TODAY’SWORLDJANUARY-FEBRUARY 2009

International President’s Message
Rev. Moon Hyung-jin

The Central Focus
for Our Religious
Leaders
Hyung-jin nim conveyed the following message at the opening of the World
National Leaders Assembly 2009 to more than a hundred and twenty members,
mainly national leaders and regional presidents, who were anxious to connect totheir international president’s heart. The assembly took place January 28–31 at
the Cheongshim Youth Center and the Cheon Jeong Peace Palace in Korea.

Hello brothers and sisters. True Parents just arrived today. They arevery happy that you could all come from all over the world toparticipate in the first national leaders’ conference. There will bemany topics over the course of the next few days, but these arereally preparatory for the celebration of True Parents' birthday, so
we hope that you will all come with that kind of celebratory heart, to really praiseand give glory to True Parents on this very auspicious occasion.
Brothers and sisters, I would just like to share some of the things that have
kept me constant ever since Father asked us to take on responsibility. We started
out in the Mapo church; it’s a small church here in Korea. Whenever Father
asked me to do something new, I asked him one question, “Father, what should
I do next?” Father’s answer has been consistent. His response is very simple.
“Continue to give jeongseong.” That’s a very important secret, I would say.
We have many different theories about why the movement is not growing
or developing as we would like. Here in Korea, as we are growing the church,
we are wrestling with these ideas, developing new witnessing strategies, neworganizational structures and transparent financial management. It’s very
important. We have to be very systematic and rational in the way we think about
our church development.
We are so grateful to Kook-jin hyung because he has such a systematic,
organized mind and so many years of experience running organization. He has
so much insight. A lot of the plans and strategies for development have come outof his genius or his Task Force Teams, which make proposals for better church
growth. We deal with many different things on the ground. Because we run the
church from the ground, many things have to be tested—whether it be a homegroup method or new witnessing strategy. I know you are all concerned about
this and very interested in these developments, but at the same time, we have toremember that we are a spiritual movement.
We have to develop the practical organizational systems; these are criticalbecause they provide us a safety net from organizational trouble. They prevent
organizational disasters or catastrophes. But we have to recall that we are a
spiritual tradition that is rooted in the devotional life. Father could have told me
Continued on page 26....International President’s Message

2

Today’s WorldTODAY’S

WORLD

January-February 2009VOLUME 30, Number 1

T H E P R O V I D E N C E M O N T H LY

True Parents, True Family

God's Day Midnight Prayer ........................................................ 4
This Year's Motto (photo) .......................................................... 5
Twenty-sixth Day of Victory of Love ........................................... 6
Devotion, Loyalty and Love (Hoon-sook nim) ........................... 10
Coronation for the Authority of the Liberation of God ................ 12
Determination to Practice Liberation ....................................... 14
Three Prayers from the Coronations ......................................... 15
About Empowerment (Hyung-jin nim) ...................................... 15
Three Coronations (photos) ..................................................... 16
Father's Ninetieth-Birthday Speech ......................................... 19
Substantiation (Kook-jin nim) .................................................. 24
Blessing 2009 (Photos) ............................................................ 30
An Interview with Ye-jin Nim .................................................... 32
True Family God's Day Photo ................................................... 34 Moon Shin-cheon nim, the second son among Kook-jin nim andJi-yea nim's five children, is pictured here at the Hannam-dongInternational President's Message
house on February 15 at his 103rd-day ceremony.
The Central Focus for Our Religious Leaders ............................... 2
A Congratulatory Address ....................................................... 23
This is a brief expression of admiration for the scope and influence ofWalk of Faith
Workshop on the Original Divine Principle ................................ 40 True Parents' work to end human conflict.
A series of workshops to convey the original substance of Divine
The Messiah’s Countrymen ...................................................... 60
Principle began in Hawaii King Garden and continues in Korea. This is
In honor of their birthday, this article sketches some social
an overview of the essential concepts the lectures cover.
developments and people whose influence on Korea is relevant toWhere Business Meets Faith .................................................... 42 True Parents' early lives and salvific mission.
A senior executive of the HSAUWC Foundation, whom Kook-jin nim
The Big Picture of Small Groups ............................................... 66
hired with Father's approval, talks about his boss, his work and his
The author gives an outline of the mind-set of a small group leader
personal course.
and firmly integrates outreach with the roots of her Christian faith.
Preparing to Match Your Child .................................................. 57
This interview suggests that just as we rely on God to prepare an
Revival of Civilization
eternal mate for a blessed child, He is relying on parents, children and Mounting a Challenge to Religious Intolerance .......................... 48
our faith community to invest the due effort to bring them together.
Like a knight of old, he is chivalrous and magnanimous. His modern
day weapons might be a web site and press credentials, but make no
mistake—this is a man who has set out to smite injustice.
BridgesA Korean Prophecy Fulfilled ..................................................... 17
As a congressmen, two dictators had him purged from parliament in
Revival of Nations
an attempt to silence him. An independent thinker, he spoke out on
Heaven and Earth in the Gambia .............................................. 54
True Parents' birthday about Korean expectations and who Father is.
A national messiah has implemented long-term projects to address
the needs of the body and soul of his mission country.
To a Man of Sagacity and Foresight .......................................... 22
Corrections: In the October 2008 issue, page 17, Hyun-jin nim and In-jin nim are
A birthday is a fine occasion for hearing anecdotes, such as this one,
pictured at a Global Peace Festival in New York (not Washington DC). In the Novemthat reveal details about lesser-known facets of a person's life.
ber-December issue, page 35 caption, Kyungsun and Mariëlle Orr’s wedding took
place in the Netherlands (not the United States). We apologize for these errors.

Cover Photo: True Parents at their birthday celebration in Korea, Back Cover: A souvenir photo at the Blessing Ceremony in the U.S.
PUBLISHER:EDITORIAL ADVISORS:

Rev. Moon Hyung-jin
Dr. Seuk Joon-ho

TODAY'S WORLD is a publication of the FFWPU International office. Founded in 1980 by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Today's World is publishedmainly for members and associates of FFWPU. A source of information, insight and inspiration for its readers, and a forum for the exchangeof news and experiences, the magazine facilitates a sharing of heart among Family Federation members and friends. (The views expressed are
therefore not necessarily the official views of FFWPU or its founders.)

MANAGING EDITOR:

Julian Gray

ASSISTANT EDITOR:David Beard

DESIGN & LAYOUT:

Alireza Alhoui

Members and close associates of the Family Federation generally address or refer to Rev. and Mrs. Moon as Father and Mother.

TRANSLATION:

Lee Yeonseung

Today's World. E-mail: todaysworld@tongil.or.kr / todaysworld@gmail.com Web site: www.todaysworld.org - Mailing Address: 13th fl.,Dowon Building, Dohwa 2 dong, Mapo gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 121-728 Tel: (82-2) 3275-4241 Fax: (82-2) 3275-4220

Lee Inbo
Lee Seung-ho

TODAY’S

Koh Kunduk

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Chang Hwa-jeong

WORLD

January-February 20093

True God's Day 2009

Midnight
PrayerW

4e have left behind us the jubilee years, the seventh and eighth years of Cheon Il Guk in thesacred reign of peace, and ushered in New Year’s
Day 2009 for Cheon Il Guk.
This is the moment when our Heavenly Father, the king of
cosmic peace, and the True Parents, who are His substantial
counterparts, are united to begin anew the first day of 2009. On
this first morning of the New Year, beginning the first day of theninth year, and watched by the entire universe united in accord
with the new resolution, True Parents, who are standing here at
the center of heaven and earth as representatives of everything,declare absolute sexual ethics, true love, true life and the victorious right of true lineage, in the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath of
the Parents of Heaven and Earth1 as this year’s motto and also
proclaim the new era of the victorious authority as we make a
new beginning. Please receive this day’s motto, declared in thename of True Parents, who are united with God, the great kingof all created things.
This beginning, made on this day, on earth, as we usher
in a new heaven and earth, is in line with Your will to see therenewal of True Parents' realm, perfected physically and spiritually, internally and externally, in the garden of the originalideal as created by God before the Fall, the one subject-partnerof internal and external oneness in body, mind and ideology.
However, Eve’s error, which was neither desired nor intended,
the fallen act by which the lineage was violated, was committed, she succumbed to Satan’s temptation. God could therefore
not exist in the world of the ideal he envisaged at the Creation;
instead Satan seized authority over the original ideal of creationand over all humankind. Thus, Satan came to occupy the position of the parent in God’s stead and brought into this world
the lineage of the satanic world, centered on flesh and blood.
You have had to go through a history of grief and sorrow andpass through the age of the fallen Adam, and the ages of Jesus
and of the Returning Lord—that is, the Old Testament, New
Testament and Completed Testament Ages—with the heartfelt
desire to finally usher in and firmly establish the era of therealm of the heart of the fourth Adam. Now, on this day and at
this hour, the ninth year of Cheon Il Guk begins.
Standing in the position of the parents who have establishedthe new, Abel-type UN and deep brotherly love, through which
the completion of the new providential history can be declared,
and centering on this new, ninth year [of Cheon Il Guk], wehave passed through and welcomed the era of the victorious
sovereignty of the new, completely restored lineage that willpass through the first stage (directed vertically) and the second
stage (directed horizontally) and the third stage consisting of
the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth years of the new millen-

nium, by which we can go beyond the number eleven.
We begin a new day in the ninth year of Cheon Il Guk forthe ideal of God’s absolute love, so at this time as we begin theera of the victorious sovereignty of His all-transcendence, allimmanence, full authority and omnipotence for the fulfillment
of Your aims on a victorious foundation, we hope and pray that
You will be at the center of this, so that only Your victorious
sovereignty can preside over us in this world of the new, eternal
heaven-and-earth2 that has been declared, been taken responsibility for, and begun on this day.
At this time and on the foundation of a new beginning of
the realm of the Abel UN, which is based on the authority of
the liberation of God, all things in the universe can be claimed
centering on True Parents, and standing on the victorious sovereignty of the perfected, original ideal of the oneness of bodyand mind, the coronation of God as the king of kings, who isthe center of heaven-and-earth, and the victorious king of kings,
will be performed on January 31, the day marking True Father’sninetieth birthday.
On this basis, please allow us to fulfill our wish to performthe reenthronement of the era of God’s absolute authority in theplace of the victorious king, the new representative of heavenand-earth. We pray you will also permit us this victory to inherit the eternal world of the new, victorious heaven-and-earth forgenerations to come and go forward as True Parents announce
the motto for the sake of the settlement of noon at this time.
All created beings in the universe will now, in the era ofGod’s liberated, full and absolute authority, stand on the victorious foundation of the oneness of heart, one outlook and one
clan in absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, andonly God’s eternal, authoritative and victorious sovereignty willcontinue forevermore, into the new millennium when heavenand earth will be converted and developed into the liberated
and fully freed kingdom of heaven. All this I declare and reportas the representative of the new day in the name of True Parents, so please receive our prayer.
As the central figure of the eternal victory of the world’s
countless future generations, I declare that all things in the universe will proceed to the autonomous, liberated and completely
freed kingdom of heaven, which is a place of the life of service,oneness and love. I declare this on True Parents’ internal andexternal victorious sovereignty and on the victorious supremacy
achieved through the establishment of absolute sexual ethics.
Please receive this, therefore, and take responsibility for it, andmarch forward to become the owner of the throne of victoryand glory.
All this I report and declare earnestly in True Parents’ names.
Aju! Aju! Aju! TW

1 For the actual wording of the motto, see facing page

2 In Korean 천주, which refers to heaven and earth as a single entity

Today’s WorldThe era of proclaiming the victory of absolute sexual ethics, the right of true love, true life andtrue lineage in the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath of the Parents of Heaven and Earth

January-February 20095

Day of Victory of Love

Twenty-sixth Day of Victory of Love
Excerpts from
Excerptsfrom Father's
Father's Speech
Speech on
on January
January 2,
2, at
at Cheon
Cheon Jeong
Jeong Peace
Peace Palace
PalaceW

hat is the cosmos? It is the house where
heaven and earth dwell. Would that housealways be fixed in one place?... Whether I
move north or south, I would know everything about the house and feel comfortable.
If I went south, I would think, Oh, it’s this degree of latitude orthat, and can adjust the realm of the Sabbath at will.
What comes after the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath? What isneeded? We say that what is most needed is absolute love, andthere is a reason the word absolute is used.1 Who said it has to
do with sex?... The Parents of Heaven and Earth are united as
one in the house. Where do they go next? Do you think only
people will be able to enter heaven-and-earth,2 or will the universe be able to go in? Since the Parents of Heaven and Earth,united as one, have entered that house, people will automatically come to stand in that house, in that natural environment.
The word “heaven-and-earth” can be used here, because in
1 Father seems to be referring to jeoldae seong, which we translate as“Absolute Sex” or “absolute sexual ethics” depending on the context.
2 In Korean 천주, which refers to heaven and earth as a single entity

6

that house we can live at the appropriate level in the east, west,
north and south.
What comes after the heaven-and-earth? As all of that roomor space is known as the Sabbath realm, in the king’s Sabbath
realm there should be the king’s room and a room for the ministers of his government, and so forth.
In applying absolute sexual ethics, men and women should
be separate, so that women would not be allowed to enter aroom set aside for men. What about couples? They would ask
the owner to let them have a room together, even a very small
one. They wouldn’t need a big room. The size of the room
wouldn’t matter. Even if it were small, their being together
would fulfill their needs. A home organized in this way is the
Sabbath realm. All these matters can be adjusted.
You are entering the cosmic house of the Parents of Heaven
and Earth, and that house is based only on Absolute Sex; there
is no discrimination. Whether it is God or a government minister who comes there, everyone is meant to live in that house,
which is like a condominium….

Today’s World

Our Hyung-jin! Kook-jin! Cheon Bok Gung signifies thateven if there are a thousand, or ten thousand, blessed palaces,
just one house and nothing more is enough for two people.
Two people living together would prefer to live in a small
house where they are happy than in a house ten times its size
where they are not.
In the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath, there is Absolute Sex.
What comes after that? [True love.] We don’t say “absolute
love,” but “true love.” Who should assert true love, the motheror the father? Since this has not been made clear, it poses a
problem. Who should exert influence when it comes to Absolute Sex, the father or the mother? Answer! [The father.] Who
comes second? Who is the owner of love, the mother or thefather? I don’t know the answer either. Women say that I likemen more than I do women, even if the men are no better thanvagabonds, and that I don’t acknowledge women. It is truethat the mother can act in the place of the father, but in the
Sabbath realm, sex must be made absolute; and with Absolute
Sex being centered on the father, who has the seed of life, themother, or the father? [The father.] No, it is the mother! [It is thefather!] So you do know that it is the father!...
Therefore, since love is like this and you can’t just do as you
please, all you can do is be absolutely obedient. That which ismore precious, nobler and stronger than obedience and which
does not diminish in the cold yet endures the heat throughout
the four seasons is absolute love….
There should be Absolute Sex, absolute love and absolute
life all at once. How good it will be when all three of them are
absolute! If you try to distinguish between them, there will be
confusion. Issues to do with sex are more important3 than thoserelated to love or life. I am talking about the man–woman relationship. Did you catch what I meant?...
Once you are in the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath, absolute
sexual ethics are different. Who brings love there, the father orthe mother? If your father were to stay in the house every day,you would see that your father’s love is closer to you than yourmother’s. If that’s the case, why did I say that love, rather thanlife, comes after absolute sexual ethics? That is in the father
position. Do you understand? In relation to absolute sexual
ethics, there is the position of the absolute father and the position of absolute life, and the two combined together signify theparents. Those parents have come their way separately, following their connection to the Parents of Heaven and Earth. Even
heaven and earth are distinct entities. The father, not the mother, is the center of the Parents of Heaven and Earth. That is tosay, the father is the center and the mother is his counterpart.
The question is where the fruits of absolute values are to
be reaped.… The fruits are not to be reaped from the father.
Where are they reaped? The fruits cannot be harvested except
through the mother’s field, that is, her womb. The father plants
the seed, and everything in the mother’s body—from her bloodand flesh to her hair, bones, skin, muscles, oils, ligaments,
blood vessels and even her bone marrow—is connected to thatpocket, that palace, where that seed is planted and nurtured
into a baby. That pocket is the mother’s womb.
What is a key feature of the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath of
the Parents of Heaven and Earth? [Absolute Sex.] “AbsoluteSex” is our own patented, professional term from now on.
People who are acknowledged officially by heaven and earthand living in heaven and on earth all belong to the realm of the
Parents of Heaven and Earth, that is, the realm of the Cosmic
Sabbath of the Parents of Heaven and Earth. The first and abso3 In consideration of the serious consequences of the misuse of sex

January-February 2009

lute prerequisite to entering this realm is absolute sexual ethics,
and no one is outside of this realm….
Human beings, as lords of all creation, however, haveregarded this most precious of all gifts from Heaven as one
that should just be used for themselves. They have interpreted
it as they pleased, taken advantage of it, and abused it. This
has resulted in the creation of all sorts of falsehoods. Since weknow this fact, it is urgent that history fully move in the direction of getting the fundamentals in order.
Also, in every nation, there has been a breakdown in sexual
morality among young people through the misuse of their
special, precious sexual organs. Since we clearly recognize thatthose young people are to marry and the resulting new man–woman relationships are meant to be the absolute prerequisites
for laying the ideal foundation of a nation’s future and thelife [continuation] or death [end] of its history, we know very
well that the issue of young people’s sexual ethics is the mostimportant one for us to deal with.
People who have not thought about this issue or heard of it
until now might ask why we need the concept Absolute Sex.
We absolutely need it. Do you understand? The father is theowner of love. That is, he is the owner of life. Parents comprisea father and mother. There are only two people in the parental
position. These two people should reach a standard history
would honor and God would want established, but we havenever seen anyone seek to reach, think about or bring others to achieve such a standard. We now realize that absolute
sexual ethics are absolutely needed. When they are subverted,
destruction comes to a nation.
If sick people are placed at the center, the disease could
spread to the whole world. If this disease is incurable, the situation could become serious enough to end human existence.
So Absolute Sex is very precious. Now, the next most valuable
thing is love. Who is the owner that makes the first sexual
encounter with your spouse have value? The owner of true
love is a man. If the man gets into trouble, his woman will
experience many changing circumstances. The tradition ofunchanging love is simple. The resolution made on the wedding night should be an eternal one, not just on earth but also
in heaven. If this goes awry on earth, we cannot rectify our
behavior even in heaven, where it will multiply into dozens
and hundreds of instances of bad behavior. As a result, chaos
would ensue in the spirit world, which automatically would
be influenced by this ongoing behavior. We wouldn’t have any
way to solve the problem.
We now think that only True Parents can solve the problem
on earth. I am the one who has taught people over several
generations that the experiences and details related to sexual
immorality create a certain bad influence, and I know very
well that absolute sexual ethics are absolutely needed. Do you
understand?
In true love, you have only one unchangeable object ofthat love; you cannot expand this to others as you please. You
cannot multiply a true [conjugal] love relationship to include
others, or use it as you like. Once you include others, it has
already become false love.
Also, when it comes to managing relationships, we need
only true love in making a true-love relationship. How muchfalse love is involved in your relationships? Since so much false
love brings disease, we must make a situation where true love
stays in one place no matter what. We must understand thatin preparing our essential mind-set for love, the issue of sexual
relations becomes a major one.

