Ocean Church

Sun Myung Moon
Excerpts from July 13, October 1, and October 5, 1980

God has reserved one activity for us; everyone else has run away from it. Now all conditions are ready for our organization.

Business on land has been dominated by people who hurt and even kill each other in order to survive. But the ocean is one area where God has not allowed that to happen. He has waited patiently for the Unification Church to appear, reserving that area for us.

The world is one-third land and two-thirds ocean. The ocean has whatever the land has and even more. Man can eat everything that lives in the ocean. In addition, America has three of the four best fishing grounds of the world, but has not been using them because there is no substantial market for fish here. The fishing industry has markedly declined in the past 30 to 40 years. Why the decline?

First, ocean-going life is harder than life on land, and young people do not want a hard life. Second, the market for fish has been unstable, with wholesalers paying as little as five cents per pound, a ridiculous price; sometimes fishermen dump their catch in the ocean because nobody will buy it. Third, when husbands are away at sea for so long, their families start to break up and their wives leave. With no incentives, many older fishermen become discouraged and quit, and few young people want to take the risks. We are the only group which can overcome these three obstacles, through our ocean church program.

The current situation in America favors the rebirth of fishing. Americans are now learning that fish is a better protein than red meat and also that it is less likely to be contaminated than red meat. Also, with the hunger problems in the world today, if America does not catch the fish within her territorial waters, other nations will accuse her and demand to be allowed to enter her fishing grounds. However, if Americans do catch the fish, then they can sell it to hungry people.

When Father began tuna fishing several years ago, for 22 days he did not catch a single tuna. There were some strikes, but nothing was pulled in. It was very difficult; still, he worked hard and raised the standard. Eventually, he devised a new system for catching tuna and has developed a perfect pattern that never fails.

Now you do not even need experience to catch tuna, because if a newcomer follows Father's directions exactly, he can catch a fish the first day. That happened this summer. Professional fishermen might catch two, three or maybe four tuna in one season. But our members who never fished before pulled in five, six and even seven in a single season. People were quite impressed and came to ask questions.

Last year our members caught 165 tunas. I believe that next year we can get 500-600.

If Father would offer a tuna seminar, he knows many people who would be interested in coming to hear him. He has ten hours of information to share. Even the tuna, if they had ears to hear him, would be very interested in listening!

Some people are born in such a way that fish will follow them. Just as some people are bound to make money in business, others are bound to catch fish.

(Many Barrytown Seminary graduates volunteered for ocean church, and 24 were assigned as leaders in as many port cities on the East, West and Gulf coasts of the United States. Eventually, there will be 30 ocean church centers in all. Each of them is to build up a foundation for 60 members. They will lead a religious life while fishing, and use this environment to teach people about God and raise them spiritually.)

First, those of you who will be going out will have to familiarize yourselves with the ocean. Many of you haven't been out to sea in a long time, perhaps never. So even if you are enthusiastic, you have to know what it is like. You have to become friendly with the sea.

Without knowing what you were getting into, you first became involved in fishing when you caught fish with Father at Barrytown, and worked with him to make nets. This was part of your initiation.

This year's summer tuna fishing was another part of the preparation. After fishing for tuna, everybody came to like the sea and like fishing. And once people get a knack for it, they never want to give up.

There are not enough Good Go fiberglass boats ready for all of you right now So half of you should go to your assigned city and start to lay the foundation there until your boat comes. Those of you who have not had experience fishing this summer can talk to those who did and learn from them. When you go to your assigned port, visit people and ask them questions. Invite them to lunch or dinner and learn from them. Buy a book about the local fishing industry and study it.

The towns around fishing ports in America are declining because young people do not want to fish. Thus, the citizens are anxious to see their towns revived. They know that there is a good future in the oceans. You must visit the Coast Guard chief, police chief and mayor, introducing yourself and your goals. Tell them that your sole concern is to revive the fishing industry in America. Soon many young people will come to work with you at the seaport; and boats, trailers and vans will follow. Tell them you will do your best to lead young people and to reverse the trend of decadence to constructive creativity When these leaders understand our purpose, they will eventually organize support groups.

For witnessing, you can look for people who want to learn how to fish. Take enthusiastic volunteers, for instance those who want to go out on a charter boat, and teach them how to fish. You can teach them Divine Principle as well, while you are fishing. You will not charge them a fee and they can keep whatever they catch. In this way, you can develop a friendship with them.

We will offer a program to explain our objectives and ideals to any young men who are interested in working at sea. Organize material into lectures, and assemble groups to speak to. Eventually, there will be even 600 people applying for the 60 places on your fleet, and we will screen them through three, seven and 21-day workshops, accepting the best candidates.

When you have 50 members, you can order a trawler. Eventually, you should gather about 60 members, who will work in the fleet of ten Good Go boats and the trawler, plus selling fish. All will have to work together smoothly; then we will expand and grow, fulfilling the purpose of the church.

When you have that many people, you will have to supervise them all and train them well. You will have to embrace everyone; don't let them isolate themselves. Live with them and work hard to train them. Don't think so much about yourself. Rather, you should care most about the other members. Spend time with them on board.

