These are edited and sometimes incomplete laptop notes, of the sermon given at Belvedere on February 26, 1995.

Well, I have not been around you for the past several months, so you must be wondering what happened to Bo Hi Pak. "I don't see him around. Is he sick? Did he pass away? Or is he in spirit world somewhere?"

No, Bo Hi Pak is very tough. He is not going to be vanquished that quickly; he is here to stay. The reason is very simple: I would like to serve Father, Mother, True Parents. I want to truly acquire more victory for them, to glorify them, to work for that day while they are on earth that they will be received by all of mankind. Amen? (Amen)

The first of January True Father asked me to conduct the God's Day celebration in Japan. So, I simply went to Japan to celebrate God's Day, nothing more. I delivered the God's Day sermon and, on the second of January, I delivered another message on the Day of Victory of Love. On January 3, I was to return to the United States. But the evening of January 2, the telephone rang from Seoul, Korea. On the other end was a familiar voice: Father.

Father said, "Have you packed?"

"Yes, sir. I am ready to go back."

"Unpack. You are not going anywhere. Your mission lies in Japan now. I am assigning you to be the central figure of the Japanese church."

I virtually fainted. I was holding my chair. Lucky! That was totally unexpected.

I came back (to America) February 17 after a month and a half in Japan. Here I requested a religious missionary visa from the Japanese government. The process normally takes 70 days, more than two months. But in my case spirit world was really working. It came out in two weeks. I had requested a long-term missionary visa because with the normal missionary visa alone you cannot do some of the work that True Father is expecting me to do, for example, teaching the Principle and holding evangelical meetings internally and externally. So I am ready to go back now with the new visa. I am leaving the first of March.

It is amazing, really. The United States is my second home. Of course, my first home is in Korea. I have been with Father ever since he came to the United States permanently, which was December 18, 1971. I haven't forgotten the date. Ever since, for roughly 25 years, America was my home, my battleground, because True Father's most historical battle has been waged here in the United States. I always thought America was my home.

After a month and a half (in Japan) I came back to Washington. This time I felt like a stranger. I feel I belong to Japan now. I think this is the kind of ideal True Father has been expounding. We are heavenly or world citizens. That means what? We belong to every country. There is no strange country for us. Every country you go to you must feel, "This is my home because this is God's and True Parents' country."

Particularly in my case because I was given a mission in Japan, I decided to become Japanese. I found the most incredible thing in Japan. I know British English. "I ca-an't..." (imitating a British accent). I'm sure there are some British here. I am more accustomed to American English, which I am speaking to you. I found another kind of English: Japanese English. They love English. Japanese, raise your hands. You know what I am talking about. They love to use Japanese English, but they are very stubborn in maintaining their kind of English. They won't budge toward American or British English!

As I went through immigration, I took out my passport and said, "Sir, here is my passport."

The gentleman said, "No, I want a passa-port-o." He did not want a passport, but a passa-port-o! (laughter)

I asked some members if there was a MacDonald in Japan.

"No, sir," they answered. "We don't have a MacDonalds. We have a Mac- o-Donald-o!" (laughter)

In a Japanese hotel they don't understand "Cup-a-coffee." You have to say "Ko-hee." (laughter) "Ho-hee kudasi. Give me a Ko-hee!" For a month and a half I had to ask for "Ko-hee." Then I came to Washington and asked, "Give me a cup of 'Ko-hee.'" (laughter)

They said, "I don't have such a thing."

Well, I'm in trouble. I am really learning Japanese English. There you have to speak Japanese English or they will not understand. In my sermon once I spoke about "hot dog" and the whole audience simply looked at the ceiling. They showed no emotion. What happened? I was telling a joke about hot dogs, but they showed no emotion. Later I asked, "You don't eat hot dogs? I thought you had all Western things. You have MacDonalds, so you must have hot dogs," I said to one person.

"Yes, we have hot dogs, but we don't say hot dog. We say 'hot-o-dog- o.'"

So, if you say, "hot-o-dog-o," they understand. But "hot dog" they don't understand. So next time when I come to translate Father, please expect a Japanese accent, lots of Japanese accent in my English. (laughter)

In Japan I really came to a full realization how much our Japanese brothers and sisters have been sacrificing themselves to support the messianic mission of our True Parents. I honestly confess before you, my brothers and sisters, that I became a much more tearful person in Japan. Virtually no day, no sermon occurred without my having tearful, moving experiences. Of course, I have always saluted the Japanese church, Japanese brothers and sisters. But now more than ever I really have come to love, respect and salute the Japanese church and Japanese members.

