만남의장
    등록일 : 2017-06-08 오후 3:04:43  조회수 : 792
  206 . The Story of Choon-Mi: a Remarkable 35-day Tale of Despair, Recovery, and Hope
  등록자 : durihana        파일 :
align="left" border="1" vspace="5" hspace="5"> style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">On Friday, April 21st, instead of attending Friday night worship,
Choon-Mi, who is known to be extremely introverted, went back home to talk with
her mom. After an exhausting day at work and returning home at 1 a. m ., Choon-Mi’s
mom asked Choon-Mi to wait until the next morning to chat. Haunted by loneliness,
Choon-Mi disappeared at 1:12 a. m., leaving only a text message saying
lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;">
“May we see each other again in heaven.”


color="navy">At 1:30 a.m., Choon-Mi’s mother, woken by a sense of foreboding,
strolled out to the living room to discover Choon-Mi’s cell phone in front
of 9th floor balcony window. At 10 a.m., after a long and anxious wait, she
was heartbroken by tragic news that Choon-Mi had entered surgery at the Korea
University hospital.


lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Like most North Korean parents who are defectors, Choon-Mi’s
mom had suffered from starvation and the lack of basic freedoms in North Korea.
She was traumatized by both her escape from North Korea and stay in China, where
she was subject to from human trafficking and forced marriage. Fear of domestic
abuse and arrest by the secret police to be sent back to North Korea left permanent
scars in her heart.


lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Because her time in China was painted with anxiety and horror,
she arrived in South Korea filled with hopeful dreams, even though she had neither
any relations or resources to rely on. To sustain themselves had too many circumstantial,
cultural, and economic problems. She even suffered from severe stress and homesickness.
Yet, she prevailed.


color="navy">Such difficult reality is the life of North Korean refugees. At lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;">
color="green">“Durihana”
color="navy">students live in a community where they are not with their parents
but with their host moms and host dads. They share their life with their peers
while they study and live together in the community, dissolving their pain.


color="navy">In school, students of North Korean heritage are often bullied
because of differences in their culture and language. At home, they are emotionally
hurt and prone to stress because of frequent conflicts between their mother
and adoptive father. The burden they carry in too heavy, and the barriers they
must overcome are too high for their young souls.


color="navy">Choon-Mi’s mom had been waiting in front of the surgery room
since Ten o’clock that morning; the doctor came out at 5:40 p. m. after finishing
the seven-hour surgery. The doctor said,
color="olive"> “The surgery went on longer tan expected because we were trying
to straighten out each and every spine that was broken so that Choon-Mi can
sleep lying down straight. We tried our best, but Choon-Mi’s spinal cords were
totally disconnected and she will have to live the rest of her life lying on
the bed. She has been paralyzed below the waist.”
style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> At this, Choon-Mi’s mom collapsed into a bellowing cry, and
we embraced her and tried to comfort her by saying that “Even if it is not
possible through man, God will heal Choon-Mi if we pray.” She still could not
stop crying because the pain was breaking her heart.


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color="navy">Eight hours later, Choon-Mi barely opened her eyes when I called
her name. She replied,
color="purple">“It hurts very much.” color="navy"> I uttered, color="green">“Why did you do it? I thought you were a good kid. Why did you
do it?”
color="navy"> Choon-Mi asked, color="purple">“Was I really a good kid?” style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="green"> “Of course. You are a compassionate and diligent child. You
were supposed to study abroad in America soon,”
style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> I answered. Choon-Mi seemed to want to say all that she could
not before. She went on to say,
color="purple"> “Was I really a good kid? I don’t know. I thought all my
friends hated me.”
color="navy"> She even told her mom color="purple">“Mom, don’t cry. I will be better. Please cheer up!” lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> lifting up her arm holding her fist high. She then chattered
on as if she were not aware that she was a severe patient.


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color="navy">After the short meeting, we were told that we would not be able
to visit her room for a week because her condition was so severe. Even darker
was the fact that a 15year-old girl had to live the rest of her life disabled,
paralyzed below the waist.


border="0">


align="right" border="1" vspace="5" hspace="5"> style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Early morning on Sunday, I knelt on the bed and prayed. She had
suffered life in North Korea through no choice of her own, and risked everything
to begin a new life of freedom at a tender age of sixteen, only to live the
rest of her life on a bed, disabled. It was all too unfair, but only for a moment-I
remembered that our God was kind and just, and took faith in that he will not
ignore Choon-Mi’s suffering. Therefore, I continued to share her story and
ask for prayers around the world. Hoping for a miracle, all of us at
lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="green">Durihana color="navy"> also prayed for Choon-Mi’s recovery from the moment we woke
up to the last minute before we fell asleep.