As you finish educating somebody, send him fishing and continue with another person. Become like a mother hen. If you establish yourself in this way, then you can do anything.

You are not regular fishermen -- you are the fishermen who will educate other fishermen. You have to teach Divine Principle, VOC and Unification Thought. You will have to educate new members and let them join the new heavenly activity. You have to be capable of teaching them.

The captain or leader has to know about everything. If you do not understand something, you cannot teach it to the others. You even have to be a first-class mechanic. If you do not understand much about engines, buy a manual and learn to fix them. Save money as much as possible.

On one of our commercial boats for instance, the fishermen receive a food allowance, in addition to a salary. They buy rice, kimchi, hot bean paste and one other staple. For the rest of their meal, they catch fresh fish. They say that the fish is so good they need nothing more. Then their unused food allowance is added to their salary. You can eat fish, too. If you spend much money, you will end up saving nothing.

You will be like a state leader, in a way. Don't try to settle down, however; be constantly on the move, along the coastline. If you do well, you can grow faster than the inland churches.

If you really move around and become creative, Father feels that a real foundation can be made. The whole town will notice your existence and will welcome you. Father feels that substantial numbers of high quality people will come to you for guidance. Then you can educate them and inspire them to work for the sake of the country. Furthermore, when other sailors and fishermen respect you, you will have established yourself.

Although you are leaders and directors of ocean-going people and not just administrators, you also have to learn how to sell fish. You have a visible objective now, catching fish. You have a tangible goal, not an abstract one. What do you do with the fish you catch? Sell it on the American market. If you do not have enough fish with what you catch, you can buy from other fishermen. If you have too much, you can sell it overseas.

Within a year, you will receive 11 boats: ten 28-foot Good Go's and one large stern trawler. You will have three years to pay for them. The fiberglass boats will last and last, unlike wooden or metal ones. If you take reasonable care of them, they will serve you for 30 to 50 years and will be a source of pride for the entire town as well as your household. The boats are beautiful. People who know something about boats are struck by their stability and special design.

Mayors and Coast Guard personnel will all want these boats, as well as those who patrol the ports. Every household would like to buy one also. Some day living on the boat will be a greater source of pride than living in a mansion.

Those who now yell and say, "Moonie, go home!" will be those who go out at 10:00 and return at 3:00. When the authorities investigate to see what is wrong with the Moonies, they will find no reason to criticize us, because they will see that we catch more fish because we work harder.

Next year, all 300 Good Go boats will gather in Gloucester for the tuna tournament. What a sight that will be!

Father can come out on a helicopter and visit all the different boats. He would like to eat a lunch of freshly caught fish with you. If you really implement this plan and make it a success, don't you think the members of the Unification Church will grow?

Daikon Ohnuki will be the advisor of the ocean churches. In addition, Rev. Kwak will visit you and give lectures and Mr. Sang Ik Choi will be available to help with public relations.

Father is planning that each Unification Church leader be on the ocean for at least a year and a half. We have a saying in Korean, "The one who gets the first punishment gets away easier." If you get punished last, it is more difficult. So you might as well volunteer now and get on the boat earlier than anyone! If the idea doesn't excite you, even if you try, you will not bring success.

Actually, once you get accustomed to it, there is no reason to stick to the land. The sea has more opportunity. More people are interested in leaving the fishing business, but you have all kinds of reasons to enter it.

Would you unmatched members like to be matched with people from the land church or from the ocean church? It's up to you, because you, not I, will have to live with them.

When this ocean church is really under way, people will cherish it as a monument to the revival of their town.

When there is a famine in some part of the world, there are many resources that can be transported to that place. American companies sometimes have a surplus of products which become a burden to them because they must be stored. We have now created a foundation which can receive surplus commodities, plus a fleet to transport them.

Cold storage is the big problem in the fishing industry. Therefore, we are investigating advanced techniques of making dry fish powder that doesn't need cold storage. We will develop powders from different fish and combine them like multiple vitamins. This powder can be used in daily cooking, to supplement the overuse of flour and starch. You will be able to create a new cuisine for using fish powder in nutritious cooking. We will invite children to taste fish powder bread and wheat flour bread. Children are very honest. I am sure that they will all take the fish bread. Fish powder contains most of the nutrition you need. With a bag of fish powder, you can travel anywhere in the world, and eat wherever you are.

I always thought that if people didn't like me, then I could build the kingdom of heaven on the ocean first, and then bring it to the land. I seldom eat a tuna I have caught, because I see it as a sacrifice for the sake of mankind. For me, tuna fishing certainly is not a vacation, it is a war and a battle.

When I see the enthusiasm American sport fishermen have for tuna fishing, I think that if they loved America the way they do fishing, it would have become the kingdom of heaven a long time ago. I always think that if Americans have that kind of heart and soul, why not harness it for kingdom building?

During the tedious hours of waiting for a tuna to strike, people complain and fight. But once a tuna bites, they are instantly united as one team. This is the unification spirit I am trying to promote. I want Unification members to come from all over the world to experience this.