HSA-UWC American Family Church
4 West 43rd Street
New York, New York 10036
(212) 997-0050 Fax (212) 768-0791

November 12, 1998

TO: Regional Directors, State Leaders
FM: Tyler Hendricks
RE: Chicago Report Parts Two and Three
Notes on "new paradigm churches"
Rev. Pak's Report on True Parents' South America Activities
By e-mail to Regions and States

Greetings in True Parents' Holy Name.

As I mentioned in the Chicago Report Part One, I have three areas: the Family Federation, witnessing activities (church, CARP, ministers), and the unity of the membership and leadership. Today I will cover the second and third areas. I am sorry that my report is very limited because I was there only three days.

Church and CARP witnessing. There are about 12-15 members living in the center. Some are Japanese sister missionaries; some are couples who are very dedicated to church life, and there are some new members, all Hispanic brothers. The RD, Rev. Ki Hun Kim, is very involved in the center activities. He has breakfast with the members and leads a meeting after breakfast.

The members do Hoon Dok Hae at 6 am and depart to go witnessing for an hour before breakfast between 7 ­ 8 am. They go to subway stations in the area of the center and leaflet for the weekly culture night. If you go to the same place around the same time, you will meet the same people and start to get to know some of them. I was busy during the daytimes, but I believe that the members study in the morning and continue witnessing in the afternoons. They have a lecture every night at the center. Late a night they teach the new members DP.

There is a CARP-STF group of 60 members, including 15­20 second generation. They divide their time between witnessing and fundraising, as well as many of them going to school. One current success is with the Chinese student association at one school. The president is working with us, and she has an e-mail network among the Chinese students. Through that network she invited all the students to our culture night, and 30 attended.

The culture night focused on Japan when I was there. They have a Japanese sisters choir that sang, and one sister played to Koto, and two brothers did martial arts, and the emcee was very energetic. Mr. Higashino, CARP leader, gave a standard DP introduction lecture (the human contradiction, need for new truth united science and religion, etc.). Then there was a slide show of the local workshop site, and a strong push by Rev. Jenkins for everyone to go to the weekend workshop.

Ministers work. We ask all the Chicago couples to adopt at least one church and visit it once a month. They don't have to say anything, just go and sit there and let the spirit guide. The famous story is of a Japanese fish business couple who could speak very little English. They resisted church visitation, but had a dream about it and decided to do it. Very quickly, even without English, the church adopted them and attended RFK. As you have from the weekly witnessing report sent out yesterday, the Chicago result with churches is going through the ceiling.

Another facet of this is attending banquets. Churches always put on banquets for minister anniversaries and so forth. They expect other ministers and churches to support these by buying tables at $35 or $50 a seat. They reciprocate by attending each others' banquets. So, we are on the banquet circuit, and are able to speak and our J-sisters choir performs at many of them. The pay-off is that when we have an event (True Mother's speaking tour, the annual True Family Values banquet) the ministers all attend, bring their congregations, and make donations. We have everything they have, plus True Parents and the profound teachings.

This requires investment, but the reward is great compared with the investment. We can spend $500 to put on our own event, or we can spend $500 to fill a table at their event. It's a good social opportunity for blessed couples who make the contribution, and it brings us into the social network of the churches. Based upon such investment, along with years of prayer, sacrifice and indemnity, Rev. Kim is working with the highest echelon of churches in Chicago. But it is based upon all the members going out and visiting churches at least once a month. (Some visit more, even 4 ­ 5 churches a week.)

To summarize the witnessing work, I perceived four dimensions to witnessing in Chicago: street witnessing (center members and Tribal Messiahs), campus witnessing (CARP and STF), church and minister witnessing (all members), and witnessing to our own members and, eventually, pre-blessed couples (Family Federation and Women's Federation).

Horizontal infrastructure. Several years ago, Rev. Jong Bok Hong, following Father's clear direction, established a committee of business and department leaders. He asked the IOE leader to be in charge. Rev. Hong himself, as Regional Director, did not involve himself in the committee. He gave them responsibility and freedom and worked with the results. The committee met at a business or some other location, not the church. By this method, the middle-echelon leaders took ownership of all the activities. This proved very valuable, for instance, during the TFVM seminars in DC in 1996, when all the businesses mobilized vehicles and drivers to transport ministers to and from the airports.

Also, all of these leaders are community elders who buy the seats at the church banquets. It is good for their business, as a donation to a local church or social action organization.

