[2025-12-21] After Understanding the Word of Truth, 5,200 Graduates at Shincheonji Church Act on Love for Neighbors Jesus Teaches

After Understanding the Word of Truth, 5,200 Graduates at Shincheonji Church Act on Love for Neighbors Jesus Teaches

- 15t gimchi for persons of distinguished service…”Shincheonji Church filled my heart.”
- Generations connect sharing gimchi, food, and traditional pastimes
- Environmental cleaning and blood donation…Over 170 overseas volunteering programs rtailored to community needs

As the cold wave grips the season and the economy at year's end, approximately 5,000 graduates of a Bible study course shared warmth across communities, home and abroad.

12,200 members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church in short, Chairman, Lee Man-hee), including 5,168 graduates of Zion Christian Mission Center's class 116, volunteered in community service to celebrate the graduation of Class 116 titled "The First Step" in Korea and internationally from November 25 to December 14.

Upon completing Zion Christian Mission Center's curriculum, graduates served communities by putting Jesus' teachings into action. The Church worker explained, "Graduation is not the completion of knowledge, but a starting point of true faith demonstrated through love for neighbors."

In Korea, volunteers held a gimjang event for patriots and veterans, a day of making gimchi for a year's supply. Explaining why they chose the beneficiaries, Shincheonji Church of Jesus stated that persons of distinguished service and veterans are the people who showed true volunteerism. "It is a way of the young generation to repay them for their service."

Graduates of Class 116 and members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus made 15tons of gimchi, which was delivered to veterans and families of persons of merit, to help 3,672 people through the tough winter season. Boxes of gimchi came with handwritten letters from volunteers paying their respects and thanking the elderly veterans for their service.

Seong Young-hak, head of Busan Chapter of the Korea Disabled Veterans Organization (KDVO), said in his thank-you message, "To see the young generations remember people who served the country and to show such a sincere gesture and service tells me our lives meant something." Another person of merit in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, said, “The government gives us material aid, and Shincheonji Church fills our hearts," thanking the volunteers.

Gimjang volunteer day was also a community gathering, adding feasts shared with veterans at the event. Suyuk (a pork dish traditionally paired with gimchi on gimjang days) and gimchi-jeon (pancake-style dish made with gimchi) were served. Other traditional activities, like making tteok with giant wooden hammers, offered a bonding experience for all generations. 1,300 Members of organizations that support veterans,  like the Vietnam War Veterans Association Korea, joined the 166 veterans and persons of distinguished service who participated in the gimjang event, adding more to the meaningful occasion. 

Class 116 graduates overseas also volunteered in their respective countries. Graduates carried out volunteer activities tailored to their local communities' needs, such as soup kitchens, delivering donations to disaster-stricken homes, disaster relief fieldwork, blood donations, volunteering at elderly care facilities and orphanages, and environmental cleanup.

One hundred seventy volunteer programs were led by graduates overseas, and communities and local governments signed over 170 MOUs to sustain volunteer programs in Washington, US, the Philippines, and Kenya.

The representative of graduate volunteers told the reporter, "It was great to be able to live the Bible's teaching, 'Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Mt 5:16)'," calling it a moment "I realized the true meaning of graduating from the Mission Center."

Suh Gyeong-dong, the head of the Department of Service and Transportation in the Church's General Assembly stated Graduates who understand Jesus' teaching practice love for our neighbors as members of society, which is an important goal of what we teach. “We will continue to engage in activities that reflect our sincere commitment to caring for underrepresented neighbors in Korea and abroad and to fulfilling our social responsibilities as people of faith.”