Young volunteers from the Daegu branch of We Are One (hereinafter referred to as We Are One Daegu), a youth volunteer group, announced on the 14th August that they had volunteered to clean up litter that had been swept away by Typhoon Kanun.

About 30 young people from We Are One Daegu collected litter from Paldalgyo Bridge along Geumho River in Buk district, Daegu and put it in refuse bags. The volunteer work on that day was conducted from 9 am to 11 am.

We Are One, a youth volunteer group, boasts 90,000 youth members in South Korea and overseas.

Amid temperatures approaching 35-degrees Celsius, young people have toiled to create a better environment in Gwangju and Jeonnam.

From the 12th to the 13th August, about 300 members of the Youth Volunteer Group We Are One Gwangju-South Jeolla Branch (hereinafter We Are One Gwangju-South Jeolla) conducted environmental clean-up activities in five locations in Gwangju city and South Jeolla province, including Gwangju Stream in Gwangju, Samhyang River in Mokpo, Sewage Treatment Plant in Yeosu, Dongcheon River in Suncheon, and Bonggang Valley in Gwangyang.

The young volunteers carefully looked into every nook and cranny and gathered discarded litter, including household waste and illegally dumped waste, and floating objects brought in by heavy winds and rains that had hindered the aesthetics and various walking trails.

The riverside roads and coastal areas in each region are popular spots for residents to take a break and walk with nature, and on weekends, city tourists visit for relief.

Efforts in Gwangju Stream, where the largest number of youth members carried out clean-up activities, were centred on the 'Gwangju Stream Ecological Healing Belt', which connects various cultural and tourism spaces such as the Asia Culture Center in Yangnim neighbourhood and the old Jeonjeon and Ilshin Textiles to the centre of Gwangju Stream, and allows citizens and tourists to cycle and walk for culture. It is also a place that Gwangju City is envisioning to create as a space where one can enjoy shopping and leisure activities.

100 members of We Are One Gwangju-South Jeolla unanimously participated in clearing away litter from Yangdong Parking Lot to the front entrance of Gwangju-Kia Champions Field so that Gwangju Stream can become a place that represents healing for citizens and tourists.

A volunteer who participated in the environmental clean-up activity on that day said, “When we initially passed by, we thought it was a clean place, but when we reflected on the amount of rubbish we collected, we realised that the litter, together with logic and reasoning, had been discarded in unseen places. There was a sense of pride seeing colleagues digging through the bushes and picking up the strewn litter. Through this service, I will continue to participate in various social contribution activities for the development of the local community.”

An official from We Are One Gwangju-South Jeolla said:- 

In 2022, when the COVID-19 omicron mutation was prevalent in South Korea and blood donations were scarce, blood reserves fell to a 3-day supply and a domestic blood crisis was announced.

At that time, the 'We Are One' Shincheonji Youth Volunteer Group (Director Jun-su Hong) stepped in and resolved to alleviate the severe blood shortage that resulted from the prolonged coronavirus pandemic and mobilised over 100,000 of its members for a group blood drive. A total of 73,807 members successfully donated blood, setting a new Guinness World Record.

What follows is a Q&A with We Are One Director Hong.

An 8-year-old child steps up to the pulpit and delivers a sermon on the Book of Revelation, which even pastors find difficult to teach. This is the reality of a Wednesday worship service at Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea. 

Since July 19th, adult congregation members have been given the opportunity to preach the word on Revelation. From the 3rd week, children and youth of primary and secondary age have been invited to do the same.

From the 19th July to the 9th August, a total of 312 congregation members from some of the 78 churches of Shincheonji Church of Jesus across South Korea have preached at Wednesday worship services. Yet not a single one of them attended a seminary or has preaching experience. Among this figure, primary and secondary age students account for 49.8% (155 people), and the youngest preacher was an 8-year-old third grader in primary school (Shincheonji Seongnam Church).

Students who participated in the sermon said that they were able to preach through regular Bible study and speech practice.

Soo-ah Yoon (female, 17) said, “Through the Bible test and Bible speech study material provided by the church, the words of the Bible could be engraved onto my heart and flowed out naturally. I, myself, was surprised. It was a truly gracious experience.”

Ye-eun Lee Yang (female, 19) said, “I prepared with the thought that one day I will become someone who can testify the Word. I preached with the thought that age is not important when it comes to preaching the Word, and with the belief that God would rule my lips because I have the Word.”

An official from Shincheonji Church of Jesus emphasised that, in general, church youth groups hold praise, dance competitions, and Bible recitations.

In addition, the church's student department said that in order to balance the life of faith while fulfilling the duties of an adolescent student, separate study rooms in the church, mentoring for university, and cultural activities are also provided.

Ji-hwan Oh (male, 19), who preached at the Wednesday worship service on the 9th August, said, “I'm currently an active member of the handbell choir team at church, and I received a lot of support and remarks from the team members (when preaching on the Book of Revelation). I want to make my dream come true by working hard to make the team the best in the world.”