7

True Parents' Final Prayer at the Coronation for the Authority of the Liberation of God, the King of Kings, on January 15"I declare again and proclaim in the name of True Parents that within the realm of the Cosmic
Sabbath of the Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind, that on the basis of the unity ofthese three—Absolute Sex, the seed of True Father’s love, and the ovum in True Mother’swomb—we will recreate a victorious universe embodying the right of the true lineage."
What’s next? Even having sexual relations can transmit disto disappear, the Parents of Heaven and Earth themselves
ease, which can then destroy life itself. Even life! Without true
would disappear. As long as we don’t have any fields where
love, the realm of life would be in chaos. We cannot talk about
we can plant seeds and grow them, whatever we do in thethe settlement and security of the realm of life. This is chaos, aheavens will disappear as something without practical applicapit of ruin. When a person needing the connecting bonds of lifetion. Without a practical application, we cannot consider it arealizes that this entails an essential, eternal lineal relationship,
reasonable course. We absolutely must protect the realm of the
we must attach the words “absolute love” and “absolute life”
Cosmic Sabbath. Do you understand?
to him. Then, he cannot just casually make love and share hisHence, Absolute Sex and true love should be protected
life. This is a fundamental issue.
by the father, who possesses true love, and by the mother’s
If we leave matters as they are, humankind will bewomb, in which the root of absolute life can be nurtured fromdestroyed through the sexual organs, that is, through sexualinfancy and protected by the mother. If she has sexual relations
relations. When people who have all sorts of diseases freely
carelessly, this could be destroyed. Even though we all knowinteract, uniting [sexually], the human race faces a future ofthat we have to preserve Absolute Sex, if we do not rectify thecertain collapse. If this cannot be corrected, those people who
misuse of sexual relations, things will inevitably end in failure.
indulge in such behavior should be dealt with strongly by theThus, if we want to seek out and live in the ideal world, we
rest of humankind.
have to abide by this ironclad rule. What kind of rule is this?
Now we can say that those who do not maintain an abso[An ironclad rule.]lute standard of sexual ethics ought to disappear. Such people
If we do not abide by it, we must establish a heavenly conare incapacitated. That’s why we need true lineage following
stitution that is much more fearsome than the ironclad rule in
Absolute Sex, true love and true life. True lineage is centeredcorrecting the problem. In adhering to the heavenly constituon Absolute Sex, in which true love and true life become one.
tion, all people must put aside their lives. The practice of not
This is the only way to make a true lineage. If a true lineage ishaving children will also disappear. Since only we know thenot created, there will be a tattered sphere of sexuality, that is, a tattered lineage. Since to envision
an ideal human world based upon such a tatteredlineage is flawed thinking, such a world remains in
the realm dreams. We are unable to integrate such a
reality with our actual realm of life, even if we could
imagine it.
No matter how difficult it is, centering on absolute sexual ethics, true fathers and true mothers
must emerge. Only a true father can plant the seedsof true life with true love and only a true mothercan grow that true life within her womb. They are
absolutely needed.
The important issues are that people misuse sex
and love and fathers and mothers live as they wish.
Sex itself is in a state of confusion and disorderwithout standards and without fidelity throughout
spring, summer, fall and winter. The lineage is goingin the wrong direction; it’s been turned upside
down and is a terrible, mixed up mess. Every day
we see different lineages circulating through spring,summer, fall and winter. Since a different type ofblood is passing through each day, human beings,
who every day are the fruits of different kinds oflife and love, will get into a terrible mess and will
be ruined. That is the conclusion. Inevitably, eventhough we don’t like it, we have to enforce the law
to prevent this from happening. In this way, therealm of the Cosmic Sabbath will remain alive.
Let’s say the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath wereto die; then the Parents of Heaven and Earth wouldGrandfather, we're hungry! Even on holy days, Father has to balance thedisappear. If the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath were
cosmic and the commonplace demands of life.

8

Today’s Worldappropriate decisions we have to make, we should be the ones
to begin. Heaven, earth and parents who can be the owners ofheaven and earth want that. In light of the consequences of notaligning with absolute sexual ethics, all the children, families,
and nations who center on these will be connected to the ideal
homeland, or to the future image of an ideal world. However,
without the ironclad rule, no matter how high or low the punishment level, everybody would automatically vanish. Those
who support this idea, welcome it by clapping your hands.
Don’t just welcome it; you should support it with absolute
faith.
In the same way that God, the Creator, does, we have tohave absolute faith and absolute obedience centered on absolute love. When it comes to obedience, if we have a relationshipbased on allowing any or all opinions and if we do not serve
absolutely, it cannot be related to the terms “absolute obedience,” “absolute love” and “absolute life.” Absolute lineage,
absolute love and absolute obedience will become a trinity, andwe must begin to preserve the ironclad rule that even if thesexual organs of father and mother are used a hundred or athousand times, it must only be by their owners.4 This ironcladrule must be our family tradition from now on. [Aju.] Is that
“Aju, I am resolved” or “Aju I am undecided”? Words are easy
to say.
The practice of Absolute Sex is not a reality yet but is still in
the preparation process; it hasn’t been practiced yet, so we will
now enter the era of practicing it.
If you were married by me, you should think for yourselves.
When I lay hands on you and pray, I love you and everything
about you, not as a father but as a counterpart. However, when
I give you in marriage, I do so as a father marrying off his
daughter. If you give someone in marriage, it should be yourdaughter…. And once you have seen her get married, the pathis already laid down for her. She may have lingering attachments. Even so, because such a path of love is there, it can befound, and once she practices that love, everything will surely
bear fruit centering on that love. Then she will become the one
and only wife in all eternity.
So, you all know how great the goals of the Unification
Church are, don’t you? Yu Jeong-ok and his wife Cho Myeongwon are sitting here, and they, as well as the rest of you, should
know that. You should all think that our goals are wonderful.
4 That is, each other

January-February 2009

Do you understand?
That is why we need to restore the Sabbath realm of the
Parents of Heaven and Earth today. The Sabbath realm is athing to be grateful for. It is where we can finally come to rest.
It means we no longer have to look for our home, because wehave found it and can reside in it. Before such a home is found,no man or woman can claim that he or she has found a home
to live in. Everyone is a wanderer, floating in midair.
How many spirits are there—including Satan—wandering in the spirit world, unable to go to either heaven or hell?
Because of love and sexual matters, there are many spirits wandering around. Since they cannot remain where they are, they
have, more than you know, violated the homes of couples wholive on earth. So, when the sun shines, the spirits create a cloudthat blocks the sun’s rays, so that people living in their homes
cannot receive sunlight. Such is the environment the spirits
have created, and I am aware of the fact that they have also
been exerting a bad influence on family life. To resolve this,I have brought together the men and women of the Unification Church, because the place where they meet is where suchcircumstances are bound to come to an end. It is up to me tobring it to an end, and if I didn’t have the confidence to do it, I
would lose my position. No matter how long it takes, I should
end that situation, so that the clouds that have gathered to hide
the sunlight can dissipate. Much time is needed. Not muchtalk….
Kook-jin and Hyung-jin, where is Cheon Bok Gung? Cheon
Bok Gung is the palace, the home we are to live in. It includes
the family palace, the tribal palace, the national palace, thedistrict palace, the county palace, the provincial palace, thegovernment ministers’ palace, the vice-president’s palace andthe president’s palace, doesn’t it? You are aiming to build thechurch around your extended families in order to construct thepalace, aren’t you?
Then Cheon Bok Gung signifies the group of palaces including the palace of the individual, tribe, race, nation, and so forth,that is to say, the integrated palace where twenty-one tribes
live. Yeoido itself should make the palace. Will you be including a place for me to stay? [It will be on the top floor.]…
Isn’t that the site for the main palace of the entire world?
Isn’t that for the construction of the main palace? Did you plan
to make only one room for me? When I go there, I will bringContinued on page 18 ... Twenty-sixth Day of Victory of Love

9

Day of Victory of Love

Devotion,
Loyalty and Love
Hoon-sook nim gave the following address on the twenty-sixth Day of Victory ofLove, January 2, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Heung-jin nim's ascension. The commemoration of the holy day took place at the Cheon Jeong Peace Palace.

The True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind,
the King and Queen of Peace, brothers and sisters
who have come from all over the world:
I am very honored that True Parents have asked
me to give a memorial speech on this twenty-sixth Day ofVictory of Love. The Day of Victory of Love is when we celebrate and remember the victory of true love. God and True
Parents are the origin of true love. Even though there waslove before True Parents came, there was no true love. Even
though there have been many people who have called God
Father, there were no true sons and daughters. Even though
there have been many nations in the world, not one of them
was Cheon Il Guk, God’s true nation.
Last year, on July 19, 2008, God demonstrated His true
love to the whole world through the helicopter incident.
In a situation in which everyone should surely have died,

10

True Parents substantially resurrected, because they are theembodiment of true love. This is an expression of God’s loveand the historic event that revealed to the world that ourTrue Parents are truly the king and queen of peace, the Messiah, the Lord at his second coming, who has overcome andgone beyond death. This is a true victory of true love, andthe genuine meaning of what we all have to celebrate on thisDay of Victory of Love. Thus, we should all inherit True Parents’ true love and become victors of true love. We, too, must
be the embodiment of true love and become God’s true sonsand daughters.
On February 20, 1984, True Parents blessed me to Heungjin nim (though I am so inadequate for that role). I am simultaneously mystified, deeply grateful and overwhelmed on
this twenty-fifth anniversary at how True Parents blessed
an incomplete person such as myself to Heung-jin nim, andconnected heaven and earth through Heung-jin nim’s sacrifice. Heung-jin nim left behind an exemplary tradition ofTrue Parents’ true love on earth. Behind this has been theprovidence of True Parents’ devotions and conditions, which
nobody knew about or understood.
The Day of Victory of Love resulted from True Parents’true love toward Heavenly Father, which overcame andbrought victory over Satan’s realm of death. Heung-jin nim
was offered to Heaven as the embodiment of devotion andloyalty, according to the message True Father wrote for him
in Chinese characters [after his ascension].1 Heung-jin nim
was our elder brother who sacrificed himself to save others, and although he lived a very short life on earth, he wasalways ready to offer his life for the sake of True Parents.
Whenever he met blessed children of a similar age, healways asked them whether they were ready to offer theirlives for True Parents, and he himself had the resolve to doso. His actions at the time of his car accident set such an
example. When the accident occurred, Heung-jin nim turned
the steering wheel to the right in order to save his friend sitting next to him; thus he took on himself the entire shock of
the impact with the large truck.

1 For Heung-jin nim, Father wrote 충효지신 천성봉헌 천운대해 영원안식, which expresses that True Parents consecrated Heung-jin nim,
the embodiment of loyalty and filial piety, to the palace of heaven torest eternally in an ocean of heavenly fortune.

Today’s World

Heung-jin nim helping Father prepare his fishing gear in Kodiak, Alaska
This spirit of willingness to sacrifice one’s life flows
through the blood of True Parents’ True Children. That is
the true love lineage. Hye-jin nim and Young-jin nim weresuch True Children; and our elder brother Hyo-jin nim, who
ascended into the spirit world last year, sacrificed himself inthe same way. Every single child in the True Family has thesame spirit of sacrifice for the sake of True Parents.
In 1983, when True Father was himself the target of communist powers, Heung-jin nim went to the spirit world in
Father’s place in order to deflect the danger that threatened
True Parents. Likewise, other True Children have offeredthemselves when providential crises have arisen. True love isthus practiced through true sacrifice. Because True Parents’providence of building Cheon Il Guk, the kingdom of heavenon earth, is so important and great, satanic forces focus their
all-out attacks on True Parents and the True Family. And on
every such occasion True Children have become the sacrifi-

cial offerings and havegone to the spirit world.
Again, on July 19
last year, Satan’s attack
reached True Parents
themselves. However,True Parents dramaticallyand substantially resurrected through their victory of true love, and indoing so, brought Satanto surrender.
The twenty-sixth Day
of Victory of Love, whichcelebrates this great victory, is more significant
and meaningful thanany other year. I sincerely offer my humble
congratulations to True
Parents, Heung-jin nim,
the commander in chiefin the spirit world, andthe other True Children
in heaven and on earth,for the victory of their true love.
As unworthy as I am, I have done my best over the past
twenty-five years to look after Heung-jin nim’s family.
Whenever I danced, it was with Heung-jin nim, and throughdancing I have earnestly tried to express the glory of God
and True Parents. True Parents founded Universal Ballet asa memorial to Heung-jin nim, and this year we are celebrating the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Universal Ballethas grown into one of the best ballet companies in the world,which was only possible because of the grace and support ofTrue Parents and of Heung-jin nim in the spirit world.
I will do my sincere best so that Heung-jin nim’s true loveis elevated to a higher dimension through the Universal Ballet. I pledge to devote my whole life to serving and attending
True Parents and to living my life to the fullest, upholding
Heung-jin nim’s spirit. With this pledge, I would like to end
this brief memorial address. Thank you. TW

For the first time, Yeon-ah nim (Hyo-jin nim's widow, foreground) and Hoon-sook nim jointly performed rites related to the
Day of Victory of Love, lighting candles (left) and allowing those in the spirit world to partake of the offering-table food.
January-February 200911

The Coronations

Coronation for the Authority of the
Liberation of God, the King of Kings

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Father's Speech at the Coronations on January 15 and 31

eloved citizens of God’s kingdom, Cheon Il
Guk! This is truly a significant and joyfulday.
Let us all celebrate without reserve thishistoric and providential day and singpraises of God’s glory and nobility to God, our eternal true
parent. On this solemn occasion, hundreds of billions of
those living in the spirit world are here with us to congratulate us and celebrate this blessed day.
This is the day God has yearned for ever since He createdthe universe. For tens of thousands of years, since the day
those He created as His children, Adam and Eve, stained theheavenly lineage and concealed themselves in the dark, God
has waited while enduring inexpressible pain and sorrow.
He has waited impatiently for the day He could ascend to
the throne of the king of kings, to be able to embrace His lostchildren and the creation again and live in joy for all eternity
in the sacred reign of peace in the peace kingdom.
Ladies and gentlemen, God is and has always been the
king of kings, even before He initiated the Creation. The
heavenly way, however, dictates that after completing all
aspects of the Creation, God must manifest substantiallyas the king of kings who reigns over the world of physicalphenomena, the sphere of the objects of God’s love. That iswhy, motivated by true love, God sought and found the True
Parent of the physical world, who was to become His representative and heir.
Although we are overwhelmed by the grace of having
received Heaven’s seal, my wife and I are truly joyful to beable to stand here as God’s direct representatives and holdthis coronation for the king of kings. At the same time I am

12

deeply sorry before Heaven; I have reached my ninetiethyear of life, yet I have been unable to fully restore the 6.5 billion people of the world to God.
Citizens of Cheon Il Guk who love God! Heaven will nolonger wait. God is working with His authority as the king ofkings through His representatives, the earthly True Parents,
to establish heavenly law and restore the world. It is time toaccelerate this true-love revolution.
Therefore, on this solemn occasion, I will proclaim to
all heaven and earth an outline of heavenly law, by whichhumankind and all things of creation will regain their rightful positions and be governed.
First, this era, which is gradually bringing us toward theyear 3000, will be the “era of revolutionary change after the
coming of heaven.” In this era, we will no longer be captive to the principles of restoration through indemnity; itwill be a time when the king of kings rules the spiritual andphysical worlds with His rightful authority. It will be theera of the providence during which the earth returns to its
original state, with the realm of the Pacific Rim serving as acentral axis. People will no longer be beyond the influence of
Heaven’s ways or of heavenly law. Therefore, you must leada transparent life with your every action being as clear as a
crystal.
Second, we must accomplish a revolution in educating all
people on the value of absolute sexual ethics, with God astheir vertical, absolute axis. This is the only way to pass on
the good lineage to all humankind. That is the path to achieving God’s ideal of true families. From now on, sexual purity,
purity of lineage and purity of love will be the educational
philosophy of the human race.

Today’s World

(Clockwise from above) National flags from countries specified by True Father are exchanged for a Parent UN flag; The nomination of True Parents is presented on a plaque; Representatives of religions present scriptures; Clan representatives offer crowns.
Third, the peace king representatives (boonbong-wangs) and
the Parent UN will be placed at the forefront of the efforts
to completely eliminate the walls and barriers that traverse
the earth in multiple layers and to reinstate harmony andpeace between political parties, religions, races, cultures andnations. The existing UN (in the position of the Cain-typeUN) and the Abel-type UN should become one and reach ahigher dimension, becoming the Parent UN—in other words,
the Peace UN. Centering on the Peace UN, war, disease,hunger and all other problems confronting the world will
be addressed and resolved. This is surely the direction all
people must go. They will have no choice because God andTrue Parents will be with them. Individualistic self-centeredness as well as collective self-centeredness will be eradicatedThis will lead to the realization of a world governed by ourconscience and natural reason with no need for the electionof leaders.
Fourth, the cross-cultural, international blessing marriage
is the optimum method of establishing true families thatwill purify the lineage of the fallen human race and build
the peace kingdom. In the end, reconciliation and peace will
come about through lineage. When blacks and whites, Eastern peoples and Western peoples, Buddhists and Christians,
and Jews and Moslems intermarry and carry on the blessed
marriage tradition that True Parents have established, thisworld will naturally become one family. An ideal, heavenly
kingdom based on the ideal of one family under God will
come about. As we melt our guns and cannons to makeplowshares, a world of peace will open up before us.
Fifth, God created us as His counterparts in love, and He
prepared the natural world as a gift for us, His children. God

January-February 2009

would not have His children live in a barren desert devoidof beautiful scenery. That is why all people have the duty
to preserve and love the natural world. I am saying thatyou should develop your human nature as it was originallymeant to be, such that you experience resonance even witha cluster of wild flowers as if you were sharing a heartfelt
conversation with them. That will be the shortcut to restoring
humankind to God.
Ladies and gentlemen, you have all truly received aheavenly blessing. You are participating in the ceremony tolaunch the providential undertakings governed by the kingof kings. You are witnessing with your own eyes the whirlwind at this historic transition point. You received an invitation to attend the coronation of the True Parent, the king ofkings on the horizontal level, who will govern all of creation
as the physical representative of God, the king of kings on
the vertical level. Will you ever again, in your lifetime, havethe chance to attend such a historic and significant occasion?
Your ancestors numbering in the billions are cheering anddancing in joy and delight at this time, shaking the very axisof the earth.
I pray that you open your mind’s eyes and engrave thisextraordinary and historic moment on your soul. When else
during your life will you be able to witness such a day of
blessing and glory as you have today? I hope that you canheed the words of Heaven that I have shared with you today
and use them as guidelines for your life from now on.
I pray that the great blessing of God, the vertical king ofkings, will fill your families, nations and all of heaven andearth abundantly.
Thank you very much. TW

13

The Coronations

Determination

to Practice Liberation
This prayer was read by Hyung-jin nim at both the coronations in Korea and theUnited States on January 31. (In the first such coronation on January 15, a Reportto Heaven was read by Dr. Kwak Chung-hwan.) It is a compilation of excerpts
from True Father's prayers on different occasions, from as far back as 1958.

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eloved Father, thank You for Your grace as You
have protected me while I, out of fear that Heaven
might suffer the indignity of being slighted, continued to fight ever since I was a child.
When we reflect on the fact that regardless of
how good things are here on earth, there is no state more precious than that of being connected to Your original heart, ourlonging for that connection should be unbounded. We should
realize that people who are connected to Your true love arewithout regret even if they have lost everything in the world.
Now we must find our way to the original hometown, theideal world in which Your love is at the center of our lives.
While we are on the earth, we should prepare for the day that
we are born as liberated children with free authority in ourthird life.
Just as a baby must be healthy in the womb to be healthy inlife, one’s life on earth must be spiritually sound so that one’s
life in the heavenly world can be sound. In order to stand ina position to receive help from both heaven and earth and to
be moving in step with the dynamic fortune of the entire universe, we have to be ready to face death, because the present
world is a contradictory world under the dominion of evil. We
must be aware that it would be absolutely wrong to cause ourdescendants to have to carry our burden in our place.
Beloved Father, when we realize that You have been ceaselessly working until now to pioneer an environment that is
like springtime, we are infinitely grateful to You and infinitely
glad; yet we should become sons and daughters who canlament the fact that we have not yet been able to give ourentire life and love to You. In order for us to greet the new
spring, we should secure a bond with You through which we
can invest our life fully and become totally absorbed in that
relationship.
In that way, we can greet the springtime and flowers can
blossom for the first time. We should not become pitiful spiri-

14tual beings that go to the next world without ever having welcomed the springtime during our earthly life. Just as a flower
must go through summer and autumn in order to produce
fruit, we also must go through such a process to bear our own
fruit.
For a life to be invested and come to fruition, it must go
through summer and absorb life elements through the root,
trunk and branches until it has the full life force needed to
begin a second life. We should become Your sons and daughters who can ask ourselves the question, Is there a living force
within our mind and heart that is ready to burst into life in thenext world after our bodies have died?
We know that the internal life force must not be invaded by
the environment no matter how much time passes and how
strong the storm may be. It must follow a course of consistentdevelopment so that it becomes a seed that can be planted
again as the source of a second life when spring arrives.
In the same way, even if we are not externally powerful, if we are beings with an intense, infinite life force within
us—people with an internal value that can be planted again
in the infinite world of the spirit as the fruit of our life in thisworld—we will realize that no matter how miserable we may
seem, we are not really miserable. I sincerely wish and desirethat You permit us to know that even as our outer form gradually deteriorates, we will certainly come increasingly intoalignment with our original internal value.
Father, we need to be aware that no one lacking the desire
to humbly bow before You can have any connection with You
in the eternal spirit world. Please permit us to feel Your deep
heart as we open the door to our own mind and heart. Please
let us hear Your voice, which is calling to us from within ourown hearts, in order that we may find our lost selves. Pleaseallow us to become people who can bow our heads as we feelthe hard, toilsome history You have come through in order torestore each of us. TW

Today’s World

Father’s Blessing prayers over Hyung-jin nim and Yeon-ah nim
January 15, 2009 Coronation at Cheon Jeong Gung in Korea

On the occasion of the coronation that firmly establishes
the realm of the Sabbath of the Cosmic Parent and the
Parents of Heaven and Earth, we hereby bequeath True
Parents’ blessing. Aju.
January 31 Coronation at Cheon Jeong Gung in Korea

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ased on the authority of the unity between this couple
and God who moves heaven and earth, may God’s
unlimited blessing be with the advancement of their victory. We bless you. Aju.

