The Words of the Fernsler Family
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The Words of the Fernsler Family |
Our Beloved Brothers and Sisters, it is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to send some information about the movement in Japan. The Divine Principle movement is developing rapidly in university circles all over the country, We are striving to switch the center of influence and power on the Japanese campuses from the materialist and communist movements (who have the most influential position at present) to our student movement.
We have the ambition to re-create the campus as a place where study has eternal worth, and where the personality is developed in line with the divine ideal. We work with complete confidence because we are fulfilling in reality the deepest desires of the students, for which we can have the blessing and the power of our Father.
To meet increasing need, the International Section of the University Student Division has been formed. We are working to fulfill the following specific purposes:
1. To initiate many levels of exchange -- from letters to people -- to build a dynamic unity among all the Centers of the world;
2. Church-wide foreign language studies;
3. Programs to prepare brothers and sisters for foreign mission work;
4. Working with foreign contacts in Japan.
At the same time, we (including Barbara Mikesell and Diane Giffin from America) have been trying to bring to the awareness of the Japanese that this movement is developing on a world-wide scale. With this in mind, we hope soon to receive from you more vivid knowledge and information about the activities in your locale. How wonderful it would be to deepen our mutual understanding and encouragement through the Shinjo (thoughts, love, and will) that unites us as true brothers and sisters. Together, let's fight! Let us advance! In the name of those who unite us in this glorious cosmic battle, our True Parents.
Shinjiro Kimura
President, International Section
University
Division
Greetings to our Family throughout the world!
How significant is the passing of each year! We are a part of an ever-changing world; and to those of us who know the actual direction, these changes take on an even deeper significance. As the promised New World comes closer to realization, our joyous anticipation increases; likewise, the urgency of preparing all mankind for the impending judgment.
Through the love and the message of our Master, we of the Family have been united in a boundless world. In an effort to strengthen the ties, we are initiating a report on the organization and activities of the Divine Principle Movement in Japan.
Here in the Japanese Family, there has been a change of activity and a more relaxed pace during the New Year's holiday. We've had time to clean the Centers and to gather for informal conversation. On New Year's Eve, we met just before midnight at the headquarters for singing and prayer. The head of the Japanese Church set for each one of us these goals for the coming year:
1. Reading of the Divine Principle book three times;
2. Conversion of seven persons;
3. A minimum contribution to the church.
The sense of unity between all of us is but the kernel of what is to come. And our prayer is that the Heart of the Father will quickly be made manifest throughout the entire universe.
Osami Kuboki
President, Japan Unification Church
Mr. Nishikawa began his mission to Japan in the spring of 1958. For the first year, the Japanese Unification Church consisted of one lonely man acquainted with sorrow and suffering. Thin, often close to starvation, poorly clad, exhausted but with no place to sleep, he sought desperately for one who could understand the message that he knew would one day turn this country and the entire world upside-down. Many times good people would hear and become excited by Principle, only to find out by chance that it originated in Korea; they were gone the next day. But slowly the Family took shape. Pamphlets were written; books were printed; individuals were sent out on missions; the spirit began pouring down, and the seeds of the Kingdom in Japan began to sprout.
At first the movement had a taxing fight to get the foundation laid. But by the time Bishoku Nishikawa came from Korea in 1963 to join her husband, Japan was ready to respond to the feminine element in the leadership. Things became more gentle and, largely from the vast resources of her ten years working directly under our Leader, a new depth in Principle was introduced. Today there are about 50 Centers and. 240 persons who have given themselves completely in service to the church. Along with these are hundreds of dedicated students, housewives, businessmen, teachers, etc., who contribute freely of their time, effort, and materials.
For many reasons, this new year of 1966, the Japanese movement faces a new level of growth:
1. Bishoku Nishikawa has followed Mr. Nishikawa to the United States, leaving us on our own.
2. We are moving from the initial stage (Old Testament) to the second stage (New Testament), which involves a decrease in spiritual assistance and which demands greater effort on our part.
3. Now that the basic steps for the national foundation have been laid, we must turn our eyes outward to the world movement. Already five missionaries have been sent to the Americas; and from now on, more will be going out, especially to the Eastern countries.
