¯s permission, we were also able to eat as much ¡°ramyeon¡± that was at the meeting house. Because we preached the gospel, God had prepared souls, as well as plenty of food for us to eat.

On the third day, we arose at 5 am.. Grateful for the works the Lord had performed the night before, I automatically knelt in prayer. I was thankful for the warm water again that day. At around 7:00 in the morning, the two girls who had listened to the gospel the night before had arrived. The gospel was preached a second time and became established in their hearts. I¡¯m glad that while we were on our mission trip, the two became connected to the Chungeup church. In the book of Acts, when Paul visited Phillipians, there was a demon possessed woman who foretold the future. She followed Paul around and prophesised that later got him into prison. These events led to the salvation of the prison guard and his family. Likewise, although we were caused to walk throughout the whole village trying to escape the drunken old man, we were able to meet one high school student that led to her and her sister¡¯s salvation.

The day before we left Bongyang, we made a final visit to the old lady who had provided us lunch. We spoke more of the gospel. Afterwards, leaving the village in God¡¯s hands, we departed. Later that day we arrived at Mt. Naejang National Park by a car that God had provided. After showing Brother Terry the beautiful late autumn scenery and taking some pictures, we left for Changsung. This was a place we had never been before, but we were thankful to know that a servant of God, as well as a church which preached the gospel, was located there.

It was already Wednesday when we arrived at a village; located between Dahmyang and Changsung. We sought for a small church where we could preach the Word. All afternoon we visited churches to see if anyone was willing to allow us to lead service that night, but we were rejected. We were unsatisfied, although we witnessed in many towns. There was no one who welcomed us. Towards the evening, the rain started to pour down.We entered just any church to partake in the Wednesday night service. It was sad to see the unsaved souls listening to such lifeless words. I started to think, ¡°When will I be able to brighten their darkness with the Word of the gospel...¡± I left the place with a distressed heart. Even though I wanted to go to preach the Word at the town¡¯s meeting house there was no meaning in doing so. As I remembered how the Holy Spirit was the one who blocked Paul from preaching the Word in Asia, I left the town with no regrets.

At around 10 pm we arrived at the Soobuk subcounty. It was getting darker and the rain continued to pour. We had entered the Nasan village in Soobuk and headed for the village head¡¯s house to ask for help. He happily welcomed us into his home. Suprisingly the room we slept in was warm. We later found out that his married daughter had left that day with her newborn child after having visited a couple of days. That explained the warmth of the room. With a grateful and happy heart we prayed and fell asleep in the room God had prepared.

On the forth day we were once again able to wash ourselves with warm water and read the Bible. Our hostess called us to eat the breakfast she had prepared for us. After breakfast we went to visit a person who was a diligent churchgoer, previously introduced to us. At first it seemed as if she was keeping her distance, but she invited us for a cup of tea. Through Bother Terry¡¯s testimony, her heart openend and we were able to hold a service. After we sang hymns and Co-pastor Sohn prayed, I went right into preaching the gospel. As the gospel entered her heart, she was overjoyed and shared with us what was in her heart. We glorified God who had led us there.

When this lady had given birth to her child, she had undergone a operation without anesthesia; in order to save her baby. Due to the pain, she had lost her mind, unable to sleep and barely ate for a couple of months. As she had gained her consciousness, she started to attend church. But, she had spent many painful months unable to meet the truth. When I had heard all this, I realized why God had blocked our path the night before and caused us to come to this unknown place late last night. Our hearts were touched by God¡¯s leading hand. It was not an easy task to change course to an unknown place that late at night, but this incident assured us that the Holy Spirit guided us to preach the gospel to that family.

We then left that house and headed for Dahmyang. We wanted to go towards Chungeup, past Dahmyang, but we had no ride. So we then decided to go to Sunchang. Once we decided to do this, we immediately found a ride. As the three of us got off at Sunchang and headed for Imshil, I asked Co-pastor Sohn and Brother Terry what they wanted to eat. They both wanted to eat chinese noodle but responded without hope. I started to think to myself, ¡°Do you always have to buy your own food? If God feeds me I¡¯ll be able to eat...¡± and so I told the others that God would provide us with chinese noodle that day.

