Part Three: Love is Enduring - My Family
	22. My Husband, Soo Keun Kim, a Successful Businessman
	My husband, Soo Keun Kim, started his business on May 10, 1947. He served as president and there were only two other employees: Mr. Dal Hong Kim, the clerk and one laborer. In 1944, while he worked as a director at Dae Dong Co., Ltd., he registered the right to sell coal at the government office in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province and left Dae Dong Co., Ltd. in 1947 to start his own business. He bought a site in Daegu, in the Chilseong-dong district, which measured 100 pyung (about 400 square yards). In the beginning, the company bought only enough coal powder to fill one truck and made briquettes with a hand-operated machine. When the other presidents of neighboring companies saw my husband’s small business, they called him “director” instead of president. But since my husband had a university degree and had worked as a director for several farmers’ bank for a while, he was as competent as they were. Nevertheless, he had no savings because he had led an honest life as a director of a farmers’ bank and had to endure much humiliation. My husband confessed to me one day, “In spite of all my efforts, I don’t think I have what it takes to become a successful businessman.” I asked him why and he said, “ While the presidents of other companies enjoyed drinking and partying, spending a lot of money, I just can’t be like them. I said to him, “Dear, if everyone who drinks and parties succeeds, then all Koreans would become rich. Such people will fall, just like the leaves in autumn. A diligent, honest person like you will succeed for God will bless you.” I encouraged him boldly in faith. Within the next 10 years, all the businessmen who had loved drinking and partying died from high blood pressure and liver cancer leaving behind their wives and children in a miserable state. Some time later, a friend of my husband committed fraud by stealing all my husband’s stock in Dae Dong Co., Ltd. He deceived the stock holder, my husband’s cousin Deuk Lim Kim, who was bedridden with tuberculosis. When my husband ran to see my cousin, it was already too late but having pity on him, my husband couldn’t say anything. He just returned home feeling very sad about the whole situation. My husband became very sick afterwards, despairing over the loss of all his fortune. I prayed to God for wisdom. I told my husband, “Honey, if you remain sick after all our fortune is stolen, the devil will be glad. While you can always earn more money, you can’t recover your health once you lose it.” So, I asked him to see this from a new perspective. “If a thief had broken into our home last night and taken all our money, would he be so disheartened? On the contrary, he might have pity for the robber, thinking that someone poorer than us had taken it.” With these words, my husband received new strength, renewed in spirit, and got better soon. Soon after this event, a great miracle happened in the family of the cousin, Deuk Lim Kim. His parents were devoted Buddhists, believing that their son had been conceived through their prayers at a Buddhist temple. Since I had married, I had been praying diligently for this family. I wanted them to believe in Jesus and be saved. This cousin had a very symbolic dream one night after he had been defrauded. In his dream, one of his friends came and entrusted him with some money, then left. Although he waited a long time, his friend didn’t come back for the money, he just spent all the money. Right then, his friend returned and asked him to give it back and when he replied that he had spent it all, his friend left again, saying that he felt sad about it. At that moment, Jesus came and rebuked him saying that he had done wrong. He repented of his sins and asked Jesus to forgive him. As soon as he woke up from this dream, he asked his wife to buy him a Bible and a hymn book. He also asked her to invite a pastor over to hold a worship service. When I heard this good news, I brought Reverend Sang Keun Lee to visit this sick cousin. During the worship service, our cousin was greatly moved by the Holy Spirit and from that day forward he began to witness about Christ to his parents and to all his family from his sick bed. His parents were so stubborn that not only did they refuse to believe, but they also mocked the name of Jesus. Since their son persisted in asking them to accept Jesus, his father said to him, “If you get well, I’ll believe in Him.” Our cousin rebuked him, “Father, it is natural for a human to die of an illness, but it is wrong to say that you would believe in Jesus only if I get well.” Soon after, his parents and his children all became Christians. Hallelujah ! When we lost all our fortune, we took pity on our sick cousin and didn’t say anything to him. It might appear as though we had lost a great deal, but in reality, the Lord blessed us with a great harvest by leading the whole family to Jesus. What the Word of God teaches us is the truth. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city” (Prov. 16:32). If I had loved money more than God, becoming shorted-sighted, I might have become very angry with the sick cousin. If so, how could his whole family have been saved? I thanked God for not making me greedy about material possessions, for this was surely His blessing. When my husband heard what had happened to his cousin’s household, he received new strength and worked even harder. Before long, my husband’s business recovered well enough to buy a bigger company called Chosun Fuel Co., Ltd. One day, one of my husband’s friends, Mr. Woo Il Koh, came to see him early in the morning. I asked him why his friend had come and my husband said that his friend was in urgent need to borrow money for his business. I advised my husband not to lend him any since he needed it to pay for his new company. Even I could see that his friend’s business had gone bankrupt. Nevertheless, my husband lent him the money, moved by the urgency in his friend’s request. Yet soon afterwards, the latter died from shock because his business failed. My husband’s business was severely affected by the lack of capital, but since a bank, which trusted my husband’s credibility had loaned him money, he was still able to buy the Chosun Fuel Co., Ltd. The wife and child of his deceased friend visited our house one day. I found no words to comfort his wife instead I only could feel sorry for her. Since I was just then