4. The ball is beginning to roll here and many new people are joining the church. The close unity and fellowship of the initial pioneering movement is lost in the stream of new faces. In spite of this, dynamic organization and unity are even more important. To work on this new level, attracting new members and finding a place for them, we need deeper heart and better developed organization. In addition, we must broaden our own minds in order to appeal to professional men and governmental officials. For this, Mr. Nishikawa has stressed the importance of having a strong headquarters. He transferred many of the strongest members from the district to headquarters. With such a center, the local churches can be united and revitalized. And from this center, Japan can be united with the world.
To establish Father's Kingdom, we need:
1. A vision and the means to reach it;
2. Unity in Father's heart and will;
3. Organization;
4. Finances.
The Unification Church has been organized with these needs in mind.
I. Headquarters.
A. General Affairs Bureau.
1. Accounting.
2. Office of General Affairs: runs daily activities of the headquarters; ministers to spiritual needs of the church; compiles reports and pamphlets; carries on correspondence; serves to unify the church on the international, national; interdepartmental, and individual levels.
B. Mission Department.
1. Daily lecture series on the Divine Principle. Two cycles are covered each week, with lectures running from 10 a. m. to 9 p. m.
2. Training program.
3. High School Division: activities include witnessing, leafleting, daily street meetings, and haihin kaishu (see below).
4. University Student Division.
5. Youth division: this includes young people having regular employment.
6. Adult Division: father's group, mother's group. business club.
7. International Committee: responsible for incoming and outgoing missionaries, and for increasing foreign language fluency and cultural awareness.
8. Art Committee.
9. Physical fitness program.
C. Cultural Department.
1. Weekly magazine: publishes the Sunday sermon, church news, and various articles.
2. Monthly newspaper.
3. Biannual student magazine, "Ten Chu" (Heaven and Earth).
4. Photography.
D. Economic Enterprises.
1. Lupont Restaurant.
2. Electric light factory.
3. Kimchi factory.
4 Haihin kaishu.
5. Prospective chemical factory.
E. Depth research in the Divine Principle: currently, a study is being made on the relationship of mind and matter, with attention being given to Marxian writings and others. A book will be published later.
II. National Organization.
A. District churches (11).
B. Prefectural churches (36).
Japan is divided, for organizational purposes, into 11 districts, with Tokyo Church serving as headquarters. Districts are subdivided into a national total of 36 prefectural churches. (This brings the total number of Unification Churches in Japan to 48.) The head of the district church is responsible also for the smaller churches in his area, and travels among them and holds meetings with the leaders. Leaders and members not tied to a school or job rotate frequently their positions and locale -- usually once a year or less as seems advisable. Members are trained under a certain leader and then may assume leadership for a prefectural church. This position involves the responsibility for worship, a weekly sermon, street meetings, finances, and day-by-day reports to headquarters, in addition to witnessing and lecturing the Divine Principle. Leaders are chosen on the basis of experience in Principle rather than by age, so that a very young person may lead persons much older in physical years. Here, as elsewhere, emphasis is placed on following the direction of the leader. By virtue of their smaller membership and continual contact, the local churches are enabled to develop the familial unity so essential to growth and effective mission. This is an element more difficult to achieve in the large headquarters.
With so many and diverse churches, it is exceedingly important that contact be maintained with headquarters. For this, local leaders frequently return for meetings (transportation being inexpensive). Headquarters, in turn, sends members out to visit the local churches, as well as mailing the weekly and monthly publication.
The Kingdom we are building is on a physical as well as spiritual plane. During his first years here, Mr. Nishikawa supported himself by haihin kaishu, the "heavenly job" of door-to-door collection of newspapers, magazines, bottles, and old clothing to be resold to junk dealers. The tradition is maintained for the dual purposes of finance and training. In haihin kaishu, we experience some of the blood, sweat, and tears of our Heavenly Father and, by a working fellowship, can strengthen the Family ties. It is also used as an opportunity to distribute leaflets and to witness. You can imagine the surprise of people when cheerful and neatly-dressed youth appear in an occupation usually conducted by bums on the street.
Local churches are financed mainly through haihin kaishu and the contributions of well-established members. In Tokyo, however, several businesses have been developed. Of these, the only one which reaps noticeable profit is Lupont, a small Western-style restaurant. Of the eleven-member staff, all are members of the Unification Church except the two head cooks. Lupont has many regular customers who understandably enjoy the warm, unpretentious atmosphere.
