Father was born in Pyungan Buk-Do, northwestern Korea, three miles from the coast. When he was ten years old his family converted to Christianity. His grandfather saw his greatness. His parents were good people, known in Korea as "those who could live without law," meaning they could discipline themselves by conscience alone. Father has two elder sisters and then an elder brother, and another elder sister, then Father and three younger sisters.

Father's nature was very deep in researching things. He studied whatever he saw and wouldn't change direction. Once he began something he would never stop until he brought it to conclusion. Once he began to cry because of the stubbornness of his parents, and he continued all day until his parents relented.

Father was always interested in the birds, how they lived, how they nested, and in the insects. On a full-moon night in the snow Father went hunting for a weasel by tracing the tracks across the snow. He went all night across fields. Finally in the morning Father caught the weasel in the next village. Then he asked a neighbor there for breakfast, and then he came home.

Adults found some boys fighting. One was four years younger. The younger one was our Father. He was being beaten., The adults tried to stop them but they wouldn't stop, so the adults went away. The next day at the same time they, found the same two boys fighting. But that day the one who was four years older was being beaten by Father. Father didn't stop until the bigger one gave up. Father sometimes went to the restroom. or went to his home to eat, or went home at night to sleep, but came back and found the big boy and brought him back to fight. This is one aspect of his strong nature, he never gives up.

At 10 years old Father wanted to have three doctors degrees in different fields. That is, he wanted to be a great scholar. At 15 his view of the world changed. He found that the people are filled with suffering, fighting, sin, and crime. This corresponds to the example of Buddha. Then Father found that all of our ancestors bad the same struggles. Father felt that if he left the world this way, then future generations would have the same suffering.

Then Father thought that even if he got the degrees, how could this relate to the people's suffering? Then Father began to think and desire to liberate the people and all ancestors and descendants from all this suffering. He began to think that this way to liberate is the true way as a man. Ordinary people don't think of this, especially at a young age, or even sometimes at all. Father thought this would be the most valuable job of all mankind. Some may have grieved at the suffering of the human race, but none take the responsibility. Father began to take the responsibility.

When he was 16 (by Korean reckoning), April 17, Easter morning, Father met Jesus and Jesus gave him a special mission. No one in the world knew the exact date of the resurrection because they didn't know the exact date of the crucifixion. Each year they changed the day in Christianity. Cardinals got together and decided, also Jesus' birthday, December 25th.

Jesus explained how he got his mission, how it remained on earth, and he asked Father to complete the mission. It was the same mission that Father had already decided on, so it seems he would have readily accepted. But he strongly hesitated at first and said no. He knew there is a great difference in deciding direction by oneself and doing it by promise to another. If Father began by his own determination, he could begin and stop as he wished. But promise to another could not be stopped. He did not want to break a promise, so he refused. But Jesus said he was the only one who could do it. Jesus asked again and again. Finally Father accepted this historical and difficult task. He could tell no one. In the eyes of all he was no different from the others. He had to keep his role as an ordinary person, but inside he knew his mission as Messiah to save all mankind. Secretly he prayed deeply and had close communication with God. Father began to be aware that if he stopped, no one could replace him.

Father had studied classic Chinese literature in the village. The school was a private one, not official. Father went to elementary school after he became a big boy, -- at 18 - 19 in Korean -- he graduated from elementary school and went to technical junior high school. It was in Seoul that he studied electrical engineering. After he came to Seoul he spent most of his time in prayer. By the riverside of Han Kang River, or on the mountain all day and all night often times, Father sought God's heart and His historical dispensation. He found how miserable Heavenly Father was, who couldn't abandon the sinful people and continued the providence lonely and suffering.

At times Father thought about the miserable life of Jesus. When he understood, he couldn't stop crying. Father is the only one in history who knows all the stories of Jesus, his birth, life and death. Father cried all night long once in the room. In the morning the others saw that he was all wet and the tears made a line like a stream that reached the door.

Father's job then was to experience all kinds of life styles. He met and knew all kinds of people. By the riverside was a beggars' village for those who had no jobs. Whenever Father received money from home, he bought rice for one month and then gave the rest to the beggars. He often went there. Sometimes be brought barber equipment and gave haircuts. Father became the best friend of those beggars. When he didn't come, they missed. him, old and young.

Father preached at every opportunity. Father often talked with people in front of the station, in the park, about life. He started speaking in a small voice, got louder and louder until many people gathered and then he would start to preach the word of life. Then often the policemen would stop him (during the occupation of the Japanese during World War II). Father bravely argued, "What's wrong?". He wouldn't stop. They forced him to stop but be wouldn't. Father's cousin who always followed him made negotiations with the police and stopped it. He is one year younger than Father and was one year behind him in school. Even today he's a Family member, president of the titanium company. Father's cousin is the only one who went with him and saw him catch the weasel.

Father's physical power is also beyond that of ordinary people. Near graduation time one student a year younger than Father was the strongest in the school. Father was attending military lessons. The strong boy had defeated all his classmates. He said, "Anyone can attack or challenge me." No one wanted to. They knew they would be defeated. He was so arrogant that others hated him. Father was passing by after military lessons and his cousin called to him and said, "This man is so arrogant and so violent and we hate him; please defeat him, brother." But Father didn't want to get involved, since his mission is so high. All the students were asking but Father refused, but the student said, "I'm ready; why don't you come?" It wasn't Father's will, but the environment, so in one second Father threw him down. But this champion couldn't believe that be had been defeated so he challenged Father again. The second time Father was a little angry. He didn't want to fight in the first place. He had gently thrown him the first time. The boy didn't realize he bad been totally defeated. So the second time Father fought him officially. He got him so he couldn't stand up afterward. Father in one match became number one.

