My hometown is <Wolmyeongdong> and I was born there.

At the time, Wolmyeongdong was called ‘Darbargol’ because the moon was bright there.

It was called a ‘backcountry’ because the village was so small.

Back then, our village had ‘four houses.’

At the top was Pastor Park’s house, the house just below that was mine,

the house that was just below that was Pastor Goh’s, and the house that was just below that was Deacon Nam’s.

All the villagers attended church.

Although the village was quite small because there were only four houses, there were six pastors in those four houses at the time and 13 pastors were produced from that time until now.

Wolmyeongdong, is a ‘village of the clergy’ as well.

My grandfather served under the king and was involved in politics but experienced a rebellion during the Japanese occupation. As a result of that, even though he originally hailed from ‘Gongju,’ he took refuge in ‘Mooksanri, Jinsan ’ and then came to ‘Darbargol,’ which is ‘now Wolmyeongdong.’

My grandfather purchased a straw thatched house in Wolmyeongdong for three won and started living there.

From there, he had his second son married, and then had my father, his third son, married.

After marrying my mother, my father continued to live in the straw thatched house in Wolmyeongdong that my grandfather bought for three won, gave birth to seven children, and I was born as the third child.

My mother’s hometown was ‘Kyochonri, Jinsan.’

Only Pastor Kyu Seok, who is the fourth child, was born during the Korean War, the war between the North and South Korea. That is why his hometown is not Wolmyeongdong but ‘Kyochonri, Jinsan,’ the same as my mother’s.

Pastor Kyu Seok shares the same ‘hometown’ and the ‘house of birth’ with my mother.

Perhaps for that reason he still lives in the same room with my mother now and lives with the mission of looking after her.

Soon after being born, I contracted a ‘fatal disease’ while still a newborn, so I was sick. Although I was given all kinds of medicines, I could not get cured.
Then one day, I began to die from early evening.

Eventually, I died before evening came.

My mother covered me with a blanket and pushed me off to the upper part of the room.

My mother said that she had scouted out a place to bury the dead baby by putting the corpse in a clay jar while everyone was sleeping once the dead of night came.

That was a valley located between the Natural Temple Lawn and Junmangdae.

It was a location that was not readily visible to people.
For a baby, a ‘clay jar’ is a ‘coffin.’

Because I was only a year-old baby, if she puts me in a ‘small jar,’ puts a lid on it, and buries it in the ground, it becomes a ‘grave.’

When night fell and the entire family fell asleep, my mother discussed with her mother, who had come to stay at her married daughter's house, and was about to go and bury the baby.
Before burying me, she wanted to see the face of her beloved son once more for the last time even though I was already dead. She said that she removed the sheet she had covered up to my face with, turned up the kerosene lamp, and looked at my face.

She said that the baby’s eyes were open and ‘blinking’ at that moment.
My mother was thrilled and kept looking at me wondering, ‘did he open his eyes only at this moment?’ She said that she got the feeling I was saying, 'I will not die.'

She said she held me tightly, put me at the lower part of the room*, and watched over me all night until predawn wondering, ‘will this child die again?’

At that time, she said she felt in her heart that ‘the baby will live and not die.’
When the day broke and her mother asked, “Did you go and bury the baby well?” She answered, “He came back to life!” To this, she told [my mother], “Seems like he has a long life. You must watch over him well because he died and came back to life.”
So my mother continued to observe me even while cooking to see what would happen. She saw that the baby was waving his hand and smiling brightly.

Within the next three days, the severe swelling that covered my entire body during the ordeal of dying and coming back to life, went down completely and I became normal. She said that I grew up healthy from then on.
Since the baby died and came back to life as she experienced, she said she named the baby ‘Myung Seok’ saying that the baby had long life expectancy.

The Almighty God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son saved me.

From Sunday message March 16, 2014

내 고향은 월명동이고, 나는 거기서 태어났습니다.

그때 월명동은 달이 밝다고 해서 ‘달밝골’로 불렸습니다.

마을이 너무 작아 ‘골짜기’로 불린 것입니다.

그때 당시 우리 동네에는 ‘네 채의 집’이 있었습니다.

윗집은 박 목사님 집이었고, 아랫집은 우리 집이었고,

그 아랫집은 고 목사님이었고 그 아랫집은 남 집사님 집이었습니다.

온 동네 사람들은 모두 교회에 다녔습니다.