Two other businesses are still in the process of establishing a reputation. One is a factory which makes electric light fixtures. The members live together in a village outside of Tokyo. All the workers there at present have been with the factory for at least one year; long-term assignments are necessary because of the extensive technical training. Living as they do, isolated from other members and having no time for mission, a chief problem becomes that of maintaining a strong faith. This they do by sharing deeply together, by regular worship, and through occasional visits from other members.
The other is a kimchi-making business. The four members there work all hours to make, advertise, and deliver that food famous in the Unified Family. The vision is of a business expanded to the point of exporting to the U. S. and elsewhere.
One other factory will break ground for its buildings in January. This will manufacture two chemicals invented by a Family member: a catalyst to intensify the burning of oil; and a substance for the renewal of old paper.
Our members all look back on training session as a highlight of their life in Principle. Generally, those who participate in the central training program have heard the lectures beforehand, either in a local program or at the Tokyo lecture hall. To date, a total of over 100,000 persons have heard the entire Divine Principle, and 5 - 6,000 have attended the 29 training sessions; few, though, can follow. Training sessions vary in length from 3 to 40 days, and may be on an introductory level or for study in depth and leadership training. Various types of sessions are held to accommodate quite a range of personal situations. The participants may all be university or high school students, all housewives or businessmen, or a mixture of these. There is a regular staff responsible for planning, lectures, and meals for the training programs. Other members fill in according to the need.
The schedule is characterized by intensive group activity. Trainees meet regularly in groups of eight to ten, to eat, to pray, and to discuss questions and difficulties; they are under the direction of a leader at all times. After the trainees bed down, the leaders gather for evaluation and planning. They watch the trainees carefully for qualities of leadership, for participation, and for any problems that might arise. Evaluation of oneself and others plays an important role, for in this they can face their problems squarely. Every trainee keeps. a daily record of good and bad points and any strong impressions concerning the day, the program in general, himself and others. Toward the close of the session, a group leader writes constructive criticisms of each member of his group which he shares with the individuals in question.
In a recent leadership training session of two weeks duration, the trainees practiced lecturing. They are trained carefully for mission work, always with a high example and a clear direction.
Lectures are held several times daily. These are highly intellectual, using science, philosophy, history, as well as various religions to lead to logical proofs. During a training session, the entire Divine Principle is lectured two or three times. The sequence is rounded out with lectures on biology, evolution, the standard of worth, world affairs, the existence of God, prayer, etc. For this, Principle is taken immediately from the level of mere philosophy to the actualities of daily living. Whether eating, cleaning, or participating in sports, they strive for an awareness of their position in relation to the history of restoration and the present movement. Forceful prayer is a constant and highly emphasized part of training. Prayer may be led by a leader or trainee. And, at regular periods, the entire group prays aloud; the last session climaxed with two intensive hours of such prayer. This, of course, is difficult for any new member; particularly so for the former materialists and atheists. By grappling with the matter of prayer at the time of training, they can establish an excellent basis for future growth.
One of the most dynamic groups in the Japanese Family is the University Student Movement.
As is fitting to our ages, we usually have some major project underway. Our most recent project was the consolidation of living quarters at the former headquarters on Nampeidai Street. There are several advantages to this move. Previously, the students had been scattered about the city in private rooms and Divine Principle student houses.
Those living at the headquarters had virtually been lost in the divergent activity; further, there was no place that lent itself well to study. We, as youth and as students, have a unique potentiality in terms of spirit and mission. To utilize this potential, we need an invigorating sense of unity and coordinated activity. To this end, the consolidated living accommodations are most helpful. There are many campus movements seeking after ideals similar to those of Principle; we must create in actuality an atmosphere of joy and love such as surpasses all other groups.
We've quickly united around the problem of finances. The expense of the Nampeidai Center is beyond our ordinary resources. So, to meet the need, many students are going out regularly on haihin kaishu, while others have taken jobs in factories and department stores, and still others work as tutors and translators. And, with a little ingenuity, we are able to feed ourselves on a small budget. We satisfy ourselves with talk of the promised 'land of milk and honey'.
Even with the present emphasis on raising money, everyone tries to do street preaching at least once a day. Generally, this is done in a group. We start with prayer and song; then one person steps forward to preach while another holds the banner, and yet another prays in support of the speaker and in preparation to preach. The rest distribute leaflets and witness to interested bystanders.
