[Five Spiritualities Testimony] ✨🙏 Forgiving Murderers through the Grace from Naju 🙏✨

💖 Forgiving Murderers through the Grace from Naju 💖

Wealth, Bankruptcy, and Betrayal

I am Paul Son Jin-pil from Icheon Parish in the Diocese of Suwon. In the late 1960s, I moved to Seoul and accumulated considerable wealth through the construction business. At one point, my bank account held 10 billion KRW.

However, around the year 2000, in the aftermath of the IMF crisis, the companies for which I had provided guarantees went bankrupt and our company also faced a chain bankruptcy. I sold my assets to repay my debts, but it was far from enough, so I tried to use my wife’s inheritance to pay off the debts. However, she pushed ahead a sham divorce to protect her assets.

 A Decade in Hiding, Then Murder

To avoid my creditors, I built a tiny greenhouse in a countryside village in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, where I spent more than ten years in hiding. At the end of 2011, my wife’s uncle and aunt came with a few people and invited me to drink with them. After getting me heavily intoxicated, five or six of them brutally beat my head and body with clubs and then strangled me until they confirmed I was dead before leaving. They carried out this scheme out of fear that I, as her husband, might obstruct their intentions to steal the considerable inheritance my wife had.

Surviving Winter with Chicken Feed

Fortunately, I was found by some people and transferred to the hospital, where they informed me that I needed surgery right away. Due to financial constraints, I could only get emergency care and returned to the greenhouse on December 31, during the harsh winter. I lay there for a month, nearly starving, and when I searched for food, I found chicken feed. I managed to sift out about one hop (160g) of rice crumbs. 

Cold, Hunger, and Hatred

Since it was winter and there was no grass to eat, I boiled some dried mugwort to make a thin porridge and saved it to sustain my life. The greenhouse without heating reached temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius making the cold even more difficult to bear. Yet during the day, I would step outside to bask in the sun by a puddle. I gritted my teeth with hatred to kill them all, enduring the cold and hunger.

Expected to Be Dead, Yet Alive

One day, an acquaintance visited me and took me to the Cha Hospital in Bundang. After taking an MRI and conducting all the tests, the doctor said, “With your condition, you should be dead by now; it's unusual that you're still alive. Even if you survived, it would have been expected for you to be in a vegetative state.”He then performed surgery on my head right away.

Abandoned by My Own Family

After being hospitalized for fifteen days, when I was discharged, I came to know my wife and children had arranged everything and moved abroad to get away from me. Rather than the wounds inflicted by others, the reality of my family abandoning me came as a greater shock, plunging my spirit into deep darkness filled with rising rage and feelings of betrayal. From that moment on, my heart was always filled with anger and hostility, and all I could think was, "Once I recover even a little, I will kill them all and then kill myself."

First Call to Naju

Out of pride, I didn’t contact my relatives and lived almost starving in the greenhouse, but in March 2012, someone came to visit me with food and daily necessities. That person, who is a devoted pilgrim of Naju, brought me a book titled "The Way of Love for the Lord" and encouraged me to read it.

The content records the conversations between Jesus and Julia, featuring touching stories of a little soul who dedicates her life to mending the torn hearts of Jesus and the Blessed Mother while practicing unconditional love towards neighbors. Since it was beyond my imagination, I ended up reading it twice consecutively. 

Next, this person brought the book of Messages of Love from Our Lady of Naju and said, “If you can walk, let’s go to Naju.” So  I asked, "Is there a place to rest there? I feel too weak and need to lie down." This person replied that I could lie down if I was feeling unwell, and thus, with my weary body, I went to Naju on June 30, 2012, the 27th Anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s first weeping Tears in Naju. When I arrived, I found that vinyl greenhouse chapel was also too shabby and crowded, making it hard to find space to sit down.

However, everyone I met welcomed me warmly and showed consideration, overflowing with love. On that day, I could sit up all night instead of lying down. During the meeting time with Julia Kim, she lovingly hugged me and kissed me, saying that she loves me. After meeting with her, walking down the stairs felt as if I were on clouds, and all the emotions of sorrow and suffering that I had held inside came rushing out, causing me to shed tears unexpectedly and uncontrollably. 💧

Becoming Catholic and Receiving Healing

After my first pilgrimage to Naju, I attended catechism at Ichon Parish and received baptism, followed later by confirmation. Each time I visited Naju, I experienced a steady improvement in my health. After showering two or three times with the Miraculous Water at the Blessed Mother’s Mountain and drinking it frequently, I recovered to the point that I now rarely need the sixty pills a day I had been prescribed after my head surgery. I was also healed of the severe pain in my right shoulder, which I had previously been unable to use.

From  Vengeance to Forgiveness

Burning with a desire for vengeance, I wished to kill all those who had tried to murder me, but kept listening to Julia Kim’s inspiring talk saying, “Forgive even those you want to kill. Why should we forgive them? Because they brought you to Naju, and now you know God and the Blessed Mother; they are actually your benefactors.” As I continued to listen to her, I was able to forgive them. My heart is now very peaceful, and I no longer have any urge for revenge. 

Recognizing My Faults and Seeking Forgiveness 

Now, by the grace of the Lord and the Blessed Mother, I live in a small but cozy rental apartment. I believe all the wretched events I faced during that time were a process by which God led me, a stubborn soul, to Naju. Like Julia Kim said, I realized that the cause of all these situations was not because of others, but because of me. If God grants me another chance to meet them, I would like to sincerely apologize to my wife and children and ask for their forgiveness. 

Having Nothing, Yet Overflowing with Grace 💖

I may not have anything right now, but I am incredibly happy. The betrayal that left deep wounds in my soul and those who drove me to death were forgiven through God’s love solely by the grace of the Blessed Mother of Naju. It is thanks to Mama Julia, who offered her suffering in prayer for the healing of this sinner's soul and body.

✨If it weren't for the Blessed Mother of Naju, I would have burned with a desire for vengeance, wanting to kill them all, and I would have also gone to hell. Through Naju, I learned the love of Jesus, who said, "Love even your enemies." In a world overflowing with war, violence, hatred, and anger, where even murders frequently occur within families, if the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Naju were approved, many souls like mine, who cannot forgive and live in resentment, could learn of God's true love, forgive, and embark on a new life toward heaven.

Paul Son Jin-pil

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