As we walked towards Imshil, Co-pastor Sohn had to go to the restroom. As I was waiting for him to return, I crossed a four lane street. Suddenly a car stopped right by me, and someone approached asking, ¡°Aren¡¯t you Pastor Hun-mok Lee?¡± He was a brother from the Namwon church. The brother drove a delivering packs car that day because he had to make his rounds to drop off merchandise to his customers. He was on his way back, having missed a place, when he saw me. ¡°It¡¯s past three o¡¯clock and you probably haven¡¯t had lunch yet. What would you like to eat?¡± he asked. That day we had chinese noodle for luch. The three of us were so amazed and grateful altogether, knowing that God had caused this brother to buy us lunch. God was the one who had made me walk across the street so we could gain this testimony.

After switching cars a total of three times, we arrived at a village in the Shinduk subcounty of the Imshil district. It was a very small village. We went to the elders meeting house, who gave us permission to use the place, and provided heating as well. we visited each house to invite people to the Bible conference. Although they all said they would attend, but when the time came, none of them arrived. So, we decided to once again visit everyone. The weather was cold, so everyone had their doors shut tight. There weren¡¯t many who invited us into their homes.

We went to the police station and conversed with the person on duty. We talked about many things, as well as the gospel. His heart was so prepared, that he readily accepted the Word. After having fellowship for two hours, we agreed to maintain fellowship through letters. Our team then departed from the police station past eleven o¡¯clock. The three of us returned to the warm meeting house and prayed a heartful prayer of thanks to God before we went to sleep. The last day was very cold and snowy. We wanted to go to a house and preach the Word, but they rejected us. Right after, someone agreed to take us to Chunju. Compared to the countryside, it was much more difficult to hitch rides in Chunju. We called the lady who had listened to the Word the first day. Her eldest daughter had answered the phone and asked for us to visit them. Since we couldn¡¯t find a ride, we took the city bus. We had to switch buses twice, and both times the bus driver allowed us to ride.

When we reached the house, we preached the gospel. The daughter shared a short testimony with us saying, ¡°I had attended church since I was in my mother¡¯s womb. I had led a diligent spiritual life till I started working in the business world; then lost my faith. Due to my husband¡¯s hardships with the IMF situations, I¡¯m now staying at my parent¡¯s house. I felt that I should lead a spiritual life of faith for my husband¡¯s sake, but it was difficult to do. However, through listening to the Word today, I have gained faith.¡± This young woman testified her righteousness. After the Bible study, she treated us to a plentiful meal.

In order to return to Daejon, we once again rode the city bus to the Chunju terminal. Although I prayed to God, who had led us thus far, I had no idea how we were to get Daejon without money for tickets. Rather than to use the many plans I had thought up, I wished to depend on God and confront the situation. I stood in the lead and bravely passed the ticket person. Strangely enough, the person did not ask for a ticket. He did not ask for a ticket of Brother Terry or Co-pastor Sohn either, but just stood there watching us go by.

Although we easily passed the ticketing area, the problem was getting on the bus. We asked one of the bus drivers heading to Daejon if we could get a free ride, but he refused to let us on. I felt put down by this, but we just boarded the next bus and sat in the very front. A while later, a grim faced bus driver boarded and went to the back of the bus to collect tickets. I told Brother Terry and Co-pastor Sohn to pray, while I explained our situation to the bus driver and asked if he would allow us to ride for free. At first he said no, but after pondering a while, he shut the bus door and we were on our way.

When we arrived at the mission center, the other mission teams had already left for home. Although we were the last to arrive, our hearts were filled with thanks. During our five day mission trip, we had ridden 32 different cars, over ten people had fed us, and each day we slept in a warm room. We preached to sixteen people, among them seven were connected to the church and are having Bible study. Before partaking in this moneyless mission trip, I wished to be a part of it, but part of me was also reluctant. By being pushed by the church, I was able to experience God¡¯s guiding hand. I was gratefull that the church allowed me this grace. The most difficult thing during this mission trip was the battle within my heart, having to decide upon God¡¯s guidance moment by moment; rather than to follow my own humanistic plans.

It is our habit which causes us to follow our own humanistic plans, but we did not have money, transportation, nor a place to sleep, so God led us to depend upon Him. Our life is so plentiful in everything that even though God is always by our side, we fail to see Him. However, through this experience I am thankful that we were able to see God. ¡°And in the wilderness,where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.¡± (Deuteronomy 1:31-33)