The Words of the Neiland Family
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The Words of the Neiland Family |
Because of the sensitive nature of these testimonies, the names of these three missionaries and their respective countries are being withheld.
The high point of my mission was the time I spent in "the bush." My decision to go out with the army took three months of deep prayer and thought; it was a drastic step, a desperate move to establish an internal condition for our country, yet it greatly endangered our lives.
We left the city with an armored car, two white armed escorts, a radio, and a "stick" (eight to ten armed soldiers) and headed out to one of the remote areas of the country. We stayed at night in an army base near a tribal village. The army had never before housed women, and the tribal people had not seen a white woman for three to four years since the war became really hot, much less one who played the flute and slung a guitar over her shoulder. Sometimes we met with hostility, but for the most part, the tribal people welcomed us. Despite the initial mistrust and misgivings, after a couple of hours of talking they were warm and appreciative, and they let us know it.
Communist terrorists often struck areas where we had been the night before or areas where we had planned to go. The war was supposed to be in a state of ceasefire, but because we never knew when and where attacks would break out, the situation was actually even more dangerous than if it were wartime. The terrorists were roaming freely, as citizens during the day -- guns hidden -- and at night as terrorists once again, attending their all-night indoctrination meetings.
In the villages we would sit under the trees during the day and I would play the flute. Within half an hour, 150 to 200 people would gather. Then we would speak -- I in my broken dialect and one native member who spoke the local dialect fluently. We expressed Heavenly Father's love for them and His understanding of their suffering, and we taught an extremely simplified form of VOC. We would answer their questions about communism and true democracy, both of which they knew very little. Unbeknownst to the white man, these natives are a very wise people.
As we spoke to the people during the day we felt no fear (usually), but after dark the tension mounted; our nerves shook as we listened to the latest news of terrorist activities. But once we were out speaking to and comforting the people again the next morning, we didn't think of those details.
One day we couldn't find people to talk with so we walked from hut to hut. Our "stick" had unobtrusively surrounded the area within a mile's radius, and our two white escorts had to stay 500 yards behind us so as not to intimidate the people. As we started our walk into the first village, one escort told us, "If you meet any bold young men wearing Levis, leave quickly. You realize, of course, that you can be shot in a matter of seconds and we may arrive too late to help you." We went off whistling the song from The King and I -- "Whenever I Feel Afraid!'
Our hearts were in our throats most of the time and tears constantly lived just behind our eyes because we saw such incredible suffering. The situation of the people looked hopeless.
All day we heard stories of their suffering at the hands of the terrorists -- the wife who was made to kill her husband, the son who was tortured and made to ax his father. The terrorists tortured and interrogated the villagers all night, ruthlessly killing the "sell-outs!' The army followed hot on their heels, interrogating and torturing the terrorist collaborators during the day.
If the villagers fed the terrorists, they were shot by the army as terrorist collaborators; however, if they refused to feed the terrorists, the terrorists shot them. The villagers are beautiful people, but their innocent spirits were camouflaged by years of suffering. Their faces reflected this suffering. A story often heard was of the torment of a mother whose one son joined the army and whose other son became a terrorist.
Countless people from the villages had been indoctrinated for three to four years. What they heard from the communists became the facts of life. There was no other way to think -- they had never seen a paper nor been touched by a radio broadcast; they simply did not know the facts. No one who spoke about anything different had come there for years. Buses from the main city no longer provided transportation to and from the villages. Church workers and medical professionals had all been killed off or chased away years ago.
That is why the people could not believe their eyes to see us out there! After we spoke in one area, a woman came up to me, crying in gratitude. She took my hands in both of hers and put them on her chest saying, "I heard your heart speak!' Such moments made all the danger worthwhile. We received courage and encouragement from Heavenly Father. We felt Heavenly Father was with us all the way and were proud to be on the front line of all front lines.
In the evening we stayed up with the soldiers, listening to gory stories of how someone's best friend was blown up before his eyes, and of how he had to pick up the pieces of burnt flesh and put them in plastic bags. The talk was non-stop until we went to bed. People accepted us as confidants and poured out their hearts. We were nicknamed "the God-squad" These are times I cannot forget. Soldiers with beer in hand, slightly drunk, sang Unification Church songs we had taught them. One soldier sobbed, and asked me if Jesus would hold it against him for loving to kill.
Each night we had to report our activities of the day to the officers. We tried to explain to them the attitudes of the tribal peoples whom they lived among. They really knew nothing about them. We had learned more about the bush people in three days than they had in ten years, mainly because we approached the villagers with mutual respect and trust.
On the last night of our mission in the bush, we pulled into the base camp for the final time. We had been asked to attend a briefing of 300 men. On the way over I prayed, "Well, this is our last chance, Heavenly Father. I want to speak the truth. I am tired of mincing words. I just want to give it straight; please let them receive it!" We were taken aback, because we were led not before 300 men, but into a conference room where 20 to 25 white army officers were gathered. The man in charge said, "Well, you've got the floor." I took it and preached a sermon on "the measure you give is the measure you receive" I told them that because they were white and in uniform, they were automatically at a disadvantage among the villagers. I told them that if they wanted to speak to the people, they were just wasting their time and breath unless they could manage to muster up true compassion, and try for a moment to completely put themselves in the shoes of the people.