After finishing his studies in Seoul, he went to Waseda University in Japan to study electrical engineering. Father was preparing for his mission. He also became friends with beggars and went to criminals and asked how they committed sins. One housewife asked Father to deliver some coal so he did this from a very long distance. He was exhausted, sweating and hungry, and seemed to be miserable. If someone stood by him and said bitter words, he was ready to cry -- that kind of situation. This housewife saw him and took pity on him, and paid some extra money for that job. Then he began to cry. This money touched his heart. In gratitude he cried. Father felt to encourage physical laborers, to give money more than the agreement to pay, was the way. From this experience Father knew how the laborers feel, how they want to receive. Extra reward could encourage them. Father often hired laborers and worked with them, and gave extra money to them. Father practiced giving such extra reward because he knew that even a small thing could keep them from committing suicide. If someone would remember even one small thing, one small kindness, they could have hope to know there are more such people. Father knew such love could change many's destiny.

Father sometimes saved money and stayed at the Imperial Hotel to see how the rich people lived.

Since Father was such. a handsome and wonderful youth, many girls were attracted to him, approached him and tempted him. He never yielded to temptation. One girl wrote a letter in blood from her finger professing her sincere love for him.

Father was promoting the underground independence movement with students. The Japanese secret police caught him. The Japanese system was inherited from the old imperial Russian police. You cannot imagine how severe their way of torture was, especially for Koreans. They tortured Father to get him to confess the name list, but Father never gave the names. They already knew Father had organized a big movement. They put electric wires under his fingernails. For ordinary people this could never be endured, but Father was determined not to die, to endure to the end. He never gave any names. Father was hung from the ceiling and beaten by belts. When he fainted, they dropped him on the cold concrete floor until he revived. When he recovered he was hung up again and beaten again. He never gave any names. Father protected all those students. Among them was one Family member who came to America in 1972 and explained about Yoido in Seoul. He is in charge of the project for International Headquarters at Yoido. For Mr. Um, Father is the savior of his eternal life and his physical life too, his physical savior. He can never forget. All those students were protected. Father was the top wanted man in Japan. Secret police followed him everywhere. Those who were the first to hear the news of his coming home to Korea for summer vacation, his coming and going everywhere, were the secret police, not his family. Father could never relax. He knew his mission. Each moment danger awaited him everywhere.

After World War II -- August 15, 1945 -- Korea was liberated from Japan and Father began his public ministry. At that time there was a very spiritual group led by, Elder Kim. Father joined them and worked with them. In 1946 in summer Father went to North Korea, but since he had spent several months with Elder Kim's group, later rumors spread that he had gotten bits of theology from Elder Kim to make Divine Principle. Even now, groups opposing the Unification Church say this, but Father went there to have them follow him, to make them Family members. Divine Principle has nothing to do with Elder Kim's theory, Father had already completed his study and research by the end of World War II. Divine Principle was not gained by God or Jesus telling it to Father. According to the Principle of Creation when man reaches the perfection stage, he becomes the substantial incarnation of the Word. In the growth stage the words cannot be given. If they could have

been given to immature people, God could have done this 6,000 years ago. Then there would be no need for the appearance of the True Father.

Some of the Divine Principle was given by communication with God, but most was discovered by fight with the spiritual world. Neither God nor Jesus told Father of the f all of man so he had to find Lucifer and defeat him. Since Lucifer knew all the details of the fall, his fight with Lucifer was not just physical fight, physical power. He has dreadful spiritual power. He has dreadful spiritual power which he mobilized. Dark waves like waves on the ocean came to Father. If this overpowers a man he will never stand again. But Father fought against this spiritual fear with more spiritual power than Lucifer. Eyes to eyes, like spears, they fought. By looking into his eyes Father fought and researched the fall. Since Satan is a spiritual being who conquered mankind, and has dominated him throughout history. As way to defeat man, his tactics, are highly developed. Father asked Lucifer, "When Eve was young you took care of her and sometimes went for a walk, and she became 10 -- 15, is it true?" Father asked questions as if he were there 6,000 years ago. It was not about the fall directly, so Lucifer answered.

Father said, "You were more comfortable with Eve than with Adam, weren't you?" Lucifer hesitated and then said, "Yes, yes, Eve -- Eve."

Father asked Lucifer, "You held hands with her sometimes?" Lucifer answered reluctantly, "Sometimes." Lucifer refused to answer closer questioning. In this indirect way Father found the nature of the fall. It is so difficult to clarify even one section of the Divine Principle, as difficult as it is to get a mouse running 40 miles per hour on a ceiling using a needle for a spear with one stab in the dark. It takes one-half second to two seconds to spear. Father had difficulty in that great extent in finding the Divine Principle.

By the end of World War II, Father had all the points of the Divine Principle except one. The most difficult one that Father had struggled with for 14 years was if God is omniscient, why didn't He prevent the fall? And after the fall, why must He work for the restoration of man? Why couldn't He make men with no possibility of fall?

After all these discoveries, the Divine Principle had to be attested to by Heavenly Father and the spirit world. Father brought the Divine Principle to the spirit world to good spirits, to Buddha, Confucius, and Jesus. None of them accepted it. He brought it to God and even God rejected it, saying "This is not the truth." Thus the spirit world started to murmur against him, saying, "Rev. Moon is a thief of the truth." He tried again and was rejected again. The third time God said, "Yes, this is the truth," and the highest spirits bowed to him. This follows the principle that man's perfection must be accomplished finally by his own effort without God's help, and also to indemnify man's past failures.

Father arrived in Pyongyang July 6th, 1946. Already Communists were ruling there Father found a disciple and began preaching. Pyongyang was called the "Jerusalem of Asia." Every street corner had a church. Sunday morning was filled with the sounds of bells. Many devout Christians could communicate with the spirit world and were led to Father's church. Many established churches were losing devout members, so they accused Rev. Moon to the government. Today there are no churches in North Korea, but at that time even though Communists were in power they feared the organized strength of the Christians, They sought to divide them.

