The Words of the Kim Family Before 2008
|
|
The Words of the Kim Family Before 2008 |
I was born on September 25, 1943, in Sukhyun-Ri, Dukwon-Myun, Moonchun-Koon Ham, in Kyung Nam prefecture. This is an area in North Korea near Wonsan City, which is famous for its beautiful beaches. I have two older brothers and two older sisters. My family came from a traditional Confucian background, but later on they converted to Christianity. This was due to the efforts of my aunt, a sincere Christian woman who graduated from Wonsan missionary school and became a missionary. She was seized by the Holy Spirit and received spiritual power to heal sick people.
It was about 50 years ago, when I was just a small boy, that my aunt heard a voice saying that the Messiah would come to Pyongyang and that Pyongyang would become the New Jerusalem. My family thought that she believed in a rather strange religion! But one day unexpected things happened that totally changed my family's concepts about Christianity.
My oldest brother-in-law got sick, and the doctor said that his disease was incurable. My aunt told his wife -- my eldest sister -- to start believing in God and praying fervently to Him to be healed. So my sister prayed sincerely. But my brother-in-law didn't trust his wife, and when she told him she could help cure him, he said he was going to leave the house. Just as he walked out the door, his wife collapsed on the floor, as if dead. So my aunt told him to believe in his wife immediately. So he did, and as a result, his wife came back to life.
Then his wife hit him on the back saying, "You are cured! See, just trust me!" And right then my brother-in- law was cured.
After that, my mother got sick, and my eldest sister cured her as well through her fervent prayer. A few months later my father was struck by a fatal illness; the doctor said there was no hope for him. So we asked for my sister's help again. She smiled and said that God loves us and because of that He wants us to trust Him. She said she could cure my father's sickness right aw.ly by praying, but that in addition my father had to read the entire Bible completely, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation. My father trusted her; he read the entire Bible and was healed.
Through all of these experiences, my family finally came to believe in God, and we realized that He is always with us. Every one of us became a Christian.
At some point in 1946 we could no longer stay in our town, because the communists started persecuting Christians, especially Catholics. My older brother moved south to Chun Choon, and I joined him in 1948. About two years later, because of the Korean War, we moved on to Pusan, where we met our father and my second-eldest sister, and we stayed with them. By then I had become a sincere Christian and was regularly attending a Presbyterian church.
At that time, Mrs. Hyun Shil Kang, the first member to join Father in South Korea, witnessed to Mrs. Jae San Kim, who was our neighbor. Mrs. Kim happened to be very close to my sister, and eventually she led my sister to meet True Father. After my sister met him, she prayed and found out that True Father was the Second Messiah, and she started to go regularly to the Unification Church.
Father's
48th birthday celebration at the Old Chung Pa Dong Church in Seoul,
February 4, 1968.
My sister tried to teach me the Principle, but she was not successful, so she witnessed to my father instead. Then my father tried to convince me, but I didn't want to listen to him. My father kept saying, 'A man should always be looking for a saint in order to receive education from him for his life. We have now met a saint, so why don't you want to meet him? Please go and see him. I will never ask you to do anything else. Finally I agreed to go to a service.
On the first Sunday after I promised I would go, I suddenly changed my mind and didn't want to go. I lied to my father, saying that I was very busy. The second Sunday came, and I lied to him again with the same excuse. But on the third Sunday I felt I could not repeat the lie, so I went along with my father.
Arriving at the top of a hill, I encountered a small house with a sign written in English and Chinese characters: "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity." We stepped inside. About 10 men and women were gathered there. My father bowed in front of a young man wearing an army jacket. I thought this was very strange, because that man looked young enough to be my brother. But my father told me to do the same thing, so I did.
Normally a Christian Sunday service starts out with a Bible reading, followed by hymn-singing and a sermon. But this church was different. This young man -- True Father -- asked everyone if they had had any dreams the night before, or if they had received any revelations. Someone said he had a dream in which he saw True Father with a golden crown on his head and a bright shining light behind him. Another person said he had seen True Father in a higher position than Jesus in the spirit world. These kinds of testimonies went on from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This Sunday service was quite different from the ones at the Presbyterian Church I was attending. I was getting very bored, and I told myself that I would never come to the Unification Church again. Finally we sang some holy songs, and True Father started to pray. I was amazed, because Father's prayer was very different from any other ministers' prayers I had heard, and I was deeply moved by it. I felt that Father was talking with God.