going out to see a movie with my husband, I asked her to join us. She came with us halfway but she excused herself, saying that she had some other errands to run. I saw how she was suffering from what had happened to her husband. All I could do was buy some chocolates and give them to her child. She later became an insurance agent and all of my husband’s employees willingly became her customers. Because of their help, she was able to put all her children through school and build a house as well, thus living comfortably. When her daughter grew up, she worked as a secretary in my husband’s office after she graduated. I sincerely thanked God, in His grace, for preventing me for mentioning anything about the money we had lent to the widow’s husband. My husband purchased a coal mine in the Taebaek mountains where a church was built and a pastor had been invited to minister in that region. God blessed the coal mine and it prospered. Later, my husband bought another coal mine in Moonkyung, but this mine was so troublesome that everybody who had bought it had failed. People said that my husband, despite the fact he had succeeded so far, would surely fail with this mine. Nevertheless, my husband, who by nature was very diligent, said, “Who would sell me a coal mine, if it is doing well?” He did go through hard times after he purchased the coal mine in Moonkyung because it yielded no profit in spite of a major investment. Now, a church stands at the most beautiful spot surrounding the coal mine. My husband also purchased a rubber company. This company had been previously managed by several owners whose interests and feelings were entangled in such a complex web. My husband had a hard time just taking full control of the company. This company was then entrusted to another person, but had to be closed after a few years because the salesmen had defaulted on their payments on all the products sold in Seoul. I felt so sorry for my husband when the company closed, because I knew he really worked hard for it. By this time, my husband had gone to Seoul to further expand his business. Since he had invested all his capital into the coal mines and the rubber company, he went to Seoul almost empty handed and knew no one there. He rented a small office in Myeong-dong, and employed one secretary. For a long time he investigated new business opportunities. Those days he felt so alone that he had hoped for anyone to invite him to be friend. After much consideration, he decided to purchase a company, which had been almost ruined after the Korean War, in Wang-shim-li. The company’s owner was in so much debt that he wouldn’t even be able to buy a house after selling his company. Since my husband had studied law, he did extensive research regarding all legal matters concerning the company. He finally purchased it, giving much benefit to the owner. One of the previous owner’s employees, who had formerly been a clerk in a lawyer’s office, sued my husband, after finding a loophole in the contract. He was jealous of my husband who managed the company well. My poor husband suffered many headaches for several years because of this matter, but he finally won his case at the Supreme Court level. Meanwhile, the coal mine businessmen were rather disturbed, because they thought that a major competitor had come from Daegu. But nevertheless, they were gentlemen and they were friendly to my husband, at least outwardly. By God’s grace, the coal mine in Moonkyung also became successful and at its peak had over 2,000 employees working there. My husband’s company built modern houses, schools, a hospital, and some recreation centers there. The celebrated Mt. Juheul Mountain (7,000,000 pyung or 2,800 hectares) is located there and thanks to God’s provision my husband bought it for his lumber business. This mountain was the last remaining property of the Joseon Dynasty royal family and its outstanding beauty has made it of Korea’s most spectacular national parks. I hope and pray with my sons and daughters, that God willing, we can build a Christian university and a world mission center at Mt. Juheul so that the servants of the Lord could be trained there. May the will of the Lord be accomplished. My husband expanded his business in the fuel industry by taking over companies that dealt with propane, oil, and gas in Seoul and Daegu. His company also started manufacturing gas boilers, various car parts, and chemical products. It now has over 5,000 employees. My husband would wake up at 6 every morning. I wake up earlier than him to pray to God that He would protect my husband and my whole family. Unless he has a special appointment, my husband has made it a rule all of his life to eat lunch at home and take a 30-minute nap before going back to work in the afternoon. In helping my husband, I have made more of an effort to lead all the more a temperate life. For example, I have always mended with my own hands my children’s underwear, which they never minded wearing. I told them, “Nobody will make fun of them for wearing mended underwear. There are still so many poor people around us, we should save our money and help the poor instead.” I have trained my children early on to save their money and help our neighbors. I believe that they can become precious servants of the Lord only when they learn in their childhood how to live a temperate life. Whenever I look at a piece of briquette, I consider it to be a precious jewel because it reminds me of the miners’ hands who risked their lives to dig up the coal. Likewise, when I think about how hard my husband works to earn money, I realize that I can not even spend 10 won (about 1 cent) carelessly. I always thank the Lord for His blessings in keeping my husband in good health and for prospering in his business, which started from nothing yet has become a big industry. Whenever I see my husband work so diligently, I am reminded of a passage in the Bible. “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men” (Prov. 22:29).
	22. My Husband, Soo Keun Kim, a Successful Businessman
	23. My First Son, Young Tae, Dedicated to God
	24. My Second Son, Young Min, and His Temperate Lifestyle
	25. My First Daughter, Young Joo, Born with a Talent in Painting
	26. My Second Daughter, Jung Joo, Dedicated to Jesus Christ
	27. My Third Son, Young Hoon and the Cross
	28. My Last Daughter, Sung Joo, a Businesswoman
	29. My Mother’s Advice
	30. My Conviction for Children’s Education

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