The Words of the Onuki Family
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The Words of the Onuki Family |
From the Unification Church of Japan comes a new video tape, the story of Mr. Onuki's home church victory. Sweeping before dawn evokes the historic image of a traditional night watchman, who keeps vigil over a tiny Japanese village. Here is the transcript of his testimony, with the interview being conducted by an American blessed sister, Mary Keriko who lives in Japan with our family.
Good morning brothers and sisters in America. My name is Mary Keriko. We are here in Shimokitazawa which is in the northwestern part of Tokyo, a residential area (very similar to Queens area of New York). I want to introduce to you Mr. Keiji Onuki who is doing home church activities here in Japan. Maybe many of you know his brother, Mr. Daikon Onuki who is a leader with Ocean Church in America.
I am going to ask many questions and hope that Mr. Onuki can answer in a way that can really inspire American brothers and sisters.
Question: Why did you begin home church, and why did you choose Shimokitazawa for your area?
Answer: It was 4 years ago that my wife and I were given permission to start family life. I thought of where to start home church, and I was attracted to this town, Shimokitazawa. This is where the headquarters of Unification Church used to be, and where I heard Divine Principle when I was in high school. So this is where I was born spiritually and that's why I wanted to make my home church base here.
When we started family life, brothers and sisters in Japan were strongly advised to make a strong family financial foundation and to also fulfill the public responsibility. Also, all members in Japan were told to make offerings. So, with these four things,
1) financial foundation,
2)
offerings,
3) public responsibility,
4) witnessing in home
church,
I was much troubled as to what I should do. There are only 24 hours in a day, so through much anguish, I found that the only way was to lessen my sleeping time. My volunteer work would have to be done before going to my regular job, so I started cleaning the streets.
Fortunately, I was born as the third son of a farmer, and my job was to take care of the chickens, to wake them up and to collect the eggs. A good chicken farmer always wakes his chickens up early, in order for them to lay good eggs. My job was to wake them up at 3:30. So, from the time I was young, I was good at waking up early. I'm an early morning person.
Question: How many years ago did you start your home church?
Answer: Four years ago, at the same time we started family life. I'd like to add that my spiritual children are leaders all over the world, so Father's words are sent to me by airmail, or I receive an international phone call as soon as Father's words are spoken, telling me what kinds of directions he is giving for home church. I am proud that I could receive Father's words more quickly than any leader in Japan.
Question: And you clean up the streets in the morning. Can you give your testimony about that?
Answer: From the beginning I started cleaning the streets from 3:30 in the morning until 6:30 or 7:00. In the summer it's all right, but in the winter it is pitch black and it's even hard to find the trash in such darkness. I was warned to stop by many people, because they were suspicious about me, thinking, "What is he doing? He is strange, maybe a thief." Or they thought I was a "chikan" (a masher or rapist) or an arsonist, which was prevalent at that time. I was often questioned by policemen about what I was doing, but I never changed my conviction that this is my only home church area, and this is the only time I can do this. It doesn't matter what people say, even though this might seem trivial: holding a broom for two hours, sweating before dawn.
I especially chose the dirtiest places in town, and also those problems which concerned the people most, those places which people usually turn away from. I concentrated on cleaning up these places, and was able to win the hearts of the people in my area, who were grateful and touched.
The first person I came to know while cleaning up thought, "the person who can constantly continue doing this every day must have some belief -- that young person must have some faith in something." Timidly she woke up early and approached me while it was still dark. She asked me if I had some belief or faith. I told her I was a member of the Unification Church. She said, "When I was young I was a Christian and studied the Bible, while I was at women's college. Now, I don't practice anymore. Please introduce your church to me."
She had been watching me cleaning the street already for six months, before we met in person, and she gave me an envelope. I wondered what was inside. When I opened it I found that it was 10,000 yen ($50.00). She was a person who was popular and had much influence in the neighborhood. She introduced many other people by word of mouth, and others began to donate money. I began inviting them to my home, and they came.
Each of them knew that it was actually their responsibility to clean up in front of their own houses and yards, and thus they felt indebted and grateful. They all felt they should do something in return, but Japanese have difficulty in expressing their feelings and emotions, so one person had to take the initiative and have the courage to approach me. Our family and center is now supported by people like these. About 100 people are now connected. They are housewives, young office ladies, young men, but more than 80% are women, men are very few.
Question: Do these women witness to other people?
Answer: Yes, they witness not only to those who live in this area, but to others whom they're acquainted with in other areas.
Every year there is a big summer festival which many people look forward to, with the Awa Dance and many games. In the midst of the merriment I was called by the president of the commerce association and presented with an award. They gave me two dozen cartons of beer. Then I told them that since I'm a Christian, I never drink beer they exchanged it for Calpis (a yogurt soft drink). We gave some away, and that summer we drank Calpis day and night, and as a result, I remember some of us had diarrhea.
Question: Mr. Onuki, I'd like to ask you how you educate your home church members?
Answer: I invite people to my home whom I've met while street cleaning and we have many kinds of meetings and get-togethers, such as birthday parties, Christmas parties and different kinds of home parties, to make more heartistic foundation with them.
In my home I have video tapes and televisions which were donated to me. My spiritual son was working in the sales department of Sony Corporation, and he donated the machines. Through the videos, my intention was not to suddenly introduce guests to Divine Principle, but rather, show a film by a famous actor like Tatsuro Tanba, or a film on "life after death," or Little Angels, which children like. At birthday parties we say, "Now let's watch a fun movie," and in that way, we create their interest.
Gradually I began to tell them "since the teaching of my church is so wonderful, please come and learn more. I think it would be so valuable to you."
