The Words of the Kyung Family
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The Words of the Kyung Family |
The Korean Evangelical Association (KEA) sponsored its first introductory seminar for leaders of Korean communities in America May 21-27, at Nassau Beach Hotel, in the Bahamas. Lectures on the Divine Principle were delivered to 155 Koreans who had come from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Washington D.C., New York, Atlanta and Tampa.
One session consisted of VOC theory. Rev. Sang lk Choi gave a testimony of his own experiences of pioneer witnessing in Japan. Dr. Eun Woo Kim made a presentation about Father from his own point of view, and Prof. Han Shik Park, of the University of Georgia, talked about the Korean residents in Manchuria. Several films were offered to show the recent activities of our movement. The final session consisted of questions about Father. Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak answered each question, speaking deeply about Father's life history, a large part of which had not even been heard by Korean members.
The second introductory seminar was held June 23-29, at the Sheraton Hotel in Miami, Florida. More than 180 Koreans came from major U.S. cities. Each morning they listened to three lectures on the Divine Principle, and afternoons were completely open for swimming, sightseeing and shopping. After dinner they watched videos or listened to special lectures.
Dr. Young Oon Kim, of the Unification Theological Seminary, talked about her own experiences with Father in the mid-1950s in Seoul, and compared modern Protestant theology and Unification theology. Among the video tapes shown were Col. Bo Hi Pak at the Fraser Subcommittee hearings in 1978, the 1976 Washington Monument rally, the 1974 Day of Hope rally at Madison Square Garden, and the 1982 Wedding of 6000 Couples in Seoul, Korea.
Most of the participants in these two seminars had never had firsthand experiences with our movement. But, after the last sessions, they came to see the tremendous difference between the reality and the false image of our movement created by irresponsible media.
Following are some of the statements made by seminar participants:
I thank God for this chance. I am a Protestant, but now I better understand the Unificationist viewpoint of the Bible. I agree with them. I thank God again.
This seminar was very useful. I praise Rev. Moon's exciting activities. I praise again his ideal of unifying the various denominations and his worldwide projects, and I would like to help him.
I cannot help but be surprised. I realized it was the same as committing a serious sin to criticize anybody witho.t firsthand knowledge. From now on I will live my life as a proud Korean. Thank you for this program.
I was deeply moved. I was born in Sun-chun, Pyunganbukdo, and my ancestors were Presbyterian. A lot of people around me considered this church a heresy, but I was really moved by the Divine Principle and the Unification doctrines.
From my childhood I used to have a question: Why mankind could not be free from the threat of nuclear weapons and why the crime rate was increasing around the world, even though we could find churches everywhere in the world. Therefore, I always felt that something new should appear in order for mankind to be saved and to survive. Now I am happy, for I got an answer to my question.
The Unification Church is different from what I had heard, and the Unification movement is genuinely Christian. The lectures gave me the feeling that I was born again. I realized that God was alive and was working amidst us.
I will help you and actively follow, because I was so moved by the lectures on the Unification Principle. I used to be proud of Korea as the fatherland of The Kwon Do, of which I am a teacher. Now I am even happier to see that the fatherland of the Unification Church is also Korea.
A third introductory seminar is scheduled to be held in the Virgin Islands July 24-30.
On July 1, 1984, Father founded a Chinese Association. Around twenty brothers and sisters of Chinese descent were asked to reach out to the Chinese communities in ten major cities in the United States and invite Chinese community leaders to a special seminar on Jul 17. Mansei (in Chinese: wan sway)!
Also, on July 20, 1984, Father created the International Middle East Alliance (IMEA) which held its first conference from July 18-20, 1984 in New Jersey.