Father was put into the Pyungyang prison on August 11, 1946. This was several months after Mrs. Ho and the other members of the Inside Belly Church were put in that same prison. In fact, Father was put into the same cell as one of their leading members.

Soon Father learned that the communists had told the members of that church that they would be set free if they would just sign a paper saying they were wrong. But they refused to do that.

Father told his cellmate he should go ahead and sign the paper and save his life. That man obeyed Father, but he was already so badly beaten that he died a short time after he was released.

Father wanted to tell Mrs. Ho the same thing, but she was in a different cell. Somehow, he managed to write a note on a little slip of paper. It said, "Tell them you are wrong. Pray to find out who wrote this." He slipped it to her in a bowl of rice.

Mrs. Ho knew she was supposed to meet the Messiah in prison, but she didn’t realize this note was from him. She did not pray to find out who wrote it, she did not obey the note, and later she and all the other members of the Inside Belly Church were killed. After all the hard work they had done to prepare for him, after their thousands of prayers to meet the Messiah, they never even saw him.

The note Father wrote to Mrs. Ho was discovered by the guards. They asked him over and over who he was and why he had written the note. They hit him many times. The guards asked so many questions trying to catch him, but he never denied his mission, and also could not let them know he was the Messiah.

The communist guards were angry because Father was not afraid, they decided to torture Father. They wanted to break Father’s spirit and make him a weak man. Because so many other Christian ministers had given up when they received many beatings and other punishments, even cursing their captors, the communists believed that Father would do the same. They said, "If we beat this man hard enough, he’ll give up his God."

But Father never changed.

Father prayed, "Heavenly Father, help me to withstand the torture and live so that I can work for You. I will take responsibility for mankind’s sin, and free You from suffering."

Father knew that if he could not live through this, then God’s broken heart would continue for many more years to come. Even if every cell in his body cried out in pain, he would not allow his spirit to deny the love of God. So Father stood up straight and strong and told God he will not die.

The first thing they did to Father was to not let him have food or sleep. Since the body can go longer without food than without sleep, they tried to make Father so tired that he would become crazy. But the unity between Father’s mind and body was far greater than the guards could believe. Father willed his eyes to remain open, even though his body was asleep for short periods of time. The communists had to change shifts every three hours to watch him and be sure he didn’t sleep. After nearly one week of "no sleep", the guards thought, "Surely this Reverend Moon has some sort of magical power." They became afraid of him.

Since Father’s will was so strong, the guards met and said, "We must try and break his fighting spirit with more severe physical torture." Then they began to use the "water treatment" -- a hose was forced into Father’s mouth and nose and then a powerful jet of water was shot into his head. They wanted to make him feel as if he were drowning, until finally he would faint. Then once the water drained out, and Father recovered, they would do this water treatment again.

Since Father still refused to give in, Satan became desperate. Satan said, "If this religious man cannot be broken, he will fight against evil if he lives." Finally, Satan made a last try to break Father’s iron will and stop God’s plan to use Reverend Moon to save mankind. Satan made the guards feel more and more angry at Father.

The guards tied Father’s hands behind his back with a very heavy rope. Using a large beam in the ceiling, they pulled the rope which lifted Father up high over the heads of the guards. Suddenly they let go of the rope, causing Father to fall. But before hitting the floor, they violently jerked the rope upward, causing Father’s arms to be jolted from their sockets. The pain was so terrible that it was impossible to stand it without fainting. Father called this awful torture "the crane dance".

But all the time he was being tortured, Father never stopped praying. He said quietly, "Heavenly Father, please do not worry about me; I know your painful situation has been far more miserable than my own. Give me the strength to endure this torture. I want to continue Your work of restoration and finally free Your heart. Please forgive these guards; they are being used by Satan, your enemy, to destroy mankind. Forgive them, forgive them..."

Finally when Father’s strength was about to give out, the communists began to beat him with bats. They hit him in the face so hard that his back teeth shattered and blood gushed from his mouth. Father tensed his muscles against the blows, but he was struck in the stomach so hard and so many times that his intestines turned into pulp. He began to throw up, covering his body with so much blood that it dripped onto the floor. He could hold on no longer, and Father finally fainted from loss of blood. His body was so beaten and scarred that the guards thought, "After what we’ve done to him, surely he is dead."

And on the night of October 31st, 1947, Sun Myung Moon’s limp, bloody body was thrown out into the snow. The communist prison guards thought he was dead. That night, one of Father’s disciples came to visit him in prison. As he walked through the snow outside the prison gate, he saw the bloody body of Father thrown on a pile like a bunch of old clothes. The disciple turned white with fear.

"They have killed him," he gasped. He moved closer -- he felt Father’s body. It was still warm. "Oh God, save him!" he prayed.

Running home he quickly gathered several other followers. Sadly and tenderly, they carried Father’s body home. One by one they touched him and washed the blood off.

"He is dead!" they cried. They began to prepare for the funeral.

But then a miracle happened -- Father began to move. He was coming to life. When his followers saw this, they lovingly and hopefully nursed him back to life. Father threw up large amounts of blood. He was terribly weak and sick. Won Pil Kim was there. He helped to find herbs and medicines to give Father. He was so determined to live and do God’s work. His first thought always was of Heavenly Father.

"I must begin to preach again," Father said, as soon as he had enough strength to talk.

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