I came from a Buddhist family. One Sunday morning in 1981, when I was still a new Christian, I tried to slip out of the house with a Bible concealed in my bag?for I could not bring myself to tell my parents that I was going to church. That was when my mother suddenly asked, “Where are you going?” I couldn’t lie to her. “I’m going to church,” I replied. And to my bewilderment, my mother replied, “Hurry on and sit at the front.” Even my father, who was next to her, did not oppose my going to church. (Funnily enough, it was when I was sitting at the front just as my mother instructed on December 9, 2006, that God called my name.)
--- p.23 「My Parents」 중에서

I saw myself. ‘Myself’ did not make sense. I had met the superintendent and the repairman with a smile for the past three months they had visited. But this time, I was doing the very opposite. Even though the superintendent was the first to get angry, I was surprised that I raised my voice as well. She seemed to be surprised, too. And soon, we apologized to each other. The superintendent explained that the tenant downstairs had even called at 3 in the morning about the leak?she must have been stressed to the point of frustration. The people downstairs, the superintendent, and I should have all been understanding in an effort to solve this problem, but we were unable to control our emotions and ended up raising out voices. After everyone left, I prayed in repentance as I cleaned the house, ‘God, I’m sorry for reacting with anger.’
--- p.77 「Back to My Old Self」 중에서

It was only in early December that same year that my eyes were finally opened to Jesus’ interceding for me in prayer, praying at God’s right hand as he looked upon my suffering with grief. My heart ached and tears rose to my eyes, and I remembered one moment in fall of 2009, when I had been meditating on the Trinity as written in the Gospel of John. I had known in my mind that Jesus is God, but my heart had not accepted it as truth. So I had prayed desperately, “Father God, please let me truly feel in my heart that like you and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is also God.”
Back into the Cold Operating Room
I lay back and found myself being wheeled into the operating
room. As I rolled down the white hallways, I remembered the external
pain that had afflicted me all this time. I remembered how
I had raged at the unjust comments and actions taken against us.
The years of physical, emotional, and spiritual persecution had
forced me to shrink back without knowing, like a bird with broken
wings. These images of my warped daily life flashed before
my eyes, and I found myself filling with hope that once I recovered
from this procedure, I would no longer live helplessly and
broken at the hands of my persecutors, but return to my real self,
expressing the truth in this world with boldness. I was a sprout
breaking through the frozen winter earth.

My Sister’s Testimony
My fourth sister, who had known in her prayers whenever I struggled, whether in Canada or elsewhere, gave me a phone call and said to me, “I was praying for your operation when I saw God’s angels over you, and Jesus looking down on you beside them. God loves you so much!” The testimony was a powerful reminder that God was with me during the operation. My heart warmed with joy and encouragement. The post-surgical recovery was painful, but knowing that the Lord’s love was unchanging gave me peace and joy in the depths of my soul.

Now I know that my ears must be open to the sounds and responses of my body, and that I have to strengthen myself physically. It was so hard to endure the torment and other struggles in life with my eyes fixed solely on the Lord while being true to myself. I was a lonely tree standing in defiance of the storms and lightning, my soul and mind battered constantly but standing tall nonetheless. The same did not go for my body. My body remembered the agony and cried out for relief, but I was so caught up in living, in enduring, that I did not spare the pain a second thought. Now that I have gone through this pain, I feel guilty towards my body. God shaped me out of the dust of the ground and breathed life into me (Genesis 2:7), but I had not treated my body as well as I should have. With the understanding that body and soul were deeply connected, I also apologized to the Lord. I now hope to take good care of my body, which is also a gift from God, crafted with his own two hands. I resolved to accept the physical limitations of my body and surrender in areas where there is nothing more I can do.

Now I know that whatever struggles I face in the future, I must leave everything in God’s hands, unshakable in powerful prayers led by the Word, so that I would reach that transcendental point of surrendering everything before the Lord. Like an eagle entrusting itself to the winds, spreading its wings to fly freely through the air.

