Nine parents' conferences were held in localities throughout the United States in 1976 to provide an opportunity for parents to learn more about the teachings of the Unification Movement as well as to invite them to attend the Yankee Stadium rally. In the following text, Dr. Pak shares his personal testimony and speaks heart-to-heart to the audience.

Reverend Moon personally asked me to see you and welcome you on his behalf. As parents of members of the Unification Church, you are great people in the sight of God. You are remembered in His heart in a very special way, simply because you gave birth to a son or daughter for the purpose of God's providence. Your children would never have been in the Unification Church unless it was the providence of God. Your sons and daughters were hand-picked, chosen by God to serve a very special purpose in this critical period in God's timetable. You as parents ought to be congratulated because you are the ones who gave birth to and brought up in the world wonderful sons and daughters of God. You must have done something right, or your ancestors must have done something right.

Actually I, too, am a parent, one of you. Two of my children are in the Unification Church. One is a sophomore at George Washington University and is working side by side with your children in Harlem and the Bronx in the Yankee Stadium Crusade. I am proud of my daughter. My son is now in Korea studying the Korean language, but he has gone through the Barrytown training, and I'm proud of him, too. So I'm speaking to you as a parent with children who are giving their lives to our movement.

I owe a great deal to Reverend Moon. One parent wrote Reverend Moon some time ago and in her letter she said, "Reverend Moon, I thank you in all sincerity because you gave something to my children which as a parent I would never have been capable of giving." I fully echo the sentiments of that parent. I have four more children growing up. Having my children deposited in the hands of God, I have no worries. God is taking care of them. My four little ones are already studying the Principle. I know as long as they are within the teachings of the Unification Church, their lives are secure.

I'm sure people around the world are asking, "Who is Reverend Sun Myung Moon?" That question will be asked a million times, but I know one thing: That question will not be answered in our time; it will go on and on for centuries and centuries. For generations to come they will be asking, "Who is Reverend Sun Myung Moon?" Just as we are still asking, "Who is Jesus Christ?" The man of Nazareth, a humble carpenter, uneducated, was crucified on the cross, but he really turned the history of mankind upside down. He is a man of mystery even now after 2,000 years. Reverend Moon is, in that sense, a man of mystery and will remain a man of mystery. Many, many dissertations will be done on him. Scholar after scholar will study him, and that study will continue.

Let me give you what I think he is. Dr. Thomas Boslooper said he is a man of God. Indeed, he is a man of God. I can only tell you who Reverend Moon is by testifying to what he has done for me. He saved my life. Without him, I don't think I would have had a chance of being here tonight. I would have been gone a long time ago.

I was a soldier in the Korean War. In combat, the shadow of death was hanging around me all the time. I was a company commander of over 200 men. I was crossing a river with the men when all of a sudden a surprise attack came from the hill in front of me. The Red Chinese Army was just waiting for our most vulnerable moment to open fire. A shower of bullets came at us and no one could escape. I was on this edge of the shore, so I instantly collapsed on the sand. I was not a Christian. I was not even a Buddhist. My mother was a good Buddhist and my father was a follower of Confucius, but I didn't have anything. The first word that came to me was Hananim, God. I knew no one could save me. Buddha-impossible. Confucius-impossible. But I knew if someone could save me, it was God.

A split second later, another thought came to me. The shower of bullets kept coming. My men had completely collapsed and were destroyed and I knew I could not avoid the same fate. My second thought was, I was not ready to die. Even though I called on God, I knew He had no reason to come to rescue me. My heart was empty. I knew I was not ready to die.

The third thought that came was: If I can ever escape this desperate situation, I must find out the meaning of life. I must fill my heart with meaning so I will be ready to die.

All of a sudden U.S. fighter bombers appeared and fired at the Chinese soldiers. It was their turn to take cover and they had to stop firing on us. I stood up and examined my body because if I had been hit I would not have been able to escape, but my whole body was intact. I called out to my men, "This is our chance. Follow me!" Only two men could follow me, and both were desperately wounded. I was the only one without a scratch. After that incident I learned how to humble myself in the sight of God Almighty. I knew it must be God who saved my life. I determined to give my life to whoever saved me, for His purpose. My search for truth began in that moment.

In 1952 I came to Fort Benning, Georgia, to be trained at the infantry school because the Korean War was still going on. I observed America, that she was receiving blessings because of the Christian character of this nation. I came to Washington, D.C., at that time, and one thing I distinctly remember. There was a small prayer room at in the Congress building. The guide told me that the great leaders of this country, when they have an important decision to make, come into that small room and humbly kneel down to seek divine guidance. That overwhelmed my heart. I saw at that time the true greatness of America. I knew then that America deserved its blessings because of the God-centered nature of this country. So I went back to Fort Benning and was baptized at the Church of Christ in Columbus, Georgia, and I kept on studying the Bible.

But the more I tried, my heart still remained very cold. My heart was not ignited. I knew it was still empty. I was not yet ready to die. The Church of Christ minister came to me and said, "I think you have good potential to be a missionary in the future, or a minister of the church, so we'll give you a scholarship to go to the Church of Christ University in Texas, on the one condition that you become a minister of the Church of Christ."