Participation of all leaders in the frontline work. Rev. Ki Hun Kim stresses very strongly that the Regional Director and local church leaders must meet the ministers, not just send the members. Other ministers recognize hierarchy, and they want to meet our local church leadership, ultimately the bishop. This is a key factor nationwide, as we all know, with Rev. Pak carrying on a personal ministry to leaders of other denominations. Many times Rev. Pak has religious leaders in his office.

Also, I was impressed that at the culture night, Rev. and Mrs. Kim, Rev. and Mrs. Jenkins, the Kodan leadership, the fish business leader, Mr. Sometani, the WFWP leader, Mrs. Sometani, Rev. Vincenz, of course the State Leader and CARP leadership, the Saeilo leadership and so forth all attended. Rev. Kim gave closing remarks. I am sure that many of those leaders brought guests. Because of this commitment, there was a big crowd and wonderful atmosphere. The frontline witnessing members feel great support for their efforts.

The workshop center is a combined effort of the church and CARP. CARP members manage it, and church members bring guests and church leaders give many of the lectures (including Rev. Vincenz, Rev. Jenkins and Mrs. Sometani).

The Kodan members, as I mentioned above, have formed a choir. They are becoming famous in "Chicago land." They create a spirit of good will and beauty, plus a global flavor that everyone enjoys. This is a good way to witness.

The weekly witnessing report included some comments on our visit to the Willow Creek Community Church, and I'll add my two cents here. The main concepts I took away from it are "self-organizing" and "healthy sheep multiply."

"Self-organizing" means that the members find their personal ministries within the overall church culture. Groups develop based upon the vision God gives to individuals for a personal ministry. For example, our brother who attends that church, Bill Schaffler, says that he received a personal invitation from a member who is starting an "entrepreneur's small group."

Because of this space to develop, there are nearly 100 ministries at Willow Creek, everything from counseling to -- I kid you not -- "indoor plant ministry." Every gift is valued. Father said that, "as long as you can fix a car, you can be very successful in doing witnessing in America. If you help people fix their cars -- You should rush to help as soon as you hear that someone's car is broken. If you do that, you can build a good relationship." (The Way of the Spiritual Leader, vol. 3, part 2, page 112) And, following Father's words, Willow Creek has "Cars" as one ministry, along with "Ushers," "Wedding Ministry," "Young Moms" (probably responsible for the "mega sleep over" for 500 10 ­ 11 year old girls and their unchurched friends and moms at the church), "Prayer Team," "Offering Counters," "Information Center," "Hearing Impaired," "Evangelism," "[Offering] Collectors," "Communion Preparers," "Communion Servers," "Campus Development," and on and on.

In other words, the members themselves develop these personal ministries based upon the gifts that God gives them. And church leadership trusts in God's hand to provide the ministries that He knows are necessary for the church to fulfill its mission. The Saddleback church did not have a Sunday School for a long time, because no one volunteered to do it. "Self-organizing" in Father's poorly translated Korean is "automatic theocracy." It means that when everyone is living for the sake of others, centering on God and True Parents, everything will develop spontaneously. Now, I do not know if we can apply this model exactly, but it is worth praying about.

In my research beyond Willow Creek, I am finding several elements common to the "new paradigm churches" that are growing in America. They were all present strongly at Willow Creek, which is a very wealthy and professional congregation. But I see them present in more humble, small settings. All these churches, by the way, and this entire "new paradigm," emerged after Father came to America. So I feel we have some deep providential connection with them.

Many (if not all) these churches began as a Bible study group. One person, usually a couple, will have an outside job and zeal to teach the Bible. He does it in his house or in a park or wherever. If God blesses him, his group grows. When it reaches 100, the congregation will ask him to quit his job and serve as a full-time pastor-meaning that they are ready to support his family financially. Those that are blessed by God grow and grow, meeting in rented theatres, leased warehouses or supermarkets, and so forth. As they grow, they raise up others who have the spirit and calling to -- you guessed it -- go start a Bible study group somewhere. By this method these churches have multiplied into hundreds of congregations all over the USA and beyond. They are not denominations; they don't want to be. They are associations, hmmm, of the Holy Spirit. There's the Times Square Church near 43rd Street; I'm going to visit it next week. Our brother who attends there says they fill a 3,000 seat theatre at every service, and they have several services a week. And they do not have a membership list!

