The Words The Kwak Family
|
|
The Words The Kwak Family |
On my recent journey to Japan, I found a lot of hope for our movement. Before Father left America he had given instructions to the Japanese leaders to develop the VOC movement in Japan. Since 1965 they have been working very hard for VOC, but Father recently asked them to bring three million members. They were shocked. Most of the Japanese members have been focusing on fundraising and witnessing for the video centers. Only 300 members are working in VOC; how could 300 people gain three million members?
Father suggested that they hold many banquets with Mr. Kuboki as the featured speaker. He gave Mr. Kuboki an outline of subjects to speak about. They have meetings and banquets scheduled almost daily, throughout the country.
In speaking to the public, our members talk about Japan's current situation and goals for the future. Aside from being an excellent public speaker, Mr. Kuboki gives substantial content to his speeches, describing the various things he and our members have actually done. High-level people are concerned about the future of Japan; its economic situation is good, but they want to make good relations to other countries. The International Highway Project is very attractive to them, for example.
Many people signed membership and paid the nominal membership fee. Some contribute substantial sums of money. New members invite friends to join along with them. They have reached an average of 20,000 people joining per day. During the April international conference, Japanese leaders reported very joyfully about their results. After 50 days of efforts, they had gained 200,000 members. They had never expected such fruit. Mr. Kuboki himself was shocked at the number of famous people who attended the Tokyo banquet.
Japanese members working in the West have many memories of persecution received in the past. Now the Japanese members can do almost anything. Recently, they bought $1.5 million worth of video machines for their video centers. Since opening these centers, they have gained 10,000 members. While not all of these are full-time members, 3,000 have attended 7-day video workshops. They call them "video children." They are now planning a 21-day video workshop. The brother whose lectures appear on the videotapes has now become famous. People stop him on the streets and exclaim, "Oh, you are my video-teacher!"
The current fruits in Japan are coming on the foundation of more than 20 years of hard work as well as their sacrificial church history. Because of this amazing history, they can gain incredible results.
Mr. Furuta, president of Happy World, is such an unassuming person and so dedicated to True Parents. "Why don't you meet with the top leaders in Japan," Father suggested to him.
"Oh, Father, I couldn't do that," he replied humbly.
"You can do it," Father countered. "You don't have to be concerned about what to say to them; just share with them your testimony, what you and the Japanese members have been doing." Mr. Furuta's personal resources are his basic power.
This time, he returned and said, "Oh, Father, really amazing things happened."
"Like what?"
At a recent Unification Thought seminar for top PWPA professors in Japan, Mr. Furuta spoke about our movement, describing our fundraising projects and especially the attitude our members have as they do such activities. These professors were so amazed at our lifestyle and internal attitude. They could easily understand that fundraising was not just to gain money but to foster a certain internal attitude.
Afterwards they told Mr. Aoki, secretary-general of PWPA in Japan, "We have been spending your money, but we never recognized that there was such a serious content behind it. We have to support Mr. Furuta." Those who knew presidents of corporations made appointments for them to meet with Mr. Furuta. Every day now, Mr. Furuta receives telephone calls from professors asking him to meet with certain people.
When people meet Mr. Furuta, they can tell from his appearance and attitude that he is not a normal businessman. He conveys so much purity as he describes the members' sacrifice and hard work, their dedication to God and their country. People who meet him are deeply moved by him and filled with respect for his hard work.
Our Japanese missionaries gathered in Japan at the beginning of this year for a 120-day training program. I am well acquainted with their eight years of missionary activities, and I heard many of them tell about their experiences. They spent two days making videotaped testimonies about their experiences overseas. Of course, since the tapes were for the public, they could not share about how they struggled so long with the other missionaries or with their wife -- but they did talk about their attitude and their hard work. PWPA, Happy World, the Unification Church, etc., use this film for public relations activities. Many people have seen this film and are amazed at how young Japanese people can go out and serve countries in the third world, overcoming nationalistic concepts. They are impressed at the dedication these young people show for God's will and God's work.
Most of us here in Belvedere haven't had experience in mission countries, so I am giving you an example of the process we have to go through. We have to overcome many things. Maybe the missionaries have almost graduated from this, but you still need such a process; most of you have received the Blessing, but the Blessing is not yet the perfection stage.