Japanese has been assigned to be an Eve nation, which means "mother" nation. Korea is the father nation. What is the role of the mother? In our family system the most sacrificial person is the mother. The love closest to true love is the mother's love. Mother's love represents true love. It is unconditional love, undemanding love, total-giving love. I am sorry that system is now vanishing here in the Western world. The mother first of all bears the child and feeds the baby with her milk. She uses all the energy of her body to create new life in her womb. Then when the child is born, she feeds him or her with her milk; the most incredible essence of the energy of the mother goes to the child. I am describing this because this is exactly what the Japanese church has been doing for the sake of the dispensation. They don't have a building like the New Yorker; they don't have assets like Belvedere; they don't have a school like the Little Angels School. Even churches are rented houses, virtually all of them. But they have raised millions and millions of dollars, extracting the best part of their energy for the sake of the True Parents so the True Parents could unfold their universal mission. We all have to have appreciation for this.

Now, the Japanese church is a bit tired. I feel my mission in Japan is to, and I want to, revitalize the Japanese commitment to the mission of the Eve nation. I want to really boost the Japanese mission to be second to none, and I want to make the Japanese church prosper by increasing (the membership), evangelizing so that our church will grow by leaps and bounds, so our manpower will begin to grow and double. This is in the next several months, not several years.

Japan is a super-nation. In the Western world today there is one superpower: the United States of America. In the Asian Pacific area there is one super-nation: Japan. Maybe in ten or twenty years China may become a super-nation also, but now it is far from it. It is not just the numbers of people, nor the size of the territory that determines whether a nation is a superpower or not. Nobody in the Pacific region and the entire world can keep up with the Japanese spirit which rebuilt their country out of ashes into the most powerful super-nation. Did you know that in Japan today the per capita income is $33,000, far exceeding the level of the United States. Today Japan is giving more aid to the world, to developing countries, than the United States. Japan still produces, even though the Yen has become so expensive. It is virtually impossible for someone with an American income to live in Japan, yet the Japanese people are undaunted. They are still producing the most surplus export income.

I told the Japanese members, "God bless Japan." During the next millennium, Japan will be the central power in terms of manpower and money power to build the kingdom of heaven on earth. That is your mission. The United States has fulfilled an important role for the messiah, which I will talk about a bit today, that is, dismantling the worst Satan, the most formidable Satan on the face of the earth: the communist empire. This superpower was raised for that purpose: to dismantle the communist empire. That was the United States' contribution to dispensational history. That was done. Now we have come to a new era: that of kingdom building. Father's slogan this year is, "We will all inherit the victory of our True Parents." When we inherit that victory, what shall we do? We will build the kingdom on the face of this earth. In this I see Japan will have the leading role. I gave them that pride.

Another thing is what the mother's role is. The mother gives her whole energy for the sake of the child. This is the mother's unconditional love to the children. In the case of the True Parents, their children are all of mankind. That means the Eve nation must give her love to all of mankind: 5 billion people. Japan is sending out 1600 missionaries to 160 different countries. They are there: all over Africa, South America, Oceania, the Middle East, Asia, you name it.

Before I came here, I heard some sad news. An unblessed Japanese missionary went to Equatorial Guinea. It is right below the equator. She became a martyr. She gallantly fought the battle with the last ounce of her energy. The next morning she was found dead, cold. During her sleep she shouted out several times; there was no way to spare her life. True Father has given her the name of martyr for the sake of our church. We sent a delegation and brought her body to Japan. We gave her a heartwarming Seung Hwa ceremony and honored her.

This is happening. Japan is paying with such sacrifices. When I was there (in Japan), there was one fund raising member who got some kind of acute problem, a stroke maybe. The brother knew something drastic was happening. We did not have a chance to call an ambulance, so we took him to the hospital by van. He was able to walk into the van, but before he sat in the van, he looked into heaven and said, "Our True Father, True Mother, thank you very much for my life." He thanked True Parents. The moment he sat down, he dropped dead. But subconsciously the brother was carrying the love of True Parents. The final word he spoke was, "Thank you, Father. Thank you, Mother." Then he fell dead.