On August 11th 1946, Father was jailed by the Communist police. He was tortured., The ones who had been tortured by the Japanese became the torturers in Korea, They, learned the methods of torture from the Japanese,

Who learned from the Russians by their own bodies. They used even worse methods than the Japanese. Simple torture is no food, but it is most severe. Fasting by one's own determination is different. There is expectation of something good soon. After a day or two or three, every prisoner becomes a little crazy, mentally ill. Their eyes became strange and they thought only of food. Then they put beautiful food before them saying, "Just confess your crime and tell the name of the others and you can have this food." Some would unconsciously confess. Father said the saddest thing is to have no food to eat. All Unification Church members must fast seven days. For Father, three days without food is no problem. They were surprised.

The other torture is no sleep. We cannot do it even for a day without being tired. Every three hours they changed supervisors and watched Father for three days. He never closed his eyes, though the guards often fell asleep. It was difficult for them staying awake and watching him for three hours at a time. Father slept though, with his eyes open. They didn't know. He relaxed his whole nervous system without closing his eyes for even a few minutes.

Since torture had no effect on him they were afraid of him and spread the rumor that he was a monster. Even when he went to the restroom, they watched him. They thought he would turn into a fly and fly away through the hole.

Finally he was severely beaten and lost so much blood that they thought he was dead. He was thrown out. His followers found him and took him home. Each day he threw up much blood. They thought he would die. Some women were even preparing his funeral. By the 100th day from imprisonment, November 21st, 1946, by the sincere care of his followers and Chinese herbal medicine, Father recovered, He moved to another house and began preaching again.

The place Father bad been held wasn't a real prison but a prepared room in the police station.

After he came out of the police station there were many difficulties but the preaching went on in a rather smooth way. Therefore at that time many devoted Christians came in from existing churches.

As you know, when people come to listen to the Divine Principle, they don't want to go home. Sometimes they will go home at midnight, but many times they come back very early in the morning like 2:00 o'clock or 3:00 o'clock. So the non-believing members of the family, for instance the husband or the children, don't like our members and they start to persecute them. So that became known to the Christian churches, and the leaders or ministers of the churches started to persecute. The ministers wrote letters to the police station saying that the Unification Church is heretical, a bad group. There were about 80 letters received by the police station.

The Communist regime at that time knew that in Pyongyang the Christian power was so great that they couldn't oppress the Christians directly -- at once, so they planned to divide or oppress them indirectly. Their strategy against the churches was to make them fight each other, to make one church to think the other church bad. That's the way the Communists start to divide churches and destroy them, So the police, using as their good reason the 80 letters received at the police station from the existing churches, came to arrest our Father again. That was February 22, 1948, and the reason they gave for arresting him was for "advocating chaos in the society." Father went on trial in April.

In the courtroom there were our Family and many Christians to see how this trial was going. When Father came into court the first thing he did was stretch his arms and legs and relax. That was to show people that he was not nervous about it. He had enough strength inside.

When the questions and answers were all through, the prosecutor read his persecution letters, and then the judge asked him whether he had anything to say, When the prosecutor read his charges, he said that Father tempted People with unreasonable words, words that don't have any rationality. So Father asked the judge to eliminate that phrase and the judge accepted his request.

The result was that he received a five year sentence in prison. The family members there were so sad, but Father, who was heading for prison, was so relaxed and even smiled, and then he raised his hand with handcuffs on it and told the Family, "Go back home." Afterwards he told the Family that at that time when he was headed for the prison he had new hope and plans inside. He knew that God must have prepared some new members in the prison, and he was wondering and imagining who those were.

For about a month he stayed in Pyongyang prison, and then in May he was transferred to Hungnam, which is located northeast in the Korean peninsula. The official name of the place in Hungnam was the Tong Nee Special Labor Concentration Camp. The prison was not where they enlighten their prisoners to go out to the society and be good people. It was the place to work them to death because they were enemies of the Communists. That place was built after World War II by a Japanese named Dr. Nokogee. I don't know if that's the right name, but it was a nitrogen fertilizer factory. He built that there, and then he produced so much fertilizer that they put it in one place and it formed a small hill. It was there a long time, so it became hardened like a rock. The laborer's job -- the prisoner's job -- was to break that up and then transport it to another place.

In Communist society eating and working are two very important factors. Those who don't, like to work, they shouldn't eat; that's what Communists think. They say, "To live you have to eat; to eat you have to work, even to the time of death."

The food they gave to special laborers there, was mixed grains, cooked mixed grains. They would make it like a small ball, only grains. That food wasn't enough. to keep the body sustained, so the prisoners thought only about food, after working. Because of malnutrition, many weak people died there for some time, when they saw the newcomers, then they judged them as to how many months they could survive. They would say to one newcomer that he will last three months, meaning he will die in three months, and it happened.

When Father went there he did not take all the food which was given to him. He would divide his portion into half and he'd take half and give the other half to fellow. prisoners, thinking that half was enough for him. After three weeks he also took the other half, thinking that he was taking two persons' food. When he took half the food which was given to him he thought, "Only the half is one person's share." And when he took the other half back to himself he thought, "It's two persons' food." Therefore the nutrition he took doubled, and emotionally he was more satisfied. He really felt like he was eating two persons' food.

Next I'd like to tell you about how hard the labor was. They worked in teams of ten people. In Korea there is a very large bag made of rice straw. The person is supposed to carry 130, and 10 people together are supposed to carry 1,300 of those. They started to work at 9:00 o'clock and took 30 minutes for lunch hour and stopped at 5:00, so they worked 7 1/2 hours. Eight hours per day; working hours, seems very normal, and it is normal for this world's standard, but in the labor camp they worked like human machines and other than the lunch hour they didn't have even a minute to rest. They continually had to move.

Four people worked closely together. Four people would hold the corners of the rice straw bag, and then two people would shovel fertilizer into the bag. They did that four times each (that is, eight shovels, which would fill the bag), and then they would move to the scale to weigh it. As they worked, the distance to the scale became greater because at first they would take the fertilizer very close to the scale, but as they used up that fertilizer, they would have to go farther away from the scale to get fertilizer to fill their bags. They could not move the scale because the time that it took to adjust the scale again was so valuable that they would rather go back and forth the long distance. Weighing on the scale became routine, like a formality. Even though the bags might weigh too much or too little, they had no time to make them equal, because if they did that they could not finish their assigned work load a day.