So, here are the typical elements

1. Good Sunday Service that gives the experience of God-seeker friendly, culture-friendly. They place a great deal of emphasis upon the music, and normally it ranges from folk to rock style. The music is a time of worship. The "worship team" is also the choir/band, and they are seeking the same experience of God as everyone else -- they are not performers, they are co-worshippers. Good Sunday Service means to bring the Holy Spirit, to give people spiritual food, healing, happiness and hope. As Father said, "If you make a fire in a stove during the wintertime, even if you do not explain to the people which one is the cold stove and which one is the hot stove, because people can already feel the heart, they will naturally gather around the hot stove." (Ibid., p. 152)

2. An education track. Once people are attracted to us, we must teach them. We cannot jerry-rig a workshop whenever there's a guest-we need to have a regular education program in place, basically a series of Principle presentations. And their teaching is clear but not doctrinal; it focuses totally on the Bible and the lessons of the Bible stories. Well -- we have millions of those, right?

3. Small Groups. All these churches have small groups, even just Bible study groups. A researcher (Re-Inventing American Protestantism, by Donald Miller-an excellent book, recommended to me by Dr. Kathy Winings) found in his surveys that everyone said that the real life of the church is in the small groups. I wrote a memo to you about small groups -- the FF, Kodan -- a couple of days ago.

4. Personal Ministry. I discussed above.

I don't want to say more. These are all just suggestions and ideas for everyone to work with. I am trying, with Rev. Chen Fong and the Manhattan Family Church, to apply these ideas. It takes time. A few members took the leap into small groups this week. It is a challenge, I think, for us to feel that we can take personal responsibility and leadership, that the church -- and God's providence -- belongs to me and lives or dies by my efforts. It's a challenge we can meet only through God and True Parents.

True Parents arrived last night at East Garden. They brought Rev. Pak with them, and he reported about their recent activities. They left America on September 21. They celebrated October 3 in Sao Paulo, and then on October 5 conducted the ceremony of unification of the spirit world and physical world, assigning Jesus to North America, Mary and Joseph to South America, and so forth. October 10-12 they conducted the religious freedom conference. The rest of the time they divided between Jardim, Salobra and the Pantanal, teaching and fishing everywhere. There are 1,500 members at Jardim and the spirit is high. They are of all races and nations, loving each other as a beautiful community. TP stayed in Fort Olympo until October 20 with the national messiahs. Although they already fulfilled all the indemnity conditions, still they are paying indemnity. They invested so much everyday. For example, in Jardim, Father conducted 18 Hoon Dok Hae sessions over 12 days, one day starting at 5 am and ending at midnight. TP are continually on the stage in view of everyone. It is so hot, but TP are with everyone all the time. They matched national messiah families -- Rev. Pak's family was matched with a Japanese 1800 family. Then TP took their photo with 900 couples -- it took a long time. Can you imagine smiling for 900 photographs!

They made a prayer condition at Salobra, and caught 15 to 20 fish there. They brought these fish to Jardim and displayed them on the stage. He then gave a prayer for this, the third ideal family workshop, and gave the fish away by lottery. The cost of the lottery ticket was $300, so Father raised $200,000. The lottery-two fish went to Korean couples, and 12 to Japanese couples. Then Father invested the $200,000 to buy 1,000 cattle for the farm. When the cattle arrived, all the couples shepherded them into the fields. It was a powerful experience.

On November 6, Father declared the fulfillment of restoration, and the opening of the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden means harmony of land and water, fish, birds and animals, and sinless blessed couples. This is the meaning of the 40-day workshop directly with True Parents. This third workshop was the foundation to declare the fulfillment of restoration. The Hoon Dok Hae focused on the following: a book of prophecy from the Korean Nostradamus, Dr. Lee's book on spirit world, the two Hoon Dok Hae volumes on spirit world, Father's prayer volume on the mind of filial piety, then the Hoon Dok Hae volume entitled True Parents. Father would provide his commentary on the readings. The overall theme was for all blessed couples to arrive at the perfection level and for blessed children to find success not just on earth but in preparation for eternal life while on earth. To do so we follow True Parents and True Family's victorious model of love. When we fulfill this, we can register in True Parents' Family Registry.

