Introduction:

We are so blessed to have a special speaker from Korea, Mr. Sejuku Paku, a member of the World Soccer Committee for the Year 2002 host countries of Korea and Japan. He was in his army for 30 years, and after that he was given a chance to be the Mayor of Seoul, Korea. He had been very much in several areas so far. Perhaps today we can hear about them. Since he is a very busy man, [and] he needs to leave here before noon[, we will ask him to speak now].

Mr. Paku:

I am here in Oita to have a meeting with the governor and mayor of Oita. I have been visiting several places in Japan already, and Oita is my last stop. I know that this place is very special for me, for I can worship God on Sunday with you all. I'm sure that this church will "widen" in the future, just like your pastor's name; Hiro-ta: "wide", "field".

Please turn to I Corinthians 1:10, this passage is sometimes described differently in different languages. But, in Korean, and in Japanese, we find that it is almost the same. This is because we share a language through the same chinese characters [Kanji; in Japanese]. For example, my name can be pronounced perfectly in Japanese; "Se Choku", which means world repair. My name is something ominous, isn't it? It means to make the world better. What a burden I have! [At this, there was much laughter.]

I have had some important jobs so far in my life, and actually, right now, I have one. As you all know, in 2002, the World Cup soccer championships will be held for the first time in Asia, and this will be done as a joint commission between two nations! I have been thinking deeply about the significance of this event. We haven't had very peaceful relations in the past, as you know. But, we are neighbours, and we have got to learn to love each other. We are to forgive one another for the peace of the future. I am sure that this event is from God!

This morning, I am pleased to see so many cute children here, at this church. Children are cute. However, we adults are to educate them in the proper ways of behaviour. Parents and adults around them have the responsibility of telling them the truth and showing them the right way to go. Well -- if this is true, who is to educate countries [adults]? Of course, the leaders have that responsibility.

Just recently, I visited a certain place in northern Japan, where one of the leaders, in Japanese history, had been assasinated. He had been sincerely trying to build a new country, after the collapse of the Edo government. In those days, politicians were very serious about creating an ideal government. They were very enthusiastic in their work. But, he was killed one day without finishing his work. It was such sad news. He was killed by a man who had had yet another idea and ideal in politics for the future of this country. He, too, had been zealous in building a new government, and thought he was doing a good thing when he killed his opponent. However, the truth was quite different. He had acted on the wrong information about the person he killed. He didn't know the truth, and he didn't see the reality! Because he had been given the wrong information, he did the wrong thing -- in doing good, we must have the truth so that we can act properly in the situations around us.

Before the Olympics in Seoul, there was a terrible incident; a korean airplane was blown up by some North Korean spies. They had been confident that they had done the right thing for their own country. But, the truth was the opposite. The Olympics is a festival of peace and love. They couldn't understand that and had a different idea. They thought it was ill and evil. So, wrong and bad ideas cause evil deeds. However, God listened to our Korean prayers, and we had a successful Olympics in Korea. I have been through many things with the grace of God, in many places I was sent to.

Today's message by Pastor Hirota:

Ephesians 2:12-19. There is a certain Christian monthly newspaper on which I found a very warm article yesterday. Just a month ago, a new Ozeki (the third strongest step in Sumo) came into the world. His name is Chiyo-taikai. He is also from Oita. When he came back to Oita to report on his new Ozeki title, most of the Oitan people (a quarter of the current population) excitedly welcomed him. But, when he was living in Oita as a junior high school student, he was a leader of bad boys. He says that he did every single bad thing that he could think of.

When he had been small, his father had died, and he had to be raised alone by his mother. She was always crying over his bad conduct. But, through Sumo, he has been changing a lot. Of course, he had been very strong in Judo before that. He had become the champion of Kyushu a few times, but in the past, he had been bad and now he is the hero of Sumo. His mother is so happy with him now.

Some people are still stuck in the past; some are bad, but others are glorious. No matter what kind of past we have, the truth is it is the past. We all have the past. For some reason, we need to repent, but after doing so, we don't need to be stuck in the past vainly.

I know an old Korean lady whose husband had been killed by the Japanese army. When I visited her church, I found that she was praying for a revival in Japan. Her husband had been killed by we Japanese in a terrible way, but there she is praying for us! By the power of the cross of Christ, she has forgiven us Japanese, she says. How glorious!

Satan always tries to break our peaceful relations; between nations, between tribes, between families, and between each of us. But, with the cross of Jesus, every single evil between us has been eliminated, and we are the ones who have been forgiven so that we can forgive and love one another.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
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