In addition, students who participated in the sermons said that they had more concrete and clearer hopes, such as “I desire to give better lectures” and “I will become a lecturer and evangelist who spreads the word to the ends of the earth.”

Shincheonji Church of Jesus' National Student Affairs Director In-hee Kim said, “There is a belief that it is not possible for young children and teenagers to preach, but our children prepared with a lot of prayer and speech practice on a daily basis and were able to proceed with grace. The older congregation members were more hesitant because it was the first time they stood on the pulpit, but the children were undaunted and preached the word with joy and hope and became stronger.”

Director Kim said, “Students who can preach the Book of Revelation from the podium take pride in the fact that this can only be done in Shincheonji Church of Jesus. We will do our best to raise great leaders who can lead the religious world in the future.”

On the 13th August, youth volunteers of the Icheon Seoul-Gyeonggi Southern Branch of We Are One (hereinafter We Are One Icheon) conducted an environmental cleanup of Bokha Stream in Icheon, Gyeonggi province, in the wake of Storm 'Kanun'.

Icheon City, which was in the path of the typhoon, suffered significant damage such as poor drainage and soil leakage. In the Bokha Stream area, due to the impact of the typhoon, floating matter and litter from the upper reaches of the river were scattered around Sanchek Road.

We Are One Icheon cleaned up the litter and various filth that had been washed up in the water and inspected the trail that was exposed after being submerged in water.

An official from We Are One Icheon said, “We are grateful we can be of some help to the local community, and we will continue to help wherever needed.”

Following Typhoon Khanun that struck Sokcho City and damaged the works of 'Artisan A', who had been drawing Korean paintings for a long time in the region, the youth volunteer group We Are One gathered heart and conducted a flood recovery effort.

Artisan A said, “I relocated to Sokcho because it served me favourably in my profession, but after the damage suffered, I feel utterly helpless.”

Young people from the Sokcho branch of We Are One, Gangwon city, met Mr. A while participating in the flood recovery drive, expressed words of comfort and lent a helping hand.

In addition, the Sokcho branch not only collected typhoon litter, but also toiled arranging household items strewn about the area.

Mr. Jang (75), a citizen of Sokcho, said, “As soon as I hung up the phone with my children out of the country, there was a bang, and the retaining wall collapsed and soil was pushed into the house. It was agonising, but I'm really grateful that the We Are One volunteers came and cleaned it up by hand.”

Member Eun-ji Ahn, who participated in the volunteer service, saw the flood damage site and said, “People are in desperate need of help, but it is unfortunate that we cannot help everyone.”

Jeong-soo Hwang, head of the Sokcho branch, said, “I think young people should take the lead in volunteering.”

In particular, the youth of We Are One met Sokcho City Mayor Byung-seon Lee on site and had time to share words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, according to Sokcho City, 91.3mm of rain fell per hour on the 9th and 10th, with a cumulative total of 352.5mm of heavy rain.

As a result, a total of 656 cases of damage were received in Sokcho city as of 9:00 am on the 13th August, including 536 cases of flood damage to houses and shops, backflow of sewage, collapsing embankments, and landslides.

On the 5th August, the Bucheon branch of Shincheonji Volunteer Group, together with the Gimpo and Gwangmyeong branches, held the '8th Love Your Country, Share Peace' event at MARU Square, Bucheon Station. The event was attended by nearly 1000 people, comprised of patriots, city councillors, heads of social organisations and everyday citizens.

An official of Shincheonji Volunteer Group said, “This event was prepared so that citizens could know the horrors of war, commemorate the spirit of the veterans of the Korean War who sacrificed their lives for their country, and to wish for peace.”

At the event, 815 citizens participated in the Taegeukgi (flag of South Korea) handprinting, and a campaign to educate on Taegeukgi, including the meaning of medals, the making of Taegeukgi fans and hand mirrors, and a photo exhibition of the 6.25 Korean War were all held. In addition, time was made to write letters of gratitude to the noble spirits of those who sacrificed their lives for the country in war.

Hee-jin Kim (59, female), a citizen who participated in the event, said, “I'm glad that many citizens could learn about the meaning of Taegeukgi and the Korean War through the event.”

An elderly citizen Hyun-joong (pseudonym, 70) said, “I lived a difficult childhood during the war, and there were too many people who lost their lives at that time. I hope that reunification will be achieved as soon as possible.”

Young-bin Yoo, head of the Bucheon branch of Shincheonji Volunteer Group said, “We held the event to inform many citizens about the veterans of war who sacrificed their lives for their country and to commemorate their heroic efforts to keep peace for future generations.”

Meanwhile, Shincheonji Volunteer Group Seoul-Gyeonggi West Branch plans to hold a meeting in September on the theme of cultivating peace awareness with local personnel and veterans' organisations.