January 31 Coronation at the Manhattan Center in New YorkAt this coronation of God, which is spurring progress toward the unification of heaven and earth, wedeclare before God and in the name of True Parents thatthrough these two beloved children becoming (in theactual arena of life) one with the word that we have prepared in order to establish the tradition for them, they will
become a husband and wife who can serve as an example
before all people and before heaven and earth, become atrue couple whom the generations to come will cherish andbecome the embodiments of the representative word thatis establishing the tradition of the people of the world who
are receiving the new blessing. Aju. Aju. Aju!

Hyung-jin Nim speaks about Empowerment
Hyung-jin nim recently shared the following thoughts with
Today's World and asked that we include them here.
ather may have placed a crown on my head, but it
doesn’t change who I am. We are determined to keep
the exact same pattern in our life. Our jeongseong
doesn’t change. I only felt this meant I had to be more serious in my monastic training.
We have to give away the power we have. I tell the church
ministers not to hold onto power. If you do, you will become
poisoned without knowing it. If you are a leader, give away
your power, and entrust ownership in others. If we are notempowered to be owners, we cannot witness.

F

January-February 2009

We tell the church ministers to give away their powerso that they can focus on giving out God’s goodness andpower. We all need to lead like this, learning how to empower other leaders. Then we can discuss and wrestle with problems together. But we shouldn't give power to just anyone;some people are not ready for it.
Therefore, if you empower a group to elect the best person
for a specific task, giving those who are chosen the support
they need to succeed is a very important part of empowering others. Through sharing in the process and struggle todevelop, leaders become mature. As Kook-jin nim would
say, they become part of a family. TW

15

The Coronations

Korea

January 15

Korea

January 31

United States
January 31

16

Today’s World

A Korean Prophecy Fulfilled
A Congratulatory Address by an Elder Statesman
Dr. Lee Chul-seung
Dr. Lee, whose long political career began as a congressman during Syngman Rhee's presidency, is the chairmanof the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation. His congratulations were offered at the January 15th coronation.

Unworthy as I am, it is an overwhelming honor forme to be able to offer my congratulations today on
this meaningful occasion.
Although I do not fully understand the depth
and lofty meaning of this ceremony today, over which President1 Sun Myung Moon is presiding, as one of the elders in
the political circles of the Republic of Korea, I am compelled
to share with you the words that well up from my heart.
I offer my unreserved congratulations to President andMrs. Moon, both for surviving that terrible helicopter crash
in July last year, and for their standing strong and healthy infront of us at the beginning of this year, on President Moon’s
ninetieth birthday.
President Moon was born during a time when our country was a colony of Japan. People like President Moon, who
prayed for the liberation of our homeland, come from theolder generation. They have lived through many tribulations
and experienced the pain of the Korean War. Having surmounted all of this, and while contributing to the reconstruction of the Republic of Korea, he has cherished the ardent
dream of living in an ideal nation and world.
That dream was of nothing less than a unified nation anda peaceful world. Our people, and I’m sure all the world’s
1 Dr. Lee used a respectful title (총재님) applicable to the head of alarge organization.

people, have long been waiting for the emergence of a leader
and guiding principle that can direct us to such a nation andworld.
That principle or ideology rests on belief in a world thatis to emerge after the coming of heaven and in a leader who
will simultaneously serve as the king, teacher and parent of
humankind. At a certain point in history, this contradictionfilled world will be completely renewed. At that time, an ideal
leader will appear who will rule the nation as a king, will
educate the people as a teacher and will give birth to children
and nurture them as a parent. This leader will bring forth
guiding principles that will clarify the heavenly law.
From the past, our people have cherished this belief of thecreation of a new world and the emergence of a king, teacher
and parent. I wish to share with you my deep emotion andrealization that President Sun Myung Moon is the actualization of this.
President Moon has endured many tribulations and mademany sacrifices during the ninety years of his life. For this I
would like to express my respect and appreciation.
I would like to conclude by expressing the sincere hopethat all the victory and glory from this solemn occasion can be
returned to God and True Parents and can lead to the building of an ideal world of happiness and peace.
Thank you very much. TW

The coronation audience: Most of those in the left-front row are religious leaders. Dr. Kwak Chung-hwan is wearing a UPF sash.
January-February 200917

Continue from page 9 ... Twenty-sixth Day of Victory of Love
more than a hundred and twenty people with me, maybe athousand two hundred people. The entire community should
be mobilized. It will be a community palace. Only then can
the king be attended there; and only then can he educate thoseguests who come to visit so that they become part of his royalfamily….
So I have said that Cheon Bok Gung does not refer to something in just one place.… When a son reaches a certain age, hewill say he wants to go to his uncle’s home. Then he will go
to his uncle’s home and give out what he has, and those who
can live in the main palace will all share in what is handed out,
and the many relatives thus gathered will come together to themain palace, and they will form a tribe.
You don’t know how to form such a tribe. If such a groupwere formed, you would automatically come to like giving
birth, for it would be your hope, and that of your clans, to be
included in the tribe and enlarge your clan and nation. Isn’t
that so?
Henceforth there can be nothing else but Cheon Seong
Gyeong, Pyeong Hwa Shin Gyeong, the Family Pledge, and theDivine Principle. All of you know the Principle. Did you everread Explanation of the Divine Principle (Wolli Haesol) after
Exposition of the Divine Principle (Wolli Kangron) came out? If
you know the Original Divine Principle (Wolli Bonchae-ron),5 it
is okay to forget the Exposition of the Divine Principle, because
everything in the latter is included in the former. But you are
not thinking about giving Principle lectures. This [Original
Divine Principle] is something of a totally different line. This is
not the one under Kwak Chung-hwan. The title of the workshop explaining it is different, isn’t it? It’s the one with “realmof the portion of responsibility” in the title.
Where could such topics for education on the portion of
responsibility, indemnity, restoration through indemnity, deliverance and perfection be found before? They came into being
after True Parents liberated God. [To Shin-joon nim, who hassuddenly appeared:] Have you come looking for me? He has
5 As given in the Education Session Proclaiming the Completion of
the Liberated Realm of the Portion of Responsibility in God’s Providential History [see page 40]. Explanation of the Divine Principle
doesn’t exist as a book in the English language. The Original Divine
Principle exists only as prints of slides used in the lectures.

come to get me. [Applause] But I’m saying something important right now.
This is important. Even if heaven and earth, the parents, andthe realm of the Cosmic Sabbath are forsaken, we are automatically included in the lineage of God, our substantial Parent,
as His seed, the seed of the True Father and True Mother. Are
we, or aren’t we included? We are all included. That is why
we have read in hoondokhae about the realm of the Cosmic
Sabbath for the Parents of Heaven and Earth. That is the term
used, and in 19976 it was connected to the number seven. Once
we get beyond the number seven and become connected centering on the seventh and eighth years [of Cheon Il Guk] thejubilee years, everything will be brought to an end.
Once that Sabbath realm comes into being, everything will
be brought to an end, and there will no longer be a satanic
world. The UN will cease to exist in its current form. We haveentered the era of the True Parent UN. There is only one nation,
one set of parents and one bloodline. There is only one father
and one mother. The only difference is that they are on different joints.7 Because this is the central joint, centering on the
many joints arising from there, the twelve tribes are connectedto the joints. And they grow tenfold. [Shin-joon nim: Father,have breakfast!] Yes, I will. You see he has come to get me.
What I am saying is important.
Yes, so the Day of Victory of Love is very simple. In orderto enter the cosmic home, you need to offer everything you
have, whether it is your assets or your relatives, to the Parentsof Heaven and Earth, because otherwise you will not be able
to enter the house of the cosmic family. Then there will be noneed for the Parents of Heaven and Earth, because everyone
will already be there. Can there be two sets of parents? The Old
Testament Age, New Testament Age and Completed Testament
Age… We are now in the era of the realm of the fourth Adam.
Do you know how I came to announce that? It was inevitablein this generation. Shouldn’t the first, second and third generations all come to their restful Sabbath? Knowing that, you
should widen the place, so that all 6.5 billion people of theworld can be included. TW
6 On the Day of the Declaration of the Cosmic Sabbath for the Parentsof Heaven and Earth, 7.8 (Chil. Pal) Jeol, the day of eight sevens
7 The word Father uses means the joint in a bamboo stem; thoughbamboo grows in sections, they are all firmly connected.

True Parents' grandchildren celebrating True Parents' birthday with a song. This is about one-fifth of all True Grandchildren.

18

Today’s World

True Parents' Birthday Celebration 2009

Father's Ninetieth-Birthday Speech

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Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center, January 30

espected heads of state, leaders in the global community!
In welcoming a new year of great hope, mywife and I, as well as our entire family, welcome
all of you, who in the midst of your busy schedules, have come to brighten this meaningful event today.
Today is my birthday as well as that of my wife, Dr. Hak Ja
Han Moon.
Ladies and gentlemen, Heaven’s providence is carried out
in truly profound ways. I embarked on the way of heavenafter receiving a heavenly decree at the age of sixteen,1 atthe start of my adolescent years. It was an event I vividly
remember even now as if it were yesterday. In the springof 1935, early on Easter morning, in the face of a cold northwind that was still blowing at the foot of Mount Myodu inJeongju, I made the greatest decision of my life while holding
tightly onto God.
Before I knew it, God’s passionate tears were filling up
my heart, even as I was desperately declining that fearful
and almost dream-like heavenly decree. It was in this waythat I left behind my carefree adolescent years—spent in themountains and fields, at home and at school—and entered afathomless sea of challenge filled with life-or-death prayers.
Looking back on my life, on my ninetieth birthday, I canonly declare that my life has followed a lonely and desolate
path. Since the day I was called by Heaven, I have been likea marathon runner who has been running toward the fulfillment of God’s will while communicating solely with God.
It was a path along which I could not look around at mysurroundings or compromise with anyone. It was not a pathalong which I could seek out a teacher. I was not even able
to demonstrate filial piety to my parents. It has been a long
journey, fraught with tribulations and soaked with blood,
sweat and tears as I dashed forward toward my destination,
gasping for breath while embracing the 6.5 billion people of
the world to my bosom. This was what the heavenly decree
called me to do.
1 Fifteen by the Western way of figuring a person’s age

January-February 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, the promised year of 2013, a serious time, is now approaching. Heaven has waited thousandsof years for the day, four years from now, when the kingdomof heaven on earth and in heaven, which billions of people
have dreamed of, is perfected and stands on the foundation
True Parents have laid by overcoming countless life-or-deathsituations. Theirs is neither an avoidable path nor one thatallows time for rest. It is not a path that can be abandonedin the middle. It is a path that we are all destined to travel
on together under the guidance of heavenly fortune. It is acourse that we should complete while full of hope and joy.
On that day you will see four generations—the grandparents,
parents, children and grandchildren—holding hands andsinging hallelujahs as they welcome the day.
Leaders from around the world!
We are here to celebrate a truly historic day. History will
not forget the lofty efforts and spirit displayed by the UN as
it has exerted itself for the welfare and peace of humankind
over the past sixty years while standing on the side of Heaven. However, we are at a point where there is broad consensus that the UN is falling behind and the actions it takes areseverely limited in addressing the problems of the world
while the currents of the world move full-speed through thethird millennium. The twenty-first century is a time whenhumanity is desperately in need of a new wineskin to holdthe new wine of the revolutionary era after the coming ofheaven.
In response to this historic need, Heaven has blessed us
with the Parent UN, in other words, the Peace UN, which I
am proclaiming the existence of today on this occasion. It is a
special gift from Heaven, which I am conveying to humanity
in my capacity as the king of peace and True Parent. What is
the Parent UN? I’m sure there are those who are wondering
what it means. There is no need to think about it in a complicated manner.
What does the UN stand for? It is the acronym for theUnited Nations, in other words a confederation of nations.

19Mongolian traditional musicians performing at True Parents' birthday banquet in Korea. The standing man sang khoomei style,producing notes of different tones simultaneously, imbuing the music with an otherworldly, dreamlike quality.
Isn’t that why it is called the United Nations? It was created
immediately after the end of the Second World War as a
global institution out of the earnest desire to create a peacefulworld, without conflict. It is an organization with the semblance of a world government with more than 190 member
states. It is like a global company with an annual budget in
the billions of dollars.
However, let us consider it in light of the vision of one
family under God, a concept I have taught throughout mylife. In the end, the UN, as one family of nations, has the mission of working for the peace of humanity. And humankind
cannot escape from the reality that we are all one family.
Therefore, the existing UN is the “Cain-type UN” in relation to the “Abel UN,” which Heaven declared at the start of
the revolutionary era after the coming of heaven. The existing UN has 193 member states. By comparison, within justtwo years, the Abel UN has already established itself in 194
nations and is actively carrying out its work for peace.
However, as brothers, Cain and Abel are in a horizontal
relationship. Therefore, parents have a necessary vertical rolein establishing and maintaining the order and guidelines ofthe family. Cain and Abel need to follow the way and rules ofHeaven, which means to become one as brothers and be obe-

20

dient to their parents. On the global level, the Cain UN and
Abel UN should become one as the Peace UN, which will bein the position of the Parent UN. Its duty will be to fulfill its
mission in this transition period for the building of a peacefulworld.
Then, the Peace UN, led by the peace king representatives[in Korean, boonbong-wangs] dispatched to all nations of theworld, should fulfill its mission to advance the day of thecompletion of the kingdom of heaven on earth and in heaven
by centering upon True Parents, who have been enthroned
as the peace king of kings throughout heaven and earth. And
what is the significance of peace king representatives? Theremay be some who are curious about this point.
Think about the time of Jesus. The title and mission of
disciples, who should have served Jesus and realized the
dream of uniting all humanity as one family, should havebeen boonbong-wang. As Jesus’ second selves, they shouldhave been dispatched to all corners of the globe. They shouldhave taken the roads from Rome to the rest of the world andfulfilled their missions as Jesus’ representatives and heirs.
In short, it was their mission to serve Jesus and establish the
kingdom of peace here on earth.
Similarly, the leaders from around the world to whom theToday’s World

king of peace, the Truewith whom it canParent of humankind,exchange true love.
has given the mission
In this context, Iof peace king represendeclared the twentytatives should fulfill
first century the era oftheir responsibilities
the Pacific Rim realm.
as True Parents’ repThe final destination
resentatives and heirs.
of human civilization,
In other words, they
which has continued
should fulfill their
to develop and move
God-given mission
along the central axis
to settle everlastingof history, is the spherepeace on earth. Theyof the Pacific Rim. It
should perform theiris our responsibility to
mission as a furnace of
safeguard and love thetrue love, eradicating
Pacific Rim—which
without trace the walls
embraces six contibetween races, relinents—and nurture it,gions, nations and culso that it can in turntures, and establishingprotect the lives of all
the kingdom of peace
people in the future.
under the banner, One
Ladies and gentleKorea celebrated True Parents' birthday on January 30; after a coronation
Family under God. Themen!
ston the 31 , True Parents flew to New York for a coronation combined withpeace kingdom corps
Humankind’s pura birthday celebration in the Manhattan Center later the same day.
and peace kingdom
pose is to serve andpolice force, which I
attend God as our parhave organized worldwide, will be fully mobilized to carryent and to be one family. The words from Heaven that I haveout this solemn mission.
brought to humankind fill the pages of more than a thousand
Distinguished guests, by attending this historic rally, youbooks. That is truly an astonishing number. In fact, it would
have received Heaven’s call. Although they may not be vistake a person all his life and possibly more to read them all.
ible to your eyes—for you live based only on your five physiThey are the treasure trove of the heavenly way, which scholcal senses—behind each and every one of you are standingars should research and delve into in the years to come.
thousands of good ancestors. With grateful hearts, they have
I hope you will each take home one of the available bookcome running to help and encourage you upon your receivlets, in which is recorded the core of all this content about
ing this summons from Heaven. They are filled with joy andthe heavenly way. I hope you will read it carefully with yourecstasy and are crying, Hallelujah!
family and abide by it as your family's rules and tradition
Try to set your five spiritual senses into motion. All thefrom this point on. If your families live according to thethings of creation, which are essential elements in our lives,teachings of this booklet, they will be unable to avoid an outare also welcoming you with open arms. This present era,pouring of heavenly fortune. Your families will become famiwhen we are racing toward the year 3000, is an era of truelies of saints and sages that will be remembered in history.
love, in which we live for the sake of others. It is the era after
May the great blessing of God, the king of kings, be withthe coming of heaven. Even a wild chrysanthemum bloomyour families, your nations and all of heaven and earth.
ing all by itself in an open field is awaiting its true owner
Thank you. TW

January-February 200921

True Parents' Birthday Celebration 2009

To a Man of Sagacity and Foresight

From a Congratulatory Address by Prof. Hong Il-shik, Former Korea University PresidentAlmost twenty-five years ago, in 1985, while Rev.
Moon was incarcerated at Danbury in the UnitedStates, I had occasion to meet him there. Even
though he was wearing a prison uniform, rather
than dwelling on his own situation or even that of his family or his church, he was discussing problems confronting
the world and all humankind. I saw him exerting his mind,
deeply concerning himself with the future of the Korean peninsula. I was deeply moved by that. I was very anxious about
the future of the U.S. as a nation that would persecute such arighteous man. Not long before I had had such an unforgettable experience with Rev. Moon; and this was why I had
quickly gone see him.
As you may know, I am a lifelong student of the Humanities and a teacher of that subject. I am one who has felt called
to unceasingly reflect on and research the progress of history
based on advancements in and changes to human civilization.
From the time I was in my teens during the Korean War
and was forced to flee after burying the bodies of my twoolder brothers who had fallen under fire from North Korean
soldiers, I worried as much as anyone about the ideologicalconflict between the camps that we called East and West.
Therefore, I could do nothing less than pay close attention to
how the political, financial, military and cultural situationsof Korea changed under the cold war system, because Korea
at that time was hostile toward and completely estranged
from China despite the fact that they shared a long historicalconnection and a deep cultural homogeneity. Rather, Korea
was almost subordinate to the U.S., a bastion of Western civilization far away across the Pacific whose relationship with
Korea had a short history and with whom Korea did notshare cultural homogeneity.
At that time, President Nixon had sent Secretary of State
Kissinger to China to carry on secret diplomatic exchanges

22

through the so-called ping-pong diplomacy1 to build friendship between the two nations. When I became aware ofthis fact in the early 1970s, I foresaw that the relationshipbetween Korea and China would soon change drastically. At
that time, I was a young professor in my early forties and thehead of Korea University’s Institute of Korean Culture. Fromearly on, I had believed that a most urgent task with regard
to the future of Korea–China relationship was to compile a
Chinese–Korean dictionary. I was grieved over the fact that
not one Chinese dictionary had been made in Korea. At present, China-related departments can be found in almost two
hundred four-year universities in Korea, but at that time only
Seoul National University, Hankuk University of Foreign
Studies, and Korea University had them. In order to teachtheir students, professors had to improvise limited vocabulary books based on Chinese–Japanese dictionaries compiledin Japan.
I hurried to bring together all the Chinese-language professors and graduate school students in Korea and established a Chinese–Korean dictionary compilation office andbegan the work of collecting vocabulary for the publicationof the greatest Chinese–Korean dictionary in the world.
At that time, persuading Chancellor Kim Sang-hyeop of
Korea University was difficult enough. The reason was thatit required an enormous amount of money, not to mention
the fact that most of the intellectuals, including the government authorities, were still unaware of the importance of the
Korea–China relationship, which would soon begin anew. I
went to many people, in every field and sector, and appealed
to them to support the project.
However, the only response I received was sardonic indifference. Forty-some years ago, Korean society had becomeused to the cold war relationship between East and West, and1 So called because in 1972, when China had relations with few noncommunist countries, China signaled her desire to open diplomatic
relations with the wider world by sending a table tennis (ping pong)team to the U.S., Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.