After they weighed the bag, they would pack it very fast and then load it on a truck. Their work speed was one bag every 20 seconds.

Because their work was so hard, ordinary health could not sustain it. Many people became ill and died. And most teams could not fulfill their responsibility. However, the team with Father always finished their responsibility each day, so when they reformed the teams everybody wanted to be included in Father's team. For two years, every year he received an award as an exemplary prisoner, but Father did not receive this because he was faithful to Communism but because he was fulfilling his own goal inside.

The work was also dangerous, because while they were shoveling in the fertilizer the ammonia got into their hands and their skin peeled off time and again and again, and sometimes their bones showed through. Sometimes they would be hit in the legs by the shovel, and the wound lasted a very long time.

The work was such. that even when they worked in the winter with only pants on, after they finished work they looked like they had just come out of a swimming pool, they were sweating that much. But Father, because he had a special mission from God and God regarded him as a special person, could not expose his body to other people, so he always wore long sleeves, undersleeves, and then long pants. And he also used a special method to keep his health. At 9:00 o'clock they went to sleep. At that time they were given a cup of water each. They were given it whether they asked or not because if they wanted the water later when other people had gone to sleep, it would confuse the whole prison., So they always were given a cup of water before they went to bed. Everybody drank the water at once, as soon as they were given it, and still felt that was not enough. But Father did not drink the water. He would take his towel and wet the towel very evenly, and then he would place it in a very safe place, and very early in the morning he would wake up and massage his body, with the wet towel while others were sleeping. That's one way that he kept his health to the last.

After the day's work many people were tired and hot, so many times with wounds in their legs and hands they would go into the dirty water. (There were no clean streams.) They would go into dirty waters and wash themselves, and that would give them worse diseases and illnesses. But Father never did so.

There was one Family member who is not in the Family anymore, but he stayed with Father in the prison for a long time, and he told other members while he was in the church that he never saw Father sleeping. Father never went to sleep at the same time the others did, and also he always woke up before others woke up.

Sunday they didn't work, but they were so tired they didn't even bother to get up on Sunday and they slept all day long like dead bodies. But Father never slept on Sunday. He would sit up and not sleep, meditating all day long. And Father did not pray to God telling Him that his work was so urgent when he came into prison, delaying the dispensation, "So please let me go out and start preaching again." He didn't pray that way, because he knew that God already knew his situation, and if he would tell Him so, then God's heart would ache more. Instead, he prayed another prayer. He prayed for the Family members he left behind in Pyongyang. He called each one's name and asked God to preserve their faith until they met again. He prayed three times, in the morning and at lunch time and in the evening. Sometimes he had no time at lunch time. He would call out members' names aloud and then substitute that for the prayer. Sometimes Father knew that a certain Family member was getting far away from the church -- sometimes through the angels came a message, sometimes he felt it himself -- but be continued to pray to the last for all of the members because he had to repay the members who had devoted their time and their love to Father. Sometimes when a Family member committed sins two or three times, then an angel would come to Father and report that. Sometimes Father did not like to be connected to the spiritual world. He did not like to be reported to by angels because he wanted to receive perfection as a man; and when he knew the person's sin too clearly, in detail, then it was very difficult to work with him, knowing that he (or she) committed such crimes.

As Father expected before he came to prison, he found more than 12 members in the prison. There was one member named Kim. He was like the head in that special prison cell. His deceased father appeared to him every night to tell him to serve the prisoner who has a 596 number on his uniform. The number 596 sounds very similar to a word in Korean which means "not fair", "not being treated fairly". Even though Kim's father told him every night to serve this man who has number 596 as a teacher, because of the circumstances in the prison he could not do so. Then Kim's father would appear the next night and tell him to follow him, and be was led to a high place up many steps. Kim' s father told him to follow him and do as he did. As he went up the steps he started with the right foot and he went one, two, three, stopped there and then he bowed. And then he started again, one, two, three, and bowed. Every three steps he bowed, and his son followed him. At the top of the steps after they bowed they were afraid to open their eyes and raise their heads. The father said, "Raise your head and look in front of you." When this Kim looked up he saw there was a throne like a king's seat and there was his fellow prisoner who had the number 596.

There was a man named Park. He was the chief of all the prisoners in there. He was like the chairman of their own group. Because of his position he had certain privileges and sometimes he would make some time and come to Father and speak with him. When Father spoke to him about himself or the Bible or God, then this man named Park always opposed him and argued. Then at night his ancestors appeared to him and said to him, "Do you know who he is? And why do you oppose him? Don't oppose him. Just listen and obey his words."

He said, "Yes," to his ancestors, that he would do so, but the next time when he was with Father and talking about God and the Bible, somehow beyond his control he again argued and opposed Father's words. Then at night his ancestors would appear again and ask him why he didn't listen to his words, even though he said he would do it, and admonish him next time, please not to argue with him. But he was a very stubborn and willful man and not very intelligent. He would just argue again and again. Finally at last he became Father's follower.

When those people became Father's followers -- the prisoners -- they felt very sad that Father had to work so hard, and they told Father that if he wanted, he didn't have to work so hard, they could fix his position that way. They told him that they would make it so he didn't have to work at all, but Father refused. Father said, "No, I have to experience the worst circumstances of the prison. It is in God's will to do so."

The prison food was terrible, so many people were receiving food from their families outside, especially rice powder, since they weren't given rice there, but instead they were given other white grains. The value of rice in the prison was so great that some people even bargained for rice. To obtain a cup of rice they would offer one Pyung of land after they were freed from the prison (one Pyung is about 36 square feet, something like that).

At that time there was an elderly minister in the prison and his son-in-law was ill with malaria and had been ill for some time, and though the father-in-law, the minister, had some medicine for it, he would not give it to his son-in-law. People's minds were deranged. There wasn't any warm atmosphere.

