Ahnsahnghong

The Happy Moments for Families to Share Love Together


In May, called the “month of family” in Korea, when summer was just around the corner, a meaningful event was held at the Okcheon Go&Come Training Institute. On May 10, the “2nd New Jerusalem Festival for Families” was successfully held; over 12,000 people including the members and their families from the northern areas of Gyeonggi Province were invited to the event. Under the clear blue sky spread out like a picture, each family gathered together to share food they’d prepared. After lunch, they spent quality time with their family, taking a look around the Institute and posing for pictures in front of the man-made waterfall pouring down cool refreshing water. They also took a look at the photos exhibited in the main building and the education hall, through which they found out the present status of the domestic and overseas missions. In addition, they watched a Church video containing an overview of volunteer activities on the big projector screen installed in front of the Theological Seminary.

Around 1 p.m., the welcoming ceremony began. Mother expressed Her warm welcome and gratitude to the members and their families who participated in the Festival and made the event more meaningful and successful. She told them about the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, their spiritual home, and expressed Her wish for them to live joyful and happy lives by sharing the blessings of heaven with their loving family members. General Pastor Joo-Cheol Kim prayed for all the members of each family to be bound together in love and live in peace and harmony. Then he briefly introduced the history of the Church of God, saying that the Church of God believes in God the Mother, following the truth of the Bible. In addition, he expressed his hope that they would have a great time with their family members sharing love together and enjoying the beautiful weather and that they would also become bonded together in the heavenly family. The event started with a magnificent and powerful performance by the Brass Band. It was accompanied by a medley of children’s songs, a fan dance and floral coronet dance by the cute little angels. Their performances livened up the atmosphere of the event. Then there were performances by the Messiah Orchestra, the 38th Overseas Visiting Group and the United Choir and the Men’s Choir, and it made the event much more enjoyable.

the performance event, traditional Korea folk games were played in the outdoor soccer field: neolttwigi (seesaw jumping), gulungsoi (trundling a hoop), tuho (arrow throwing game), jegichagi (shuttlecock kicking), ttakjichigi (slap-match game), etc. All the members of each family, from grandparents to grandchildren, had fun playing the games in spite of the hot sun in early summer. This day, love was in full bloom among the members of each family. All the participants returned with joy and satisfaction, saying, “We don’t get together often because each of us is so busy. Today, all of our family members have gathered together after a long time. We had a really good time.” The New Jerusalem Festival for Families will be continuously held for each Union of the local Churches.