Three months later, on June 15, 1954, Mr. Won Pil Kim came to Pusan to give a Principle lecture to the village people, and I attended it. After listening to him I felt very moved and happy, because all the questions I had had about the Bible, God, and the spirit world were answered. Now this was a time when Koreans were still recuperating after the Korean War, and many Koreans didn't have much hope. Everybody thought that God had just ignored Korea. So when I heard the lecture about the Second Coming, I felt extremely happy. It was almost as if I were in a dream. My older sister then asked me if I knew who Rev. Moon was, and I told her that he was the one who had found the Principle and started the Unification Church. It was then that she told me that Rev. Moon was the Messiah. She also said I should not tell anyone yet. I felt confident that she was speaking the truth. I joined the church and started witnessing to my school friends and even to one of my professors.
After I started going to college at Dong-Ah University, I could only think of witnessing, not studying. After two years, I decided to quit school. In the summer of 1957 I went to Go-Sung City with one other member to witness there. We had only one- way bus fare, and we had to spend the first night sleeping on somebody's porch. The next day we went visiting door-to-door, and again we didn't have any place to sleep that night. We climbed a hill, looked over the city, and prayed to God to lead us in the right direction.
The next morning we went around to each house again. We found out that many people had had dreams about us the previous night. We started to teach many of them the Principle, and they wanted us to stay with them in their homes. Through this experience, we knew that God was alive and that He was always with us.
In 1959, at the time of the first 40- day workshop at the church headquarters in Seoul, I was assigned to be in charge of the Jin Joo church. Back then, the Jin Joo members were almost all students and were very young spiritually.
I remember one incident there very well. One student came up to me saying that she couldn't understand about resurrection and the spirit world. I taught her that section in the Principle, and I told her that, although I couldn't show her, she would have experiences of the spirit world as time went by. About one month later she came to me and recounted an event she had just experienced.
She had a male cousin who had died a few years before. His spirit came to someone in her family, and he told that person he wanted to get married in the spirit world. He asked the members of his family to make wedding clothes for a man and a woman and to prepare some fruits and rice cake. The family did as instructed and then followed the cousin's directions to someone's house. The owner of that house was informed of what was going on. That man was very happy to hear the story, because he had a daughter who had also just died. He agreed to marry them together. They had a wedding ceremony for the two of them, and after the ceremony the spirits thanked the family and left. This sister told me that she now completely believed in the spirit world.
While I was in Jin Joo, the Korean government changed, and I got drafted into the Korean army and had to go to a training camp. I knew that I should serve in the army for the sake of my country, but I also knew that our church needed leaders to do God's will right now. One day while in prayer I told God, "I want to serve my country in the army, but can't I do it later?" Right after my prayer I heard that the lieutenant colonel had come to the camp. He announced that if anybody had any problems to see him. So I went to his room and told him that I had to take care of many things and that I needed to get married to carry on my lineage. Amazingly, the lieutenant colonel told the medical officer I had a physical problem and told him to send me home. I realized again that God always makes a way for us and prepares everything.
All
regional directors received plaques of appreciation on God's Day
1987. Here Rev. Sung Il Kim shows his to the members.
On June 4, 1962, I became one of the 72 blessed couples. After the wedding, all the blessed couples were sent out to new pioneer cities. My first pioneering center was Dam Yang. We rented a small place where we could have service on Sundays. In the beginning only a few people joined, and I was worried and disappointed because we didn't have many members.
However, every time I felt lonely, True Father would come to me in my dreams with a smiling face and encourage me, telling me that we had to hurry up for Heavenly Father. He said I shouldn't worry but should just try harder. After that, the membership went up to 20. Then with these 20 members we developed a prosperous church, which grew to be about 50 to 60 members.
Once our church headquarters gave me a megaphone, and with that I went to the markets and around the small towns witnessing. In 1965 a nationwide mobile witnessing team was organized in which I also took part. After six months I returned to Dam Yang church.