This kind of battle is going on in Japan, and I am assigned to be the leader of that country. So you can imagine how serious I can get. I really thank Father and Mother who gave me this mission, to give my last stretch, so to speak. I don't know how long; only God knows, but I want to give my last stretch of my devotion and energy and my struggle on behalf of Japanese brothers and sisters. I really want to love them because True Parents cannot be there, everywhere, loving every one of them. I, representing True Parents, want to shake every Japanese' hand. I want to speak with every member. I want to visit every sick person, attend every Seung Hwa ceremony. That is my determination.

Now I stand before you, and I am not that young a man any more. Do I look old? (No) I have lost a lot of weight. I am not that strong any more. I miss Belvedere. This is my stage. The most incredible time I spent in the United States was in give and take with the True Parents in translating the True Message. Most of the messages you read every day, even today, mostly likely I translated them. On this small stage we had the most wonderful, beautiful give and take with True Parents. I miss it. It is not going to be the way it used to be any more. Those days are over because the dispensation is now in a different stage. But I miss this place. True Father hit me, grabbed me. I sometimes kicked Father. Father put his head on my head. Nobody had such a close relationship with True Parents. That would be impossible. I miss it.

When I walked in here this morning I felt, "This is a museum. Someday in the future Belvedere will become a museum." Each one of you sitting here will be sitting there, too, but as a wax man and woman. I will be in wax, too, and Father will be hitting me, I am sure. That is alright. That is history. But I want you to know I would like you to be a historical person on this floor in Belvedere. This is a historical place. True Father has spoken more words in this stable; Jesus was born in a manger in a stable, that humble place. True Father preferred to speak, not in a great cathedral, not always in the ballroom in the New Yorker, but right here in Belvedere. Why? This is where the pioneer spirit is permeating. You see? This is where the Messiah of the Second Coming has spoken most of his words to the world. This is the place. Father has sweated here more than anywhere else. I sweated here more than anywhere else. You sat, clapped and cried here more than anywhere else. This is a museum, a historical place. I would like you to become part of this history, part of this museum. I really felt that this morning after a long time coming back here to Belvedere.

Speaking of translating or interpreting Father: Madison Square Garden was an incredible battle. What year was that? 1974. Look at the movie some time. That was the most exciting battle, the fiercest battle, the most tearful battle. Madison Square Garden was full, about 25,000 to 30,000 people. They were not there to listen to True Father but to protest. When True Father began to speak, there was the most incredible uproar and demonstrations. Here and there people stood up, shouted, and pointed fingers. True Father could not speak, so he said, "Let me sing a song." Then Father sang a song. But even after that, the uproar from the satanic people continued. They gave him no courtesy. At that point True Father had tears in his eyes. He made up his mind to challenge, to fight against those 30,000 people. It was a hot two-hour battle. True Father spoke and fought like a tiger. He jumped all over the stage and mesmerized all of the audience. He completely silenced them by his will power and spiritual power.

Poor Bo Hi Pak had to translate that. That was an impossible job. It was impossible to convey that emotion, impossible to convey that mission. True Father was speaking like a machine gun. He was so mad, so angry at the audience. He spoke faster and faster, giving less and less time to the interpreter. What could I do? True Father had no text, but just spoke from his heart. To make a long story short, in the end True Father won. Everyone clapped. At the end of each sentence there was applause. When the sermon ended after two hours, True Father was the victorious general of the army; he had conquered the audience. His poor assistant Bo Hi Pak could not even move. We made our final bow to the audience, and True Father was walking down. I could not follow Father; I simply collapsed on the stage. My legs wouldn't work; I couldn't walk. So, a couple of brothers came up and carried me down. That was the kind of battle we fought.

Now as we read True Father's words spoken in the past-this morning was no exception; many services now are like that-I felt very deeply responsible for the written word. Normally it was written down from the words of the English translator, then later in many cases corrected with Father's original word; I really appreciate that. However, one time I said to Father, "Father, I'm in trouble."

"Why?"

"The Bible said you should not add one iota to or subtract one iota from the word of God. But, Father, in translation I omitted a lot of words you said. And furthermore, I added words you did not say! (laughter) So, Father could you have mercy on me by knowing how much sweat I poured into translating?"

After every battle in all 50 states, my clothes were drenched in sweat. You could wring out gallons of sweat.

"Father, could you have mercy on me?" I asked him.

