​My Mother Marched Me Out of Church on Sabbath

South Korean Adventists become Jeong Hee Im’s new family.

By Jeong Hee Im, as told to Andrew McChesney, adventistmission.org

I was in the fifth grade when a friend invited me to visit her Seventh-day Adventist church in South Korea.

The people at the church were so kind and gentle. The pastor’s wife was especially nice, and we read the Bible together after church. She showed me in the book of Genesis that God made the Sabbath holy when He created the world. I decided that I wanted to go to the Adventist church every Sabbath.

But the Bible teacher at my Sunday church didn’t want me to go to the Adventist church. She told me, “The Adventist Church will tie you up, beat you, and torture you!”

But I still wanted to go to the Adventist church. My new friends were kind. I joined the church’s Pathfinder club, and I wanted to go with the other children to pray with lonely grandmothers and grandfathers who lived near the church. One day, my Bible teacher gave up. She told me, “Fine, go wherever you want.” I was so happy that I felt like I could fly!

But then my parents, who are farmers, told me not to go to the Adventist church. One Sabbath as I sat in church in my Pathfinder uniform, my mother stormed into the room, yelling, “Why are you wearing those clothes? Take them off!” She grabbed my arm and forced me to go home with her. I cried and cried.

A few Sabbaths later, my mother returned to the church. She was furious, and I was scared to find out what she planned to do this time. I quickly found out. She shouted at me, “It’s either me or the church. Choose me or the church. But if you choose the church, I am going to throw you out of the house.”

I began to cry and hurried home with her. What else could I do?

Even though my mother was upset, I wanted to obey God. I tried to obey my mother, so I went home when she told me. God tells us to honor our parents in the Fifth Commandment. But my mother couldn’t make me give up my faith. I went to church every Sabbath.

After a while, my mother realized that I loved God with all my heart, and she stopped getting angry with me. But then my father began to yell. After church on Sabbath, the pastor’s wife sometimes packed leftover food from the fellowship meal for my family. When my father saw the food in a bag, he would scream, “I don’t want this food!” He would then throw the food into the garbage.

When these things happened and made me cry, the church members cried with me and prayed for me. The church members became my closest family. My only happiness was being in church.

My father began to have difficulties on the farm, and the church members started helping him with his work. It was hard for my father to stay angry when the church members were being so kind and friendly.

Now I am 21 years old and work as a nurse. Neither of my parents are Adventists, but they respect my faith now. I’m praying that God will save them.

Part of a 2015 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped Jeong Hee’s church, Morning Dew Youth Church, move into a bigger building so more children could attend every Sabbath. Thank you for supporting children like Jeong Hee with your mission offerings.