1) An Episode During the Ya-Mok Workshop

I will tell you about an episode that occurred during the Ya-Mock Workshop. In the lake there, there were plants called gae-yoen, and because of their thorns they looked fearsome. Because there is poison on those sharp, bluish-green thorns, even if you are lightly scratched by them you will suffer serious infections. In such an environment, I dragged everyone, both men and women, and did fishing. But as I was dragging them in, I stood at the very front. However, there were people who said, "Oh, no! How can we go in there. I am afraid that we will catch a cold." I told them, "Do as you wish."

I still remember even to this day those who did not follow through. I will not mention any names. If you ask those people whether or not they remember the time at the Ya-Mock, they will say that they wish for another such opportunity. Nevertheless, that time has already passed by us. Even if you go through similar experiences ten or a hundred times in order to pay indemnity for it, they can never be the real thing. There is only one real thing. There is not two. No matter how proud some of them are, if you mention the episode at the Ya-Mock, they will feel ashamed because they have conscience. Man's conscience is truly both good and great. They all know what a shameful thing is. This is the shameful salvation. [36-36]

After completing the tour this time around, I lost my voice. This is because everywhere I went, I spoke for three, or over four hours, and I have stayed up many nights talking to the new members.

One time a certain event took place. We were scheduled to arrive in Sam-Chuck at nine in the evening, but because the car broke down midway, we spent that night there and arrived in Sam-Chuck at four-forty in the morning the next day. So, how much must the members gathered there have waited for me? They were all exhausted. We had the gathering early at dawn but because it was the on the coastline of the Eastern Sea and there were intense security activities, I could not speak for a long time. After speaking for about one hour, I went to Chun-Chun through Won-Joo, and then this morning I came here to meet with you.

When such events occur, what kind of thoughts and prayers do you think I have? This year, our young members are out there doing witnessing according to my directions, and they are enduring suffering with the sense of common mission toward it in order to fulfill the will of God. In truth, there were events that were extremely difficult. While being concerned about these things, I have offered the prayer, "I am praying in order to place on my own shoulders all your difficulties, so please understand." Therefore, during my journey I could not sleep even for one night. (11- 179)

Those whom I have met first centering on the causes of the Unification Church, I have raised up under difficult circumstances. I have raised them under the most difficult circumstances. This is what is so precious about it. They were supposed to go through the environment in which, if they obtained a piece of bread or some delicious thing to eat, then saving it and wrapping it, they come and wait in order to give it to me. They have to have the affinity with the position in which they can shed tears and give consolation. These kinds of friends are what one needs.

You should try to put this into practice centering on your minister. If there are one thousand people in the congregation of the church, all you have to do is make three times the effort of the person who is most loyal and attentive to your minister among the congregation. You are to research into this. No matter which prison I was in, I have always had such friends. For this reason, when they came out of the prison, they only said greetings to their wives, mothers and relatives, and without staying in their homes they followed me. They have followed me.

You should not have concepts when you witness to people. Even if you are dealing with an unworthy person, by displaying the level of sympathy that cannot be found in this world, you can rise to a high position of heart. There is something that I cannot forget even today, and when I go to the vicinities of the No-Ryang area, the memories come alive. I used to live in Heuk-Sek Dong, and at the boundary of the Sang-Do Dong, there are many pine trees there. A little way off from it there was a Japanese style house where a garden was nicely kept. If you go around it, then there is a rice field, and on the opposite side of that there is a village, and at that place there is a house where I used to go during pioneering witnessing campaigns.

Once there was a sick person lying on the road whom I had never seen before. It was about the end of March. That was the time that I was carrying the tuition for the new semester, which had just begun. As I observed him closely, I realized that he was a pitiful person who did not even have a son. When he told me that he had a daughter in Chun An, I used all of the tuition money to cure his illness and give him traveling expenses. When you look at this, it is clear that his ancestors are not bad people. At that moment, my feet were glued to the ground. I could not turn away from him. (56-39)

1) The Experience of Moving from House to House

Recently I have heard from one regional leader that while he was doing his mission he had to move his house seventeen times. Since he has moved seventeen times, when he makes a move again, people just assumed that he is moving his house again. In the process, his clothes became so ragged with holes everywhere that he could not go around with his face raised up. Is this a good thing or not? Even if the situation becomes like that, you must survive. You must survive even if you collapse. When you die, it is the end of everything. Even if you collapse, do not be resentful. As you fall down, you should pray, "God, let me rest in peace." But I do not mean to tell you to die.

It was when Jacob was under such difficult circumstances that the messengers of heaven traveled back and forth; do you think that they came down when his spirit was overflowing with confidence and hope? It was when he was facing death that . . . How miserable was he when he had to put his head on a stone and take a rest because he had no where to go to. If it were you, then you would have probably questioned why you had to put up with all that despite the blessing. You are doing it to become the spirit of the Unification Church. (30-345)

I know that some of the area leaders of the countryside today do not have any food to eat. In my prayers I can see which ones are suffering hunger. However, I do not talk about that. As the time nears, I want to see who are the people that have the proper ideology of the Unification Church. So all of you have to make a new determination. It should not be vague.