Father is working so hard because these four nations are chosen. Argentina and Uruguay are completely white, so they are Cain type. Paraguay and Brazil are mixed, racially, so they are Abel type. Rev. Pak reported reading an interview with Mother Teresa, in which she was asked when she thought the messiah would come and where would be the Garden of Eden. She answered, the year 2000, but if we are not prepared for him then he will be persecuted and delayed in his work. The location of Eden she said is not Africa but in the South American rain forest.

Father said that he picked Jardim because it is the least developed area on the planet, hence the closest to the original creation. Father has gone there to love the land, water, and all creatures. TP have invested all their physical and spiritual resources there, to the point of almost dying to make a vast foundation. It is now developing non-stop everyday. We visited all the holy grounds and heard the explanation of what TP did there. We followed their footsteps. This made me a new person. I learned DP again, especially restoration through indemnity.

The RFK and MSG victories did not come because of our hard work, but because of TP indemnity in South America. From the dark and cold of the early morning, to the dark of late night, TP were on the water. He was so intent on maintaining the schedule; if the boat did not depart in time, he was so frustrated. The boat is small, a five-person boat. The guide is a native, not a member. They would go up small rivers, full of alligators and the land populated with panthers (?). The vegetation is so intense that even to make their way up the channels the guide had to chop away branches with a machete. The cut branches, on return trips, were dangerous, like spears pointing at those going up the narrow channel. But Father would push and push the guide to go faster. That small of a boat can easily capsize.

They would travel three hours on this narrow river, in areas where no one lives. The rivers are full of piranha's. Lately a boat -- not ours-capsized with six on board, and five survived, the sixth eaten by piranha's. But Father wanted to make the trip faster each day. Father's mind and body were completely invested. This is what brought the miracles of RFK and MSG. This time, as I realized this, I could only cry tears. Everyone carries guns in that wilderness, and TP have no security, only one staff member with them.

One sister invited Father, one day when the circumstances allowed, to come off the boat to have lunch on the dock, but Father said no -- he had to eat on the boat. If he got off the boat, he said, he would lose focus. At the end of the day, after sitting all day in that cramped little space on the boat, Father had a hard time to stand up and walk. Everyday it was cold and rainy.

This mobilizes the spirit world. Father could not take care of his health or his skin. I could not bear to look at TP directly. Then at Jardim, Father asked the blessed couples to live a life of this standard. I realize that our attendance is not enough.

True Mother is a great fisherwoman. She caught five bacu on each of two successive days. The record for everyone else is 70 in 40 days, but most catch 30 ­ 40 in 40 days.

Chung Pyung Lake is the cleaning center. We did not deserve the blessing, but Father forgave us. He has a timetable and has to work with unqualified people. This is why our blessing marriage life is not good enough. We disrespect God, the Principle and the value of the blessing. So at CPL we clean out our past character and liberate our evil spirits and ancestors so that they can attend Heung Jin Nim's 100-day workshop. CPL is like cleaning the dirty cup. Jardim is where we fill this cleaned cup. We receive the holy spirit, the Hoon Dok Hae, the holy grounds, and gain power and energy to go out to the world as messiahs. Korean, Japanese, western-everyone works together on teams, farming, building, and it is joyful.

The next stage will be to connect this work at the headwaters of the Paraguay River to the headwaters of the Amazon River, which flows out of the northern side of the Pantanal. Too many people are cutting down the Amazon rain forests. These forests are the lungs of the planet. Only Father's vision, leadership and love will save this. He will divide it into 185 territories and assign them by lottery to the 185 Eve-nation national messiahs. Father often called for an "insect museum," for tourism, boating, and so forth.

For the next seven days, let us prepare well as the elder son nation.

Rev. Pak's report was followed by Dr. Chin's report on the Health Sciences Center, and Mr. Sang Kwon Park's report on the Diamond Mountain project. Father had a simple conclusion before he dismissed us:

"When we build a house, we need the component parts first, then we assemble them and the house is created. In the same way, to build the kingdom of God, we need all the component parts. The major part is our family, the family system. To educate families, Father is conducting the ideal family workshops in Jardim."

Please encourage members to take seriously the seven-day prayer condition. It has to start today at the latest in order to end before True Children's Day. The best place to carry it out is at the holy ground. At Belvedere, General Lady Kim conducts Hoon Dok hae from 9 pm to 10 pm and prayer from 10 pm to 11 pm each night at the holy rock. This is a good standard that she received from Father.

ITN, Tyler Hendricks

Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Copyright Information
Tparents Home