About the Author<br/><br/>Bog Hee Kim was born 1959 in Ulsan, Republic of Korea and raised in a primarily Buddhist and Confucian background. She received an undergraduate degree in business administration at Sookmyung Women’s University in 1982, and a graduate degree in business administration at the same university in 1984. She met God for the first time in 1981 in her fourth year at university, during her teacher practicum placement at Seongdeok Girls’ Business High School. Kim worked as a full-time teacher at the same school from 1982 to 1986, when she departed for the USA alongside her husband for his studies, then returned to Korea. In 2001, Kim took her two sons to Canada for their studies.<br/><br/>In 2006, having realized the importance of internal reflection, she prayed to understand the sins of her heart. Her prayers were answered a month later on December 9, when she heard the quiet and welcoming voice of God calling her name during the Saturday early morning prayer service at Young Nak Presbyterian Church of Toronto. The encounter changed her perspective and values, and inspired her to record every experience of the living God at work in her life as a testimony. Kim returned to Korea in December of 2009 and led a small group at Kangnam Joongang Baptist Church in 2012 and led the Reading in Faith group and Pilgrimage group at the same church until 2020. <br/><br/>She also served at the Korea Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union as an executive board member, publishing chairperson, reading club leader, and as chairperson of the International Mission Committee from 2011 to 2017. Her husband was ordained as a pastor in 2020. Kim is currently serving at Toronto Young Nak Presbyterian Church. Kim published the Korean edition of When God Called My Name in May of 2012, and God’s Guiding Hand and Presence in 2022. The former book, combined with some of the testimonies from the latter (dated post-2012), were translated and published in English as the 68-testimony collection When God Called My Name. In August of 2016, Kim made her literary debut when she was awarded the New Writers’ Award by the Korean Essay; in October of the same year, she was also awarded the Grand Prize in the 11th National Mothers’ Letters Competition, hosted by Pyeonji Maeul of Korea.<br/><br/>Preface <br/><br/>Ever since God called my name on December 9, 2006, my life has been brimming with testimony. <br/>I was so moved that I had to commit my emotions to words?I simply had to tell the people in my life, and wanted to leave a spiritual inheritance to our children and their future children in the form of this book, so they would love the Lord and remain in him, living as faithful Christians all their lives. <br/>That was when, during one early morning prayer service in early 2007, Reverend Song suggested to the congregation, “why not try and write at least one book in your lifetime?” At that point, I was struck by the powerful urge to publish a book about God’s presence in my life. <br/>Afterwards, I sent a copy of my testimony to Mrs. Myeongja Kang-my former high school teacher-via international mail. She advised me, “I can tell that you have a lot to say. Don’t just let it end with writing-you should go all the way and publish a book”.<br/>I had originally planned to publish the Korean edition of my book in December of 2011, but the process was delayed. At the time, I began to worry about dying. I was so determined to publish my book and let others know about God’s love, but I began to feel fear. I would sometimes even ask my husband, “what if I die before the book is published?” <br/>The year after, however, the book was finally published in Korea, and it was even translated into English in 2015 and bound. That was when I told my husband, “I don’t mind dying, now that the book’s been finished.” I felt a sense of relief that I managed to convey some of my intentions through the completed book. <br/><br/>The lyrics of the song “How Great is the Love” state, “Though impossible to express, I will express it so / Though impossible to confess, I will confess it so / Though impossible to know, I will learn / Though impossible to be like Him, I will grow closer to Him / How beautiful His love / How enriching / How great and amazing His love / How moving His love,” and have been a pillar of support to me for the past 16 years as I wrote this book, strengthening me through the difficult times. I tried to express God’s love with words and photos, but how could an imperfect being like me express it all? <br/>The act of writing is an excruciating one, to the point that some liken it to the pains of childbirth. In my case, I was once so broken by the fact that I had failed to fully express the nuances of someone’s circumstances, perspectives, and outlooks in my writings that I couldn’t bring myself to write for months on end. But I emerged from that experience with eyes to see which areas of my writings I should revise.<br/>That does not, however, negate my many shortcomings. I ask my readers for their understanding and grace. <br/>As I published the Korean and English editions of When God Called My Name and God’s Guiding Hand and Presence I began to be burdened by the idea of having to constantly live by the lessons I outlined in them. But that is the kind of life I want to live, often looking back on my actions from a quiet place to see if I have begun to forget the lessons I’ve learned and find healing. I would like to continue living in this way until my life’s journey ends and I rest in God’s arms.<br/>I’d like to sincerely thank Reverend Minho Song of the Young Nak Korean Presbyterian Church of Toronto for making time in his busy schedule to write a foreword for this book and even supervising my writings. I would also like to thank Reverend Mira Park of the same church for her foreword and her continued prayers for my readers, which have persisted since before the publication of my writings.<br/>I would also like to thank my dear parents, who raised me with love, S.N. Lee for translating this book, my husband Pastor Jong Hoon Chung who revised my manuscript, and my sons Haengwoon and Soowoon who were there to help when I ran into computer trouble. I am also grateful to everyone who prayed for me and encouraged me in the process of publishing this book, as well as everyone who appears in the stories I tell. I would also like to thank everyone at EL Publisher for making the publication of this book possible. I pray that everyone who reads this book will see God’s providence and sovereignty in their lives. And I hope that through prayer and meditation on the Word you will maintain a close relationship with the Lord, and that your lives will be filled with peace and joy.<br/>Finally, I give all glory to the living sovereign God who, in spite of my unworthiness, loves me wholly. It is my greatest joy to dedicate the English version of this book to the God who is constantly present in my daily life.<br/><br/>Writer Bog Hee Kim <br/>27 July 2022<br/>Toronto, Canada