Today’s Worldso it did not have the foresight of placing importance on such enterprises as compiling a Chinese–
Korean dictionary. People who saw me trying toSenior Vice-minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (2001–2006)
launch this project in any way I could thoughtof me as a daydreamer of the impossible. It mustev. Sun Myung Moon, Mrs. Hak Ja Han
have seemed a reckless venture to them. The funds
Moon, I sincerely congratulate both ofof the institute, which comprised more than one
you on your joint birthday.
hundred people doing the compilation work, ran
I recently attended an International Leadout like water from a bottomless vase. There wereership Conference hosted by the Universal
no such things as computers or the internet at thePeace Federation. I have had many interactime, so everything had to be done by hand. It was
tions with politicians, but I observed and wasa time-consuming, detailed and difficult work.
deeply touched to see that Rev. Moon’s ideals
After undergoing many indescribable hardships,
and teachings are having a huge influence,
we were finally able to begin the project, but ourreaching beyond the barriers of religious perfinancial difficulties grew with each passing day.
suasion and ethnic group.
Though we bore up somehow for four, even fiveIf we live according to Rev. Moon’s teachyears, by 1982 we had almost reached our limit.
ings in this manner, I am convinced we will see peace settle throughout
It was then that Heaven opened the way before
the world in a very short time.
me—I was given the opportunity to meet the Rev.
I can only ask that Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon
Sun Myung Moon.
please continue in the future in the same way as they are doing now,
In the early winter of 1982, I had been visitdoing their utmost for world peace and the salvation of humankind.
ing Korean societies in the U.S. to promote andThank you. TW
sell the six volumes of Overview of Korean Culture,published by our institute, in order to raise money
for the compilation of our Chinese–Korean dicment for one thousand sets of the six volumes of Overview oftionary, when Rev. Moon invited me to a banquet in New
Korean Culture.
York. I had not been acquainted with him until then, so I wasRev. Moon’s great magnanimity and generosity moved
nervous and cautious, but when I told him of my motivation
me, and I was also touched that he showed consideration forfor beginning the Chinese–Korean dictionary project, he said,
the situation of the one he was helping. Until then, I had met“For ten years, I have been looking for a scholar with Prof.
with numerous people of the political, bureaucratic, finanHong’s views, and I have finally met him today. The fact
cial and academic sectors of Korea to explain the project,that Korea, which borders China and shares a deep historical
only to find that they would not even stop to listen to what
and cultural relationship with her, does not have a Chinese
I said. Then, unexpectedly, the most controversial person in
dictionary is truly a national disgrace.” He readily donatedthe world had seen the cultural and historical importance₩200 million right there and then. At that time, ₩200 milof the project and offered to support us with a colossal sum.
lion was an enormous amount of money, more like ₩2 bilI was greatly shocked by his keen insight. As I listened tolion today.
him speak late into the night, I was truly grateful to Heaven
And he went on to say that if Prof. Hong receives thefor sending this man to earth as a Korean. No matter whatmoney from Rev. Moon as a donation, the world will insult
anyone might say, there is still hope left for Korea. This great
him with every possible abusive language, so we should
figure has appeared and is leading the entire world with thearrange it in such a manner that the amount would be payspirit and culture of Korea. I can never forget the deep feelings that moved me on that day.
Needless to say, Rev. Moon’s financial
support was the decisive factor in publishing the Chinese–Korean dictionary.
Seven years later, in 1989, the ChineseKorean mid-scale dictionary containing 180,000 words was published rightbefore diplomatic relations were established between Korea and China. Four
years after that, in 1993, we were able to
finally publish the largest Chinese dictionary in the world, containing 300,000
words. This feat was achieved over thetwenty years since the project was first
conceived.
This Chinese–Korean dictionary is
playing a decisive role today, not onlyin supporting the Korea–China relationship through financial exchange, but also
in the exchanges of culture and goods.
I cannot help but have these deep sentiments in regard to my life’s work. TW
Prof. Hong presents a special edition of the first Chinese–Korean dictionary to
Father, who had had the foresight to sponsor the book's creation years ago.

Congratulatory Address by Mr. Sato Shizuo

R

January-February 200923

Substantiation
Under a tight schedule,
Kook-jin nim spoke
concisely to the national leaders on January
29, at the Cheon Jeong
Peace Palace. We arepleased to bring you
excerpts from his message that day.

24

H

ow do we go from being a church that has great internal thought but no externalreflection of that greatness, to a church whose external form matches its internal
nature? This is the challenge we have in our church, and this is what we have notbeen able to accomplish up to this point.
It is not God who is creating the suffering on earth. God does not create suffering. The suffering and difficulty we see all around us and all around the world today is not from
God, but is our doing. It is our imperfection, our inadequacies, our jealousies, our selfishness thatcreate the suffering in the world today. So this is the challenge that we as a movement have toovercome to move into the future.
And it’s by focusing on a project like building a temple for our entire world Unification movement—something of substance with external form—that we can show the entire world what ourinternal nature is. This is the great blessing we have at this time, because there are a number ofbenefits that come from focusing on doing something substantial. We have the opportunity, forthe first time in our church history, to organize globally and to do so based on real, substantial
goals, a clear purpose and clear goals of how much money everyone needs to raise. By pursuing this temple project we are creating a church that now focuses on not only its own internal
thoughts of greatness but also thinks about how it can translate that internal nature into external
form with results. This is the wonderful blessing of this temple. We are coming to the point where
if we want to succeed in building Cheon Bok Gung, we have to measure and evaluate real results,
real performance. In the past, in our church’s culture, evaluations were often done based on an
individual’s ability to make a good report. Whether or not the report was accurate or had substance was secondary. The question was whether you could make a good report, and because we
had this very vague and opaque system of evaluating one’s performance and ability, our performance has been very opaque….
I’m not going to tell you that you should have more faith, because faith comes from making substantial results, through give and take. As you make more results, you gain more confidence….
This is why we want to start thinking about how to change. We want to think about making
an environment where we can become confident in our beliefs; and confidence in our beliefs will
enable us to make real accomplishments. We will be able to go out and witness to accomplishedpeople. We will be able to witness to them, and we will be able to ask them for funds—because
we ourselves will know that what we are doing is for the benefit of the greater good.…
We want to make a much more transparent environment in our church, an open environment, where we can encourage people to make real results. This is why I think at this time it is so
important and so great that we have an opportunity to focus on a project of real substance, one inwhich we can measure how well we are doing. We know how much money we need. How much
have we made? And as we pursue the project of building Cheon Bok Gung, think about all theconversations we need to have with all of our brothers and sisters all over the world. What is the
temple project about? We need to explain the temple and why it’s important.
In order to explain the temple, you have to understand Divine Principle, because the way it isToday’s World

designed, the temple is Divine Principle. Not only that, you
your congregation to want to assist you, to donate or tithe,have to clearly give them conviction and confidence thatyou have to be a good minister and you have to minister
their funds, if they do contribute, will go to the temple. As
to your congregation well. You cannot gain donations fromyou see their funds going to the temple, you yourself will
your congregation without congregation care. I think this isgain confidence; and as you gain confidence, you will be
the real benefit of pursuing projects like this. When we—notable to bring more and more people to our teachings. I know
only the Japanese church but our world Unification Church
we have lots of difficulties and challenges currently, as othercommunity—pursue real projects, it gives us an opportunity
religions do. When you look at the life cycle of religions, thenot only to study and intellectualize our faith but to actually
early stages were very difficult. Look at Christianity. Their
practice it.
founder was crucified. Look at Buddhism. People tried to kill
When we practice what we know internally, we get real
the founder of Buddhism quite a few times during his lifespiritual growth, so that’s what we are proposing to do. I
time. And the founder of the Mormon religion, Joseph Smith,hope all of you can understand this a little bit better. I hope
was killed.
that all of you can cooperate and work with us at the world
Granted, when we look at our situation today, we see
mission office and with our international president to makethere are a lot of challenges, but we gain our hope and ourthis project successful and that in the future, we can all work
strength when we think about what we are going to pursue
to continue this process of transparent evaluations based onin the future, because the goals we want to pursue are very
substantial results.
clear. We want to pursue real results, real accomplishments.
We want to see leaders recognized for their real accomWe want to build a real temple. We want to bring real memplishments. We want to see leaders promoted for their realbers, our brothers and sisters, to join our congregation. Whatcontributions to our church, not just because they give us
do I mean by “real” brothers and sisters? When you have aa good talk and make us feel good, but because they arefamily, when you have brothers and sisters, why do you conleaders who invest in making our church community moresider that person your brother or your sister? Because they
durable and successful for the long term. Those leaders are
not only share the good things you have, they also share the
not necessarily the best public speakers, but they are the ones
burdens. This is what it means to become a community of
doing the work. So, this is our challenge from now on—to
faith. It means we take upon ourselves, on our shoulders, anfind the leaders who are really doing good work and to proequal burden with every other member of our community.
mote them. Not promote ourselves, but promote good people
In sharing the burden, we become a community of faith, and
who are doing good for all of us. When we have learned toas we enlarge that community of faith that shares the burpromote those who are doing good for all of us, it is only
den together, our community becomes stronger and we getthen that our external form will match our Internal teaching.
people investing in our community. And as we invest in ourI think that is the greatest truth that the Principle teaches us,
community, our faith and spiritual life is strengthened. Thisthe truth we have yet to substantiate as a movement. And
is a virtuous cycle we can create today by focusing on a very
that’s the truth upon which all our leaders should reflect,
clear goal.
whether they are living by it or not—because it is something
I don’t know how long it is going to take to build thisthat is very easy to lose sight of.
temple. We have started the fundraising for it now…. I am
I hope all of you can contribute to and help this temple
very impressed and moved by our brothers and sisters inbuilding project and also work to promote good leadership
Korea. Our Korean church has not been so successful atin our church.
fundraising in the past, but based upon this temple project,
Thank you very much. TW
we have seen a great outpouringof desire to contribute. We haveseen a lot of donations coming
into the church. In terms of percentage of the goal accomplishedbased on the goals given to thedifferent nations, our Koreanchurch is actually in first placecurrently. So, we are very grateful
to our brothers and sisters here.
We hope that our brothers andsisters around the world can also
take an interest in the temple project. It’s an opportunity for us toshow real performance. And think
about it, brothers and sisters, as
we study the result of the temple
and as we record the donations
and all the names of the people
who made them, an evaluationof you as ministers will come out
very clearly. We will see which
minister has created the mostOn the final day of the World National Leaders Assembly, regional presidents and national
result. As you very well know, in leaders joined True Family members and Korean religious and societal figures at Trueorder for you, as a minister, to get Parents' birthday banquet, which SBS and MBC television cameramen filmed.
January-February 200925

Continued from page 2....International President’s Message
to focus on young people’s education, or focus on witnessing,which of course our teams do, but he specifically told me tocontinue to give jeongseong.
The Chinese character for seong (誠) in Jeongseong has avery deep meaning. It’s a character meaning “to embody theword;” on the left is “the word” and on the right is the radical
for “becoming” or “actualizing.” It is the substantiation ofwhat Father has been teaching.
It seems as if, as we get very much into church
development and structures, we may start to believe that it
is less important to live an authentically religious life. It may
be third or fourth on our list of important tasks. Religion, ofcourse, uses������������������������������������������������
����������������������������������������������������
scientific methods�����������������������������
, but r����������������������
eligion also has something beyond any of those structures; that is, it is spiritual.
Every healthy religion is; it has to be to be vibrant and alive.
That’s very important for us. We start our day at 2:30 with
devotional practice. We go up a mountain and pray there,
meditate and do recitations and bows up there. We start
our day that way because one of the fundamental aspects ofleadership, of religious leadership, is to continuously live areligious life. This entails not just the externals but truly trying
to rid oneself of the trappings that can come once we take on
position or power. To be watching oneself, analyzing oneself,
meditating on oneself and emptying oneself. We see this in theChristian tradition, kenosis, emptying ourselves—which I see
as a very important aspect of religious leadership. Out of thatemptying, comes humility and the attempt to live a sacrificial
life. Nobody’s perfect at those things, but the attempt topractice them comes out of our own attitude toward our faith.
To me that is central. If I have a specialization, that’s it. I’mtrying to focus on keeping that center that True Father has
given us, keeping sincerity of heart.
Sincerity in this context, is not, as in the traditional sense,
an attitude. Jeongseong goes into physical actions, physicalreligious practice, or a devotional offering—an actualizationof religious principles into life. It has a very action-oriented
meaning in this context. So when I use sincerity, I’m always

including that element.
Kook-jin hyung’s focus on real results is a powerful catalyst
for the movement. It started us�����������������������������������
focusing��������������������������������
practically, and focusing rationally—to not theorize, but to make result. He caused
a revolutionary����������������������������������������������������������
change��������������������������������������
, which had not��������������������������
been seen in the organization. Father asked us to take responsibility, then Kook-jin
hyung helped us create the team, which Director Cho1 wasalso involved in, so the World Mission Department was reorganized. Then, we implemented the whole church restruc����turing plan.
One thing we try to focus on is empowerment of people,
empowerment of our members. That’s very important. If you
have an empowered citizenship, you have an empowered
nation, a very positive nation. One of the principles I always
try to work with is that when Father gives me more responsibility, I give more away.
The Headquarters Church has had its first election for our
women’s ministry. These women are taking on very importantroles in the church. It’s the age of women in the church andwe’re very happy to see women rising up in leadership.
The women in the congregation elected them. No men were
present at the election. These woman leaders work with theministers on different teams. We are giving away authority. At
the Headquarters Church, I have the authority to choose theleaders I want. If I wanted to put a certain woman in chargeof a group, I could do that, but it’s important to let go of
authority, learn to give power to our members. As members
feel included, it creates a powerful energy. That’s what we did.
We gave the members the power to choose their leaders. They
chose the exact people we were scouting. The members as agroup chose every single person we were interested in having
as a leader. Because of that, we have tremendous confidence inallowing the members to have a larger say in how the church
is developing. We’ve tried to do this in every single aspect.
For example, Kook-jin hyung has brought in his Jaedan[HSAUWC Foundation] management team. These profes1 Cho Sung-il, a senior colleague in the FFWPU International office,also known as the World Mission Department, this magazine's parent
organization.

World National Leaders
Assembly 2009 at theCheongshim Youth Center

26

Today’s World

Hyung-jin nim spoke at the opening of the assembly. At 2:30 the next morning everyone joined him for his daily devotions before
attending hoondokhae with True Parents.
sionals manage all the church donations. The minister doesn’ttouch the donations. This is a very important issue. In otherreligions as well, such as Buddhism and some forms of
Catholicism, the priests and monks won’t actually handle
money, as part of their practice; there’s a real separation fromthe use of finances.
What we’ve done is create a transparent system. We report
every single financial detail to the members every month.
That’s done by the head of the financial management team[see article, page 42]. He gives a report to the membership sothey clearly see where every single penny is being spent. Thatkind of financial management also empowers the members,
because it gives them insight into where the organization ismoving, what it’s investing in and where it’s using their hardearned donations.
We have been working with a new witnessing program.
We’ve also been working with home-group systems, which
you see being used in large Protestant churches. Some of those
things are being adjusted, because they don’t fit our context.
We are looking at many different areas. My point is that it’s
like a laboratory.
Many people come up to me and ask, When will you cometo our nation?
I’m always so sorry. I would love to come to every nation.
I wish I could magically duplicate my body. I wish I could goaround. I explain that we’re trying to create something thatwill be like medicine for certain problems. Before that medicine goes into production and spreads around the world, we
have to test it first; we have to make sure that the medicine,when delivered, creates a predictable response. Of course, thisis not exactly like medicine, so there’s a little flexibility here,
but I use that analogy to express that we have to test thesemethods. We don’t want to work just with theories. We wantto make sure they lead to the desired outcome. That’s why
I’ve focused on the Headquarters Church. I’ve been asked totour Korea, and I’ve said the same thing. I could have gonearound and spoken about a new service culture, about a new

January-February 2009style of worship, a new church organization that should help
to promote church growth. I could have talked about that, but
it wouldn’t yet have any weight.
So what we did at first was focus on the ground, on thefrontline, so to speak, actually dealing with people, trying towitness to them, trying to help them understand True Parents
and to make the commitment to become a Unificationist. On
the frontline, we’ve discovered some methods that don’t workand some methods that do. We’re in the process of creating
many systems. We’re using these to find methods that lead tosomewhat predictable outcomes.
We have an emotional, an intellectual and a willful portion [of our character] and these resemble God. Taking out
the intellectual portion is a very big mistake. So, of course,
we approach things very analytically. It’s important to keep
in mind that rational, systematic approaches and the continuation of authentic spirituality are like wings of a bird, so thatwhen people encounter the movement, they encounter notjust an organization but a culture of spirituality. That’s very
important.
When you look at conversion rates in religious studies, you
see that people convert to different religions when they’re in
their twenties or when they’re in their forties to fifties. Whenthey convert at the earlier age, when they’re in their earlytwenties, in their colleges years, they convert mainly for intellectual reasons—a certain philosophy or teaching is intellectually stimulating, it makes sense, it’s something they would liketo participate in.
When you look at the other demographic of people who
convert, those in their forties and fifties, it’s not intellectual.
They’re looking more for a community; they’re looking for aplace to raise their children, a trustable environment to safely
raise a family. It’s more emotional, though you cannot take out
the intellectual aspect.
A lot of excitement is developing because of the changes in
the church, but beyond structure, it is the responsibility of ourleaders to offer a deep and continuing spiritual environment,

27

Hyung-jin nim stressed that inspiring organizational improvements need to happen in an environment where members maintain arich spiritual life; Left: A video outreach center opens in Seoul; (left to right) Hyung-jin nim, Kook-jin nim, translator Koh Ken-moon,
Dr. Yang Chang-shik, Mr. Bang Young-sup and Dr. Seuk Joon-ho; Right: Mrs. Erikawa Yasue (left rear corner) speaks at the opening
spiritual practice and ambiance This is critical.
In the Headquarters Church, we have ministry teams. We
have ministers that focus on, for example, spiritual disciplineand other ministers that focus on management, managing thegroups under them. We’ve found that they all have to focus
somewhat on management, but when more emphasis was
put on spiritual devotion, the people under them were more
inspired. ������������������������������������������������
The woman leaders underneath them want to introduce people to a minister who is serious about and continues
to practice a spiritual life. When that is not present, we foundthey didn’t have as much confidence to bring people to thoseleaders.
As religious leaders, the key is to focus on the spiritual,
devotional aspect. So, we’ve begun to delegate the other
responsibilities, like financial management or the allocation ofdifferent types of ministries. Our twenty-three woman leaders

decide how they are to use their group’s assets. We give themauthority to do that. They also decide what strategies theywant to use.
When we’re able to trust the members more, it stimulatesa very positive environment. They are the ones that come up
with methods that work, or don’t work, who change methods
and are accountable as the people making decisions. That is agreat win for us, because that helps us focus on the devotional
practice.
It’s also very positive and very important that the members have more say about who their leaders are. We’re very
enthusiastic about holding elections. We’ve already done thatin the Korean church, and we always encourage all the nations
to create electoral systems, create areas where you empower
members, give them strength and authority. When leaders dothat, it helps us spiritually, because as spiritual leaders, we

True Family members at post-Blessing Ceremony entertainment: (Right to left) Kook-jin nim, Hyung-jin nim, In-jin nim, Kwon-jin
nim and Sun-jin nim giving gifts of a crystal commemorating True Father's 90th Birthday to newlyweds. (back row) Kwon-jin nim's
wife Hwa-yun nim and Kook-jin nim's wife Ji-yea nim

28

Today’s World

(Above and left) In-jin nim, Kook-jin nim and Hyung-jin nim at
East Garden on February 2 during an interview by a reporter with
Korea's 시사In (Shi Sa In) magazine
have to be in the practice of giving away�������������������������
��������������������
authority not clinging, not attaching ourselves, to power. That helps us to stayspiritually clean. Ridding ourselves of those kinds of things
is actually a great win for leaders. We see the participation ofmembers as a very positive trend for the Unification tradition.
I want to make it clear, because Father has been very clearthat the central focus is taking religious life seriously. I’ve lived
with monastics. I’ve lived with monks and priests of different traditions, and I deeply respect them because their whole
focus is on the spiritual dimension of their particular tradition.
There is a very inspirational power there. It’s significant that
Buddhist leaders focus very strongly on the spiritual aspect,making that a huge priority. Many people around the world in
our tradition are studying the growth of big Protestant churches. They learn that in the really successful ones, if you look at
the minister and pastoral teams, they are extremely into devotion. They’re extremely into fasting. They’re extremely into
spiritual practice. It’s central to their success.
They’re not just into CEO-style management. One smallgroup specialist gave the example of a marketing expert who
set out to make a very successful church, but it was an abysmal failure. He understood the systems, understood how topresent the ideas to people, but he didn’t understand that achurch is fundamentally a religious organization and has toinspire people religiously and give them spiritual nourishment. A church must have that center—a religious life of devotion and sincerity. It probably seems obvious to everybody, but
it can be quickly forgotten when you’re trying to implement
strategies.
I hope nobody expects that after listening to lectures fortwo days, you’ll go back to your countries, everything will besolved and we’ll all have booming churches. That’s not goingto happen. But we hope you’ll understand the trajectory, thedirection in which the church development is moving.
We’ll also focus on aspects of the world temple. As we
speak of the practical elements of it, please remember it is areal temple. We are very serious about the substantiation of theworld temple as a continuation of our spiritual tradition in ourfatherland. We hope you find the explanations illuminating.
Please forgive us for not visiting your countries. We’realways praying for all your countries. But we also want to be