At that time, believe it or not, I couldn't speak even one word of English. I could barely say good morning. My ambition was to come back to this country and study English someday. But after mulling it over for a couple of nights, I declined that offer. I said to the minister, "You know, I'm dying to study in America, but you set the condition that I must become a minister of the Church of Christ after I return to Korea. I cannot preach about God. Do you know why? God is not real to my heart yet. If I'm going to stand up and speak about God, I would be a liar, a hypocrite. I cannot become a minister with this heart."

My search continued. In 1957, God led me to meet Reverend Sun Myung Moon in Korea. In two days of studying the Divine Principle, all my questions were solved. I was a new man. God had become real to my heart. That's what Reverend Moon did for me and that's what he's doing for thousands of young people, including your sons and daughters, here in America, more hundreds of thousands in Japan, more hundreds of thousands in Korea, Germany, England, even in communist countries. This is what Reverend Moon is doing. He is making God real to my heart and to everyone's heart. When you know God, when you have a taste of God, no one can turn you back; no Rabbi Davis, no Ted Patrick, no power can separate me from my oneness with God.

But Reverend Moon is very humble himself. He says, "I am not doing this. I am merely a humble instrument of God." In other words, Reverend Moon is being used by God. He is starting a fire of revolution in the hearts of men, the greatest revolution of all. Military, economic, industrial revolutions are noisy, but they are not so big. The real revolution is a quiet one-the revolution of man. For that purpose Jesus Christ came. Two thousand years later, here in America and all over the world, the same vitality, the same enthusiasm that Jesus Christ brought, that same power, that same Holy Spirit is working right now in the hearts of young people around the world. It's the work of God. No one can stop it.

Many people think that kicking Reverend Moon out of America will stop the movement or that shooting him down will stop the Unification Church. Nothing is farther from the truth. It is not the work of Reverend Moon. If something like that should ever happen, millions of Sun Myung Moons will rise up until God finishes His task. Nothing under the sun can stop the march of the will of God. This is the way I feel and the way your sons and daughters feel.

I want to be very honest with you. You know the criticisms we are getting-brainwashing, mind control, even hypnotism. When Reverend Moon spoke on Capitol Hill last December he told those distinguished Americans: "Let me ask you one question. Are you Americans so foolish as to be brainwashed by a Korean, particularly since I use an interpreter?" Later one congressman commented, "That was the most beautiful answer I have ever heard."

What is happening today is really a revolution of man. Revolution is a basic characteristic of Christianity. What did Jesus say in the first Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." What does "repent" mean but to give up your past and become a new person. Jesus said you must be born again, or you are not entitled to the kingdom of heaven. Rebirth means to become a new creature, accepting God and making God real to your heart. This is revolution. This was supposed to have been happening for the past 2,000 years. But even Billy Graham has pointed out the rapid decline of the Western church.

About 15 years ago I picked up a Time magazine when I arrived in America and I turned to the religion section. I was quite interested in one remark by the dean of the Harvard Divinity School, the late Dr. Samuel Miller. He said, "Christianity may be at death's door. If religion is going to play some important role in the modern world, it has to undergo a radical revolution." Last year, in a November issue of Newsweek, even Pope Paul said the Christian church may be destined to decline because it has lost its appeal to the young people of our times.

Here in the Unification Church, your sons and daughters have gathered. Contrary to the testimony of Pope Paul, something has happened. Young people have ideals, courage, scientific minds, and a sense of dedication. Young people are not moved unless they are convinced. Who can brainwash your sons and daughters? You know them well. They've gotten hold of something. The revolution of man that was intended by God to take place 2,000 years ago is happening now. That is what the Unification Church is all about. Our door is open 24 hours a day. Anybody can come in and anybody can leave. Many times Reverend Moon asks people, "Why don't you leave me alone and go?" No power, no strength, no cement could bring your children into the Unification Church except the power of God. That is why I'm here.

I've been faithfully serving Reverend Sun Myung Moon for 20 years. But in my mind I'm not serving Reverend Moon at all; I'm serving God and I know that by obeying and following Reverend Moon I can serve God better. It is in my interest to listen to him, not by his orders. This New Yorker Hotel is full of young people. You have never seen Reverend Moon come here and say, "Do that. Clean up those rooms. Go out on the streets." But a miracle is happening every day. One week ago we moved into this hotel. It was almost like a bombed-out place, but one week later we are fully activated and 2,000 rooms are not enough. What power makes this possible? Only the power of God.

In our movement, miracles are happening every day, and your sons and daughters are creating them. I live every day in astonishment, watching them. No power under the sun could make such beautiful things happen except God.