My counterpart told them, "If you are willing to admit you have been wrong and have made mistakes, then maybe the people will listen to you." The men were shocked. Then I spoke again for about 45 minutes on the importance of developing the right attitude and mutual respect. They felt a bit guilty, and I think they began to understand. It was a fitting culmination to our mission.
We had learned about war and about the fierceness of our enemy -- communism. We had also learned that there is basic bravery and valor within all people. The Moonies were spoken about and even became a legend in the whole eastern district of the country. I am convinced that although our country has in a sense gone communist, our time in "the bush" was a condition of absolute victory which Heavenly Father could use.
Our church family in my mission country has had many spiritual experiences with evil because in this part of the world a lot of people believe in black witchcraft. From these experiences all of us have had to learn how to pray with great power and move the good spirit world into action to aid us in our battles. Usually, through our constant prayer, we were able to discern which people were not genuine and discourage them from becoming involved in our activities.
However, one time a very negative woman came into our midst. At first she appeared positive and even prophesied that the Principle was true and that Father was the Messiah. But soon she started trying out her spiritual tricks on us. Many times she would telephone us and proclaim that in a certain number of months she would destroy our church. She visited government offices, law offices, schools, and even the hospitals speaking out against True Parents or us. She became the chief persecutor of our church. Miraculously, she became quite ill and finally left the country.
Through our experiences with her, we were able to understand quite a lot about how effective black witchcraft is, but on the other hand, we learned how powerful prayers in the name of the True Parents can be.
When I first entered my mission country in July of 1975, my missionary counterparts had already been working there for two or three months. I learned that they had been witnessing at the university. Little by little, more people had discovered that they were members of the Unification Church. The situation had become so bad that they were often shadowed by the communists. A few days after our initial meeting, the police raided our center. All our belongings were searched and our passports were taken away. All Unification Church literature was removed.
We immediately split up and moved to three separate places. After the police investigated for 17 days, they arrested the three of us. I was questioned for eight hours and then transferred to the central prison. I was confined in an isolation cell in an area where eight others were imprisoned. Three of them had been sentenced to death for burglary, murder, and the assassination of the vice president of the country.
I remembered the words of the lecturer who gave us Victory Over Communism lectures during my missionary workshop in Japan. He mentioned my particular nation and said it was essential that any missionary working there be extremely careful because communism held such a strong influence over the country. I developed a fear that I might be executed, and the thought consumed me.
At 7:00 a.m. every morning the door of my cell was unlocked. I was allowed to stay out in the main room and read books or talk to other prisoners until 5:00 p.m., at which time I was escorted back into my cell and the door was locked again. I spent each night in complete darkness.
During the first month of my imprisonment, I received no word from the authorities. Then a high official from the office of the vice president came to question me. He asked me what my real purpose was in coming to this country. He also told me that he could not help me unless I made an honest confession. Until his visit, I had insisted that although I was a member of the Unification Church, I had come to this country as a tourist, but they were not satisfied. This time I confessed that my real intention for coming was to evangelize the ideology of the Unification Church.
Then the high official, who seemed to be quite a believer in communism despite the fact that he was a Christian, started to attack my faith. He fiercely questioned me. "Why is the Unification Church opposing Mao Tse Tung and Kim Il Sung? The Unification Church is a tool of the CIA. How long have you been trained as a spy?" Then he asked me if I knew the laws of this nation. When I admitted that I did not, he said, "All those who engage in missionary work without permission from the government must be imprisoned for 10 years!" And with those words, he left. I internally struggled with the possibility that I might very well be imprisoned for that long.
On our way toward developing faith, we can easily feel anxious and dissatisfied until we accept our situation with gratitude and feel it is given by God. This is what happened to me. During the first 40 days of my imprisonment I constantly feared I might be either executed or actually imprisoned for 10 years. I was ignorant about the real situation, but because my imagination was so vivid I was always uneasy, and my heart was very unstable.
I fasted for four days to end the 40-day period. Through this fasting condition, my heart began to change. I realized that since it had not been my will but the will of God that I serve this country as a representative of True Parents, I should accept all consequences with gratitude, and simply surrender myself to the will of Heaven. The uneasiness and binding feeling around my heart lessened. I thought, "Throughout history many Christians have been imprisoned. Though 10 years' imprisonment seems incomprehensible, it may be God's will that I stay in here even up to three years. Anyway, I certainly don't need to worry about a visa while I am in jail, and it is a great chance for me to learn the official language."
I often thought about Father's course during my nightly solitary confinement. When he was in prison in North Korea and even at the edge of death, Father comforted the heart of God. Although the "persecution" I experienced from the officials was intended to scare me, I became ashamed that I worried so much about my own situation. As it was, the three of us were soon released from prison and sent back to our homelands.
But in prison and even afterward, I had some deep realizations. I recognized my lack of faith and repented for it. That is when I began to pray for the salvation of the people of my nation and connect with Father's heart. Learning gratitude in any circumstance is one way of winning "victory over persecution."