Senior Deaconess Moonja Kim (Age 73, Suncheon Manmin Church in South Korea)


Early morning on Thursday, February 23, 2023, I left to work in the fields which I hadn’t done for a while during winter. About a 20-minute drive from my house in Sandong-myeon, Gurye-gun, South Jeolla Province, I arrived at a greenhouse in Namwon City, North Jeolla Province. Not long after I started working, I heard a loud, sudden noise in my chest and felt excruciating pain.
I collapsed and rolled over in pain, so painful beyond words, and barely crawled out of the field. By the help of people around me, first I received Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee’s prayer for the sick through ARS (Automated Response System). The greenhouse owner took me to a small hospital in the Sandong-myeon area where I lived but due to no available doctors, the ambulance was called.
While the ambulance took me to a hospital in Suncheon City, South Jeolla Province, the paramedic who was with me gave me painkillers twice but the pain did not subside. Upon arrival, I was diagnosed with a ruptured aorta. The hospital was not equipped for surgery and the doctors said I needed to go to a hospital specialized in cardiology in Bucheon City, Gyeonggi Province. After that, everything became hazy.
Meanwhile, my children, contacted by the paramedics, rushed to the hospital and were told that I would die if surgery was not performed within 24 hours. My third daughter rode in the ambulance to the hospital in Bucheon City and during that time, called the Pastor of Gongju Manmin Church. She asked the Pastor to receive a healing prayer from President of the Manmin Prayer Center, Boknim Lee on my behalf.
At the time, Manmin Prayer Center President Boknim Lee was leading a special prayer meeting for Honam Regional Assembly at Daejeon Manmin Church, and the Pastor of Gongju Manmin Church was also in attendance. Around 7 pm, approximately 12 hours and 30 minutes after the incident, I received Mrs. Boknim Lee’s prayer through the phone. I was told afterwards that I fell asleep and went to the hospital comfortably.
It was God’s grace that allowed me to fall into a deep sleep and have a peaceful rest. Around 10 pm the same night, I arrived at the heart hospital in Bucheon City and went into surgery around 11 pm. My condition was called ‘ascending aortic dissection.’ My children waited all night with faith and kept listening to Senior Pastor Lee’s prayer for the sick recorded on the phone.

Around 5 am on Friday, February 24, the surgery finished. The operation was said to take 8 to 13 hours but in reality, completed within 6 hours, saying it went well without any problems. After the surgery, the doctor in charge said that it was a miracle I survived for so long because many who come in for long-distance operations with aortic dissections suffer further ruptures of the aorta and are at near-death.
Though I passed this crisis, another one appeared. The surgery went quicker and better than expected but I was unconscious for the next three days. Serious consequences were expected if my condition prolonged such as brain damage, organ necrosis and vegetative state.



After the evening service on Sunday, February 26, my second daughter attending the central church received prayer from Acting Senior Pastor Soojin Lee. My daughter described that I was unresponsive in the intensive care unit. By God’s grace, I regained consciousness and was moved to the general ward on Monday, the very next day. Since, my body recovered quickly and I was discharged on Tuesday, March 7, nine days after transfer to the general ward.



After regaining consciousness, I cried with tears when I heard my children tell me how the God of love protected me in moments of crisis. When I think back even now, I am filled with immense gratitude and indebted to God the Father. During my recovery period, I came to look back on myself. Even though I was a senior, I didn’t embrace the people around me with love. I was able to realize and wholeheartedly repent of my inadequate love for souls as a worker of the church, and failure to intercede more for my children in prayers.
I realized my heart lacked spiritual love and failed to serve, and how much I was seeking my own benefits rather than others in prayers. I repented and resolved hard to cast off my sinful natures. Subsequently, the results on my first check-up after being discharged were normal. Presently, I am grateful for my new life and full of happiness for my renewed body and mind. I am praying so I will not forget the grace of God and live a life of faith full of the Spirit. I give all thanks and glory to God the Trinity ? the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ? who presented me with new life.
An aortic dissection is a serious condition in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the body's main artery (aorta). Blood rushes through the tear, causing the inner and middle layers of the aorta to split (dissect). If the blood goes through the outside aortic wall, aortic dissection is often deadly. In particular, ascending aortic dissection is a disease with a high mortality rate ? approximately 40% of patients die immediately after occurrence and 10% are fatal during treatment.