Some people received rice powder from their families outside, and the rice powder was usually kept in closed bags which to safeguard they would use as a pillow while they were sleeping so that nobody could take it from them. Sometimes a very, very hungry man would like to have some of that, and there was no way, so he would use some instrument like a needle. He would go pierce the cloth bag and get some rice powder out. Food was that valuable.

And Father was also given some rice powder but he could not do the same. He kept his rice powder bag in the corner. He didn't sleep with it. But one morning he found that a noticeable portion of the powder was gone. Father did not say anything and he did not intend to do anything, but the fellow, prisoners didn't stay quiet. They said, "If we don't find the person who stole the powder, then everyone here will be accused or considered a thief, so we must find this man who stole the powder." So they found the person, who stole the powder. Then they said to Father, "We found the person. Now you are the only one who can punish him." Then Father said, "How hungry he must have been to steal someone else's food, so let him eat as much as he wants just one time before he dies", So he gave the whole bag to him. But the man was very embarrassed. He was sorry, and he was afraid, and he could not eat, and he held his head down and he kept quiet. So Father said, "It is no sin to eat when you are hungry", so he took the container and then gave the man the container of the powder. But his fellow prisoners who had found the criminal complained. They complained, saying that, "Being, hungry is the same for all. We are all hungry but we endured and were patient. He wasn't patient and he didn't endure his hunger and he stole. Now we find the criminal and you don't even thank us for finding him, and instead you are giving him more food."

When one of Father's disciples went to see him in prison, Father had rags for clothes and even his shoes did not match. One would be big and one would be small. The disciple felt so bad that Father had such unmatched and worn-out shoes, and the next day he would bring new shoes. The next day he would bring new shoes. The next time the disciple went to see Father he thought this time he would have the new shoes and new clothes that he had taken to him the previous time, but when Father came out he again had unmatched, worn-out shoes and rags on his body. When the disciple saw Father like that, he could not ask him what he did with the new shoes and the new clothes because the disciple, being so humble and looking up to Father, had no courage to ask and he was afraid. But he heard later on from another of the prisoners that Father gave away his new shoes and new clothes to other men and that he always kept his old ones.

In the prison they were prohibited from talking about personal matters. Because of the Communists will in prison, there was always a member of the party acting as a secret police agent in the prison. They would not know who the secret police person was, so they were afraid to talk. Under those circumstances, Father and his prison disciples got along without talk. In silence they nevertheless communicated,, and they got along very well.

Their way of serving Father was this: when they were assembled on the grounds, the disciples would race to run to him first. And then sometimes when they had some food like rice powder, they would add some water and make a cake, and then hide it in their waist somewhere under the clothes, and then they would bring it to Father very secretly so that no one could see it. We might think that sounds very unsanitary, because they kept it close to their flesh, but to Father it was very touching and he was grateful that his disciples would endure hunger themselves, not eating that piece of cake but bringing it to him.

On June 25th, 1950, the Korean War broke out. The Communist army swept the southern part of the Korean peninsula, very close to the southern tip, in about a week. And in the meantime the United States and the United Nations military forces came to help Korea and marched toward the north. Then in September General MacArthur landed at Inchon harbor and from then on the UN forces powerfully advanced to the north. There were United Nations bombings in major North Korean cities, and their bombing strategy was extraordinary. One team of bombers would go horizontally and bomb every few miles, and then another team would go vertically across the city, bombing every few miles, so they bombed like a chess board. The people in the city had no way to escape death.

So in Hungnam the prisoners were frightened. They knew that when the bombers came they would have no way to survive. They almost gave up hope. Then Father received a message from God that God would protect Father so that no piece of any bombshell could come near him, and he would be completely safe. But Father could not tell his disciples or their fellow prisoners this message clearly, because it was a secret between himself and God, but he told his disciples and other prisoners that, "In times like this when we are being attacked, let's keep very close to each other, and if we die, we die together; if we live, we live together". So many people kept physically close to Father, his disciples and other prisoners, people who had democratic ideas and also people who were Communists. In that time, regardless of their opinion, there was no other way out. So as God had promised, when the prison was bombed, Father and the people around him always survived.

The United Nations forces came to Hungnam on October 14, 1950, and liberated the prisoners.

Father came back to Pyongyang with one disciple named Mr. Park; it took ten days walking back to Pyongyang. Then they heard that the Red Chinese army was coming down from the north, so the anti-Communists who had democratic ideas started to march down to the south. But Father did not go down to the south at that time. Instead he was looking around for each old-time member. He would go to members who lived around him, near him, personally, but he would send Mr. Won Pil Kim to somebody who lived farther away.

And December came while he was doing that. At that time Mr. Park somehow broke his leg and had a cast on his whole leg. He was lying down feeling very sad, seeing that all his neighbors were fleeing to the south. He was thinking that Father must have gone south without him, too; and he was very tearful. At that time Mr. Won Pil Kim came to him and told him that Father was preparing to go to the south so he had to prepare to go to the south, too. Then Mr. Park felt so grateful, overwhelmed, and he really cried.

On December 4th Father, Mr. Won Pil Kim and Mr. Park, fled south. Because all the citizens of the city were heading to the south, the road was full. The people weren't allowed to use big roads because the United Nations forces were retreating on the roads, so they went south on small roads, may be in the countryside or in the mountainside.

Mr. Park, who had the broken leg, is a big man; his stature is about the same as Father. Father somehow got one old bicycle and put Mr. Park on the bicycle. He pulled the bicycle in front and Mr. Won Pil Kim who had packages pushed the bicycle from the back.

Some people took a lot of things with them when they fled. Sometimes they would use ox wagons or ox-back. But as they proceeded to the South, the journey became very hard, so they would eliminate some of their packages. And then they eliminated the ox. They would make very small packages of necessities and then carry it with them themselves.