Our missionaries struggle internally, shedding tears and blood, sometimes being thrown in jail or kicked out of their countries. Still, they continue working for people of the third world, not for Japan. Many high-level people received a lot of benefit from learning about their lifestyle and changed their concepts about our church.
Sometimes when we listen to Father speak we feel so small and almost hopeless, because Father's expectation is too distant from our reality. There is a big gap between Principle standard and our lifestyle, so sometimes we lose hope and confidence. Of course, we have to repent for the times our mind is changeable and sinful and in opposition to God's will and heart. But on the positive side, we should remember that we have such amazing resources.
Honestly speaking, popular concepts in western society or even modern society in general, make it hard for people to follow our movement. Sometimes I have heard leaders or members express concern about why so many members have left the American movement and how we can solve this problem. They may have certain ideas about what to do; they may believe the problem lies within the system or among the Korean leadership. Sure, there are probably problems within our organization, and the Korean leadership may be inadequate in understanding Americans and America. But please understand the kind of way we are following. We are not taking the normal way; we are following God's ideal and God's will.
If Satan were only a concept, we could solve all our problems very simply. But Satan is a substantial being. Furthermore, he has power and is not limited by time and space. His main purpose is to deny, decrease and break God's will and our movement. Unfortunately, many members don't recognize Satan's substantial opposition to our members and our movement.
If Satan finds even a slight condition, he certainly comes in and makes a break. Members sometimes hate each other, or at least experience disharmony. Major points are not usually the problem; disagreements on the small points create struggles, fights, and misunderstandings. Wherever there is even a small condition, Satan will show up and work, causing divisions among leaders and between leaders and members. Since he is not limited by time and space, he operates in all areas. He works much harder than we do -- 24 hours a day. We take time to sleep, but Satan has no need for sleep.
So many times Father asks us to sacrifice ourselves and quit being self-centered. In all of his sermons, he tries to get us to remove the conditions that enable Satan to work. When we set the right conditions, we give Satan no opportunity to invade. If we live the traditional, Principled way, Satan will pursue us for a while and then give us up as hopeless. "Because of my busy schedule, I will go somewhere else," he will reason. This is not a joke! We need to develop a clear standard of lifestyle and habit; we need to obtain Satan's testimony: "I give up on this guy."
Moreover, even though Satan works powerfully and continuously, his foundation and even his own being cannot continue for eternity. His realm may increase but his conclusion is destruction. The way of God and True Parents is entirely different. Even though all members may leave the church, the foundation, resources and power remains. Father has sometimes warned us leaders that if we cannot follow this way, Heavenly Father will prepare other leaders.
Some of you may have seen the article written by ex-Moonie David Hulme. I never saw such a testimony from an ex-member. "I am an ex-Moonie," he explains, "because my character and my abilities are not adequate for following the Unification Church movement."
Think about yourselves and how difficult it really is to follow the traditional, faithful way. Many people attend two- day and seven-day workshops and become very excited and inspired, but may not have the internal foundation to follow our movement. Later, as our victory foundation expands, the way will become easier and more people can follow it.
Our movement is so precious and at the same time so difficult. Ours is not a normal way. Some members may have left the church because my guidance was not adequate; others may have lost spiritual power and became distant. But when people leave the church, we cannot simply blame the system or leadership.
Of course, our leaders are not adequate. But think of how much Father has given to the American movement. No one can stand up to him and say, "My idea is more than your idea." He is always thinking, thinking, thinking. Some American members may think that since Father is always surrounded by Korean or Japanese leaders, his concepts are just oriental concepts. But that is not true.
I believe that out of all the American membership and leadership, no one has devoted more thought or concern to the development of the movement than Father. Then why is it so difficult?
The general concepts of modern society. especially western society includes democracy, individualism, liberalism, pragmatism and rationalism. Can any of these concepts be easily connected with Godism? Many times they seem like enemy ideas.
Democracy arose out of the lack of absolute values, absolute power, and absolute being. When there are no absolutes, the majority opinion is considered the best idea. Godism, however, has not been the majority idea, God's teaching has not been the majority teaching. Therefore, through democratic elections, people have not selected God's will, goodness, True Parents, or the messiah. Our goal and purpose is to follow Godism.