January-February 2009

responsible, be accountable and create the right combinationof elements that do promote healthy church growth.
With that being said, I’d like to close. Thank you all for
coming. We’re very happy that you’re all here. On True
Father’s birthday, let us really celebrate with True Parents andgive them the glory they deserve. I hope that that glory continues on, and that it shines through every single member inyour country. We want the focus to be on letting the members
shine, letting new members shine, letting people who join our
movement shine.
Thank you so much.
Heavenly Father, most beloved True Parents,
Thank You so much for this day that You have blessed upon
us. Father, today we have gathered in the beautiful mountainsof Korea, the mystical mountains in Your fatherland. Father,here we are in the presence of True Parents, who are at Cheong
Jeong Gung. Father, we pray that You may bless them with
abundant health and divine protection, so that everywhere
they go, they may continue to shed Your light of love, Your
light of hope, Your light of inspiration and blessing. Father wethank You for all the brothers and sisters that have gathered
here today, as national leaders, at this assembly. Father we praythat You may bless them, You may bless their families and theirnations, and that we may become the leaders of the new era.
Father, that we can truly empty ourselves, lift others up, andunderstand that that formula is Your formula. That formula istruly the way of humility and practice. And in the end the wayof glorifying You. Father, thank You so much….
Illuminate our minds, Father, inspire our spirits, and allow
us to bring joy and peace to Your heart. Father we pray thattoday, you may once again bless each one of these leaders here,each of their children, that you may keep them in mind, andeach one of their relatives, and connected friends all over theworld. We pray that You may be with our Unification family
today. Father bless us, this day. Father we pray that over thesenext couple of days, we can offer You glory and gratitude. We
pray this with an everlasting love, and most humble gratitude,in the names of all our brothers and sisters around the world
together here as one. In True Parents’ names, Aju. TW

29

International Cross-Cultural Marri

Celebration of

Matching on January 16, Cheon Jeong Gung

30

Today’s Worldrriage Blessing Ceremony January 31, Manhattan Center, New Yorkf Life and Love

January-February 200931

An Interview with

Ye-jin Nim

During her recent visit to Korea, Ye-jin nim, True Parents' oldest daughter, kindly
shared some of her thoughts and insights with Today's World. We are very happy
to carry them in our pages for the benefit of our readers.
Today's World: Can you say something about what you
talked about with True Parents this time?
Ye-jin nim: I was able to express to True Parents thatfrom this time on I will be able to support the True Family much more fully and closely. Of course, True Parents
were very happy to hear it. They have asked that all the
girls (as well as boys) in the True Family support God’s
work to bring unity in the family centering on God, andas the oldest daughter I would have a great deal to offer
Parents and the Heavenly Parent.
I also had a private conversation with Mother. The initial reason was in connection with Hyo-jin nim’s ascension. Having been spiritually sensitive during my life, I
have dreams and a close understanding of God’s heart.
I have had dreams of Hyo-jin ever since his ascension,and also of Heung-jin and Young-jin. Hyo-jin wants toconnect with the True Family as a whole and with his
own family as well. He is very devoted to his wife andchildren. During his life in the physical world, he tried
his hardest to fulfill his first son position. His name in
Chinese characters means “filial piety”; he still wants
to keep that devotion as a son of filial piety. Since his
ascension, he has also gone through his own course of
maturity, and he has developed a very deep and loving
heart. While in the physical world, as he tried to help
other siblings whenever they had difficulties, he wants tocontinue such a tradition of heart-istic offering.
Hyo-jin is just a year or so different from me in age.
As the first daughter and first son, we share much interms of our experiences in Korea, growing up during the early stages of the movement. We have a much
deeper relationship, though we all struggled in our own
way. I always felt his deep heart and a close connection
to him. I have been praying a lot for him since his ascension, for his well-being. I want to continue with the heartthat Hyo-jin has for the True Family.
Because I had the experiences I have mentioned, as I
had found the occasion to come here, I wanted to sharemy heart with Mother. She really appreciated that.
At that time also, Mother expressed that she wanted
me to carry the same heart, and to work with my sisters—Hae-jin1 (in the spirit world), In-jin, Un-jin, Sun-jin,
Yeon-jin and Jeong-jin. There should be female children’s
1 (혜진); Sometimes spelled Hye-jin

32

Ye-jin nim (here, on February 21 at the interview) recently cameto Korea to share her heart with True Father and Mother.
Today’s WorldYe-jin nim, True Parents' firstborn child, seated at the connecting point between her brothers and sisters
support for the True Family just as there should be support
from the boys in the family. It was really a heartfelt opportunity for me, and I think it was likewise for Mother, to havethis sort of conversation. I was deeply grateful for it.
Can you say something about Mother’s life?
I understand Mother’s course deeply because I was growing
up in Cheongpa-dong.2 My life was inextricably interwoven with Mother’s. I shared a lot with her as I was a close
witness of what she was going through. I also struggled
tremendously. The beginning of the movement was very
challenging and chaotic. Everyone was coming from different directions with their own struggles, and Cheongpa-dong
was a very challenging place. Moreover, as we were not justany kind of movement, we also had challenging connections
with various levels of the spirit world. So, in the beginningof the movement there were a lot of spiritual phenomena,some that were not always positive. As I was a very sensitiveand mature child for my age, and since I was internalizing allalone what was going on in the spiritual as well as physicalworlds around Cheongpa-dong and the movement at large,
my existence growing up was overwhelming.
Having now grown up myself and had children, I canunderstand Mother’s heart more deeply. Because of the providential requirement, she had to have many children, yet,how much she would have wanted to invest her maternal
heart in each child. Oftentimes she could not because of theposition she held and because of Father’s emphasis on loving
the “Cain” position children first. The Cain position children
were the priority. But how much Mother, who had carried all
those children in her womb, would have wanted to express
her love to each child had she been in a regular family situation. As a woman who has borne and nurtured children, I
can empathize with Mother’s maternal, suffering heart.
At the beginning of the movement, even though people

2 The True Family’s residence and main church in Seoul from themid-1950s to the early 1970s. Often called “the Old Headquarters
Church,” it is preserved as a museum.

January-February 2009

had heart, since a lot of them had a Christian background,they only had a limited, Christian understanding of messiahship centering solely on a male figure. So, they did not havea proper understanding of the Bride and her critical role on
behalf of womankind in particular and humankind in general. I wish there had been more support for Mother’s position. People may have had good intentions, but there wasno precedent with which to compare her providential role. It
was a daunting reality.
I know that she was oftentimes very lonely. I would see
her crying, and I often cried in private too. But, Mother has
been able to triumph over various circumstances and kept
her big heart. She has shown what perseverance is.
One other point, the movement began from the Korean
culture, which is deeply rooted in the Confucian culture,under which people are not equals in relationships. Relationships are hierarchical. Men are in a superior position, withwomen in the object position, required to be demure, notexpressing much. To a degree, decorum and a certain reservation may be virtues for anyone—regardless of sex. But at
the same time, there has to be encouragement for external
expression and a genuine sense of assertiveness. With proper
education and guidance all women can blossom and do
things as well as any man.
Having grown up in the Korean culture during my formative years, I can attest that even just a few decades ago, Korea
was still a very traditional environment. Females were the“second sex.” Women were not encouraged to study hard
intellectual courses in science or mathematics, or engage inhigher intellectual pursuits. They were more encouraged to
study home economics (the domestic sphere). Certainly if
you were not properly educated, you just accepted a subservient role. In the long run, that is not good for the maleside either. For mothers have to bear and raise not only girls
but boys as well, and if they are not provided adequate support to develop their human potentials, all children, regardContinued on page 36 ... An Interview with Ye-jin nim

33

True God's Day 200934

Today’s World

January-February 200935

Continue from page 33 ... An Interview with Ye-jin nim
less of sex, will suffer as a consequence. It is only
very recently, due to Western influence, that Korea isengaging in public discourse regarding gender equality. Though we still have a lot to accomplish in the areaof the equality of the sexes, avenues and opportunities
for women are opening up. As a woman, this issue istruly dear to my heart.
As human beings, we have multiple responsibilities (three blessings or responsibilities) and an equally
great range of potentials, and it is only a matter ofproper education and support that allows us—bothmale and female—to all achieve our human potentials in God’s complete image. Fundamentally, we
have equal value as human beings, as is attested by
the attainment of the First Blessing or the individual
perfection of our spiritual and physical selves in Principled true love unity in God’s complete image. The
In-jin nim with her husband at an STF event. Ye-jin nim suggests
Principle is very clear, but we are all dealing with themembers could benefit from studying how In-jin nim works.
fallen cultures we grew up in, so we bring that baggage. Sometimes we need to distinguish how much someto have put their lives in the background and invested in thething is from the Principle (which should be the ideal) andprovidence. We appreciate this, but there are still challenges
what is from what we have learned from a fallen culture.
we face and work to be done. After all, we are the movement that has to save all humankind. So until the last humanIn-jin nim has been investing herself in the United States,
being can understand God’s heart and return to God, there iswhere you are currently living. Can you say something
still a lot of work to do, a lot of educating. I think this is theabout your sister’s work?
maternal, embracing, nurturing and healing role that women
I am so proud of In-jin and what she has been able to accomare instinctively capable of and that we can contribute to theplish. She has really invested her heart and soul and all
providence.
her energy, wanting to take responsibility for the American
I have one daughter.4 She has been one with me on thismovement. I know she has a lot to offer. She is a great mothissue and has been very active in supporting second-generaer; she has a natural presence in public, and she is a wontion activities in the East Garden area. She has been in CARP
derful speaker. She has been going to different cities in theand on STF. She also is a committed leader in youth ministry.
U.S., paying individual attention to each family, personallyI am very hopeful. Even though there are many struggles
meeting with second-generation members. It is really a mothfor those in the second generation, many second-generation
erly role. She is doing a wonderful job. In other countries, inmembers are committed and understand their collective
Korea and Japan, there should be more understanding of her
identity. They understand what it means to have been bornwork.
in this movement and that we have the responsibility to
Oftentimes we focus on how wonderful the brothers arecarry on, so that it does not regress but only moves forward,
and who is taking charge of this and that, but the sisters
and that we can bring all of humankind closer to God—thehave equal heart and determination. Of course, women havesooner the better. We still have a lot of work to do, and weto carry children, give birth to them and raise them. In thatreally have to encourage future generations and let themsense, we do have a greater family responsibility. So we have
have a clear purpose and sense of who they are and what we
double the duty, double the responsibility! It’s always chalneed to accomplish collectively.
lenging.
A lot of the second-generation members have very pure
After In-jin took time to raise her family so well, her chilhearts, but there has been a lot of confusion because theydren are beautiful and have so much to offer, with great talhave seen the first-generation members suffer a great dealent. Now that they are pretty much grown up, In-jin wants
and because often their own parents were devoted to theto invest in the movement, help other families and support
mission, the children felt they did not have enough time withthe second generation. I am very hopeful, and I really want
their parents. At the same time, the children have been dealto support her. My youngest child3 will be going to college
ing with local cultural influences and social pressures.
We all need to heal, regain our strength, reconnect to God
soon, so now I will be able to devote more time, devote
and to the fundamental purpose for which God raised thismyself more fully to the movement, supporting the woman’s
movement with the ideal of the True Parents. We all want torole, a more embracing and internal role.
be a part of helping each other.
There is a providential schedule and there are expectations, so we need to do a lot of external work. At the same
During your time in Korea you not only met True Parents
time, we need to pay attention to our children because they
but also some of your brothers who are working here. Can
will shoulder the responsibility to carry the movement foryou share your impressions?
ward. We will need to empower and educate them. We will
They have a lot to offer. The boys have been able to show
have to educate them about their collective identity—what
their capabilities in various ways. All of them have their
it means to have been born in the movement, what it means
own, unique sense of appeal and charisma. Hyun-jin andfor their parents to have joined, and for the first generation
3 Shin-choon nim, born in 1990

36

4 Shin-hwa nim, born in 1988, is the third of Ye-jin nim’s four children.

Today’s World

Kook-jin have great leadership and business acumen. We
certainly need economic support to be able to do the providential work. Kwon-jin has great people-skills and will prove
to be a wonderful leader as well. Hyung-jin’s way of relating
to members is very refreshing. Since he has been educatedmostly in the West, I hope that his ministry in Korea will
be able to embrace and transcend the differences between
people.

ment. Beside the external, outside persecutions, there werea lot of spiritual phenomena of various kinds happening in
Cheongpa-dong. People did not lucidly comprehend thatthe spirit world is divided in numerous ways and that if you
open yourself to be influenced at certain level, you will beswayed by it either in positive and or negative ways. There
were not proper checks and balances of what was going on.
It was a very challenging environment for a small child to be
growing up in.
Is there anything you could share about being True Parents'
At school, I had no friends, because parents of other chilfirst child?
dren at school would not let their children associate with me,
By nature, and by circumstance, I am a very internal person. I
because Father was viewed as a cult leader. Also, people inhave been searching all my life to understand what it means
the movement at the time were much more protective; I wasto be a True Child. In light of God’s Principle, which is absonot even allowed to go out of Cheongpa-dong Church freely.
lute, eternal and unchanging, as opposed to the fallen realSo, I had no friends among my peers in school, around theity (which we still have to deal with) it has always been my
Church, or even with blessed children, because I was asked
quest to gain greater understanding of the Principle standard
to be their caregiver.
and to understand God’s deeper
No one took the responsibilheart. Maybe at some other time I
ity and taught me the Principle.
will be able to share more deeply
Members surmised that I was bornabout my personal experiences. It
already knowing the Principle andhas not been an easy journey for
expected me to be a little evangeme.
list. There was a great gap between
As I mentioned earlier in our disthe expectations and reality.
cussion about our early movement
When I was twelve years old,in Korea, a lot of members had
True Parents were away in theircome from Christian backgrounds,
mission to America for a year.
and their understanding of theI was at the bottom, in a pit ofMessiah was very idealized, as if
despair, struggling for the meanhe were God incarnate. They nevering of my existence. In my bruised
had experience of the Messiah’sheart, I truly believed that it would
child. I was the first, so I sufferedserve everyone’s interest for me tothrough a lot of trial and error. They
exit from this world. Since there
did not realize that a child is born
was no support but only expectawith human potentials, but nonetions and ensuing judgments, I wastheless must pass through a growth
conditioned to blame myself for all
period. Ideally, parents and thosethat was wrong. I determined toaround them must educate the childextinguish my life, but I wanted toin the Principle and nurture theexit slowly. I opted for a starvation
child in true love. However, because
diet of extreme rationing, in ordertheir understanding of messiahship,that I would die slowly. I wanted
they expected the first child to be apeople to see with their own eyes
perfect little god.
that I was not a spoiled little prinThe movement was very chaotic,
cess, but a truly suffering child.
especially if seen from a child’sThus, after a period of one year, I
perspective. Oftentimes members
had literally wasted into a skeleton.
wanted blessings from this very
My growth was stunted, my healthsmall child, who herself still needed
thereafter never recovered properYe-jin nim has childhood memories of how difficult it
education, nurturing and love.
ly. It was only the beginning point
was for True Mother in the church's early years.
Instead of offering those things, itof physical problems all throughwas the other way around—when
my life.
(as I was still a child) I had nothing to offer. It was a great
My personal journey has been extraordinary in many
struggle, and there were expectations, but no one seemed to
ways. I do feel I have much compassion and empathy forunderstand that there needed to be a growth stage and thatpeople who are struggling in various ways. This is because I
there had to be involvement. In an ideal situation, a child’s
had to struggle through an existential search, in the sense ofparents and those around them giving proper nurturing isseeking the meaning of life and death. Oftentimes, as it was
their 95 percent responsibility, and then there is the child’s
the question I was grappling with, I do feel I have a deeper
5 percent responsibility. That give and take has to continue
understanding of human suffering.
for the twenty-one years of the growth period. Yet, when the
At the same time, I want to testify that I am grateful thatchild does not have proper nurturing and support but only
no matter how difficult it was, no matter how deep the pit I
unrealistic expectations, the child will suffer even to the point
felt I was in, I never blamed God. I knew in my deepest heartthat God truly understood, and I felt His/Her parental heartof death.
in great agony for the suffering of His/Her children. In the
I lived through persecution at the beginning of the move-

January-February 200937

beginning of the movement, Father also had many tearfulprayers and sermons, grappling to understand God’s suffering heart. Each person needs to have such experiences. In
hindsight, I am very grateful. [Ye-jin nim is in tears.]
We are approaching the first anniversary of Hyo-jin nim’s
ascension. Can you express some of your feelings for him?
I touched upon this before, but I can add something. We
grew up in similar circumstances. I think I do understandhim very deeply. He talked about his struggles in public, so
members are aware of those. But even in light of the life we
led in Cheongpa-dong, I can relate to the impact it would
have had on Hyo-jin as well. If he had been offered more
support and proper guidance, he would have blossomed
without the unnecessary suffering that he endured.
Even though, externally, he appeared to have a verystrong character, he truly had a deep heart. I know hewould have had a lot more to share. I want to testify thatas he matured, he was a very loving husband and a father
who was deeply devoted to his children. I can feel from mydreams that he really wants to convey his heart and support
for the True Family as well as for his own family that theyshould be good examples for the rest of the blessed children.
He sincerely wants to carry on his tradition of heart. I amvery grateful and deeply moved in appreciation. [Ye-jin nim
weeps.]
In his later sermons, Hyo-jin nim expressed that life wasshort. Looking back, some thought this was prophetic.
Ideally, God does not want us to die prematurely, but wants
us to live the full extent of our physical lives in the physicalworld, fulfil the three blessings (responsibilities) and ascend
as perfect spirits. However, even though this is the ideal, in
our True Family, since the burden of our course is not just
our own by individual choice, but bears the weight of providential history, our family has had to establish uncalled-forindemnity conditions. As our family represents all of humanhistory beginning from Adam/Eve, within Father andMother’s family there have been tragic, premature deaths,
not because these were predetermined by God, but owing to

unfortunate indemnity circumstances.
I believe there is only one way we can pay tribute to
Heung-jin, Young-jin, and Hyo-jin, so that their premature
deaths are not in vain. It rests upon all of us here to complete
the restoration of this physical reality and completely liberate
the spiritual realm. Of course, Father sets the conditions, but
all of us have to contribute in completing the leg work. We
still have a lot to work to do. We have to accept that we cannot undo the past; nevertheless, we should feel repentancethat we were not able to build a foundation that could have
prevented any of these unnecessary and tragic offerings, andwe must endeavor our hardest to bring victory to God andthe True Parents. We all owe it to Hyo-jin, Heung-jin, andYoung-jin to dedicate our lives to complete what they could
not fulfill here.
Father speaks about this being the women’s era, and you
have already spoken about women's potential. Can you
share a little more about your view on the role of women?
Foremost, we must begin from the fundamental understanding of human value, individual perfection or fulfillment of
the first blessing, which applies to all people whether maleor female. We need to clearly grasp what it means for each
person, regardless of sex, to be the sum total of the wholecreation, both the spiritual and physical realities.
One consequence of the Fall is that we lost our spiritual
senses. Ideally for human beings, if we are perfect as the sum
total of both the spiritual and physical realities, our spiritual
senses should be open, in the same way that we have ourphysical senses. There should be harmony and unity, withfull cognizance through both sets of senses, right? But, after
the Fall, the need had arisen to separate what was God’s
original desire for human value as opposed to our fallen status after the Fall. In fact, because of the Fall, we lost our spiritual senses and became like the animals, which only havephysical senses. However, since we have the original humanvalue God initiated, we have the desire to regain our spiritual senses. That has to happen for both men and women.
We need to clearly perceive that though God created
Adam and Eve, the first and last human models God Him/

Hyo-jin nim ascended on March 17, 2008. Left: Hyo-jin nim's sisters, brothers and children at his Won Jeon Ceremony; Right:
Ye-jin nim and Hyun-jin nim help bury their brother. Ye-jin nim has dreams of Hyo-jin nim and feels his deep heart.