In the refugee process, sometimes an airplane appeared in the sky, opening gunfire on the ground. Then the families or relatives, when they heard these guns, had to scatter. At that time they could not care for their own wife or their own children. Each one went his own way to save his own life. So imagine when Father took this man with a broken leg on the bicycle through all these circumstances! He had to go over mountains and through a river. Imagine how hard it was to keep the man.

But Mr. Park could not endure these circumstances anymore. He appealed to Father to go without him because he already had a broken leg and felt that he would die anyway, so he asked him to go without him instead of dying all together. But Father refused. He said, "That's no way of talking, what you're saying. We pledged to God to live together and die together, and you should not say such a thing anymore!" So Mr. Park could not do anything. They went on.

They arrived at Hwanghae-Do -- that's one of the provinces. About six kilometers from there is the west coast peninsula and Yong-Mae Island. They heard that if they went there, there was a boat they could use to go south. So Father's company decided to go to Yong-Mae Island because it would take them less time to reach Pusan. When the tide is in it looks like the sea, but when the tide went out they could walk to the island. They may have become wet to the knee, but they could walk. It was the middle of December, a very cold time.

So when the tide was out, Father took Mr. Park on his back. Mr. Won Pil Kim took the bicycle and they started to walk. The coast didn't have sand. It was very muddy, sticky and slippery. On the way there was no place to rest, no rock or anything like that. If Father dropped Mr. Park in the middle of the road, then there was no way to save him. But Father endured all this way with the heavy man on his back.

When they got there, there was a last boat but there were too many people to get aboard. One mother went on board and then left her daughter on the island. The daughter cried at her mother, "What am I supposed to do here? And why do you go alone?" And she was crying really desperately. In bad circumstances when everybody is seeking his own life, Father took Mr. Park all the way to the island. Because the last boat was already. gone, the next day Father came back to Hwanghae-Do with Mr. Park on his back.

Father had special will -- God's will to fulfill. For an ordinary man with ordinary strength it would have been impossible to carry him. Father had real strength, physical strength too. Mr. Kim, recently looking back on old days, was really astonished at Father's strength,

When Father heard Mr. Kim talking like that, he was somewhat angry and he told him, "When you think that if you don't do this that God's Will will be broken, if you think of God's Will then you could do worse things than that".

From that incident we also realized that Father only knows the will of God, eating or not eating, sleeping or awake be only knows the will of God.

When they started to come back to Hwangbae-Do main island from Yong-Mae Island, Father said to the other two that, "Today we may meet someone who will treat us very nicely". When they arrived in Hwangbae-Do Island, Hwangbae-Do Province, they met a police guard. They stood in the road and inspected everyone who passed. Because at prison his hair was very short cut -- then these inspectors were suspecting Father as a Communist army refugee. But of course Father told him no, he's a religious leader. But the inspector did not believe him and later he even hit him. Then he inspected their little packages and their Bible came out. So, then he believed and let them go north. Without any determined place, they walked towards the north at night.

Then they saw a red light sparkling. They were so delighted when they knocked on the door of the house. A young man about 30 years old came out from the house. He was the man of the house, newly married, and an elementary school teacher before the war. They were almost ready to flee but they hadn't started yet. He really welcomed Father's party, telling them how hard their road had been. And he gave them a nice dinner and really comforted them.

Then that night they took the upper room but then he gave Father his lower part of room. This was warmer, because in Korean rooms they burn the fire underneath the room in one end, so the upper part is cold. So they took the upper room and he gave the lower room to Father, also giving him their newly prepared quilt. And the next day he killed his chicken and prepared a very nice breakfast, and after the breakfast Father departed.

After that he arrived in Seoul through many difficulties. That was by the end of December in 1950. He arrived to Heuk Suk Dong which is located south Han River. Before, when he was going to school, he lived in Heuk

Suk Dong. So he came there to find an old schoolmate. When he went to his house, he left a note and went to Pusan already. And he found someone whom he knew before and he stayed several days in his house.

They left Seoul on January 3rd, 1951. There were many episodes on the way to Pusan. When they reached a place where there were apples, they were given lots of apples to eat, as much as they wanted. And when they came to a rice producing place, they were given rice cakes. Many things like that happened during their journey.

And on the way Mr. Park's leg was healed and cast was broken. They came to Kyung Ju City, which was the capital of the Silla Dynasty. By that time Mr. Park's leg was all healed, he said that he would like to be left in Kyung Ju so that they wouldn't have to go all together and meet hardship. He wanted to remain there and meet them later. So Father and Mr. Kim went on to Ulsan, which wasn't very far from Kyung Ju, and they boarded a train there. But the train wasn't for the passengers; it was a cargo train without a roof. They couldn't even get on board. They hung on in front where the engine was running and the coal was burning.

On January 27th, 1951, they arrived in Choyang Young Station, Pusan. Then a few days later Father met one friend on the streets. When be met his friend, he looked very miserable. He had white clothes in Pyongyang where he became a refugee, but by the time he reached Pusan his clothes were almost black with grease and soil. The friend was very happy to see him, but he was very surprised to see him so dirty. He said, "What happened to you and when did you arrive?" And Father said, "I arrived a few days ago".

When the friend asked him to go with him to his house, then Father said, "You probably only have one room. How can I go with you and stay there?" The friend said, "Well, things like that do not matter at this time. The war is going on." The friend was an architect, Mr. Aum. He was a friend in Japan when Father was associated with the underground independence movement.

When Mr. Aum first knew Father in Japan they were very intimate friends. In the Korean language there are several levels. Friends have their own language, and then there is another way to speak to parents or teachers or children. And they were very close and intimate friends. But after Mr. Aum met Father in Pusan he started to receive messages from heaven. Then he would speak to him as a teacher or parent. In the mornings he would kneel down and really bow to him. He treated him as his teacher from that time on.

During his stay in Pusan there were many difficulties. One was his labor in the docks where the boats come in.

In cold winter nights he worked in the dark, and then during the day when the sun was shining and warm he would go on the top of the hill and he would pray or meditate or plan his future.