I was trying to set the condition and have comfort from Father. But he did not comfort me; he just smiled and said nothing. So I don't know whether I am going to heaven or hell! But I don't worry about that because in the Unification Church there is no hell anywhere. Why? Any hell we find, we convert it into heaven. Amen! (Amen!) That is what we are.

Yes, that is what the Unification Church is all about. We just don't have hell anywhere, because as soon as we find hell, we convert it into heaven. That is our resolve. That is our power. Even if I end up in hell, why should I worry? I will just convert that hell into heaven. This is the great power we have among ourselves. So:

One. We don't have hell because we can just convert it into heaven. The kingdom of hell here on earth we will convert into the kingdom of heaven. In spirit world as well. We are going to conquer hell and turn it into heaven. That is our job.

Number two. In the Unification Church there is no such a thing as death anymore.

Yes, we have conquered the fear of death because we have begun eternal life now. Now. Your eternal life will not start when you pass into the spirit world, but (it has started) now, even a long time ago. That is what you are. The time will come when our earthly life will merely be converted into spiritual life, which is our central life. It is more central life. I am talking about real life. This (on earth) is the world of shadow. The real original life is the spiritual life. We continue in that and just take off our old clothes, which is our old body. We just return the body to nature. We have it on loan from nature. About 180 pounds of dirt rented from nature. You are like a rented car. The time will come; the piece of paper comes; and you return the car. Nature will claim it. It has a right to claim it. OK, we will return our vehicle to its original owner. Does that mean we are ending our life? No, that is the real beginning of true life. What we are doing on earth today is investing while we are traveling or moving with this vehicle, the physical body. We are accumulating as many assets as possible. We are accumulating as much True Love as possible so that we will have a great asset in heaven. That is the purpose of this physical life. That is why it is so important how you live today and tomorrow. Eventually the most important thing is how to die-like the Japanese brother I just mentioned. "Thank you, Heavenly Father. Thank you, True Father, True Mother, for giving me this life. Now I am returning home." The man who can die with that kind of faith is truly a saint.

Yes, that is where we are. We don't have hell, we don't have death any more. The Bible said, "Death shall be no more." Many conventional Christian churches thought that if we accept Jesus Christ we can live forever with this clumsy physical body. No physical thing can last for eternity. You see? This body will not last. You are trying to live with this clumsy body for eternal life? That is hell. You want to be liberated from this old body. You will never get old. You will go back to your prime life, your prime age of 19 or 20 or 21. In the spirit world everyone goes back to the prime of their life, but you truly live the True Parents' teaching and have absolute faith in True Parents so that you can accomplish the level of Divine Spirit. You shall become a person like the sun, a light-giving object and a heat- giving object. Light represents truth, and heat represents love. So, you become a dynamo, a glowing individual glowing with the truth and love that can be seen as light and warmth. That is why your life, your appearance will shine like the sun.

Jesus one time walking up the Mount of Transfiguration was suddenly transformed. Until then all the disciples had seen was the pale Jesus, barefoot with dirty clothes, and tired looking. That was the Jesus they had been following. The moment they saw him on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was like a sun. Light, warmth, heat emanated from him. It was so beautiful! He was talking with Moses and Elijah. The three disciples were so amazed by the beauty of Jesus. They did not want to go anywhere. They said to Jesus, "Let's build three houses here: one for you, one for Elijah and one for Moses. We don't want to go back at all. You look so perfect, so wonderful! We would like you to be that way all the time."

Actually, what they had seen was the spirit body of Jesus. I tell you, each one of you is shining exactly like Jesus like a sun and more because we have True Parents. We are not going to end up in Paradise; we are going all the way to Heaven. I would like you to have pride as a Unification Church member, recognizing what we are, what a privilege we have.

This morning in my room I picked up an old newspaper, the New York City Tribune dated Friday, July 5, 1985. True Father was coming out of Danbury Prison. He was absolutely joyfully responding to the ministers. I was standing by his side. The headlines read, "Rev. Moon's Time in Jail Ends; Other Pastors Call His Imprisonment a Travesty, Are Alarmed at Government Attack on Religion. 13,000 Clergymen Said to Publicly Back Rev. Moon."

Many members at that time felt, including myself ... (this was the end?) I cried more than any other time the evening before True Father had to go to Danbury. True Father was speaking on the lawn saying farewell to the members. I was translating, and I was so tearful, I could not translate too well. I thought, "This is it; this is the end of it."

