A Delicate Touch of God and the Blessing of Dwelling in It
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Manmin News
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 14610 |
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January 15, 2005 |
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 Jangseok Ahn, Executive Director of LG Electronic
Meeting God through Korean Christian students association (ESF)
In my freshman year in college, I accepted Jesus Christ at an Evangelical Student Fellowship (ESF) retreat. I spent the following four years on campus evangelizing at school, doing QT (Quiet Time) every morning, reading and teaching the Bible, and hosting a
variety of meetings until I graduated from Seoul National University.
In December 1984, upon graduating from college I entered the then-Goldstar (today LG Electronics) Lab as a researcher, and in February 1987 I married Eunsoo Ha, an ESF underclassman. Even though our marriage had begun with the lease of a house on a deposit of 8,200,000 Won ($ 7,000), in God's delicate grace we lived a life in which nothing was insufficient. From 1990 to 1995, we brought our son Yei Dam to Tokyo, Japan, where I worked as a resident officer, and even after returning to Korea, we led lives in Christ through ESF.
Searching for the Word of Life; Led to Manmin Joong-ang Church
The time was May 1996, when I was studying at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the U.S. at the consideration of my company. My wife, who had been unable to resolve her wretchedness and yearning for the truth, attended the final session of "The 4th Two-week Special Revival Meeting" held at Manmin Joong-ang Church. She was excited and touched through a message on "Flesh and Spirit" Rev. Lee proclaimed that night. After the Revival Meeting had concluded, she attended Friday All-night Services, Daniel Night Prayer Meetings that are held every night, listened to Rev. Lee's sermon tapes, and read his books. She came to discover her wretched self.
Upon my return to Korea, she introduced to me Manmin Joong-ang Church and Rev. Jaerock Lee and I became a Manmin member in August 1997. I eagerly listened to Rev. Lee's messages, and I looked back at my faith, which was limited to a faith only as knowledge. As all of us in my family replenished ourselves with the Word, in the summer of 1998 – about a year after we registered at Manmin – we gave to God an apartment that was still under construction as a "sanctuary building offering" in gratitude for His leading us to the altar of life.
I even experienced a truly miraculous event. In the early hours of January 1, 2001, I had my car stolen. The police, my insurance company, and my friends and family urged me to give up looking for it. After receiving prayer from Rev. Lee, I returned to the place where I had parked my car and found that the car that had been stolen and disappeared somehow returned to that place.
 In God's delicate touch
From February 2001, I worked as a strategy supervisor at HLDS, a joint corporation between Japan's Hitachi and LG Electronics. I was most delighted at the blessing of having been dispatched as a layman missionary who could do God's work while working at an everyday job. For three and a half years, my family led our lives in Christ as we helped Rev. Kyeongtae Jung and Missionary Ah Mi Jung of Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church.
As our family served in the Choir, at the Sunday School, and through Korean/Japanese simultaneous translation, we could feel the delicate touch of God who was personally nurturing and leading us each step of the way.
At LG, whose management aspiration was to be "Global Top," I worked as diligently and faithfully as I could. The planning and technological strategy departments of which I was in charge retained the #1 position in the world for over seven years, and I even headed a "development department" that produced the world's first products.
By prayer, many times I was able to do what had seemed utterly impossible. On one occasion, LG collaborated with JVC of Japan to produce a brand-new product (Super-Multi DVD Recorder). With the deadline for delivery looming, however, we were unable to resolve a technological problem and suddenly everything looked hopeless. I told Japanese workers, "For I'm praying, we will succeed." After this confession of faith and laboring through night and day, we could successfully complete the project. Over a million units of that product have been sold.
One difficult aspect of work was the fact that I did not drink with my superiors and other business associates. I could wisely overcome this obstacle, however, as I relied on the grace of God and Rev. Lee's teachings. Soon, they had come to appreciate my faith and in the end, they did not even bother offering me a drink.
Receiving prayer from Rev. Lee in preparation of promotion
In January 2004, I received Rev Lee's prayer in search for an answer to the question of whether I should remain in Japan for mission work or return to Korea where there was an opportunity for promotion. Rev. Lee prayed for me to "Become an influential leader in the world." On my business trip to Europe in March 2004, I again received prayer from Rev. Lee, who was in Israel on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land at the time, on the same question. God began working from that point on, as my surroundings were made ready for my return to LG and to Korea.
Once back at LG and in Korea, however, I found that things did not look too promising for promotion. The vice-president and many others in the company told me that because it had not been long since my return from Japan and because I had not made notable achievements as of late, I would probably not be considered for promotion. As I prayed in disappointment, I discovered myself who, without first becoming a proper vessel, sought to rely on people and had been impatient.
As soon as I told myself I ought to receive Rev. Lee's prayer, I became light-hearted. When I went to work the following morning, a miraculous event occurred: I was told to submit a list of achievements for the previous three years and a self-written recommendation. There had been an exceptional order from the vice-chairman of LG to increase the number of candidates for promotion. I became one of the candidates and my interview date was set for November 1. Yet, disadvantageous conditions still remained.
On October 31, the day before the interview, as I gave a "mission offering" for "The 2004 Peru Healing Crusade," I received prayer from Rev. Lee. He prayed, "God, move the heart of the interviewer and may your son receive a high mark."
Blessing of being promoted as an executive director of a large corporation
 On the day of the interview, God worked in ways that I would meet a good-natured interviewer and my work in Japan was emphasized; my promotion became a certainty. I confirmed my promotion through a daily newspaper on a business flight to Shanghai, China. This was made possible by the grace of God who confirms Rev. Lee's prayer even though I may have been an unworthy candidate.
In 2005, I resolve to faithfully serve as a cell leader, a small group leader, and director of the 3rd college mission and in other capacities. Above all, through a continuous prayer life, I pray to receive great power in body and in spirit. Now, I plan to let the world know of Korea as an executive of LG Electronics that leads the world's IT industry, and prepare myself both in body and in spirit to become His worker who will accomplish the world.
I thank and give all the glory to God. I also thank from the depths of my heart Rev. Dr. Jaerock Lee, who has prayed for me and leads me to the Word of Life.
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