"Mr. Kim," who is 85 years old, is a farmer. He lives in Goheung County, Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City. As a retired elder, he goes to church twice a day, at dawn and at 5 p.m. There he prays for himself, his family and his church. He has continued this life of prayer for over 70 years, since he was 15 years.

One of the episodes he experienced during this period of incessant praying life was when a typhoon swept through his village. During the storm, his family tried to dissuade him from going to church, but he went nevertheless. Crossing a swollen stream, his Bible fell from his hand and into the water. He had to watch it float away. He immediately returned to his house and asked his children to help find the lost book. Fortunately, one of his children found it caught on a tree in the stream. Mr. Kim spent many days drying his Bible so it could be used again.

His unwavering commitment to prayer has helped and guided him throughout his life. As an eldest son, Mr. Kim served his faithless parents even though conflicts arose. Conflicts for example, over performing ancestral rites at home or attending church on Sundays during the busy farming season. Yet, he devotedly helped his parents with their work. It was his way of soothing his parents’ feelings by working as hard as he could.

Mr. Kim always taught his own children by demonstrating exemplary behaviors himself, rather than by ordering them to follow rules. He showed them what is right by putting it into practice rather than arguing over it.

When I was in middle school, Mr. Kim worked as a Sunday school teacher at the church. In the mid-1970s, he persuaded the students to participate in running a 2-kilometer round trip. This was held after attending the early morning worship service and was to help the students build willpower and stamina. He and I participated in this program for a long time.

Later, his church suffered various challenges such as property issues, questions of belief and so on. As an elder, he became a strong supporter of the church. With prayer as his foundation, he helped overcome these challenges.

As a villager, Mr. Kim always attended community events and did his best. He has shown who he is through a lifetime of practice rather than in words.

One day I visited Mr. Kim’s house where I saw a mountain of books that he had read and notebooks in which he had transcribed the Bible. In this way, he had cultivated his mind, tempering himself through a daily reading habit.

I asked him what encouraged him to go to church at dawn. He said, “I still feel inadequate.” He added that maintaining such an attitude is part of living a life of obedience, like Jesus.” Perhaps he may have realized, even as a child, that an attitude of constantly refining himself through praying and reading is the way to live rightly in this world.

He is a retired English teacher who published a book titled, "Flower Is Flower."