The ideology of the Unification Church is the glorious and traditional ideology inherited from heaven. Since the days of antiquity, it is that dispensation which the countless ancestors have inherited centering on heaven while they were paving the path of suffering at the cost of their lives. Even if you look at it centering on the historical times, or even when history passes behind us, its essential characteristics will remain unchanged. It must not change. (43-56)

I know that the churches in the countryside are facing difficulties right now. I also know very well the church leaders, which are starving. They must persevere through the hunger. In order to save the nation, good people have to live the lifestyle of hell. This is the only way that the evil people can come to repent. These kinds of events must take place. This is my philosophy. For this reason, I am still living this type of lifestyle. The Unification Church is proof. Some people might ask that, if we lack money, then why couldn't we bring some from Japan and different nations throughout the world. This is true. However, if we do that, then Korea would be indebted to others. So, from now on, even if you don't have enough money, you should not complain about it any more.

There is a saying that, "A noble man does not warm himself on a chaff-fire even if he freezes to death." When I help others with my debt, because I do not have any of my own money, who would think that I am indebted? I do not have any money, but I still have the freedom to do things the way I want. Then would you go along with me? [Yes] How about you ladies? [Yes] If you are to do it, then to what extent are you going to do it? Are you going to stop at just liking the Korean nation, or are you also going to like the world? [The world] In order to move forward for the sake of the world, you have to have some basic capital. How can you bring success with your own hands without some foundation of capital? At such times, you must be at the frontline. If I was to sell you off, would you let yourself be sold or refuse? Do you have confidence that you will let yourself be sold? [We do] When you are being sold, it should be you who are doing the selling. In other words, this is the public path. (35-148)

Look, when we were doing pioneer witnessing in the frontiers of Korea, each day it was difficult to make enough money even to live just that day. When young members go out and walk around, it was not uncommon for some of them to limp like this. Under such circumstances in the pioneering days, our missionaries went to some village to pioneer as leaders. Because they did not have anything to eat and because if they were to work in that village the persecution would be more intense, as people will accuse saying that they came to the village to took for work. So many of them had no other choice but to commute to a place far away for work.

So all the members who were under them . . . A leader is not supposed to draw pay checks from the headquarters, and in that kind of situation, continue doing pioneer witnessing. Even while going through all this, he would rather die than to complain about his situation. The members could not believe how this was possible. When the members found out about the leader's situation six months or a year later, they grabbed onto him and wept.

So, they began a campaign to bring lunch boxes and give it to the church leader. So, how miserable was the heart of the leader who was to eat that lunch box? How much would he be thinking about the student who gave him his own lunch box and went hungry in school? In this atmosphere, they built a strong bond of heart with the determination, "Let us overcome all this, and even if we were to fall dead, fulfill the will of God."

Then, when they went to school . . . Even until just a few days ago, those who used to bring the best lunch boxes before joining the Unification Church did not bring it any more after joining the church. At every lunch hour they were hiding alone in the schoolyard and at times as they were coming back to the classroom, their friends saw them. The reason for such caution was that if their parents were to find out about it, they would be in big trouble. Not once or twice, but because the students have to repeat this every day, their friends who could not believe this went to their parents and protested. They said "Your children used to bring good lunch boxes but these days, after they joined the Unification Church, you don't even prepare lunch boxes for them; how can parents do such things? Do you not consider those who go to the Unification Church as people? Why don't you treat your children properly as your children?" So, the parents asked their children, "They say that you do not eat your lunch in school, but what is going on?" When they were asked, they could not but tell their parents the truth.

When the parents found out what was going on, they put up a vigorous opposition saying, "You bastards! The members of the Unification Church are all vampires who snatch our children's lunch boxes, exploit them, suck their blood and eat their flesh." Such events were not infrequent and were found all over the country. So, when people heard that the members of the Unification Church were coming, they made a lot of fuss saying that people who suck the blood of their children are coming. They mobilized opposition in the village to beat up the members or do all sorts of atrocious things. Especially, the Christians, all over the nation they have intimately partaken in these atrocities, saying that the pack of wolves who snatch away the lambs of God were coming. How do you think I must have felt as the teacher of the Unification Church when I was leading them under such circumstances?

If you were the leader of the Unification Church, wouldn't you be wondering, "What would happen to them in ten years?" In this way, I have earned money with my own hands. When I built a factory, I have worked in the factory for 24 hours at a time, and I gave ideas; everything was done with my own hands . . . Because I had to prepare for the future in this way, I have been laying the economic foundation. (94-231)

When we were pioneering in Korea, there was no place for us to work. So, we frequently went without food. It was very common for us to skip meals. You have to understand that we have done the forty-day witnessing campaign with just grain or rice powder bought and mixed in a cup of water. Even then we did not have enough to eat. We considered it as the training for the forty-day fast.

