It has taken me three years to write Messiah.

I feel relieved.

I feel like I have finished my life's work.

At the same time, I feel grateful to God. When I think about it, it is really a miracle that this book even came into being. I have written down most of the things I want to say to posterity, and this book is my last testament, written for my descendants, for my fellow Koreans, and also for humanity.

I poured out all my heart and effort in writing this book. The reason, however, was not to become famous as an author or to make money, but to complete the responsibility that history has given me.

Just like the fishermen who met Jesus on the banks of the Sea of Galilee some two thousand years ago, for whatever reason, Heaven saw fit to have me meet the main player in the providence of God today, the Lord of the Second Advent, the Messiah, the True Parent.

Even more amazingly, I became the mouthpiece for this great teacher, being his interpreter in the United States for some twenty-five years. During this time, the words of the Messiah have been infused deep into my very bones.

I realized that I had been chosen by history for an office both precious and extraordinary. I also realized that this office, this historical role, would never be repeated again.

1 felt strongly that it was my responsibility to pass on these incredible, unrepeatable experiences to future generations. I realized that this was the highest mission, one that I had to fulfill before I pass away from this world. So the last three years have been years of much anxiety and concern.

"What if something should happen to me before this is done?" I worried. I was unable to ignore the pressure I felt coming constantly from God. And now today, as I put down my pen, I feel liberated. I feel like I could die a happy man, with all my wishes fulfilled.

His Holiness Pope John Paul II greets Dr. and Mrs. Pak In the Vatican In 1985.

These words are a record of the more than seventy years of my life. At the same time, they are a testimony to the deeds of the Messiah, whom I have attended and served for more than forty-three years.

Now, I am so filled with joy. This feeling, though, has nothing to do with whether I shall be counted as a good author, or whether this book will be a bestseller on the charts.

Actually, I don't think that many people will read this book, not during my lifetime anyway. I think that the real time for this book to have an impact will come only after fifty or perhaps a hundred years.

What I have written here is not a simple story book, or a novel. Rather, I have recorded my own Acts of the Apostles, a record of the deeds of the Messiah. And even so, it is only a small portion of the story.

Dr. Pak was honored with the investiture of Academic by the Mexican Academy of International Law in 1990.

Two thousand years ago, the chosen people of Israel treated Jesus like a miserable criminal, and nailed him to the cross at the age of thirty-three. But the birth of Jesus became a decisive event that shaped the course of world history. When we say the year 2000, we mean the year two thousand years after the birth of Christ.

The work of the Second Advent, however, will not take as long. More is being achieved in one year today than was done in even a hundred years at the time of Jesus.

Sometime between twenty and fifty years from now, the entire world will recognize the advent of the Second Coming of the Messiah, and they will sit up and take notice. I have no doubt that at that time, this book, humble though it is, will fulfill in some part the role of the Acts of the Apostles for the Completed Testament era.

Of course, I will not be around then. But even though I am in the spiritual world, I will surely see that day of glory.

For that reason, if there was one thing in this book that I focused my heart and effort on, it was to be true to history. I have tried, above all, to leave behind me a testimony and record of evidence without falsehoods.

Now I feel liberated. I feel joy and great gladness. It is my firm belief that this book, together with the work of the Second Coming, will remain forever.

I also hold the conviction that this book will, before long, be translated and published in many different languages around the world.

To you who have read all the way through my book, I bow in my heart and offer you my thanks. I earnestly hope and pray that you will take a few minutes to deeply and thoroughly reflect on my testimony.

National Anthem of South Korea

Until the Eastern Sea runs dry,
the White Top Mountain falls,
God will guide and shield our country
for ten thousand years.
Rose of Sharon
blooming in the beauty of our land,
tended by her own sons and daughters for eternity

Our national anthem is a prophecy given to us from God. In this book, I have described the reasons why I am proud to be a Korean. It is my hope that it will help give birth to many, many proud Koreans hereafter.

May God bless you.

Bo Hi Pak