I would like to tell you one more thing. Many parents are concerned about the welfare of their children. Naturally, I am too. What are their living conditions, are they getting the proper doctor's care, are they getting a proper diet? You know we didn't buy this hotel to live luxuriously. Our members do go through hardship. But no one works harder than Reverend Moon himself. I'm younger than him. I try to outdo him, but in 20 years I have never won one game. I am always defeated by him. Late at night I see Reverend Moon on his knees in prayer. I hardly see him in bed sleeping. Do you think he is going out to sea for enjoyment? No, he is going out to taste suffering, to take physical and mental torture in a way, to feel the rigors of the world. He can't stand still. The ocean becomes his competitor. It is very hard to understand, but I tell you this in all honesty and sincerity.

As parents, we realize what is good for our children -- a good house, good clothing, good food, and a sports car. All the luxury in the world is available in America today. But in the Unification Church, once we become aware of the presence of God so clearly, our criteria, our sense of values change. We normally would think of our lifetime as being around 100 years, rarely more than that, so we want to be successful within that period of time. But in the Unification Church, we look at value from the true point of view.

Jesus said, you may gain the entire world but lose your own life. We see invisible values clearly. This is where the problem comes. The rest of the world does not see what we see so clearly: a different set of values. We go after those values that will remain even a million years after this chunk of dust has decayed. We believe in immortality and that the real life is our eternal one. The 100 years or so we have on this earth are a privilege, an opportunity to serve God, to learn the heart of God, to live with God. That relationship with God determines our eternal life. Jesus Christ told us that.

From the worldly eyes of the reporters of the Washington Post or The New York Times, the life of Jesus Christ was a miserable failure. A young man started out to turn the world upside down, but at the age of 33 he was hanging on a cross, dying, and his disciples all had fled. In the worldly sense, Jesus was a failure, but in the eternal sense, not at all. He lived the most victorious life ever lived by any human being on earth. So he is triumphant now and forever. His life will go on. Even communist countries calculate history according to his year of birth.

Today, we believe in that dream for which Jesus Christ came -- to turn the world into the kingdom of God here on earth. We are not going to be in heaven after we die; we are going to find our heaven here on earth. Unless we build heaven here on earth, we will never find heaven "up there." This is our way of life, and we are serious about this life. No one is more serious about the realities of life here on earth than members of the Unification Church.

How I feel is exactly how your sons and daughters feel. I want to do more for God, more for Jesus Christ. I'm just not doing enough. Every day is a new day in which I can determine myself to do more. We have to die, but when that time comes (and it can come at any age), I want to be ready to go without regret. My life here on earth is my opportunity to serve God, whatever the sacrifice.

When you know this seriousness, I hope you can understand where our movement stands and where we are going. We have been the targets of ridiculous accusations; many things have been said about Reverend Moon, even about me. As special assistant to Reverend Moon, even I became famous. They even make me out to be the head of the Korean CIA. Let me tell you about the Korean CIA business. They are trying to destroy the Unification Church by linking us with the Korean CIA, or any CIA for that matter. This deliberate attempt by a negative power is due to the fact that they do not want us to succeed, period. I tell you, if I ever had or any member of our movement ever had any association with the Korean CIA, we would not have survived up to this point.

I came to America in 1961 as a military attaché to the Korean embassy. It was an honored position for a military man. At that time my goal was to become a general. I was hand-picked out of hundreds of candidates. After I came to this country, there was a military revolution in Korea and Park Chung Hee came into power. I was not in Korea; I was already in Washington. The Korean CIA was formed after the revolution. How could I have been an agent of the Korean CIA even before its birth? I could go on and on like that, but it's not necessary for you, our courageous parents. If you had believed such nonsense, you would not have come here. I'm sure my heart will reveal a good enough testimony to answer all the accusations. We are headed for a collision with the evil ideology of communism. Sooner or later, this country must awaken to the menace of communism. The world is being taken over by communism, inch by inch, and yard by yard, nation by nation. In less than half a century communists took over two-thirds of the population of the world. Do you think America can survive while the rest of the world is in the hands of the communists? You are wrong. America will not survive. Abraham Lincoln said that a nation cannot endure long, half-slave, half-free. In the sight of God, the world is the same. The world will never survive half-slave and half-free. America, as you will hear Reverend Moon say, has been called upon to be a champion of God like David before the Goliath of our times: communism. The Unification Church has no weapons, but we have the weapon of the truth of God. Nothing is stronger than this weapon. With the truth, we can destroy communism. Knowing that danger is coming, God called on Reverend Sun Myung Moon as His champion, to speak up.

More than anyone else, communists know the menace of the Unification Church to them, so they are out to get us any possible way that they can. God is on our side. Our march is His march. They will never win. We will win, because God is ours. Because of this, many accusations are deliberately made against us, but this morning Reverend Moon said, "Do not be concerned. Let us go on and finish our task." Yankee Stadium is one step toward our goal, but we will take many other steps, and your sons and daughters will become more courageous, more effective, and above all, more loved by God. I can assure you of that.

Your sons and daughters need your support. They may not be able to be with you all the time, but they have an important mission. They are like the Revolutionary War soldiers at Valley Forge. Their mission is that important: building a new nation, a new world. Give them your love and they will respond with their love.

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