Father said in that sermon, "I am going with great hope. I am not going to Danbury; I am going beyond Danbury. God has stored the most incredible victory beyond the hill of Danbury. I am so anxious to go and find what God has in store there, what kind of victory I am going to win."

We thought Father's imprisonment in Danbury was the final day, but as a result of his going to Danbury 13,000 clergymen, all of the Christian world of the United States, came to support True Father. Danbury brought that support. Yes, Danbury was the greatest victory of our True Parents. Because of Danbury the United States eternally surrendered to our True Parents. By going to Danbury Father conquered the United States. Because of Danbury the American people for eternity will have no mouth to speak in front of God except to be humble and obey the True Parents. American history has been enshrined like that because of Danbury.

I remember that particular day the New York Post in New York had a big cartoon on page 6. All the inmates in Danbury were bowing down to Father asking for the blessing. (laughter) The prison authorities were saying among themselves, "Get him out quickly before he conducts a wedding ceremony here." That is the world image: wherever Father goes, convert even prison into what? Into the blessing ceremony. Into heaven. Isn't that true? Amen? (Amen!)

In Japan there is a book that has come out with prophecies for the future, (specifically) for 1999, the end of the world. It says, "Japan will sink into the Pacific Ocean. An earthquake will come." All of a sudden an earthquake occurred. Suddenly an earthquake came to Kobe. The Japanese people were quite confident that the Kobe and Osaka area would never be hit by an earthquake. But this time, it was the worst earthquake ever, the second largest earthquake that has hit Japan.

I was there in Kobe three days after the earthquake. It was an incredible scene. I admire the Japanese people. There was incredible law and order, and their patience to withstand their hardship was incredible. Many people had no water, food or shelter for several days. There was no way to communicate, no way to bring anything in, but no one complained. The Japanese word is gamang. That became a world-famous word because all newspapers reported it around the world. The sphere of patience was most incredible.

When there was an earthquake in Los Angeles, the national guard was mobilized to keep law and order because there was incredible looting, crime, stealing, killing, all kinds of infamous things going on- especially the looting. You may remember what a mess the New York blackout was because of looting. So, naturally the national guard had to come with guns and were given orders to shoot anyone seen looting. In Japan, by contrast, not even a single rifle or pistol was mobilized. The Japanese self-defense army was mobilized not for law and order, but in order to rescue people. They wanted to rescue even one more life. It was absolutely beautiful to behold. This is Japan, Japanese culture. They showed to the world what Japan is like.

But anyway, Japanese people reading a book like this with an incredible testimony about the Kobe earthquake are all uncertain. Will Japan go into the Pacific Ocean? Yes, Japan is almost like a floating aircraft carrier on a sea of fire. There are so many hot springs which means there is so much burning underneath. See. There are so many volcanic explosions and then earthquakes. So, the Japanese island is virtually floating on fire.

Now is the time the Japanese people are thinking about life, what is real life. I told the Japanese church this is the best time to evangelize. Let's bring one million members to the Japanese church. I am going back very quickly because I want to lead that evangelical crusade. If one million people are reborn in Japan, then True Parents' worldwide dispensation will absolutely have no problem. Japan has that capacity. God has given this opportunity.

I told the Japanese members, "Yes, there might be a calamity such as an earthquake or Japan sinking down into the ocean. But if anyone can prevent this, it is the Messiah. Yes, even a heavenly calamity can be prevented. Sodom and Gomorrah could have prevented that disaster of fire and brimstone judgment if there had been only five righteous men found there." And I told the Japanese people, "If you have one million righteous people serving True Parents in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and all over Japan, God will lift up Japan-instead of it descending into the ocean-as the city on the hill. Then the entire world will look upon it. This is hope."

I am bringing hope to Japan. This calamity will not happen; the messiah has the power to stop the calamity. All one has to do is find the righteous men, which means members of the Unification Church. Amen? (Amen.)

That is the challenge we have in Japan. With God's help and the help of True Parents, I shall accomplish it. I need your prayer, and I will come back and report to you. In the mean time, you do the same over here. Even now it is not too late. We must heed the teaching of True Parents. We are the ones who are bringing the good news, the Gospel, to this nation.

I have a lot more to report, but we save it for later. Let us pray.

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