Malaysia

Once people see the complexity of the Malaysian society, they can understand that the pioneering course for the unification of Malaysia is not a simple one. Against this background, missionaries arrived at Malaysia to lay a foundation for the future. The missionaries had to make effort to deal with their environment in order to deeply love the country which their own nations had exploited in the past. The fruit of that pioneering effort appeared in October 1978 with the first member, Kimberly Wong, joining the church.

In September 1979, Beverly Lee Relph witnessed to her husband who was then in England, and Genie Kagawa began to work with her husband in Malaysia.

In spite of serious interference and many difficulties, the Unification Church was officially registered on July 28, 1980. In an Islamic country, a church must send official invitation cards for speeches or religious activities. Moreover, there was a strict regulation that people of the Islamic faith cannot share religious thinking with people of other religions.

In 1981, many workers of Chinese descent attended workshops. The first negative report against the Unification Church since Reverend Moon's indictment in the United States appeared on December 21, 1981. In an Islamic country, the police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs carefully examine reports on religious organizations. The Singapore government completely prohibited the activities of the Unification Church as of April 2, 1982. The Malaysian church received close examination from the government and attack from media.

In 1983, there were twenty-one full-time members in the Headquarters Church, and a separate missionary center was also established. Thirty-five members attended the first seven-day workshop. Witnessing activities were strengthened with the visit of a regional revival witnessing team for the month of October, comprising ten members from Asia under the leadership of Mr. Murotani. Each center obtained good results.

Three new missionary centers were opened in 1984 to expand witnessing activities. In December, sixty people attended the first meeting for members parents, and twelve people attended the first Introductory Seminar on the Unification Movement (ISUM) held in Malaysia. In addition, a foreign language institute, the Seri Bintang Institute, was established.

With Reverend Byung-wooh Kim becoming leader of Southeast Asia in 1985, the full-time membership increased to seventy-five. ISUM was regularly, attended by many professors, in an effort to deflate the external pressure from the society. The church selected September 17, 1985 as a "National Day of Prayer" for inter-religious harmony. Over five hundred temples and religious centers joined in this day.

Thank to Reverend Moon's victory in Danbury and the huge sacrifice of his family, the Malaysian members could overcome this period of suffering and difficulty by the end of 1986. Public opinion about the Unification Church began to change in accordance with favorable media reports in the United States calling for Reverend Moon's release. Several witnessing campaigns were held and people showed their support: 7619 people signed membership applications.

A November 5 to 8, 1986 ISUM, for which Phillip Schanker gave the lectures to sixty professors and religious leaders, constituted a turning point for Malaysia. Because of the broadness of its doctrine, the Unification Church seemed to be serving as a bridge between Christianity and all other religions. Amidst positive media reports on this inter-religious seminar, further such seminars were held monthly at the Headquarters Church.

In 1987, a favorable report, together with an excerpt from Divine Principle appeared in the religious column of the best known newspapers in Malaysia. The general public came to know about the Unification Church and the atmosphere for witnessing became more open. A new enthusiasm for the student movement led to the establishment of the first CARP center on June 5, 1987. Fourteen Malaysian students attended the first Asian CARP Convention, held in Bangkok. The High-School Association for the Research of Principle (HARP) was officially established centering on high school students, and it grew rapidly.