This is based on notes taken Dr. Hendricks during President Kim's report.

New Hope Farm is managed by its president, Mr. Yoon Sam Kim. President Kim and his wife both live at the farm. They were participants in the 1963 Blessing of 72 Couples, the second Blessing ceremony in history. Over the years President Kim has managed and developed several church properties, including Chung Pyung Lake in Korea, a property on Cheju Island, and, most recently, the New Hope Farm project in Texas. After two years in Texas, he came to Brazil at the end of last March.

At present the NHF project comprises 275 hectares (approximately 700 acres), a parcel of land bounded on two sides by rivers. In a report to the Korean and Japanese leadership, President Kim explained that the major drawback of this land is that it is too wet. Also the sun is very strong. Therefore, most vegetables grow so fast that they become hardened and unpalatable. However, they are experimenting with different crops. Thus far they have found that Korean sweet potatoes do well here, as does barley. Indeed we had sweet potatoes for a couple of meals and they were delicious. Another experiment which is succeeding is making juice and jam from the fruit of the ciguela tree, of which there are several within fifty yards of the house The fruit is plentiful and falls to the ground. It grows year-round. The juice is squeezed from the fruit and mixed about half and half with water. It has an appealing tang, and the members here love it.

Then there are the two parrots, the friendliest birds I've ever seen, who talk and walk on your shoulders and do everything parrots are supposed to do. They live in the two orange trees at the front of the house. The other species of birds, while not as charming are far more numerous: chickens, turkeys and ducks. The dining area sported a baby duck policing the insects. The male chickens devoted themselves with utmost seriousness to the maintenance of the pecking order. I, unfamiliar with farm life, had never before appreciated that term, "pecking order," nor how petty it appears, nor how important it is.

President Kim reported that the temperature can range from 40 degrees (C) to 5 degrees (C) in a very short space of time, so sometimes they are hard-pressed to adjust. As I write it is a pleasant 72 F (26 C) at about 7:30 a.m. under a slightly overcast sky. But the two days previous were deathly hot, with intermittent rain in the afternoons.

Ten yards from the house is a large bell hanging on a twelve foot high scaffold. Each day begins with the bell tolling at 4:30, awakening everyone to a 5 a.m. prayer and planning meeting. After the meeting breakfast is prepared, and the day's work begins with another meeting at about 7:00 a.m. Today three brothers rode off on horses to tend the cattle. The rest are taking down the fifteen tents which had been set up for the guests. The day ends with a prayer and reflection meeting from 10 to 11 p.m. Both meetings are led by President Kim. There is also ample time for DP study and Korean study.

The members at New Hope Farm have done outreach to the small farming communities of Mata Grasso do Sul. There are 24 communities within 40 km of the farm, none of which have a hospital. Reverend Moon is intending to provide a modern ambulance for each town. He and the members are also making plans for educational help in these towns. Most of the people are poor, while a few houses sport satellite dishes. I was told that a family living across the river from the farm relies on the daily catch of fish their children are able to provide.

Another outreach is the sharing of recipes for corn from around the world. These programs (one per nationality) have drawn many people and a long article in a local paper. On another occasion, Reverend Moon invited local leaders to hear "The True Family and I." The speech was well-received, and the leaders accepted Reverend Moon's invitation for them to enroll their leading young people in educational programs at the farm. These leaders consider Korea an advanced nation and wonder why an international Korean leader would work and live in their primitive environment. When they understood Reverend Moon's vision and principle of restoration from the lowest point, they became very inspired. Reverend Moon encouraged them to diversify their economic base, which at present is only cattle. He encouraged tree farming, pointing out that trees which take fifty years to mature in Korea do so in Mata Grasso do Sul in twenty years.

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