38

Today’s World

Herself created, and gave them equal
human value on the individual level, Godnecessarily had to create both sexes for the
purpose of multiplication. According to
the Principled formula for multiplication
based on division into two, though thevalue of the dual positions must be equal
at the point of division in “origin-divisionunion action,” the entities filling thosepositions must differ from each other. Thisis because the purpose of God’s Creation
was not cloning, but the multiplication ofindividual entities having commonality(equal human value) with God as their
origin. At the same time, they had to bedifferent and unique (two sexes). In otherwords, on the level of individual perfection—that is, the spiritual/physical selves
in Principled true-love unity with God—people have equal value whether they are
male or female. However, both men andwomen, who are of equal value but ofdifferent sexes, have to stand on the levelof collective multiplication (for which the Ye-jin nim and Hyo-jin nim spent their early years living in the Cheongpa-dongfamily is the fundamental basis) in order
Church.
for there to be Principled true love multiextension of our ancestors. So, though we all have our stories
plication of the highest level of creation, aof individual struggles, we also carry the burden of our colhuman child.
lective tradition, based upon our ancestors. Due to the Fall
Ideally, Adam and Eve should have perfected themselves
and un-Principled human conditions existing thus far, we allindividually and raised perfected human beings throughhave suffered to some degree or another. For my part, I only
education and their parental examples. However, after thehope that members can come to share an understanding ofFall, as we have lost the Principled human value, we all must
my course, since, standing in the position of the first daughrelearn what we lost through the Fall. Only when we areter, I had the experience of living at the time of the beginning
clear in Principle about the fundamental, equal human valueof the movement.
that applies to each person, whether a man or a woman, canI do believe that from my life course, and whatever underwe begin to respect what the different sexes may be able tostanding, compassion, or wisdom I have gained through it,
offer for the greater good of all humankind.
I have something to offer. The purpose of that offering is notOnce we are clear about equal human value then we may
personal catharsis, but for the greater purpose of being helpbe able to address the issue of women’s nurturing role, since
ful to whomever may be struggling, whether of the second
we women biologically carry children in the womb during
or future generations, going through his or her own course.
our reproductive period in our physical life cycle. At theIt can be a point of reflection so that we can have comsame time, however, this does not mean that just because
mon understanding. The purpose of our existence (and ourwomen physically carry children, it is solely women’s
endeavors, whatever they may be) has to be relevant to our
responsibility to care for children. Just as God is the harmonicollective calling. Through the Fall, God lost His/Her conous, unified being of male and female aspects, of rational/
nection to humankind, and according to Principle, the roleemotional or nurturing dual aspects, each person—whether aof the True Parents and their children is to bring humankind
man or a woman—has both qualities and has the responsibilback to God by being examples of Principled true love.
ity to fulfill their potential in both. So, though women may
The Principle understanding is that all human beings
biologically carry the children, both parents must be equally
have equal value. True Parents may have shown us theinvolved in raising true children and creating the environway, but each of us needs to clearly perceive that God isment of a true family.
not looking for just one person to reach perfection! We each
Given the above, at this time of human understanding inhave to become a perfect individual and establish our own
the Completed Testament Era, the role of women cannot simrelationship with God as a true child. We all have to become
ply be restricted to the domestic sphere. As human beings,
embodiments and temples of God. To reach that goal, as we
women should be encouraged to fulfill their human poteneducate ourselves to understand human value through God’s
tials to the fullest in whatever endeavors they may choose to
Creation much more deeply, we have to support each otherpursue.
to attain original human value. We all have to support eachother in gaining confidence and gratitude before God for
You have clearly striven to rise above the difficulties you've
our very existence, because we are the sum total of the entire
faced in life. Could you say something more about this?
creation with the sole right to be God’s true children! Truly
Everyone has one’s own life course, including the way
thank God, the Heavenly Parent, for the opportunity and theeach person was called for the mission. At the same time,life that we are given. [Ye-jin nim smiles joyfully.] TW
however, we are not just individuals, we are collectively theJanuary-February 200939

Workshop on the Original Divine Principle
By Rev. Yu Jeong-okI

In 2008, True Parents assigned Rev. Yu Jeong-ok as their representative to teach at each Education Session Proclaiming the Completion of the Liberated Realm of the Portion of Responsibility
in God’s Providential History. In the October 2008 issue, we included part of a testimony by
Rev. Yu, in which he explained the significance of Hawaii King Garden, from which these special
workshops began. The following is taken from an interview Rev. Yu gave to IPeace TV (Korea)
in December last year, in which he spoke about the significance of these new workshops.

n the position of the lord, Satan established and dominated human culture, dominating all human beings andall families from his false position. Through the Fall, God
lost the realms of civilization and culture, and the original value of all the creation. At King Garden, Hawaii, True
Parents have finally restored and proclaimed the originalvalue that had been lost.
God has resolved all that was entangled historicallythrough completing the providence of restoration throughindemnity centering on the True Parents. Centering on
Hawaii King Garden, True Parents brought the Cain–Abelrealm into oneness in heaven and on earth through True
Children who were born from True Mother with True Parents’ lineage.
These education sessions, the first of which was held inKing Garden, are not just Divine Principle education in theusual sense; they are to teach men and women properly andfully about God, who is the original source of the Principle….
From now on, education must not be carried out from theperspective of the fallen world. True Father said that he isgiving us Wolli Bonchae-ron (The Original Divine Principle) tous from an original position free from the Fall. That is why
we are having these workshops.
We have listened to Father speak, studied Divine Principle
and become lecturers able to teach the Principle, but haven’t
become men or women of Divine Principle, because wedidn’t know the original essence of Divine Principle. Furthermore, God’s sons and daughters were supposed to resemble
that essence, but we couldn’t become such people. We have
met with so many difficulties because we did not understand40

the essence of Principle. This workshop is therefore not justto give Divine Principle education but to bring members
into knowledge of the original substance of Divine Principle,
which is of the greatest importance.
We have looked at faith from a humanistic perspective.
However, from the viewpoint of Wolli Bonchae-ron we musthave our faith renewed, form a new outlook on life and gain
insight into the heart, based on original human nature. We
have had education on these points. We’ve thought about
heart [shimjung] from the viewpoint of Divine Principle,
but since we have been studying Wolli Bonchae-ron we realize that heart is the essential characteristic that exists within
God’s substance. In order to resemble the original substancein our daily lives, heart must motivate our lives as it was the
motive for the Creation.
We have listened to True Father’s speeches and learned
about Absolute Sex but many people have thought Absolute
Sex is just based on the teachings on the Human Fall. I originally thought that education on Absolute Sex was to protect
the fallen world from committing sexual sin, but I when I
came to understand the fundamentals, I realized that God is
the origin and substantiation of Absolute Sex.
Because we resemble the heart, love and character comprising God’s internal aspect and our body takes after theform of God’s external aspect, we cannot resemble God if ourlives here in the flesh are not grounded in the Principle of
Creation that is centered on order and law.
Therefore, the fundamental root of the most valuable life
for a man and woman lies in God’s unified being of masculinity and femininity existing as the Parent of Absolute Sex-

Today’s Worldual Ethics. The children born from these parents must become theembodiments of absolute sexual ethics during their growth period
and finally receive blessing from God when they become perfect
Adam and Eve inheriting God’s internal nature and external form.
The core of this special education is to proclaim the completion of
the liberated realm of the portion of responsibility in God’s providential history on the basis of Absolute Sex. Father has said thiseducation is more precious than any other providential education.
As a consequence of the failure to fulfill the human responsibility,
God’s responsibility has been left unaccomplished throughout history. True Parents have come as the original true Adam, True Parent
and true Peace King and Queen, and in order for them to fulfill all
the connected portions of responsibility in history and liberate God,
they need to carry out the education session to proclaim the completion of the liberated realm of the portion of responsibility on thebasis of Absolute Sex. I do think that through our successfully carrying out these education sessions, even God can be liberated throughthe portions of responsibility being fulfilled.
I’ve come to see that when people pay close attention to the lectures, they are renewed through the workshop. Many of the central
leaders have testified that when they first came to attend the workshop, their hearts had been weary because they were worn out withthe hardships of life. Sometimes, they had even harbored complaints
because of the difficulties they faced. They had felt that though theyknew about the Principle, it didn’t concern them as deeply as itshould have. What they learned through the lectures and the studies
was that the Principle indeed belongs to them and that God is theembodiment of the Principle as well as our Father and Parent. Thus
they all came to newly understand the importance of this education,
the goal of which is for us to embody of the Principle. As the lecturer,
recognizing how they felt and watching them resolve to begin anew,
I realized how well timed and crucial this education, which True
Parents have permitted, is. Though being in charge of the workshop
from five in the morning to nine in the evening is physically challenging, I feel joy in my heart to see the members resurrected. I feeldeep down that it is God’s grace and the guidance and direct workof True Parents that made this possible.
Some people said they felt and saw True Parents behind me working and guiding them, even though I am giving the lectures. This
workshop, as True Father has explained, is the means by which True
Parents directly guide us in their own words. I think this education session proclaiming the liberated of the realm of the portion of
responsibility is priceless and necessary for humankind, not only ourblessed families and leaders. I feel so much appreciation to God andTrue Parents for this. TW

Reflection on a Father’s Love
From a participant in a recent special education sessionTrue Parents visited us Sunday evening at aboutnine o’clock, in the midst of a lecture. Father
started to talk, smiling and greeting us whilesomeone helped him get out of his thick winter coat.
I realized that he is absolutely real in his affection forthe members; there is no pretense or effort in his love
for us. He talked about flowers and German cars,
about excellence in our activities and about Adamand Eve. But what he wanted to give to us was not
information. His words contained his feelings and hisdesire for us. He talked as a grandfather talks to hischildren. He wished for us to understand and realize
deep in our hearts what also must motivate him—adeep emotional understanding of the true reality of
God and the spiritual center of the universe, whichis the parent-child relationship between Heavenly
Father and me. In the living knowledge of this there
can be no space for egoism or even for the concept of“I.”
This Korean, whom we call Father, this Messiah,
sat there, disregarded the whispering MC—who wassaying that it was late—and poured his heart out. He
poured it out in his gestures, his facial expressions, in
his way of rebuffing the increasing efforts of the MC,
and in his words. I felt all warm and touched in myheart. I wished for nothing more but to be a personthat embodies this great ideal. It may be customary to
end with an expression of gratitude. In this case it’seasy. I feel grateful for this workshop but most of all
for love.
Father cannot be with us continuously, but if wewant to realize this ideal, let us love one another. Let
us all be a family, and act like it, too. Is it not written
in the Bible that the followers of the Messiah will berecognized by this? TW
Detlef Klemme, Germany

January-February 200941

WhereBusiness
Meets Faith
This interview of Vice-chairman Bang Young-sup of the HSAUWC Foundation, which manages the
Tongil Group of companies, was conducted in his office on February 10. Subsequently, Mr. Bangreviewed the transcript and made valuable additions.
Today’s World: Before coming to the Foundation to Support
HSAUWC, what had you heard about Rev. Moon in a business (or other) context?
Vice-chairman Bang Young-sub: Forty years ago, I worked asa public servant for the government and my interest in the
Unification Church was similar to that of the general public,
which believed that the Unification Church was a strange
nebulous, newly rising religion, and had little interest in it.
My interest in the church developed because of an incident in the United States between 1976-78 involving a Korean
government agency supposedly dealing with members of theUnited States Congress and accusations of illegal lobbying
activities. Second Lieutenant Tong-sun Park was one those
involved in the Koreagate scandal.1 High-ranking Unification Church officials were also accused of involvement. These
events facilitated the launching of an investigation by the
Fraser committee2 into possible illegal activity by the Unification Church. It was both surprising and remarkable tosee how the Unification Church overcame Fraser’s personal,
fierce discrimination and his resolve to obliterate the Unification Church at a time when racial discrimination was strongin America. At that time, the Tongil Group invited professors,
reporters and politicians—leaders and critics in a variety offields from America and Japan who were of Korean descentto show them the activities of the Tongil Group. The people
who came to these gatherings consistently conveyed thesentiment, I am proud to be born a Korean and proud to beof the Han race.3 They came away with a sense of pride and1 Since the discovery that U.S. President Nixon ordered the burglaryof his rivals’ office in the Watergate Hotel, the U.S. media often gives
epithets ending in “gate” to scandals. Koreagate was a mid-1970s
scandal involving U.S. politicians accepting bribes from Korean citizens to influence U.S. government policies toward Korea.
2 The Foreign Affairs subcommittee on international organizations
chaired by Donald M. Fraser, a congressman from the Democratic
Farm Labor Party
3 Distinct from the Han Chinese, this Han race purportedly descends
from an original ancestor, Tangun. For those who identify with theHan race, national citizenship is an insignificant legal distinction. A
Korean anywhere is forever Korean. The character for Han (韓) is also
used for True Mother’s surname and the first character in Korea (韓國).

42

self-esteem.
It was astonishing to see that, regardless of his skin colorand his race, so many believers were following and reveringa Korean man as “Father.” His followers went with him to
Madison Square Garden [June 7, 1975] and New York’s Yankee Stadium [June 1, 1976] rallies and especially impressive
was the great gathering at the Washington Monument public
square [September 18, 1976], where tens of thousands, nohundreds of thousands of people, came to hear and see him.
How could this happen? This mysterious ability possessedby Rev. Moon is what led me to respect him.
The history of the Korean race includes countless instances of invasion and control by other nations, politically, economically, socially, culturally, religiously and so forth. These
were due to ideological subjugation and poverty; therefore
the Korean people could not show their bright culture andtheir essence, which is love of peace.
However, in the 1960s the Korean people were able toovercome poverty and begin to extend her wings for the sakeof spreading world peace. I felt that the central figure for thatbeginning was Rev. Moon. At that time, I did not know theUnification Principle; I respected and looked at Rev. Moon
simply as a Korean hero who would make Korea and the
Korean race shine in this era.
I believe that a nation’s ideological structure and thetype of person that leads the nation are determining factors
in whether a nation flourishes or perishes. If I can give an
example, under communism, especially in a nation with anabsolute dictatorship, people do not live well compared tothose in a humanistic, democratic society or in a country
which has selected a capitalistic market economy. Moreover,the particular leader has a big influence nation on things.
From the late 1960s through the 1970s communism grewin strength and became cosmopolitan, causing a domino
effect, bringing fear and terror to humanity. Right about thattime, not only in Korea but also in Japan and America, theUnification Church launched great activities, such as the anticommunist movement Victory over Communism movement
to counter atheistic influence and power. Because of this,Today’s Worldeven though Christians and the general public alike slandered and distorted the views of the Unification Church, thegovernment could not help feeling grateful for the patriotic
activities of the Unification Church, because the government
also longed for their homeland to see the end of poverty andlonged to modernize Korea. Eventually, I too could not help
feeling respect for Rev. Moon and positive toward the Unification Movement.
Moreover, the Tongil Group is not just an abstract spiritual
movement; it also consists of Tongil Industries such as Ilhwa,
which produces ginseng products and beverages; it invests
in industry and it became directly involved in the economic
development movement. During that difficult time, they
started the Little Angels School, Sun Hwa Arts School andother things and played a leading role in developing the educational and cultural areas, thus enhancing national prestige
and causing the general public to feel a sense of awe toward
the movement.
It was at about that time that my relationship with the
movement began, when one of their companies had managerial problems. In order to fix the problem, which I saw
as a small opportunity to help the Tongil Group, I met oneof their overburdened leading executives. Who could haveguessed that this small opportunity would lead to anothermeeting thirty years later, which was the providential seed
for attending “True Parents” and working in the HSAUWC
Foundation?
After coming into contact with the Unification Principle, I
realized that it was Heaven’s Principle, which went beyond
Korea’s unification and peace; it was a worldview looking toeradicate conflict and disagreements throughout the world,
and also involved the construction of heaven on earth connected to the spirit world.
With your business background, you could work anywhere. What impelled you to come to the HSAUWC Foundation, especially when—as was true in those days—manyof its companies were in poor condition?
Coming to the foundation was also serendipitous. In 1979,
when Chun Doo-hwan came to power, I quit my government post and became first a business executive employedby the government. Then I worked for Ssangyong Motors.
After that I was the representative of the Daehan Chosun
Construction’s building division and finally I worked for the
Hanjin Group for ten years. At the beginning of 2000, aroundthe time I was about to retire from the Hanjin Group, I was
asked if I would take on the responsibility of resurrecting oneof the weak companies that were in court receivership.
In Korea, in 1998, they faced the so called “IMF”4 situation, where many weak companies fell into bankruptcy. In
order to resolve this, the government enforced a policy ofcourt supervision to revive them. In the past, from what I’maware, creditor banks sent administrators to manage bankrupt companies, but the courts felt this was an inefficient system, so they chose specialized managers from the respective
fields and asked them restructure the management systems.
The Tongil Group had lost its right to manage key companies including Ilsung, Ilhwa, Tongil Heavy Industries, Ilshin
Stone and Hankook Titanium, which had gone bankrupt. I
received a proposal from the legal management officer, andalthough there were other large companies to choose from,such as Shinhwa Industries—perhaps because of my deep,
4 During which Korea accepted loans and temporary economic oversight from the International Monetary Fund

January-February 2009

lasting relationship with Tongil Group—I wanted to resurrect Ilsung Construction, which was part of that group. It
seems to me that some providential element related to True
Parents was involved here. From a secular point of view, I
would have wanted to manage a larger company, but I went
to a company where the manager that the creditor bank had
sent had given up. I still don’t quite understand how I was
assigned to that position.
That first year I was there, I could show some profit asa result of my management. The Tongil Group successfullyacquired the Ilsung Construction company. When he wasmade the foundation’s president in 2005, Moon Kook-jin saw
that result. According to him, Father gave approval for me towork in the foundation because Kook-jin nim saw that thirty
companies were all running at a deficit and the only company, Ilsung Construction, was making a profit.
Kook-jin nim has publicly expressed admiration for yourabilities. How much have your abilities been forged by theperiods of economic hardship Korea has experienced during your working life?
Well, more than having any particular ability, I have tried tolive my life with integrity. So no matter what work I havebeen given to do, waking or sleeping, I thought about how
to accomplish everything, how to find the way to develop.
When I think about such matters night and day, solutions
come. When a solution becomes apparent, I boldly drive forward and in this way I am usually successful in solving problems. For about thirty years, since I retired from public office,I’ve served as an expert manager in a class of CEOs who are
in demand and who are employed by the owners of large
enterprises. It was especially second-generation owners whorequested my help. I’ve never tried to seek out a position. I
was always scouted out and recommended for a position.
Even at a young age, while working in public office, I
was recognized for my abilities and promoted. The networking contacts I made during my time in public office became
helpful in my work with the private enterprises at the levelof CEO, and I could apply the knowledge and experience I
had gained in managing private enterprises over a period ofthirty years to reviving Ilsung Construction.

Mr. Bang greeting Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez, who
had spoken to the Tongil Group about business opportunities
in his country (August 31, 2008)43

I could accumulate more knowledge and experience while managWhat is Kook-jin nim’s special
ing Ilsung Construction as an insolability?
vent enterprise because an insolvent
First, he is gifted with numbers.
enterprise has more problems than a
Whether he is looking at a balancenormal enterprise. Many situations
sheet, calculating profit or loss, orpresent themselves for study.
looking at the cash flow, he quickly
I believe that having the foundaunderstands where the sickness intion of these experiences will be
the corporation is, where the probhelpful to me in running the foundalem lies. This is not just because
tion. Interestingly enough, I havehe studied economics at univeralways been successful in areas ofsity and got an MBA at graduate
work not related to my major. I was
school. He actually founded his
successfully able to export jeeps toown company and has the expeLibya without any knowledge about
rience of succeeding as a CEO.
Mr. Bang and Hwang Sun-jo in January 2008, at
automobiles, and when I was put in
Because he has ten years’ experithe opening of the Hwayang Free Economic Zone, ence, he could take the theory andcharge of the construction division
which the Korean government is developingof the Daehan Shipbuilding Public
practice it. He also works hard.
Corporation, which had been running
He modernized and raised effia deficit, I was able to make a profit. When I belonged tociency in operations by bringing in an IT-based management
Hanjin Construction, I enhanced its market value with manysystem. He personally reviews all the proposals that requirelarge projects—whether through gaining orders or carrying
his approval and signature. Sometimes three times a week
out construction—such as the runway at Yeongjong-do Airhe eats pizza in his office for dinner as he works. He does
port. I also revived the Ilsung Construction Company.
not show preference for shared geographic ties, family relaI’m not a specialist in the religious field but I thinktions, or fellow alumni when dealing with personnel affairs.
that every organization has similar principles. In order to
He manages his staff based on their ability and never fails to
manifest True Parents’ ideal, I think we have to increase thereward a job well done or let a fault go unpunished. Thus,
amount of people who understand and follow the path True
the organization can exert a good influence. That Kook-jin
Parents have laid down.
nim, a True Son, came to the Tongil Group is a great blessing.
What would you say are the most significant changes that
In simple terms, how much exposure do the companies
have taken place in the companies since you first arrived?
managed by the foundation have to the present financial
What factors were most instrumental in causing thesecrisis?
changes?
The HSAUWC Foundation is experiencing difficulty in the
I cannot say the remarkable changes that took place werecurrent economic crisis. The question is what is the best way
because I came to the foundation. It was because Moon
to keep going. It is strong companies that survive in these
Kook-jin came and showed leadership that these changes
circumstances. We are therefore checking all of the fundoccurred. When he was installed as chairman of the foundaing plans. It is actually fortunate that Kook-jin nim does nottion in 2005, there were thirty companies, small and large,
overinvest for the sake of growth. He makes a thoroughand overall, there was a lot of debt, $50 to $60 million per
analysis and does not invest in anything that is not clearly
year. Kook-jin nim’s management skills are outstanding. He
advantageous. Nevertheless, the companies in our group still
hired CPAs, lawyers and other professionals and dissolved
companies that were beyond recovery. Some companies weremerged, and in companies where a turnaround was possible, he enforced a strong level of restructuring and trained
the management of each company by instilling the spirit ofentrepreneurship. Within just a year, by 2006, we broke outof the money-losing pattern. By 2007 we made a $50 million profit, all a result of Kook-jin nim’s management. All
I did was make sure that his management philosophy was
implemented. In 2008 we still made about $30 million profit,
excluding Central City and Ilsung Construction, which had
the best profit structure but are no longer under foundation
management as of 2008.
To take an example from one of our companies, Ilhwa had
never made money in thirty years, but in its first year under
Kook-jin nim, it made several hundred thousand dollars
profit, and in 2008, seven million. Even the losses incurred by
the Segye Times were cut by two thirds in two years. Not only
were the people at Segye Times startled at the results, people
in the Korean media world were also startled. The credit forthis remarkable achievement belongs to the chairman, Moon
Kook-jin.
Mr. Bang in Pyongyang, North Korea, in August 200744

Today’s Worldhave problems; they are working effort to survive by restructuring and cutting costs.
What has been your experience working with Kook-jin
nim? Does anything about his method of operating or
philosophical outlook differ from those of others you’ve
worked under?
Kook-jin nim is the fourth person I have worked under who
is the son of a conglomerate founder. Kook-jin nim’s character is different from the other sons, however. Most secondgeneration entrepreneurs took over their enterprises, whereas
Kook-jin nim started one from scratch. Most second-generation business group owners have not gone through difficulty;
rather, they inherited the business as it was. All these second
generation entrepreneurs I worked under were wonderfulpeople, but Kook-jin nim is a little different. He, by contrast,
has the experience of founding a company. And when he wasgiven responsibility for the foundation, it was really a hugeheadache. Everything was in the red, but because he hadgone through the difficulties of launching his own company,
he had experience with the difficulties involved in building up a business. For this reason, he is able to guide the
HSAUWC Foundation during this crisis. He is different inthat respect.
Also, as I mentioned, he has applied the main principles
of his economic doctrine, such as transparency, accountability, reporting results and productive discussion. Under
those management principles, nothing has been hidden.
Everything to do with the business foundation is available tothe public. When we implemented this, some people in thecompanies were very worried. They asked if we were actually going to publicize such closely guarded information. But
Kook-jin nim went ahead with it, saying that if we are transparent there is no reason we cannot publicize information.
We were able to dispel concerns by showing how much more
effective and productive this has made us.
We have disseminated this culture to all our companies,
and it is translating into results. Kook-jin nim combines his
intellectual ability with his management ability. He has decision-making sense and drive. Therefore, I have hope for the
HSAUWC Foundation. And the results are visible.

