Dominican Republic

The mission in the Dominican Republic gained its momentum through Martin Bauer teaching the Principle to his family members. A German, who had been living in Jamaica, he was invited by his sister, Gertr d, who was working in the United States, to attend the Madison Square Garden rally on September 18, 1974. Afterwards, he attended a Principle workshop, accepted the teaching, then returned to the Dominican Republic and began to teach the Principle. Before the foreign missionaries came in 1975, therefore, there were already some who were following the Principle. However, there was great opposition from their families.

In 1975, a team composed of missionaries from the United States, Germany and Japan arrived in the Dominican Republic. Active witnessing began and the church received official government recognition in the same year. In 1976, Divine Principle was published in Spanish and the church began witnessing in earnest to those of the Catholic and Protestant faiths. In 1979, the church began radio broadcasts in Santo Domingo and home church was initiated. CAUSA was launched in 1982 with a seminar attended by 120 people. The government, however, became cautious about the rapid growth of CAUSA and began to persecute the movement in a variety of ways. Martin Bauer was murdered in 1985 by the opposition party who had long been intimidating him and threatening his life. Missionary Mariko Shinoda miraculously survived a gunshot wound to her head. Amid such hardships, the church has continued to grow.