집이 네 채밖에 없어서 마을이 매우 작았지만, 그 당시에 네 집에 목사만 여섯 명이 있었고,

그 후로 지금까지 열세 명의 목사를 낳았습니다.

월명동은 ‘성직자 마을’이기도 합니다.

나의 할아버지는 왕 밑에서 수종을 들며 정치를 하시다가 일제 강점기에 난(亂)을 당하셨습니다.

그래서 원래는 ‘공주’가 고향인데

‘진산 묵산리’로 피했다가 ‘달밝골’, 곧 ‘현재의 월명동’으로 오셨습니다.

할아버지는 월명동에 3원짜리 초가집을 사서 살기 시작하셨고,

거기서 둘째 아들을 결혼시키고, 셋째 아들인 우리 아버지를 결혼시켰습니다.

우리 아버지는 우리 어머니와 결혼하시어 선생의 할아버지가 3원을 주고 산

월명동 초가집에서 살면서 7남매를 낳았고, 나는 셋째로 태어났습니다.

어머니 고향은 ‘진산 교촌리’입니다.

넷째인 규석 목사만 한국 남북 전쟁이 있었던 6.25 때 태어나서

고향이 ‘월명동’이 아니라 우리 어머니와 같은 ‘진산 교촌리’입니다.

규석 목사는 어머니와 ‘고향’도 같고, ‘태어난 집’도 같습니다. 

그래서인지, 지금도 어머니와 한방에서 살면서 어머니 시중을 드는 사명을 가지고 삽니다.   

나는 태어난 지 얼마 안 돼서 갓난아기 때 ‘죽음에 이르는 병’에 걸려서 아팠습니다.

온갖 약을 다 먹여도 못 고쳤습니다.

그러던 어느 날, 초저녁부터 죽어 가기 시작했습니다.

결국 저녁이 되기 전에 죽었습니다.

어머니는 나를 이불로 덮어서 방 윗목에 밀어 놓았습니다.

어머니는 밤이 깊어지면, 모두 잠을 잘 때 죽은 아기를 항아리에 넣어서

갖다 묻으려고 장소를 봐 놨다고 합니다.

그곳이 지금의 자연성전 잔디밭에서 전망대로 가는 골짜기였습니다.

사람의 눈에 잘 안 띄는 곳이었습니다.

아기에게는 ‘질항아리’가 ‘관’입니다.

태어난 지 1년 된 아기니까 ‘작은 항아리’에 넣어 뚜껑을 덮고 땅에 묻으면, ‘묘’가 됩니다.

밤중이 되어 식구들이 모두 잠이 들자

우리 어머니는 마침 시집간 딸네 집에 와 있었던 친정어머니와 의논하고,

아기를 땅에 묻으러 가려 했습니다.

묻기 전에 마지막으로, 죽었지만 사랑하는 아들의 얼굴을 한 번 더 보려고,

얼굴까지 푹 덮어 놓은 홑이불을 벗기고 호롱불을 밝혀 얼굴을 봤답니다.

그때 아기가 눈을 뜨고 ‘깜빡깜빡’ 하고 있더랍니다.

어머니는 ‘지금 이때만 눈을 뜬 것인가?’ 하고 감격해서 쳐다보는데,

‘나 안 죽어요.’ 하는 느낌이 오더랍니다.

어머니는 꼭 끌어안고 아랫목에 놓고는 ‘혹시 다시 죽지 않으려나?’ 하고,

새벽까지 철야하며 지켜봤답니다.

그때 ‘아기가 안 죽고 살겠구나.’ 하는 마음이 오더랍니다.

날이 새고 친정어머니가 “아기 잘 묻고 왔냐?” 하는 말에 “다시 살았어요!” 하니,

“명도 길다. 그러나 죽었다 살았으니, 잘 봐야 된다.” 하셨답니다.

그래서 우리 어머니는 밥을 하면서도 어떻게 되는지 계속 지켜봤는데,

아기가 손을 흔들면서 똘망똘망하게 웃더랍니다.

그 후 3일 만에 죽었다 살아나서 퉁퉁 부었던 온몸의 붓기가 쫙 빠져 정상이 되었고,

그때부터 건강하게 컸답니다.

어머니가 겪은 대로 아기가 죽었다 살아났으니 명이 길다고 하며

아기의 이름을 ‘명석’이라고 지었답니다.

전능자 하나님과 성령님과 성자께서 살리셨습니다.

2014년 3월 16일 주일말씀 중