Kook-jin nim has said the Korean language was initiallychallenging for him. From your observations, are there
other points of Korean business culture that Kook-jin nim
has had to adjust to?
When Kook-jin nim received his appointment, he was very
unfamiliar with the Korean language, but he has improved tothe point that he can now give speeches in Korean.
He was at first dismayed at the lukewarm culture andopaque patronage system within the business group, but headhered to a principled and transparent management style.
As a result, he has made improvements where there wereweak points. Kook-jin nim is very humble compared to theother second-generation business owners who don’t like tohumble themselves to others.
When Kook-jin nim is meeting the presidents of newspapers or prominent leaders in other groups, he visits them
personally, and politely asks for their advice. Then they
develop a close relationship and help him with the information he is asking for. He has received a lot of praise forthat. So I would say that even compared to other secondgeneration entrepreneurs in Korea, he has swiftly adapted to
Korean business culture.
What is it like to work for a business organization thatexists for religious, spiritual and idealistic purposes?
To be frank, I face many difficulties because I work at thefoundation of a religious body. There were times when theexecutives kept me at a respectful distance because it had
not been so long since I had come to work here. WheneverI went somewhere, I usually went alone. But people cannot work alone, right? That’s why I received help, but I stillencountered many difficulties.
After I began working here, I took the initiative to set an
example of working transparently based on management
principles. I gave my ideas and took initiative, so naturally
this distance disappeared. However, I still faced a lot of difficulty in communicating with church leaders. The purposeof the foundation is to make money and manage companies
to help religious activities. Secondly, it is to manage the religious body’s assets and make sure they make profit. The

A variety of leaders posing with Kook-jin nim, Hyung-jin nim and their wives after meeting President Tabaré Vázquez;
communication with church leaders became easier for Mr. Bang (standing behind Ji-yea nim) as foundation performance
improved.
January-February 200945

general membership viewed the foundation as not being able
to make money. It had that kind of negative image. The burden is on us to show that we are making money and helping
our faith activities.
After Kook-jin nim’s arrival, we began to make somemoney, though not a lot at first; we began supporting thechurches, which is what the companies were originally supposed to be doing. When I was working at a company I
rested on the weekends; now I go to church on Sundays anddo service activities, so I have practically no days off in mywork! Saturday is the only day that I have off during theweek.

gram that explains the pure essence of the Principle without
secular content. Hundreds of employees6 have attended thevarious sessions, and a good number of them are becoming
members at the Headquarters Church.
The Unification Principle is a continuation of the Old
Testament and the New Testament, with Rev. Moon having
come as the new savior to fulfill and complete the missionof Jesus Christ. With the purpose of establishing a religion to
unify all religions and races, Rev. Moon has come to substantiate God’s ideal through the Unification Principle and has
advanced the providence to bring peace all throughout theworld. As we are alive, we should have pride in this fact andoppose statements made by passersby in the street that weare heretics. We must let people know the historical, biblicaland geopolitical perspectives that indicate why Rev. Moon
had to come as the savior. They must come to understandand be moved by this scientific principle that explains why
we were born, God’s purpose of creating, the importance ofthe family and the source of true love.
I am amazed and feel such pride in the fact that our faith

Could you describe for our readers what it was like to go
through the Divine Principle sessions, which expressed thefounder’s vision?
Actually, now that I’m working in a church organization, ofcourse I wanted to learn more about it and also about theUnification Principle. I believe the foundation can do muchbetter when it is aligned with the providential perspective. I
wondered what all the frenzy was about when it
came to Reverend Moon’s Unification Principle. I
had many misgivings about whether or not they
could possibly have a worldwide foundation.
Interestingly enough, when I worked in Ilsung
Construction Company, not one member that I
met asked me to become a follower of the movement, suggested I read the Principle, attend a
Principle workshop or even tried to witness tome. However, as a result of meeting Kook-jin nim
and by his invitation, I received Principle education and also the marriage blessing.
I was curious about the Unification Principle,
so I had read Truth Is My Sword5 by Pak Bo-hi,
and some other Unificationist books. It was at
Kook-jin nim's suggestion, though, that I wasable to attend a four-day workshop for the firsttime and learn the systematic contents of theDivine Principle. I then finally received the bless- Mr. Bang, behind Kook-jin nim at a banquet for a former Costa Rican
ing. But of course can one say that he knowspresident; Kook-jin nim was the first Unificationist to witness to Mr. Bang.
the Principle after a four-day workshop? Since I
has gained a global foundation during the life of its founder.
believed deeper knowledge of the Principle was necessary, I
asked the Headquarters to prepare a series of Divine PrinciWe understand that you have been working for some time
ple lectures for two hours a day, over the course of a month,
as the treasurer of the Headquarters Church in Seoul. How
for all the foundation workers including those with specialdo the changes being implemented affect the church side?
ized responsibilities.
After his appointment in 2005, Kook-jin nim visited a hunActually, from when the foundation first came into exisdred and twenty churches to see how they were managed.
tence, not all the company personnel have been church memI came to understand that some churches were not run
bers, but the members themselves had little pride in beingtransparently at that time, and sometimes members did not
Unificationists and did not actively try to witness. They had
have complete trust in the church leaders. Leadership andlittle self-pride and seemed close-minded, which I absolutely
money management were not always carried out based on
believe is a fundamental problem in developing a church andclear principles. Thus, the church had considerable difficulty
it’s an even more fundamental problem in developing a busideveloping.
ness.
Moreover, in certain of the large Christian churches, there
Immediately after I consulted with Kook-jin nim andhave been problems of the type seen in ordinary society.
started the “Founders Education” workshop. I felt that ourThus, immorality has sometimes led to a lack of transparency
company personnel needed to know exactly the purpose forin managing churches.
which this company was founded, and that as true Tongil
Kook-jin nim and Hyung-jin nim, however, are impleGroup members, they all needed to have pride and dignity
menting a policy through which things must be done in a
in order to help in their group synergy.
thoroughly transparent way, so that the members can mainRight now, True Parents’ Unification Principle is being
tain trust. If we are trying to bring about unity and peacetaught at four-day workshops. We set up an education pro5 Published in Korean under the title "I Am a Proud Korean"46

6 Many of whom were not members when they joined the foundation
or its companies

Today’s Worldamong religions and ethnic peoples and to globalize True
Parents’ Divine Principle, we must first ask ourselves, Can’t
we take the initiative and set the example? Can’t we be transparent and worthy of trust?
At the request of Hyung-jin nim, who is the senior pastorof the Headquarters Church, I make public and announce(every two months at the end of the Sunday service) the newmembership figures, how much offering money has beencollected and how it is being used. I do this in my position
as treasurer of the Headquarters Church. Over a period oftime there have been many press releases and interviews
with Hyung-jin nim, and we have seen journalists respondby reporting that the Unification Church is more ethical andtransparent than the large mainstream churches.
In particular, as the reporters learn about this true church
leader who wears traditional Korean clothing, works by
day in a tiny room, personally serves these journalists tea,offers devotions in the early hours of the morning, is greatly
acquainted with the principles of each religion, knowing
the Bible, the Koran and the Buddhist scriptures, and who

fication. It seems that interest in Korea in the tunnel between
this country and Japan is at a new height.
The World Peace and Unification Temple, Cheon Bok
Gung, is an emblematic and important project that, representing the victorious inheritance of True Parents’ realm of
victory and tradition, constitutes a focal point for the Unification community as well as for the world’s religions. As such,it will foster unity in both the political and religious spheres,and thus contribute to peace.
Looking at history, it is no exaggeration to say that almost
all wars have been based on religion. All religions serve God,and they all want to realize the ideal God created in orderto fulfill. Whether religions call God Allah or God, He is
one being. Even so, religions tend not to acknowledge otherfaiths or even other races and obstinately think only about
themselves. Thus they end up in conflict with each other.
Only True Parents can bring unity and peace.
Korea has passed through a course of indemnity like thatof the people of Israel, and has kept to a peaceful way in its
ethical and moral stance. The country has depth of faith suchthat Christianity could flourish more here thanin most of the world’s countries. Even thoughmost of the world’s religions coexist here, they
do so peacefully. Moreover the Korean Peninsula is host to a mixture of political ideologies.
It is also the nation of True Parents, who are thesecond coming of Jesus Christ and returning
Lord.
Hyung-jin nim explains that it is according to God’s providence that the third temple
should be built in Korea for these reasons. At
the temple, Cheon Bok Gung, people from all
religious and political persuasions, and from allraces, will expand the sphere of peace, harmony
and unity in worshipping God. It will certainly
accomplish God’s ideal of peace, and foster unification. This great effort will create importantmomentum worldwide. Rev. Moon Hyung-jin
is setting the internal [conceptual] direction tohead in, while Moon Kook-jin is the foundation
chairman providing the driving force for actuMr. Bang Young-sub's family at the Universal Arts Center (home of thealization.
Universal Ballet Company); Hoon-sook nim is between Mr. Bang and his
We will make continuous effort toward sucwife; Mr. Bang's son and his wife are in the middle at the back; his daughter
cessfully building the completion-level Cheonand her husband are standing next to Dr. and Mrs. Pak; in front are his four
Bok Gung. Not only with the passionate effort
grandchildren.
of the Unification Family but with that ofpeople contributing from all walks of society we will build aprays while walking around the Jogye Buddhist Headquargrowth-stage Cheon Bok Gung7 in the central Seoul district
ters Temple, the Catholic Cathedral in Seoul and the megachurches, they cannot suppress their admiration.
of Yongsan. That will be a great success for the worldwide
In coming to know about the recent miracles connected
Unification family. The names of those who have contributedwith the helicopter accident and the achievements of thesewill be recorded in the growth stage Cheon Bok Gung andtwo sons, society is showing increasing interest in True Paralso will be eternally remembered in the completion stage
ents and the Tongil Group, and is holding them in higher
Cheon Bok Gung. If we, the adherents of the Unification
esteem.
faith, maintain our dignity and make effort to encourage
many other people from around the world to participate in
How do you view the very ambitious projects our movethe project, the final victory can come more quickly. True
ment undertakes, for example, the construction of the
Parents’ victory will be recorded in history and will shine
World Peace and Unification Temple or the Bering Strait
brightly ever more. TW
Tunnel project?
7 An interim temple will be consecrated after modifying an existing
Because I am not directly involved in the Bering Strait projbuilding complex, providing more room for the Headquarters Church
ect, I cannot say so much about that. But I feel it is a project
congregation (which has outgrown the existing church). Those whohave already donated enough to qualify to have their names displayedthat symbolizes True Parents’ philosophy of peace, for thein Cheon Bok Gung will have their names displayed in both in thesake of interreligious unity, interracial unity, and world uniinterim and final temples.

January-February 200947

Mounting a Challenge to
Religious Intolerance
By Peter Zöhrer
During years in which he was a city leader, a national leader (three times, in different
countries) and a national messiah, Peter Zöhrer involved himself in a sideline activity.
His is the story of what can result from feeling righteous indignation and acting on it.
The article below resulted from an interview with Mr. Zöhrer and later correspondence.

T

he Forum for Religious Freedom (FOREF) began in 1998. From the beginning, theanti-cult people tried to put me into a corner, and paint us as a Moonie organization.
Yet I understood the concept of living for others had to be done on an organizational
level. We are in the same boat with other persecuted minority religious groups.
Only together can we survive the storm without being sunk. It is a favorite tactic of the anticult people to label, stigmatize and discriminate like this. They cultivated for years the term
“sect.” Their campaigns they have managed to create a phantom that ignites fear in people.
The real start of the concept that became FOREF was back in 1995, when True Father visited Hungary on a speaking tour. I was the national leader there (1993–1997). He had given avery successful speech there. It was published the same day in the national newspaper. Father
signed many copies. He was very happy. After True Parents left Hungary, we felt spirituallysomething was not right. In the afternoon, we suddenly received a telephone call saying that
True Parents were returning to Hungary. We were so shocked. We had already signed out of
the hotel. Immediately we arranged new accommodations. We picked them up at the airport(in our old cars).
We were just a small group of people at the hotel. True Parents, Rev. Kwak, Eastern Europe
regional leader Mr. Hashimoto, my wife and I. Rev. Kwak started praying. We had very little
idea of what had happened. We knew that True Parents had been turned back at Charles deGaulle Airport in Paris. They had been on their way to Spain but were sent back to Hungary.
This was the first time we found out about the "Schengen" ban.1 There was absolutely no
advance information about this.
Rev. Kwak prayed very intensely in Korean for about five minutes. I had an incredible
spiritual experience. My body was shaking, and I was weeping. I could not stop. I felt as if thewhole European spirit world were crying through me, as if we were crucifying the Messiah
collectively. The whole European spirit world seemed to be in agony, repenting.
Rev. Kwak finished his prayer, but I continued weeping. True Father started trying to
comfort me. Mother was very quiet and serious. Father tried to find ways to comfort me. He
walked to the window. You could see the beautiful lights of the Parliament and the River
Danube; it was so beautiful. Father looked out of the window, whistling. The more he tried
to comfort me, the more I cried. Finally he found a very good way to comfort me, by talking
about fishing—my favorite topic!
He asked me, “Can you fish in the Danube?”
I stopped crying. We talked about fishing. After a while, I said, quietly, “Father, I am sosorry. I am sorry for what Europe is doing to you.”
Father replied comfortingly, “Oh, I’m used to it. It always happens to me.”At that point, the idea of FOREF was born. I made a determination to myself, and to God: I
will fight for religious freedom in Europe. Whatever any leader tells me, I will fight until True
Parents are vindicated.
1 Among its many provisions, the Schengen Treaty, which helped create a borderless European Union,
affords a means for keeping any undesirable person out of the entire EU if one country adds that person’sname to a list. Schengen was the Luxembourgian village the treaty was signed in.

48

Today’s World

Returning home to Austria
In Hungary, the government invited me regularly with Catholic bishops and other religious leaders to a roundtable discussion in parliament once a year. There was genuine religious
freedom, but I was thinking and praying about what I could
do to actualize the vision I had.
I returned to Austria in 1997 after I became a national messiah to my own country! I was shocked at what happened inAustria; in 1998, Austria passed two laws against minority
religious groups. One outlined “confessional communities,”2
and the other established by law a federal sect observation
office. That’s when I started in earnest.
At first I was visiting church magazines. For example,
the Catholic Church would write an article against us. Then
I would confront the editors and say to them, either you
publish my letter or you have to meet me, and I will tell you
about human rights. In every case, they published the letter.
They didn’t want to meet me!
I started with the newspapers—tried to get our stories out.
I found some very cooperative journalists. I realized that they
are not so bad. They are human beings. Though the Austrianpress in general has caused me difficulties, individual journalists wanted to be fair—once they got to know me. Still, they
never got a positive story into the paper, because their editors always refused such articles. I thought that was strange
until I pestered one editor—I phoned and wrote faxes to him
for been about three or four weeks—until he got fed up withme. He sent me a fax, saying, “There is an unwritten constitutional statute that we should not treat minority religious
groups—so-called sects—in a positive way. This must havebeen a government instruction. We met the same problem
everywhere. Then I understood it doesn’t help to talk withjournalists—there is really an unwritten rule.
I started to think more and more about this. I realized thatto make any impact, I would need my own medium. There
was no choice. But how to create that? I decided to take a correspondence course in journalism. I had already had somejournalistic inclinations, and I had done some stringer workfor the Segye Times. But I had never ventured into it profes2 The Austrian government divided faiths into three categories—
sects, confessional communities and religions. Confessional communities could qualify as religions depending on length of existence inAustria and membership size.

sionally. The course was pretty tough. It helped me to gain
understanding of the world of journalism, and the situation inAustria, and to gain some skills. I then had more confidence.
I thought, “I know you guys! I know your tricks!” I began tohave a lot of confidence in writing.
Becoming an owner of the truth
While I was still doing the course, I saw a report about Matt
Drudge3 on the internet. I searched for more information
about him and found a speech he had given at the National
Press Association in the United States. The print media had
tried to ignore him, but at some point they couldn’t ignore
him anymore because he had so many hits [visitors] on his
web site—millions of hits. He beat all the print media. When I
listened to his speech, I felt as if God were talking to me. Matt
Drudge explained, Ladies and gentlemen, you always try toignore me, and now I am standing here talking to you. The
Drudge Report has become a powerful phenomenon.
Matt Drudge mentioned that he would look out of his window and speak with famous journalists from the past, who
seemed to be telling him what to do. When he said that, I got
goose pimples. What really touched me is that he said, You
have to realize that with the arrival of the internet, a new ageof democracy has arrived; you don’t have a monopoly on thetruth anymore. Now every man and every woman who has acomputer can be an owner of the truth and can publish it. A
new age has begun; man can be free.
I was shocked. That was it! I contacted Paul Ettl,4 within
one weekend we made a web site. We chose the name FOREF.
“Forum” is something of a magic word here in Europe. It’s
seen as a symbol of civil society and democracy. A forum isa powerful tool for lobbying, or for getting things moving. I
started posting material. Within three weeks, we had already
hit the national level. One of our Green Party politicians, alady, demanded that virtually every county in Austria have
five to eight criminal investigators observing the “sects.” Thiswas supposed to be a human rights party! I uploaded thestory and the headline was “Green Party in Austria Evokes
3 Founder of the Drudge Report, a web site that has original reporting as well as links to stories and publications all over the internet
4 A successful software entrepreneur and an internet provider who is
helping European members see the power of the internet as a witnessing tool