Then I received a second order from the government that I was needed to serve my country. Again I felt it wasn't the right time. I started to pray, and suddenly I developed appendicitis. I had to go for an operation right away. After the surgery I went to get a medical check-up, but I didn't pass the test for the army. A year later I received a third order from the government, but by then I was already 32 years old. I went to see the person in charge of the training camp. He understood my situation and sent me back home again.
In 1967 I was appointed regional director of Soon Chun. There I started a CAUSA-type movement and gave public lectures. My efforts were recognized by many influential people, and I received awards from several organizations. After two years, I was called to a new mission -- to be the assistant director of the church headquarters in Seoul.
After six months there, I became regional director of Jong Ro. My mission was lecturing, preaching, and encouraging members. This was when I could really improve my preaching skills and my knowledge. After a year Father gave me a new mission -- visiting other churches and educating the members.
In 1972, my mission changed again, and I became regional director of Choong Nam. With this mission I couldn't settle down in one place but had to be constantly traveling through- out the region. I visited every single church and tried to inspire the members wherever I went. In addition, I was asked to pioneer several new churches.
In 1975 Father asked me to go to Japan to establish a church for Koreans living in Japan and to teach them CAUSA material. These were the families of those who had been taken during the Japanese occupation to do forced labor in Japan. I stayed in Nagoya for several months to get used to the Japanese culture and customs and learn Japanese. During this time I visited many Korean organizations and groups to discuss the CAUSA movement and its goals. I started a church with four Japanese members after six months. The church was meant mostly for Koreans but we had more Japanese members. Later I became president of the Nagoya chapter of CAUSA. I was focused on helping the Koreans visit South Korea to let them know about their home- land. The North Koreans were constantly urging them to return to the North. My effort was to help them understand the dangers of communism and why, if they wanted to return, they should go back to the South instead. As a result of my work, the Korean government changed its concepts towards our church and started to pay more attention to our movement.
After six months in Nagoya, I returned to Korea. After that, I had many different missions. I was president of the national witnessing team, and then I worked with Il Hwa and then CAUSA again.
In 1985, I came to San Francisco and worked with Koreans there. Then at the end of 1986, I came to Chicago to be the regional director of Region Five, where I am today.
I always had an urge to help accomplish Father's will in the United States, and now I have a chance to do so. Since I joined the church I never had a plan for my own life, because I always just wanted to follow Father's way. But one thing is sure: We all have to have strong faith and belief.
I feel very fortunate to be a part of this movement. I joined the Unification Church to go Father's way and to help unite all religions, restore fallen nature, and build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. I want to fulfill my responsibility and do my best so that I will have no regrets before God. Whenever I have a problem, I see True Parents in my dreams, and they give me encouragement. I appreciate True Parent's love and care so much. I am very grateful to True Parents for my Blessing, and I still can feel the warmth of True Parents' hands when they matched my wife and me. True Father told my wife, Dong Hee Yu, who graduated from college, to make sure I graduated from college also, because I had not yet finished my studies. I finally got my degree in 1980, when I was 47 years old, following True Father's direction. We now have two sons and one daughter. One son and my daughter got blessed at the second generation Blessing on April 12, 1986.
I have had many precious personal experiences with True Parents. I still remember those times when we all went with Father to the holy grounds at Hook Suk Dong and Wang Mount. Once we had a leaders' workshop at Hae Woon Dae and played games with True Father.
One time, after a leaders' workshop at Chung Pyung Lake, we went fishing with Father, and he caught a big fish. We had fantastic fish soup for dinner; then we sat around the campfire and listened to Father speak. I realize now, even more than I did then, how much those stars, the moon, the lake, and all creation were joining with us in listening to Father's words. That was truly a gathering place where mankind and all things were starting a new history.
Everything True Father told us 30 years ago became a reality! I believe that everything Father says will come true, not only on a world scale but also for me personally. I strongly believe that when one believes in True Parents and follows their direction, he or she will truly be blessed.
My advice to members is this: Always think of True Parents' precious love and mercy. I like to remember I Corinthians 13:1, my favorite Bible quote: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." I also try to keep these words of True Father in my heart: "Of all the types of love, the most precious is parents' love.