(Fiction) "Forgive Up To Seventy Times Seven!" by Regan Kim

Leo looked in the broken hand mirror that was dumped on the ground. His looks had become terrible in just half a day. It broke his heart.

Not far away was a cafe. A couple sat at a table, chatting. Each held a mug in their hand. The lovers looked happy, but Leo felt so miserable. This morning, he had been absurdly mistaken for a thief.

The incident happened while he was idling around town and came across an unidentified bag next to a rubbish bin. Curiosity aroused, so Leo immediately got into searching through the bag.

The bag owner, who was talking to someone a few steps away, soon realized what was going on. He jumped and kicked Leo mercilessly. Leo screeched and ran away frantically.

After wandering around aimlessly, Leo found himself on the beach. The roaring waves seemed to blame him. His curiosity had long been a source of trouble. He was losing his will to live. Leo took a step closer to the sea. The water he felt on his feet was cold. The time to make a final decision was just around the corner.

At that moment, Leo heard a church bell ring. The sound awakened his fading spirit. His steps unwittingly led him to the church on the hill. The main door of the church was closed. Leo opened a side door with a slight push.

It was dark inside, with only a small glimmer of light coming from the office upstairs. When Leo went up to investigate, the person sitting at the desk was about to switch off the light. Their eyes met as Leo approached, and the man shouted, "Oh, Leo!"

Leo couldn't stand it anymore. He barked like crazy, wagging his tail vigorously. Yes! Leo was a puppy, a one-year-old Schnauzer with a bushy beard. The person in the office was Leo's owner, a minister of the church.

The pastor hugged Leo's neck. "It's all right," he said. He already knew what had happened to Leo. When he went to town looking for Leo, he heard the bag owner's whole story and apologised.

He fed Leo first, then put Leo on his lap and began to pray. Leo heard the pastor's prayer. "Lord Jesus! Leo got into trouble again. But, let me forgive him up to seventy times seven, not seven times." Leo thought to himself, 'Hmm, it's weird. My pastor forgives me in the name of Jesus.' The name of Jesus gave Leo profound relief.

Leo fell asleep. In his dream, he faced the same bag again. Unable to resist, he began to sniff the bag. At that moment, the bag owner popped up.

Leo quickly escaped and exclaimed, "Jesus! Please forgive me once more! I still have seventy times seven minus one left!"

(Essay) If we were a missionary, shouldn't we accept hardship?

It's New Year, but our lives are still not secure. Even if it is peaceful at a specific moment, we know it is not eternal. Our lives are so fragile that they break easily.

God gives us his peace, but it will not last forever within us. God's peace is eternal, but our faith holding the peace is shaky.

Don't attribute the reason to that our faith is small. We are at war, and how can peace be maintained on the battlefield even if the belief is rock solid?

One of the reasons why we are at war comes from our mission. Act 1:8 commands us to spread the Gospel to Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Remember that preaching the Gospel starts from Jerusalem, where our home is located.

We don't necessarily have to go somewhere to become a missionary. All Christians must live as a missionary, so our attitude about how to live matters, no matter where we are.

The life of a missionary accompanies hardship. The act of spreading the Gospel is not the only reason for the suffering that missionaries experience. When reading the testimonies of missionaries, we learn many of their difficulties from daily life issues.

If they are a jungle missionary, such little things as toilet or bedroom troubles are a challenging part of sufferings. A money problem is also a big issue as a missionary is a mere human.

Don't neglect the issues as worldly things.  A question should come first before devaluing.

What is my life aiming for?

If the centre of my life is evangelical, our daily life issues can be called missional ones.

Think of daily troubles, such as the coronavirus threat, high living cost, children's future path, housing problem, neighborhood noise, parking conflict.

As Romans 11:36 says, "from him, through him, for him are all things," all the living issues we go through come from Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus.

When such things keep happening, don't judge that my lack of faith causes them. All of this happens because I am in the mission field, which is at war.

Therefore we always face one crucial task. Make a victory over sufferings with the Gospel wherever we are because we are all missionaries who fight in the Gospel front.