Around that time Father first organized the Divine Principle theme. He wrote very fast with a pencil in his notebook. One person beside him would sharpen his pencil, and he couldn't follow his writing speed. By the time Father's pencil got thick, this next person could not sharpen another pencil, he wrote so very fast. That was the beginning of the Divine Principle book; also at that time Father began to teach the Principle.

In Pyongyang, he did not officially lecture the Divine Principle, but he only read Bible verses, which he interpreted in the principled way.

During the summer of 1951 he began to build a very small house under a hill. The material used was rocks and earth, some pieces of wood that were on the street, and cardboard that came out of raisin boxes. He got those from the U.S. military base and used them as the roof. The floor was sand with mats on it. When it rained hard the rain streamed under the floor.

In 1952 the first woman member arrived. She was an evangelist in an existing church and she also was a student in the seminary. She had tents around there, and during the daytime she went around to witness. She heard that there were two men living in a hut and she came to witness to them. There was another older woman Family member at that time who came from Pyongyang. And Father went out of the house to the hill where he commanded this woman to talk to the evangelist who came to witness.

Then Father came down after a while. He thought that this woman evangelist might have become very familiar with the situation. Then he came down and greeted her. Father asked her to speak, and then Father asked her to pray, so she prayed. And Father asked her to come back, and then she went. And the next day the woman evangelist came again and witnessed to them. Father listened quietly. And after he listened, he said, "I am also Christian". Then the woman asked him to pray. When Father prayed, this woman was so surprised by the prayer -- the content was so deep and high. She knew that this man wasn't an ordinary man. Then she asked him to speak.

What Father spoke was new to her. Every word was new and surprising. And when Father asked questions, she could not answer. But she was deeply involved in the Christian church and she valued the Christian tradition so much that she did not accept Father's words right, away. It was like she believed half and she rejected half.

One time Father told her to pray to ask God who is higher, Father or Jesus. She was very skeptical, thinking how there can be such a thing. While she was working in this darkward mind, sometimes she was stuck on the ground. She could not move forward or backward or anywhere. She prayed very well, but when she had doubt in her mind, then she could not pray. Her words wouldn't come out. Then Father knew that she had many doubts.

When they were discussing the Bible, Father would ask her to look up a certain chapter. So when this women evangelist opened her Bible, the first open page was the exact place Father asked her to look up. Then Father would ask her to look up John, chapter so-and-so, and she would go around that chapter and open up, and the open page would be the very page that Father asked her to look up. When Father asked her to look up Revelation, it happened again. He repeated this command about ten times. By that time she really felt this was not an ordinary teacher; she was afraid of him, and she followed.

This woman was the first member Father gained after he came to the south. Her name is Mrs. Hyun-sil Kang.

I told you there was one elderly woman who came from Pyongyang. Sometimes this lady would cause some trouble for Father, making Father unhappy. So one day Father told her, "If you repeat that act again then you will not speak". One day when she was very troublesome to Father, suddenly she could not speak. After a while, when her heart was repentful, then she started to speak again. And she still lives in the Korean church.

So if Father wants to perform miracles, he could do it. In the time of Jesus be did not intend to perform miracles from the beginning. Jesus performed miracles because people were so faithless, not believing in him. He showed them miracles and told them, "Even though you see these miracles, you don't believe me as the son of God?" There was no one who remained as Jesus, disciple who had been cured or healed by Jesus' miracles.

So gathering from all these experiences, we know that man grows with the Principle.

The next year, in 1953, Minister Lee came in, the first male member in the south. Before he came into Principle, Minister Lee was a special man. Many people around him were thinking that he might be Jesus., He himself even thought that he might be Jesus, and he received many messages from God, too. After they became members, they went to the field to witness. These two members, Mrs. Kang and Minister Lee, are ancestors of witnessing.

Sometimes this woman evangelist received messages from God very intensely. Sometimes she received like a shower. One time she went out to pioneer a witnessing field where she met a very religious old man -- he was dressed in Korean traditional dress. When be saw this woman evangelist dressed in western dress with short hair, he scorned her, saying, "'What kind of dress are you wearing? And your hair is short". And he touched her.

Then suddenly he fell and couldn't do anything. So the disciples of this old man, who was also a religious leader there, complained to her and chased her out. Then about three days later he died.

At that time there was a church in Taegu, north of Pusan, and the news was around everywhere. Our churches started to receive persecution because the Principle of the Unification Church was different from other Christian churches, and the people who lived together in the church were very close, more than brothers and sisters in a real family. So people thought. it was abnormal.

In 1953 Father came to Seoul. He planned from the spring of 1954, and in May 1954 he officially established the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. At that time there were five members including Father. The only person besides Father, who is surviving is Mr. David S. C. Kim. Some people died and some people fell away. There were other members but they were in Pusan or Taegu so they didn't participate in forming the association.

Since the association was established, Mr. Eu started his lecturing. Then many members came in. The famous -- noted social people -- came in, too. Many people came to listen to the Divine Principle, but actually nobody became a member. Father told Mr. Eu that maybe until the fall of that year nobody would come in, but he shouldn't stop lecturing. So he lectured every day. During the spring and summer nobody came in. And lectures went on every day.

In October 1954 one female professor from Ewha Women's University came in, and then the university's door was open. Since then many students and professors from Ewha University and other male university students came in.

And nearby Ewha University there is Yonsei University. It's a men' s university, a big one. There were three students. Among the three who came into the church, one fell away and one died, and the other one, the one who remained is Mr. Won-jin Hwang. He is principal and secretary general of the association in Korea and he witnessed to me.

Around that time many people came in. The person who came in about one week earlier is Mrs. Won Pok Choi. And the person who came about one week later was Miss Kim. Many important association officials came in at that time.