Each autumn, all the Japanese universities hold festivals of up to a week in length, at which every club puts up a display. No club had the magnetic power of the Principle Study Group. Outdoors, we street preached and passed out leaflets advertising the display and a forthcoming meeting at which national leaders of the Unification Church and members from that university's club would make introductory speeches on the Principle. Youth and student members from all parts of Tokyo would join to assist wherever a festival was being held. At one university alone, over eleven hundred people received the explanation. Each visitor filled out a questionnaire concerning his personal beliefs; and his impression of the display. At the close of the festival, those persons were contacted who had shown interest in the training sessions scheduled as a follow-up. Many members went also to distant universities to assist at the festivals. The national student movement is concentrated on fourteen major campuses. Nearby schools are under the direction of the major ones, making a total of approximately 350 active members in 60 universities throughout Japan.
At present, about 50 students are living at Nampeidai; we foresee the number rising quickly to 100. The plan is to utilize Nampeidai as a Center for leadership training, from which many able leaders can be sent out to other parts of Japan and the world.
One of the highlights of the church is the Yyonju nichi kaitakku dendo, the 40-day pioneer mission. The practice was begun in Japan in 1963 with 80 members; the next summer, the number had risen to 120; and this last summer, over 200 members went out on mission.
The participants are primarily students. although a few housewives and businessmen have joined. They are sent out individually or in pairs or small groups, either to pioneer new cities for Principle or to assist in previously established churches. These 40 days are a period of intensive witnessing. street preaching and leafleting, and harchin kaishu. Occasionally there are openings for such activities as formal. speaking.
Many of the participants were only one week old; that is. they had understood the Divine Principle for the first time during the week-long training program that preceded. This method of pioneer mission is ideal for deepening our experience of the Father's heart and His enduring will. There are many touching stories that came out of the mission. For example, there were the two boys who missioned with all their strength from morning till night, making conditions and praying continuously for the restoration of their city. Day after day they found absolutely no response. At last, an intelligent younger man responded with excitement and understanding. For two full days they met together. Then suddenly, on the third day, he turned against them and, in wrath, told them to leave the city. It was then that they realized they were the only persons there who truly loved that city. There was one city where a high school boy greeted the pioneers on their first evening of street preaching with a tearful shout of joy. He had been convinced by the pioneers of the previous summer and, although alone since that time, he had missed not a single day of street preaching. There was one high school boy whose parents felt him too young for such activity, and drove three hours by taxi to pick him up. On the way back he pleaded with them with such reason and tears that they put him on the return train.
Of course, there are also physical needs to be met. This means money, most of which is gathered in the traditional haihin kaishu. It is common knowledge that Father never lets His children go more than four days without food. Even so, there are often difficulties, particularly at the outset. Many pioneers return thinner from diets of, for instance, bread crusts and sugar. If a town is a center for a certain fruit or vegetable, the diet of the pioneers may be just that... for 40 days. Even the utensils are unique: one eva-san (girl) gathered her dishes from the junk yard.
Finding a place to stay is even more of a problem. Two eva-san arrived in their town very late at night. Seeing only one house-light, they prayed and knocked, asking if they could sleep in the house. Through the closed door, the reply came that there was no room. They asked if they could sleep in the yard The owner opened the door and was surprised to find two girls; their voices had been made gruff by street preaching and teaching. With that knowledge, he let them in. Many times, brothers and sisters take advantage of the Buddhist temples for lodging and, less commonly, the Christian churches. One adam-san found no lodging for three weeks, during which time he slept on a park bench. Another slept two weeks in a telephone booth. Two adam-san slept in an animal shed and said, "We continually thought of Jesus." There were two brothers who vowed not to sleep under a roof until they found a place they could use for a church. In the third week they were loaned the ideal room.
On the completion of this last pioneer mission, perhaps 500 of us gathered to share our experiences and to collect ourselves for the next step. At the end of the three-day meeting, we returned to home, university, or went to a new mission assignment. Broadened by the experiences and warmed by the deep rapport, we parted again... ready for an even bigger battle.
(Report compiled by Diane Giffin and Barbara Mikesell, exchange members of the Japan Unification Church.)