Sun Myung Moon's views on offerings and taking out loans

April 1, 2000

I wasn't going to say anything, but I feel it is necessary as I've worked with the foreign missions and missionaries since they started (in one way or another) and for many years was responsible for all family related communication with the leadership -- i.e., blessings, matchings, establishment of family associations, trinities, and guidance re forgiveness ceremonies and other problems.

They were very lucky! There really is no other way to put it.

I worked for Rev. Kwak, central figure for all mission countries from the beginning until last year. He continually taught that as blessed couples our first responsibility is to our children, our families, for our blessing is our eternal responsibility -- more important than our mission or any other external work/offering.

There was a time that Father asked for such a sacrifice of our children, as done by the early members of our movement in Korea. There is no need for anyone to make such sacrifices in this day and age, nor for any leader to set up a situation that leads to it.

Yes, God is moved by their actions, and so can many others. You would be moved if your 7 year old attempted to fast for 7 days. I would hope you wouldn't allow it.

It definitely would have been better, and truly a family level offering for them to bring the children and have them participate in the activities. It would have been tragic to have had the children raised by the state/government. Once taken away, they would have been nearly impossible to get back and certainly would not have been raised in the Principle.

As for loans, I remember Father being very angry when he found out that the Japanese leadership had taken out loans to fulfill their monetary goals. He stated clearly that doing so did not pay the indemnity needed at the time needed, which was the reason for the offering in the first place.

At the same time, let me also say that their offering is their offering. Only they have the ability to make such an offering for themselves. I'm sure they were not the only couples their leadership said such things to. Were they the only ones who responded? We have to be very careful that our opinions, that we would not have made our offering in such a manner, does not take away from the fact that they did. It still is their offering. We need to remember to honor that as such.

I hope and pray that their leadership grows and matures in God's love. I don't know that any of us can do much more, as we are not in a position to advise the leadership nor the couple themselves.

As I used to say to my parents when they read about the wild and crazy things we did in our movement, "there are fanatics in every organization." Each individual has to decide how they are going to respond to a given direction.