Contributed by Dr. Achille Acolatse, Washington, D.C. Family Church Pastor

The following is a personal testimony to the spiritual mentorship, partnership, and friendship shared between Rev. Samuel and the Revs. Jeddie and Elma King of Kissimmee, Florida.

Rev. Samuel had been a friend of my husband, Rev. Jeddie King for many years in New York. Rev. King said he had a spiritual call from God to stay close to the Samuel’s family, and he did just that over the many years. I met Rev. Samuel in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2005. Rev. Samuel had invited Rev. King and I to a wedding reception of one of his sons. Over the years as Rev. Samuel called Rev. King, I would get on the phone and say hello also. My husband and I became coordinators of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) and my letters for the prayer breakfast became newsletter articles in November 2008. I started sending Rev. Samuel the newsletters by his request. He did not want to miss even one.

Rev. Samuel found favor in me, and we connected through my writing. Later, it was through my songs. I would sing my new songs to him. There were so many phone calls where he asked Rev. King to let him speak to “Minister Kim,” as he used to call me, until many times when Rev. King saw that he was calling he called out to me, “Rev. Samuel is on the phone!”

Rev. Samuel would say, “Minister Kim, I know that you are busy,” and I always replied, “Yes, I am, but I am never too busy for you. Whenever you call Rev. Samuel, I will stop for you.” Whenever Rev. Samuel called I would listen. If we were away when he called we would hear his message, “Oh, Rev. King and Minister Kim, this is Rev. Samuel. I am checking to see if there is any new news!” His voice was always like a celebration.

Seeing reports of our Roadside Marriage Blessing ministry, he was inspired to do one himself. He called me to get every detail of how we did it, and he did it. With us there was a lot of new news going on, and he wanted to be a part of it. Rev. Samuel and I spent so much time in the prayer room talking. He shared his painful history of his life and his family that had chipped away at his heart’s self-image like a chisel. It broke my heart and made me cry. There was no way that I could erase the pain, but I could cover it with love, mercy and compassion, because the bible tells us that love covers a multitude of sin.

Calling our hotline of love, he knew that he could tap into our reservoir of love which would generate the power he needed to keep on running. I shared my love, and he would share his wealth of knowledge of True Father, and True Parents. So many hours he taught me what he had learned at True Father’s feet in the early years of the church, and I would soak it all up. We lived our lives in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, loving True Parents to our bone marrows. We were supremely joyful together, and we called each other two to three times a week. He would get off the phone fired up to help God change the world. He wanted so much to come live in Kissimmee so we could work together.

We reported to each other like headquarters. There is no one in the church that we talked to and shared with as much as we did with Rev. Samuel. We even shared our dreams with each other. He believed in us.

I later told Rev. Samuel that I had the opportunity to do a radio ministry. I wanted my husband to join me, but he wasn’t ready yet. I asked Rev. Samuel if he would go on with me. He was happy to do it. God gave me the name the Light of Truth for the ministry. He said the spirit told him that he should read True Father’s words. I set it up and he jumped right in. He was like a honeybee sucking on nectar. There was never a time for me to jump in, because he didn’t want to interrupt the flow of True Father’s speech. I asked Rev. King if he had ever seen anything like it. Rev. Samuel wouldn’t let me on my own show. Because he was led by the spirit, I honored his drive to put True Father’s words out there.

I went on to start three other ministries. Rev. Samuel was on this ministry for over two years. So you see Rev. Samuel’s and our lives are intertwined. He has been with me every step of the way since I met him. When we got the news that morning on September 18, 2016 that he was in the hospital, and his condition wasn’t good, we were also having our Special Grace Ceremony that day. We had to carry on in silence and in tears. They told us of the litany of illness that was going on in his body. Knowing that he had a terminal illness he worked his body to the ground doing his Tribal Messiahship work with a smile every day.

Rev. Samuel reminded me of True Father when he came down with malaria in prison. True Father’s face was flushed with fever, his body shook with severe chills, legs tottering as though they would give way at any moment; he had difficulty keeping his balance and did not have the full use of his hands. When his disciple cried for him, True Father said to him, “Cry for God”; God is suffering more than he was. True Father saw God’s suffering, and told God not to worry about him.

Rev. Samuel worked himself down with a single-mindedness to do God’s will in his Tribal Messiahship before he was finally taken to the hospital. While he was living under the worst physical conditions, he was trying to find out what else could he do for God. He didn’t want God to worry about him. In fact he didn’t want anyone to worry about him.

From 2009, I have known that his heart is with God and True Parents. So I am not worried about him. He is now, and will always be, God’s champion, and he is so worthy of this celebration today, and many others to come. I am eternally grateful for the short years that God gave me to spend with him up close and personal. He was my best friend. He shared things about True Parents with me that I would never have known. Like Rev. Samuel, we pledge to work in our Tribal Messiahship until the last breath!

1 Peter 4:13 — Insofar as you are sharing Christ’s suffering rejoice, so that when His Glory and splendor is revealed, you will also rejoice with Triumph.

True Parents gave me a song—I would like to dedicate it to Rev. Samuel. The chorus of “Don’t Worry About Me,” from Minister Kim to Rev. Samuel, with love:

Oh Lord, don’t worry about me, you’ve got so much to do. Please, tell me, teach, and show me, oh Lord, how can I help you…so you gave me your heart I can feel now that your pains are so severe…

Minister Kim (as he called me)

October 16, 2016