Godism is not individualism. God comes before the individual. In a way, Godism is a kind of totalism -- not to be confused with communism or other types of totalitarianisms. We have a dual purpose; the larger concerns come first. Individualism itself is not bad; after we restore the ideal world, the individual truth body naturally makes harmony with the whole purpose. But until then, to insist on our individualism is not helpful along the way of restoration.
Rationalism is important. As human beings we are endowed with reason. We need to think, plan, etc. But please understand that along the way of restoration, the main pattern of advance is by indemnity conditions. Indemnity conditions involve two main concepts: self-denial and sacrifice. How can rationalism explain these two concepts? They seem completely opposite. Rationalism alone is not sufficient.
Liberalism -- God gave us liberty. But our main, original liberty can come to us only after we fulfill our responsibility. Along the way of restoration, as we strive to fulfill our portion of responsibility, we cannot enjoy complete liberty.
Can pragmatism explain our sacrificial faith? Our way of faith transcends pragmatism, rationalism, liberalism, individualism, democracy. It doesn't fall within or under them, it's above all of them.
Of course, we struggle within ourselves, because we have to overcome so many difficult patterns. But given these circumstances, I feel that our present members are so precious. Even though you haven't received many explanations, you have already overcome so many difficulties. You have so many resources within yourselves.
Members may not have become famous within the church, they may not have had important missions. But anyone who follows the Unification Church life for one year, two years, five years, etc., has very powerful assets. In Korea we have an expression for these resources: "They drank Unification Church water."
So please keep the concept of how precious and valuable you are. All Unification Church members have such an incomparable value. Don't ever become depressed or disheartened; your resources are so wonderful.
On March 1, Father started new dispensational activities. Then he began talking about going to Korea, to pray there, to connect the providence here with the land of Korea. Wherever Father is becomes the international headquarters of our movement. His prayer is connected with the spiritual world. He prays at Belvedere and East Garden every day. So why does Father want to connect with Korea? Father has a long, long history of tears and promises made to God. His main, original content came from the spirit world and God. Which land can inherit this content?
During this last conference, Rev. Jae Suk Lee, president of HSA-UWC in Korea, told Father, "If we were to describe all the spiritual phenomena that have been happening, we would need a couple extra days for our report." Our church in Korea has gone through so many difficulties, but amazing spiritual phenomena are occurring. Older spiritualist women in our church pass their missions down to younger women, who carry on their tasks. Spiritual phenomena are so prevalent because Korea is the land of origin of God's will.
Korean CARP leaders gave lengthy reports about underground socialist and communist movements on the campuses and how committees were formed, headed by outstanding professors, to defend idealism and guide students in a good direction. These committees eventually concluded that their only hope for fulfilling their responsibility was to ask the CARP movement to educate them. Some universities had denied registration to CARP, because of the influence of established Christian churches. But Mr. Kim, our CARP leader in Korea, is so excited because they have gained 30,000 members this year. Thirty thousand CARP members is a quite substantial number for a nation the size of Korea. Of course they worked hard, but the result came on the foundation of so many tears, prayers and long efforts by Father.
More than 3,000 Christian ministers in Korea are now connected with us in some way. Over half have listened to the entire course of Principle lectures, and the others have at least read the book. Still, the majority of Christians oppose us. This is natural.
Father was so happy as he took us on a tour of the new machinery factory. In 1961 or so, our church bought one used machine. Because we had no indoor space, we put it in a small area behind the church. Father enjoyed that machine so much. I couldn't understand why, since I myself had no knowledge of machinery and did not find it interesting! But since that time Father has been making many plans.
Father and Mother took the 17 European leaders, 40 Japanese leaders and many Koreans with them on a four-day tour of Korea. I was responsible for making all the arrangements for the trip!
There were about 90 people in all. Father and Mother traveled in their car; two large buses accommodated the rest. Police cars escorted the entourage all along the journey. When we reached the border between two jurisdictions, a new set of police cars would be awaiting us. At Mount Sorak, a popular tourist attraction in northeast Korea, we were offered special security protection.
