Champions Were Born From the 1445 km in 40 Days Condition

National Volleyball Championship: the Mentality of Becoming One and Doing it Till the End

November 22, 2014

On November 22, 2014, Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) held its first national volleyball league finals. Although it had been cold several weeks ago because of the winter wind, God was with all the people at the event through the warm weather. In the morning when the male volleyball outdoors match was in progress, an eagle had powerfully circled the sky, symbolizing how the Lord earnestly wanted to fulfill the Will of love and peace through sports with all the players.

In his closing remarks, Pastor Ming-chieh Hsueh also mentioned about Pastor Jung Myung Seok’s teaching: only peaceful teams can gain the final victory. Because the fundamental purpose of sports is to give glory to God, and the purpose of being healthy can also be achieved in the process, the Lord hopes that everyone can play a volleyball game of peace and love.

In the fierce competition, players learned about the Lord’s love through interacting with teammates and playing volleyball. Players made great efforts to catch the ball as if the ball were a precious life. Witnessing players carrying out such a mentality, some new friends were touched because they felt that they were valued and protected by the Lord just like that volleyball.

In the end, both male and female volleyball team champions came from Peace Church, but the Ju Seok Church gained the Teamwork Award. Ju Seok Church testified that the reason they could gain the Teamwork Award was because the players who were on the courts and the cheering squad who were off the courts were completely united as one. Peace church members were the ones who had set the condition of running 1445 km with the Lord in 40 days.  Even though during the process, they were uncertain whether they could really accomplish their goal, when they became united and did things until the end, they truly achieved their purpose.  In this way, they realized that this miracle was possible truly because the Lord was with them during the preparation phase and during the competition itself.

For these finals, there were actually many winners. Regarding this, this week’s fiery Sunday Message gave the best explanation: no matter what you do, if you have done the things you should do, it means you have already gained victory! Because of the teachings Pastor Jung Myung Seok, volleyball played in Providence only focuses on God’s Will instead of centering on winning or losing. The principle is to play in peace and love while giving all the glory to our Creator, God.