On December 16, when the winter sunshine shone brightly, “The 8th Melchizedek Literary Awards” was held at the New Jerusalem Temple, along with “The 1st Melchizedek Sacred Painting Awards.”

ⓒ 2007 WATV

The Melchizedek Literary Awards were held to plant the heavenly hope in the hearts of many people through the literary mission to express God’s infinite love and sacrifice in writing, and to stimulate faith and enthusiasm for the gospel among the brothers and sisters so that they can complete the task of world evangelism quickly. From the 1st to the 30th of June, 2007, writings were collected in eight categories including poems. 3,551 writings were submitted and 29 entries were selected as the award receivers. At the Melchizedek Sacred Painting Subscription that was held to glorify God through paintings illustrating the history of the Bible, 71 entries were submitted from September 1 to October 31, and four were selected to receive awards.

Before the awards ceremony began, the attendants watched a video titled “Awake the World Through the Writings Full of Life!” They realized that writings could be powerful enough to affect the history of the world, and they were determined to display God’s glory and spread Christ’s beautiful fragrance throughout the world as writers on behalf of the gospel.

During the service which started around noon, Mother complimented the members who touched and encouraged the brothers and sister in Zion, especially those in the army and foreign countries, through their writings. Mother said, “Everything you write with love—with an earnest mind to save a soul—is powerful enough to soften many hardened hearts and inspire those who read it to become more eager to bear fruit. Please write touching stories, knowing the value of salvation, being joyful always, giving thanks in all circumstances and asking God for help (1 Th 5:15-18).”

Right after the service, the Awards Cere-mony began. Mother presented each of the awardees with a letter of commendation and gift, and blessed them. They all gave thanks to God. One of them said, “I thought literature was only for some certain people, but now I’ve been awarded for something that I wrote to give glory to God. I am very happy. Engraving Mother’s teachings deep in my heart, I will faithfully carry out my prophetic mission as a writer for the gospel, so that I can lead many souls to salvation through writings.” The winners of the Sacred Painting Awards showed their will to participate in the world mission as painters of the gospel, using their talents from God.

The Melchizedek writers, who’ve establi-shed the kingdom of heaven in their minds, express God’s grace and love, which they’ve realized, in writing. Their writings, full of thanks and joy, spread throughout the world as the seeds of life containing God’s love. These seeds will bud in the hearts of the people who long for God’s kingdom, and will produce a beautiful crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.