We all seek deep and meaningful encounters with God. Not just to have ‘head knowledge’ about him, but to truly experience his love in the depths of our hearts. But we cannot coax out such experiences?they are only possible when God approaches us himself and allows us to hear his voice. That was what happened to Moses. While tending sheep on Mount Horeb, he witnessed a bush that was on fire but did not burn. Being from a dry region, he had seen burning bushes before? but never one that didn’t burn out. When he drew near, curious, he heard a voice: “Do not come any closer,” (…… “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Something unforgettable happened to Moses, who had been living as an ordinary shepherd in the deserts of Midian.

Bog Hee Kim went through a similar experience. One day, she came out to an early morning prayer service and was praying for her friend. The friend’s daughter was extremely ill, and Ms. Kim was lifting up prayers in grief. That was when, from just to her right, she heard someone call out, “Bog Hee!” When she checked, she found out that no one there had done such athing. The voice had come from God, who called her name. Just as the burning bush at Mt. Horeb changed Moses’s life forever, the voice Ms. Kim heard that morning signaled a new start. Although she was a believer even before the call, after that experience she came to truly understand the Lord as the one who intervenes in the minutest details of her life.

Most of the experiences she writes about in her book happened while she was living in Toronto, Canada for her children’s education. Although she had many difficulties adjusting to this foreign country, Ms. Kim’s book gives a moving testimony of God’s thoroughly detailed actions as he touches her heart in those hard times. I could sense her sincere emotions in the words on the pages.

In one story, she describes a trip to a sushi restaurant. Ms. Kim explains in the anecdote that, when the waitress came over to take away her plates and cutlery, Ms. Kim grabbed the waitress’s hand so she could keep her chopsticks. She saw then, she writes, just how ridiculous her behavior had been. The waitress had mistakenly assumed that they were starting dessert, and Ms. Kim had moved without thinking to keep her chopsticks. Before living with an awareness of God’s guidance, it would have been just a trivial mistake?something to laugh about and forget. But that evening she returned home and took an honest look at her heart, and found the greed that lay quietly inside. “Superficiality is the curse of our age”, Richard Foster writes in his book Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth1. If we do not have personal encounters with God, our spirituality can only ever be superficial. I hope dearly that all believers will experience God’s drawing presence as they read this book. In one of my sermons, I challenged the congregation to write at least one book in their lifetimes. Ms. Kim took the challenge to heart and applied it to her life, publishing in a book?in Korean, then even in English?God’s presence in her life.
I would like to congratulate her and urge everyone to continue reading.

When a child first begins to walk, he stubbornly shakes off his mother’s hands and insists on waddling without help. Even as he staggers precariously, he looks left and right, ahead and behind, and walks as confidently as if he were in the lead, guiding the way. He can only do this because he is secure in the knowledge that his mother is walking quietly behind him, watching over him. God is constantly intervening in our lives and walking with us. In our joys and jubilations, and in our grief and sufferings, he is with us. When we fail to recognize his constant presence in our lives living can seem painful and full of hardship, but when we do recognize that he is with us, our lives overflow with confidence and thanksgiving. This is what it means to receive grace.

Each page of this book is brimming with that very grace and touches the hearts of its readers. Bog Hee describes how each and every moment she lives is one lived alongside God. The testimonies in this book remind me of the child who walks confidently in the knowledge that his mother is walking with him. They are a vivid depiction of the grace of God in action, as God calls Deacon Bog Hee, consoles her, gives her peace (and sometimes trials), and raises her up as a more mature disciple of Christ each time.

This collection of writings from Deacon Bog Hee shows us that God does not simply stand in the distance, watching us from afar. He is present in our daily goingson and enters our individual lives, gently and considerately reaching out to us. He asks if we are all right, he tells us that he is with us, and he advises us not to worry. As I read When God Called My Name, I wondered what Bog Hee’s secret was. How did she recognize so well God’s presence in her life? I think the answer to that is a life of deep meditation and a life spent walking with the living God. I am confident that this book will help you experience and meet God?who is not simply in the distance, but is present in your daily life (incarnation). Once again, I would like to congratulate the publication of the English version of this book.