In Kyongju, ancient capital of the Silla Dynasty, we stayed at the Kolon Hotel, a place we have often used for seminars. Since Father and Mother were going to be with us, I called the hotel manager and asked for the presidential suite for "special guests." He thought a bit, and deducing who I meant by special guests, promised to make proper preparations. I arrived two hours early to check if everything was ready. The suite was perfect for our needs, with a kitchen, dining room, two living rooms, and accommodations for aides.
One of the top officials of the Kolon hotel chain made a special trip from Seoul just to greed Rev. Moon. The hotel draped a big welcome banner in the lobby; all the women employees wore chima chogoris, the traditional, festive Korean dress. Moreover, the hotel bought a new red carpet to receive Rev. and Mrs. Moon. The preparations were amazing.
The hotel official waited outside with me for almost 45 minutes, since we did not know the exact time of their arrival. When the car pulled up, the official welcomed True Parents at the car, led them up the red carpet and showed them to their room. As you know, our church's meetings never follow a "normal" schedule. The hotel staff willingly served our meals at all kinds of odd hours. They charged us nothing for the suite and discounted 50 percent from the bill for the rest of our party.
Our True Parents wanted to visit the most famous Buddhist shrine in Korea, Sokkuram, located near Kyongju. In a large stone grotto or cave, a huge statue of Buddha is protected from the public by a thick glass wall. One of our staff members went to see the officials at the shrine and asked permission for about 10 special guests to enter the inner area. The official refused.
You can imagine how our brother felt. "Please, these are such important guests; can't you allow a few representatives to enter?
The chief monk inquired about the identity of the "important guests."
In dealing with the public in Korea, we cannot always easily mention about Father, because a negative response could cause a big problem. But our member had no alternative. "Rev. and Mrs. Moon," he replied.
"Really! He will come!" the monk exclaimed. "He is a worldwide religious leader; I have to open it for him. I myself will receive him "
Our brother telephoned us with the information that Father and Mother and ten members could enter the inner shrine. Only when we arrived did I discover how unusual such approval was.
This monk received our True Parents very warmly. We had permission for 12 people, but almost 20 members entered the shrine. The monk showed us many details and explained many things. Then he asked if we wanted to take a group picture. That is never allowed! Afterwards, he requested pictures of just Father and Mother with the statue of Buddha.
As we were leaving, I thanked him. "I really like the Unification Church movement," he told me, "especially because of its inter-religious work and Rev. Moon's idea. I really respect it." I had never seen this kind of response in Korea.
Then we went to the national museum in Kyongju. Because of all the police cars and security people, the museum staff wondered who had arrived. You can imagine the scene, all 90 members trying to crowd as closely as possible around Father and Mother.
One museum official approached Mr. Kwan, our headquarters photographer, who was taking many pictures. "Are you a Unification Church member?"
"Yes."
"Can you send me a picture of Rev. Moon?"
In America, people ask for pictures and autographs, but not so often in Korea.
"Why do you want a picture?"
"I have seen Rev. Moon's picture in newspapers and magazines before; but today, when I looked at him in person, I was so moved. I really respect him, so I want to keep his picture." He was so sincere.
One headquarters leader standing nearby suggested that he move close to Father so Mr. Kwan could take a picture of them both and send it to him later. But the museum official's answer was really amazing:
"No, no, impossible. If my kind of person stood near Rev. Moon, his dignity and value would be decreased. I couldn't go near him."
Our headquarters staff received much benefit from this kind of testimony. His attitude was better than that of some of our members!
Many Korean scholars and political leaders are so anxious to meet Father. I feel that from now on, we can gain so much, after long years of sacrificial life and hard work. I expect the same to happen in our American movement.
Father has been traveling throughout Korea; his plans include visiting regional and local centers. Even though he is staying in Korea now, his main focus and concern is on the American movement. For the next three years, we have to focus on America. Therefore, members are coming to America from other countries. On one hand, it is good for many members from around the world to come to us, but on the other hand, it is a cause for shame that we need support from others. So we need to make a strong determination to stand on the front line and set an example for the international members.
Please keep your dignity and realize how precious you are.
You may receive scoldings, but push on forward. Honestly speaking, our consciences are not completely comfortable, because we make mistakes and we have not accomplished all that God has expected. But still, we have wonderful, unique resources. We can dedicate them to our True Parents and support our True Parents.