color="navy">Our collective prayers had an immediate response. In just three
days, she was transferred from the intensive care unit to the normal hospital
ward. Choon-Mi was still in critical condition-she had mental trauma, amnesia,
and loss of sensation below the waist; her feet were ice-cold. Despite her pain,
she greeted us every time with a smile and never lost her faith in God’s ability
to heal when she prayed with us.


color="navy">The miracle began nine days after the accident when her memory
returned, and made a remarkable confession:
style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">“Pastor, I can remember Hebrews 11:6- ‘And without faith it
is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’ So, I believe
God will heal my legs.”


color="navy">A month ago during worship, we had offered a 50,000 won (~$50
USD) reward to the student who could learn

color="blue">Hebrews 11:6
color="navy">the quickest both in English and in Korean, and Choon-Mi was the
first to confidently raise her hand a mere week after the challenge was issued.
She claimed that the verse came back to memory and that night she had met Jesus
in her dreams, and that Jesus was very much real and praying for her.


color="navy">The story was so incredible that I asked, style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="green">“Where did you see Jesus?” color="purple"> “I met him in the desert. There were many people praying there.” lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="green"> “Really? They must have been all praying for you.” lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> color="purple">“No, there weren’t many people praying for me. But, Jesus
was right next to me and praying for me very sincerely.”
lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="green"> “Ah, I see. What did Jesus look like?” style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> color="purple">“He was wearing a hat.” color="navy"> I laughed, color="green"> “Jesus? Wearing a hat? Was it a baseball hat?” lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple"> “No,” color="navy"> she replied, color="purple">“the hat was yellow and sparkling.” style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> I had chills as soon as she described him. Choon-Mi only began
her religious life at
color="green">Durihana color="navy"> so she had never seen Jesus’ likeness in paintings or on the
Internet-how did she see him as he appears in Revelation 14:14?


border="0"> color="blue">▲ color="blue">Choon-Mi’s illustration of Jesus praying next to her


color="navy">The doctor who said color="olive">“She will have to live the rest of her life lying in bed with
her body paralyzed below waist”
color="navy"> came back in eleven days, bewildered because her right ankle
was twitching. In thirteen days, she moved around using the wheel chair, and
in just fifteen days she walked by herself a little to the doctor’s great surprise.
While they were discussing when to check out from the hospital, the doctor became
skeptical of his own diagnosis, saying,
color="olive"> “Maybe the spinal cord wasn’t severed?” lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy"> We were again reminded that Jesus heals those who pray and have
faith; as the Bible says,
color="red">“All things are possible for the one who believes” lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">(Mark 9:23) color="navy">. For those who do not believe that God is the author of life,
such a miracle would be unfathomable.



color="navy">The greatest miracle, however, was that Choon-Mi was born again
in Spirit and became a new creation. As the Bible verse and
lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="green">Durihana color="navy"> school’s motto says, color="green">“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has
broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law
of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself
lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="red">one new man color="green"> in the place of two, so making peace” style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">(Ephesians 2:14-15) color="navy">. God said, color="red">“create one new man.” color="navy"> Here the new man is “Kairos Anthropos.” The word “Kairos”
does not indicate a change in physical substance or amount. It means a qualitative
and fundamental regeneration. It is not simply the change from yesterday to
today due to the lapse of time. It is the newness in a fundamental or a existential
level where a person is born again. Nothing on earth can become anew without
the miracle of heaven.


color="navy">The miracle was not that Choon-Mi could rise and walk again after
the accident. Choon-Mi, who was filled with grievances, who could not put any
smile on her face and who did not get along with her friends, thereby building
a wall between her and the world, left
color="green">Durihana color="navy"> prior to the Friday night worship on April 21st but came back
to the Friday night worship in just 35 days on May 26th after gaining an understanding
by the Word. The miracle we gladly witnessed is that Choon-Mi has been transformed
into a new person testifying,
color="purple">“I am not the same grumpy Choon-Mi who did not talk to anyone.
I have decided to live happily, always smiling and loving my neighbor like Jesus
did. I am now a new person.”


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color="navy">We give thanks to all of God’s people and their love and service.
We give special thanks to those who were concerned about Choon-Mi and supported
her through prayers and gifts. The prayer, that we prayed to experience power
and grace of
color="red">Jehovah Rapha color="navy"> who heals our bodies, as written in style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">Exodus 15:26 color="navy">, and to testify that our God is alive, has been answered with
Choon-Mi being discharged from the hospital with good health in just 35 days.
Choon-Mi will live to help the poor, serve others in love, and reach for even
greater dreams.



The lang="EN-US">Durihana color="navy"> community sincerely welcomes color="navy">Choon-Mi’s
return and sends her our love.


     
 

 

 
 
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