I don't push strongly, though. It's a neighbor relationship, so we meet very often. The key to success of home church is as True Father said, to meet those people every day.
I try to send them a letter, even if they live on the same street. Traditionally Japanese cannot express their feelings very well. Many cannot even express their heart through letter writing. Especially by receiving letters, they feel they are thought of in a very special way. They are deeply impressed, even when the content is not so important. Nobody expects to receive a letter from a person whom he met for the first time that morning. It's like a story from a dream! So witnessing through writing has a great effect.
Through many kinds of video tapes, the people begin to have an interest in God's words, for example, tapes on spirit world, spiritual fortune, and bringing betterment of fortune. Japanese are really interested in these sorts of things. We show these as a preface to the introduction of Divine Principle. Step by step, we increase their heartistic consciousness, and turn their interest towards God's words. The good point of using video in this way is that many kinds of people can come, and we can be selective and choose those who come for a more spiritual purpose, from those who do not.
There is a workshop center very close to Shimokitazawa where we can send them for 3 day workshop, and where they can hear live lectures and study intensively.
After going through the 3-day program, we connect them to the movement by having them study about God's providence for Japan, which is economics and to raise up people. We emphasize that "Japan must take a big responsibility in the world. For that purpose, these 30 years since World War II, Japan has come this far economically. If you think it was just for Japan, that's wrong. We must help the world and must raise up great people and send them out to the world. This is Japan's mission."
We repeat it again and again, "Let's work for that purpose. We're not working just to feed ourselves, or for our own living, but for the people of the world who are troubled. We're working for the purpose of other people. That's where man's value is."
For those people who have finished studying God's providence we invite them to come to a meeting on Sunday afternoon, and give them lectures. Also, I tell them that it's not good for only themselves to know about this, but they must tell their father and mother, their brothers and sisters, acquaintances, and V.I.P.'s. Then we give them the mission of witnessing and of raising funds, and in this way, I make many "second selves" and raise them to do the same activities as myself.
Question: I heard one story about a man who is in your area. Can you tell us his testimony?
Answer: At one time, one young man going to university (whom I had never met before) visited me. Listening to his story, he told me, "My lover committed suicide. Her reason was that she was in Ueno Park one evening, she was attacked by gangsters and lost her virginity." This young lady had promised to marry the young man after she graduated from school, but because of this, she felt very sorry and regretful and told him she couldn't become his bride; she was ashamed in front of him and decided to kill herself. She went alone to a lake and drowned herself. After that, every night she appeared to him in his dreams and would stand there with such a lonely expression. Then he asked her "Why do you have such a lonely look on your face night after night? If you are so lonely and it's so painful, then I'll go to where you are!", and he planned to commit suicide, too.
Then she said, "There's no need for you to come to this lonely place. Please work hard for the purpose of the society." He asked her how he should do that, and she replied, "Go to the Unification Church. Go to Mr. Onuki's house."
The young man lives near my home church area, very close by, but since he didn't even know his own neighbors very well, he asked many people if they knew Mr. Onuki, and finally he came to visit me. Now he is studying Divine Principle very enthusiastically, and when he graduates from the university, he wants to work with Unification Church. He has made that determination.
Question: Mr. Onuki, I heard that your little son Kimitada helps you very much.
Answer: He just turned two, but in our home he is a great asset. My wife is not so mechanically-minded, so I always turned on the machines once the guests were seated. My son watched me and learned by himself. He even knew that he must first plug it in, then turn on the TV, then turn on the video machine, then lift up the box and put the tape in. He cannot read the word "play" yet, but he knows that it's the third button from the right, just by watching me. When the tape starts playing, he says, "Dozo." (please go ahead) and then "Ganbatte ne!"(study hard) and soon he memorizes the guests' names, and therefore captures their hearts.
And when they go home he says, "goodbye, please come again. Please come and study Principle again, okay?" After having been told this by a cute little child, they feel, "For this child I must come again." They feel compelled to make a heartistic promise to come back. He is so good at memorizing names; even more surprising, he remembers which tape each guest must begin to study next. There are numbers on all the tapes, and he can count to ten, so he knows this sister -- or that auntie -- heard Principle tapes up to number six, so today she must begin from number seven. I was really surprised; even things I didn't know myself, he knew.
Among those coming to study Principle, some have been divorced, or have been deceived by men, or there are those who are afraid to get married and are still single in their late 30's. Those people come to our home and see the peaceful atmosphere centering on the child, and they marvel at that fact, and feel even more that they must study Divine Principle. In our home church work, now, our son Kimitada plays an even bigger role than we do.
Question: Do you have some kind of a dream for the future of your home church?
Answer: Shimokitazawa is certainly a residential area, but there are also many university students here as well. Especially near the train station, young people are walking around all night. For those young people I want to make a place which is relaxing and where it would be easier for them to come into contact with Principle. That is my plan; the name is not for certain yet, but it would be a video coffee shop!
I would have tapes of interest for every kind of young person, where they themselves could set up the video equipment. I want it to be as easy as when you're hungry: without reservation, walking up to the counter and ordering a McDonald's hamburger -- that simple and relaxed for them to listen to Principle. In this way, we could quickly teach them Principle.
If the person accepts or not is determined by the attitude and faith of that person himself, but we want to help as many as possible to come into contact with Principle through this video coffee shop. In the next room we would offer soft drinks and a place to sit and talk and discuss, and play nice music and hymns.
In this Tokyo area there are many vulgar satanic-type coffee shops. So, in contrast to those, I really want to make a God-side coffee shop especially for young people, gaining their interest in a relaxed atmosphere, giving them a chance to study in a video coffee shop.