So, they have to at least do some manual labor, but for a leader in a region to do such menial work would be too embarrassing, so they could not do it in their own region. Therefore, in order to do manual labor, they had to wake up at dawn and walk for at least five hours. Then, after finishing the work they have to come back at night. They have to do this within twenty-four hours. They have to spend five hours going there and another five hours coming back, and they have to do the manual labor in such far away place. When they do that, the daily wage they earned was only five hundred won. For just five hundred won . . . This would only buy two meals in Korea. Money enough to buy just two meals. Do you understand? This is what they get for working the whole day. What this means is that even if they work everyday they cannot live on it. So, you cannot possibly understand how much your predecessors have suffered even if it is explained to you in words. You cannot understand. No matter how many times I tell you, you cannot understand.

For example, they had to do their mission for the sake of the dispensation, and they had to go out lecturing, but how could they do this when they are famished? So, they had no choice -- as they pass by a wealthy household they saw that its dog is drinking water, so . . . It is different from the way dogs are fed meat here. In Korea, dogs were fed some water in which rice had been washed. So, grabbing onto its ears they told it, "You have a wealthy owner, so even if I take this away from you, you will not die," and having chased away the dog, they drank the rice water. You have to know that this is what they have done. Do you know these kinds of things? You don't understand but I know these things very well. I have witnessed it all and . . . You must understand that I am someone who has seen and experienced numerous situations that people cannot bear to even look at or speak about because their heart is overwhelmed with sorrow to do so.

Every time I went through such an experience, I have made the determination within myself to build the economic foundation . . . I have to have financial power in the near future . . . In order to lay that foundation, I have poured so much of myself to work in the factory. I have worked with the diligence that no one else can match. You only have to suffer to a limited extent, enough only to rise to the national standard. But because I, the leader, have to be responsible for the future, I knew that I had to make economic preparation for you who would lay the foundation from now on. So I have been making the utmost effort night and day. (89-278)

There are many anecdotes in the Unification Church. This was when our one area leader has visited a village as a VOC lecturer (Victory Over Communism). All the important people of the town gathered, from the chief of police to the county headman, all the public servants gathered. However, contrary to their expectation to receive a teacher responsible for the lecture, they saw one young man with a short hair cut walking toward them.

At first, they thought that he was a helper of the lecturer, so they asked, "Where did you come from? Where is the teacher who is going to lecture?" So, the young lecturer hesitated and did not know what to do. When they asked him where is Mr. So-and-so who is being sent by the Unification Church to give lecture that day, he answered that he was that person. Then, those who did not know that this young man was the lecturer made a lot of noise. They could not stand it because the lecturer was this young man who was about the age of their children.

However, since they had made the official invitation, they had to let him proceed to the stage. So, the young man lectured for about two-and-a-half-hours. They were all flabbergasted. All of the area leaders who served as the VOC lecturers were all young men in their twenties, right? These people were able to make friends with the county headsmen and chiefs of police, so they have become quite successful after joining the Unification Church, isn't this so? Has there been anyone who has come to their ruin because have lived according to my words? (19-218)

You, the members of the Unification Church of today, have lived a different lifestyle. It is fundamentally different. We have been living for the sake of others and a greater cause. You have gone out to the countryside to pioneer, and up to now you have been doing things that other could not do. At first people mocked us. At the very beginning they were mocking you. At first people cursed us, saying "These bastards have come to ruin the village," but this did not put an end to our activities.

People thought that we were just gathering the students together, but next, from women to men, all the intelligent people of the village joined us, and in this way the number just kept on growing. When this took place, people began to develop a different opinion about the whole situation. They were in awe, and they reflected on themselves. They were thinking, "When I was young I was like this and that, but when I look at them again now, they are truly great." We are great. They would come to repent and regret their past attitude with the attitude, "Just a few months ago, I was trying to chase away these great people." The greater the depth and amount of their repentance, the deeper their respect would become. It would be transformed into respect, and it would make them much more compliant. You have to understand this.

Our women who have only had an elementary school education went to the countryside to build churches, and alone they have persevered, suffering for one, two, three, and four years. The fact that they have been doing things which others were not capable of cannot be forgotten no matter how much the whole village puts up opposition. Eventually, they will come to realize that the women are better than they themselves are. People in the village realize that, while they themselves have been complaining about their life even when they were living together with their spouses and children, our members have been digesting all the tribulations and enduring for one, two, and three years, despite the fact that they were alone and were living a lonely life style out there facing the opposition of the whole village. You cannot find such people in the world. So this is what they were moved by. When this happens, everyone from older grandfather and grandmother all the way down to the women, men, and teenagers of the village would come to admire them. We have been leaving behind these kind of impressive achievements. (172-91)

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