At that time there was no organization in the church. Also there was no training session. When people came to listen to the Divine Principle in the morning, they would listen until noon, and then church members would give them lunch. Then they would continue listening to principle until dark. Then they would also be given dinner, After the dinner they were encouraged to stay through the evening, since they had stayed all day. Then when the evening lecture started it just continued; there was no end. When people were supposed to return home, the lecture should have ended about 9:00 or 10:00, but the lecture never stopped. The lecture went on and on. In Korea there was a curfew time of 12:00 midnight. You had to have some time to travel home. But it would reach 11:00 o'clock and the lecture would still be going on without even a breath of rest. Even at 11:30 the lecture was going on. Near 12:00 the lecture would stop. Then Father would appear in the lecture hall with his disciples. Mr. Eu, the lecturer, would introduce the people who had listened to the Principle to Father. It was like a routine.

So after that day and evening you had no choice but to stay overnight. When that happened, it was winter. But because there were so many people, because of the body heat we weren't cold. And when there were fewer people, we had enough quilts so we weren't cold.

Many times Father would ask old disciples to sing. When they sang, they didn't sing very well, but I felt like the singing was coming from heavenly people. Then I wondered where they had come from, the early disciples. I wanted to finish listening to Divine Principle fast and go to the place where these early disciples had been before, because I felt like they had been to the kingdom of heaven.

Then the next morning the members would get me a wash basin to wash my face, and then give me breakfast. Then they encouraged me to stay another day, since I had already stayed one day. And in that way the lecture continued through another evening and night. To hear one whole cycle took three days and three nights. The second night I had to sleep there too. And the next day, in the same way, they would treat me very cordially with wash water and breakfast. And the next day they really urged me to stay again. Since I had come and stayed two nights, then this was the last day, which would give me all the lectures. Then the old members would bring cakes or cookies, and the atmosphere was so heavenly and their love was so beautiful. And mostly people were enchanted by the atmosphere.

There was Mr. Ahn who came a few days ahead of me. While he was listening he questioned, "Does God approve this Principle? Does Jesus approve this Principle?" Then Mr. Eu said, "Yes," that God approved this Principle. Then Mr. Ahn said, "Then it's okay." While he was listening he kept slapping his legs. He was filled with exclamations. And that is the way the three days lectures finished for most people.

Father was arrested about that time. One of the charges was keeping people illegally for three days. It happened because one person witnessed to a friend, and this friend did not become a member. He reported to the police that he had been kept there.

At that time we all felt like the kingdom of heaven was arriving before our eyes, and everybody felt so close in love, as brothers and sisters. At that time we heard that those whose ancestors had many merits would receive the Divine Principle first, just as the sun will reach the highest mountain peaks first. So someone would come and ask you, "When did you come," And you might say, "Three days ago." And then they would say, "Oh, you must have very merited ancestors. I only came today, and do you think it's okay?" Everybody felt so urgent. Every day was so important. But now they're one year older and it doesn't really mean too much. Two or three years. We don't feel that same urgency.

At that time it was the realization of Pyongyang's witness time. When Father was in Pyongyang the people would come and stay and eat together, and they didn't know when to return home. And in Seoul it was like Pyongyang again. There were many times while Father and the disciples would sing and pray, they would look outside and it was already dawning. And also at that time as the opportunity came, Father would take his disciples to the mountains.

In the early days older members and Father visited so many mountains that there's no mountain near Seoul that we didn't go to.

At that time we lived a dream life, but outside the people who opposed us were having different circumstances. Other people started to have doubts about the Unification Church, and they started to persecute us. In March

1955 the five professors were dismissed from the university. The university gave them two choices: go to Unification Church or stop going to Unification Church. So they told the school that they would keep their

faith in the Unification Church and let the university dismiss them.

I would like to explain the position of the five professors in the university. Among them there was one man professor. He was graduated from a university in Japan called Kyung San University, and he was Chairman of the Department of Korean Literature. And another one was a woman professor who opened the Ewha University gate. She was assistant professor in English literature, and she was head of the women's dormitory, and a very devoted Christian. She was respected by many students. Therefore the many students in the dormitory under her came to Divine Principle. And the university started to oppress them very strongly.

Another was Miss Young Oon Kim. Miss Kim studied theology in Japan and in Canada, and came to Ewha University as professor. Miss Kim at that time was a noted woman intellectual in Korean society. Many people who heard her lecture on religion could not forget her, and they admired her very much. Miss Kim initiated the curriculum in Christian Studies. And she created and also was the chairman of the department. She was assistant professor. Miss Kim was not a graduate of Ewha University. Traditionally only graduates of Ewha University could serve as candidates for president of the university, but even though Miss Kim was not a graduate of Ewha, she was one of the candidates to become president. So the president of Ewha University at that time asked Miss Kim to go to the Unification Church and find out whether the teaching was true or false and bring all those students back to the university. From that we can see how much the president trusted Miss Kim.

And another was Mrs. Won Pok Choi. She was assistant professor in English literature. She was also chairman of a student advisory in law school in Ewha University. She is a graduate of Ewha University and she was loved by many students. Another member is Mrs. Yoon-Yung Yang -- she's in Korea, and she was teaching singing. From this we can see that many able professors came in.

There was another professor who was dismissed by Yonsei University and his name is Mr. Pak. He also held a very important position in Yonsei University.

Then the Christian churches opposed us more and persecuted us more, and the news about the Unification Church went all around the country. One day, Ewha University students who had come to our Church were dismissed. They were also given a choice whether they wanted to remain in the school or go to the church. At that time more than 100 students had come to our church. As a result of the university's strong order, only 13 members chose the church and everybody else remained in school. About half of the 13 were in their senior year. At the beginning the newspaper wrote articles in favor of our church, because Ewha University is Christian, but among the students there were many different types of religion. There were daughters of Buddhists or Confucian or people who didn't believe in anything. There were even daughters of Shamans. Then the press said, when all these people are not allowed to stay in school, why is it only Unification Church members who are not allowed school? Later we learned that the top university staff and the top government officials, they were all in the same Christian power group and had all decided to completely destroy the Unification Church.

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