Left: Peter Zöhrer (right) with advocate of online outreach Paul Ettl, who set up FOREF's web site; Right: Board members of theEuropean Federation of Centers for Research and Information on Sects (FECRIS); FOREF campaigned (unsuccessfully) to prevent
FECRIS gaining participatory status in the Council of Europe on the grounds that this would increase the threat to religious freedom.
January-February 200949

the Spirit of the Inquisition.”ing Sects hosted a meetThe effect was that anothering with all the European
small political party, theanti-sect offices, under the
Liberal Party, phoned me inAustrian Government Family
my car and asked for permisMinistry. I wanted to attend
sion to put my story as thethis but was not allowed to. It
top link on their web site,
was by invitation only.
“because, you understand,
FOREF ran an article
we are the real the human
about it, with the headline
rights party.”“Government Hosts MotiIn countering the Austrian
vational Training for Sect
politicians, I posted a study
Busters.” This hurt themby the Organization forvery much. FOREF became
Security and Cooperation in
famous for bold headlines!
Europe (OSCE), which had
Then the head of the antifound that the so-called sects
sect office, Dr. German Mülare no more dangerous thanler, called me. For ten years,
other religious groups andhe had been the leader of an
A FOREF panel discussion at the University of Vienna
can even be of benefit. This
organization called Society
is a very important finding.5
Against Sects. He spoke to me
I indicated in my article that the Austrian politicians seem
over the telephone for three hours. He was very upset. He his
to have something to learn from the Germans. The German
best tried to explain himself. They cannot ignore us anymore.
Green Party is a genuine human rights party, unlike the one
We are also campaigning against the use of the word “sect”
in Austria. The story hit hard. From then on different media
in the media.
publications quoted FOREF, and increasingly web forums put
FOREF as one of their top links. That is how the FOREF web
My personal support networksite got many hits.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with the
It must be added that FOREF's early relationship with thestrong urge to write. As much as I want to continue sleepInternational Coalition for Religious Freedom (ICRF), run bying, I cannot. It is like an invisible force pushing me. My wife
Dan Fefferman and Bruce Casino in the United States, wasGabriele usually wakes up, too, and for her it is difficult to
crucial to it gaining international influence.
go back to sleep. She has never complained to me about mywild, irregular lifestyle. She has been constant in her supDistorted views, unfounded fears
port through prayer and moral encouragement. I remember
FOREF has become a real success story. No one can deny this.
her more than once saying during those nightly inspiration
The critics always tried to oppose. In Austria we have thirtyattacks, “Now, that´s the man I married, a passionate warfour anti-sect offices, which is out of proportion to our size asrior for righteousness!” Also, Dominic, our older son has
a country. Austria should be in the Guinness Book of Records
expressed fury on various occasions when religious discrimifor “sectophobia.”
nation has occurred. “Dad,” he would say, “we must do
In Austria we have about six hundred minority religious
something. We must fight this injustice!”groups. We have incredible legislation in Austria regarding
them. We have thirteen official religions and eleven "confesFOREF success stories
sional communities." According to this new law, in order toAt the time I began FOREF, I was church leader in Innsbruck.
become a recognized religion and join the thirteen, you have
From 1999 to 2000, I worked as national leader in Slovenia.
to have a ten-year testing time and you have to have more
This was a productive time for the work for FOREF. In thethan 18,000 members. All the others are called “sects.” If
brothers’ room, while the brothers were snoring and their
you are not a confessional community, or an official religion,
socks were hanging in front of me, I wrote on my laptop, stireveryone feels they have the right to discriminate against
ring up controversy in Austria. I did this during the night. I
you; you are like an outlaw! The point is that FOREF has been could not talk too much about FOREF in my sermons. This
fighting against this and raising awareness among the minorwas my personal war. I knew that one day it would help our
ity religious groups.
church very much. I was fighting for Father. I had a long-term
In 1998, the government published a brochure entitledvision for FOREF. Nevertheless, I couldn’t figure out how we“Knowledge Protects.” It was a blacklist of the most promicould actually stop them. They had so much power.
nent sects, of which we were one. The government published
While I was still in the Tyrol (Innsbruck), the head of thethis. They made the mistake of putting the Jehovah’s WitStyrian Anti-Sect Office, Dr. Schweidlenka, developed annesses in it; they are a confessional community. They didn’t
exhibition for schools, to warn the children. The exhibition
publish the names of any authors, though we knew exactly
had about thirty posters, and poster number twenty-eight
who it was. FOREF wrote a very sharp critique of this broshowed True Parents on a high podium conducting a Blessing
chure. Finally, the government had to back down and stop
Ceremony. Many couples in wedding attire stood in front of
distributing it.
them but every couple looked identical. They’d manipulated
In 1999, the Austrian Federal Office on Questions Regardthe poster in such a way that at first you thought it was Hitler
addressing a crowd. The title was “Absolute Obedience.” It
5 Peter generally attends the annual OSCE conferences and submits
reports about discrimination of religious minorities. Several times
really got me mad.
FOREF reported to the OSCE about the Schengen listing of True ParDr. Schweidlenka had organized a panel discussion in
ents.

50

Today’s Worldcooperation with city counselors and the state-level education
department. The purpose was to draw public attention to theexhibition, which was supposed to be taken from city to city
throughout Austria.
I was Innsbruck city leader at that time. I created leaflet
for FOREF and the Action Committee of Concerned Parents
and Teachers entitled “Stop Religious Discrimination in Our
Schools!” It was a merciless, point-by-point analysis of why
this was a human rights violation.
After distributing the leaflets, we entered as participants.
Everyone was reading the leaflet. One of the “experts” pointed me out. “He says he is with FOREF, but he is a member ofthe Moon sect!”
I kept my cool.
My son Dominic was with me. Not long before, he hadcome home from high school and he was mad. He said, “Dad,you have to do something. Today, the teacher discriminatedagainst my religion in front of the class again.” Three different
teachers had done this. Finally, Muslim high school students
came to his defense. (My son is very straightforward. On his
schoolbooks, he had written, “I am studying for God, True
Parents and humankind.” That is how he motivates himself.)
At some point in the discussion, I told the panelists, “Whatyou are doing here is creating an atmosphere that is very hostile toward children who belong to minority religious groups.
They will be mocked, discriminated against, stigmatized.”
No, they said. We don’t want that. That’s ridiculous!
I said, “You really think so? I have a witness here who
can tell you exactly how it feels.” They had to be fair, so they
invited my son Dominic to speak. He stood up coolly andrelated his experience in a matter of fact manner. You could
have heard a pin drop. They felt so bad!
Then the city council fell over themselves to make it up
to him; they invited him for a buffet, and so on. But it was aturning point. Even so, I did not know how to win this war.
Tyrolean transfiguration
I climbed up Mount Isel, where the Tyroleans had beatenback Napoleon’s army on several occasions. Up there is thestatue of Andreas Hofer, the Austrian freedom fighter. Thereis a museum, with the inscribed names of the freedom fighters. I have always felt this was a very spiritual place, and I

felt some special spiritual support from Andreas Hofer. In the
middle of the night, I prayed. I was desperate. I asked God,How can I win this war?—it is too much!
Then something happened. Suddenly I saw many figures
everywhere around me, beings emanating light, and I heard
them speak in one voice, Don’t be of little faith! We are helping you. This is just a small battle that you will win—and wewill guide you in much bigger battles.
Then they said, We are on your side.
I could not understand this; but they were somehow challenging me—This is nothing. Have faith! I decided not to giveup. I went down the mountain and thought, Let’s see.
The next day I got a phone call from Prof. Zangerle of Innsbruck University, a youth psychologist and famous columnist
in Austrian newspapers. He asked me if he could use thewording of our FOREF leaflet. “This is great stuff,” he said,“Can I use it in an article in a Tyrolean daily newspaper?”I said, “If you like it, you can use it.”He wrote a scathing criticism of the exhibition. His line of
attack was that this exhibition was an ineffective way to teachkids about the danger of sects and would ignite discrimination because of its alarmist approach. That`s exactly what
we don`t need in our schools. FOREF sent his article, whichappeared in the Tiroler Tageszeitung, to all the high schools in
the country. The reaction of the teachers and school directors
was impressive. They strongly protested to Dr. Schweidlenka’s office and the project had to be stopped before it went
nationwide. Schweidlenka was furious. He expressed hisfrustration in public, “Never before have we experienced sucha powerful defense from the sects. FOREF has added a new
quality to this confrontation.”Moving others from passive to active
Later, in 2001, when I was the national leader of Austria, oneof my biggest frustrations was getting the religious communities consistently on board with FOREF. I needed to present
FOREF as a forum supported by religious communities.
The religious communities loved the professional, righteous and fearless work of FOREF, and they constantly fed mewith new information regarding cases of religious discrimination. They even told me that they have included protecting
FOREF and me in their daily prayers.

Left: A recent view of FOREF's web site, leading with news of religious intolerance in Kazakhstan. (The site is mainly inGerman.) Right: A FOREF statement on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) web site
January-February 200951

Left to right: Mr. Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers; Peter Zöhrer speaking at the United Nations in
Geneva; Mr. Günther Ahmed Rusznak (background), spokesman for the Islamic Community in Upper Austria, with Professor
Christian Brünner, president of FOREF, at the FOREF press conference.
Some evangelical groups have suffered very much because
the evangelicals. Even the Mormons, one of the establishedof discrimination by local authorities. They did not belong
religions in Austria, were attacked.
to the thirteen official religions in Austria, so they were also
They suggested we should create an expert opinion on
stigmatized as “sects.” They may have been denied meethow unconstitutional this is. I was looking for the right constiing rooms. They have suffered attacks by the media andtutional expert when I met Dr. Christian Brünner, a professor
because forty-two anti-sect movies are circulating in Austrianof European and Public Law at Graz University. He is also
schools, some of them have children who have been vilified
an important constitutional expert in Austria. He has been aor attacked.
member of parliament and a national president of university
But for the most part religious communities really haven’t
rectors. He has expertise in the dialogue of cultures and in
had enough guts to support publicly. The cult “experts” tried
human rights.
to ostracize and stigmatize me. “This is a Moon organization.
This is a one-man show.” This was my battle, to overcome this Press conference confrontation
stigma and prove to the public that this was a forum.
Prof. Brünner was very distant in the beginning. Bit by bit I
There was a time when I was almost ready to throw in the
had to win his sympathy. Then I was raising the funds, money
towel. Then I received a phone call from Who’s Who in Austria. came in, six or seven thousand euros from the persecuted
I had been recommended by three members of Who’s Who
religious groups. The expert opinion became much longer
in Austria to be included in the book. They invited me to bethan I had originally intended, over sixty pages. When it wasinterviewed at a prominent café in Vienna.
finished, we held a press conference.
They opened a new category “Human Rights Activist” andI got incredible support from my friend Mr. Rusznak, theI was the first to be included. It gave me a boost.
speaker in a mosque that had been torn down by the local
FOREF has a certain power. When I was in Cheongpyeong
authorities, who were kind of right wing. I was there with a
I made a determination that I was not going to pray forcamera recording as they tore it down. The authorities had
FOREF. I was there as the national leader, so I would pray forfound, according to them, some irregularities; somehow ita breakthrough in that work, but I would not pray for FOREF. didn’t qualify as a mosque, but another expert disputed that.
However, I was in the prayer hall, praying, when suddenly FOREF supported him in his battle. Rusznak is an Austrian,
I got these very clear instructions about what I should do fora convert to Islam. We became friends because I was the only
FOREF! Later, I went up to the mountain, the Tree of Blessing. one who supported him. In turn, he was my press spokesI was not going to pray about FOREF. Thensuddenly—whoosh!—You have to do this,and do that, and formulate it like this. All in
detail. This course of action outlined by thisrevelation turned out to be the right thing
to do! There is some power in this project
beyond my own understanding.
One of FOREF’s biggest breakthroughsthat allowed us to prove ourselves to the
public was when the state government ofUpper Austria and the Catholic Church created a CD that criticized three hundred andfifty minority religious groups. It was widelydistributed in schools. This must have beenin about 2003.
Evangelical Christian ministers calledme; they are ardent readers of our web site.
In Warsaw Poland, in 2007, FOREF presented its views on state-sponsored
They said, Mr. Zöhrer, we should do somediscrimination of religious minorities at the OSCE's Human Dimension
thing about this. They were also attacked,
Implementation Meeting, the largest human rights conference in Europe.

52

Today’s Worldman. He has helped me to write articles.
We organized a press conference. The night before that we
had an information evening that two hundred people fromvarious minority religious groups attended.
All the major media outlets were at the press conference
and they all knew Mr. Rusznak. Prof. Brünner and seven representatives of minority religious groups were sitting besideme. They all had statements ready. We had only time for a few
statements, but Professor Brünner’s was brilliant.
For one year we had tried to get the upper Austrian government to stop the distribution of the CD, but they wouldn’t
even talk to us. We couldn’t even talk to the deputy governor.
I wrote a very sharp open letter to the deputy governor,
which several journalists congratulated me for, because I
wrote things that wouldn’t have gotten past their editors.
Austria Presse Agentur (APA) contacted the deputy governor. They put tremendous pressure on him. Within three days,
the deputy governor had no choice but to receive our delegation. We made a deal, and we published the deal through thenational news agency, APA. The school authorities and the
Catholic Church stopped the further distribution of the CD
immediately after the press conference. Mormons and someother churches could also post descriptions of their own faithcommunities on the Catholic Church web site, where originally the content of the discriminatory CD was uploaded.
Also, at the press conference, Prof. Erno Lazarovits, in
his strong Hungarian accent, said, “Ladies and gentlemen,
you may wonder why a Hungarian has come to the capitalof Upper Austria to talk to you about religious freedom. I’m
not just Hungarian. I spent some years of my life in Austria
during the war. Do you know where I lived? I lived in Mauthausen, which was, as you may remember, your local Nazi
concentration camp. I was one of the Jewish prisoners there
who luckily, by God`s grace, could survive. I became very
concerned when hearing that the government and church ispersecuting small religions. That`s the way it started back inthe 1930s. They started to pick on small religions, the Jews,
the Jehovah’s Witnesses. When I see this happening again, I
feel obliged to raise my voice and sound a warning, Neveragain!” His speech stunned the
media representatives.
FOREF organizes professionallyProf. Brünner’s expert opinion isstill regarded as a major reference
source on the issue of religious
freedom in Austria. He could
see such incredible injustice inthe way Austrian law dealt withminority religions, but up to thenhe had had no means to fightagainst it. Now he has found
FOREF. From that point on, he has
been advising and protecting us.
He told me we should makean official association. When I firstmet him about writing an expert
opinion, he hesitatingly took on
the challenge. He must have been
impressed with the success of the
FOREF campaign; he was willingto serve as expert advisor. When
we registered FOREF as a legal

January-February 2009

organization, Prof. Brünner was happy to serve as president.
Since then, FOREF’s public image has changed even more. We
have an impressive board of legal advisors and international
experts. Now I am the secretary general and my president ispushing me to act! I feel very good about this.
Prof. Brünner also told me, “Peter, you should get a press
card.” I had always thought that the Austria National Press
Association would never give me accreditation because
they are left-leaning, but I applied, sending my material as
it is, without pretense. Take it or leave it, I thought. No one
is going to deter me. Not long after, a nice letter arrived
informing me that I had been accepted as a member. I am an
accredited journalist. It is a powerful card; it gets you into
almost everything and can be used in other countries. When I
received this, I had tears in my eyes. It was like Cain’s recognition.
An inquisition-free zone
I have always understood what Father means by true love.
You have these people who are going against the Messiah.
You have to prevent them from committing this terrible sin.
This is true love.
Most of all, FOREF has turned enemies into friends. We
have key people who were at first our enemies and became
friends.
The Austrian government dissolved the Unification
Church of Austria in 1975. The movement was pushed into
the underground until after the cold war. In 1996, we registered the Family Federation for World Peace as an official
NGO. Whenever I was asked about my religious affiliation,
I proudly identified myself as a member of the Unification
Church and a follower of Rev. Moon.
My guiding motto for FOREF has always been Father's
guidance, “True love means living for others.” Consequently,
it took several years until I felt free to defend my own religious community. After a certain foundation of public trust
was established, it did not harm the credibility of FOREF for it
to be defending my own faith community.
Since 1997, when I returned to Austria, after having served
for twenty-one years in othercountries, I was determined topromote sustainable results forGod`s providence. True Father told
the national messiahs that their
mission will extend even to theirdescendants. One goal is to fightfor a country that is free of inquisition and religious discrimination.
One could say we are propagating
an inquisition-free zone all overAustria. I don’t want my children,
grandchildren or the descendants
of other parents to be persecutedfor their religious convictions. I
want them to be free to follow
their conscience. Somehow, ourHeavenly Father and the liberated
Austrian saints and sages havebeen guiding us. TW
For more information visit FOREF:
http://www.religionsfreiheit.at/

The Zöhrer Family

53

Heaven and Earthin the Gambia
By Ramdane Hadj-amar

GambiaThe words in hangul spell
Cheonjoo (heaven and earth)54

I

had not heard of the Gambia before my wife and I picked it as
our mission country at the 1996 national messiah workshop in
Cheongpyeong. I had been unaware of its existence, but mywife and I were very happy to have chosen an African nation.
The Gambia is a tiny country, a former British colony. On a map,the Gambia appears like a river within Senegal about two-thirds ofthe way down from Senegal’s northern border and flowing from
320 kilometers inland to the Atlantic Ocean. This is because theGambia’s territory consists only of narrow strips of land on eitherside of the Lower Gambia River. The borders of the Gambia undulate parallel to the river for most of its length. Only for the hundred
kilometers before the river empties into the Atlantic do the Gambia’s northern and southern borders look as if they were drawn
with a straightedge. This is where the Gambia is at its widest, northto south, at just fifty kilometers.
The Gambia is a poor country, whose resources are mainly agricultural produce and fish, but it is peaceful, without tribal or religious conflicts. We were determined to go to our nation with thewhole family and did live there for a while with our three sons—Urio, Su-won and Su-chang­­—who at the time were ten, seven andfour years old respectively. Eventually, we recognized our limitations in overcoming certain environmental and economic circumstances and returned to Italy. However, we have tried
to work in the Gambia for some period every year.
In the beginning, I mainly tried to support the
programs already set up by the local church, which
included family life education, HIV prevention workshops in the local schools, Divine Principle seminars,
interreligious conferences, various other education
programs and Sunday service. I am grateful for the
support of a young Korean missionary, Kim Jae-chan
and the Japanese sisters of WFWP, who had madea good foundation of membership before we cameto work there as national messiahs. In the beginningof our mission we also benefitted from being able towork with Mrs. Nishiki, the Eve-nation national messiah and the Berndt family, the Abel-nation messiahs.
It is not easy to work with people of different
nationalities in a country that is not your own. To tell
the truth, differences of opinions, ideas, culture andexperiences among the various missionaries came out,
and sometimes prevented us from working smoothly;
if we had been able to overcome our disunity, probably we would have achieved much better results

Today’s Worldworking together.
WFWP had a scholarship program
to help needy Gambian students continue their studies. For quite a few
years, our family supported this program from Italy by collecting moneyfrom various sponsors to “adopt”
students.
Cheonjoo (Heaven and Earth) Peace
Education Center
After visiting the Gambia over anumber of few years, I felt dissatisfied
with what I was achieving. Hence,
I thought of a long-term, significant
project that could help improve thedaily life of the people. All over thecountry, you can see village wells
built by foreign individuals or by
NGO associations. I had not immediately thought of providing a well. I
had been planning to build a schoolof agriculture, where young people
would learn agricultural techniques andpractices and perhaps other skills suchas fish farming or computer use. This
would be combined with character andfamily values education under a vision
for a peaceful world. I envisioned thisas the Cheonjoo Peace Education Center. To fulfill this, however, we needmoney.
In 2003, to win the trust of the Italian people and encourage them tocontribute toward this project, I created
an official association using the International Relief Friendship Foundation
model—IRFF Italia-Gambia. This madeit possible to accept donations frompublic or private donors. I did this witha few friends and at the same time created a similar team of Gambian friends
to work on this and future projects.

The Gambian team put me in touchwith Mr. Dawda Jones, a member ofparliament. Through him, we met Mr.
Jatta, chief of Kunkujang Village. After
listening to our plan and explaining it
to other village elders, they welcomed
our education project and gave us landto build on (and dig in) free of charge.
I was so excited about the projectthat I didn’t stop to consider the costs.
If I had, I probably never would havebegun.
One thing I knew for sure: once
completed, it would be a functional andvaluable project that could be reproduced in others places.
Funding and personal sacrifices
The Peace and Love Association was
created in memory of Steven Grande,a second- generation Italian brother

whose philosophy of life was tocompletely invest himself and leavesomething positive behind for others.
He died in a car accident on January
1, 2006. Reading his diary, his parents,
Mario and Edda Grande, discoveredthat Steven had dreamed of building afood factory in Africa.
One day Mario and Edda told me
they felt that the Cheonjoo Peace Education Center project was something
Steven would have wanted to be a partof. For that reason, they and Steven’s
younger brother Terrence joined othermembers of the Peace and Love Association in raising funds for the project.
Things would have been very difficult
without their help. When I am in theGambia, I often feel I am not alone, butthat Steven Grande is actively helping
me from heaven to realize this project.

Top: Drilling for water, "a tangible, yin type of nourishment" we often take for granted; Bottom left: Ramdame with somecommunity leaders and (right) Chief Jatta transferring village land to IRFF so the project can be hosted in his village
January-February 200955

Above: Ramdane with residents of Kunkujang Village, located 30 km south of Banjul,
the Gambian capital; Below: Workmen construct the Peace Education Centre office
When I lived in Rome, my neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Giampaolo, alsooffered their help. Mr. Giampaolo is anaccountant for ACEA, Rome’s public
water and electric company. He told me
his company was sponsoring projects
in Africa, and that if I were interested,
I could apply through him to receive
sponsorship for my project in theGambia. That’s how I could receive€17,000,1 which enabled me to begin
our project in November 2007.
It is very difficult to run a project ina country that is not your own. I felt I
had to supervise every step in person
and control everything that was bought
so that none of the money was wasted.
At first, people didn’t believe inthe project, but when they saw what
we achieved in such a short time, they
couldn’t believe their eyes. I am working with a good construction team fromthe Village of Kunkujang. This is very
encouraging. We are working hand in
hand, knowing that this project will
benefit their children’s future.
It hasn’t been easy because I work
as a volunteer and my family has tosurvive with the little money I givethem, particularly when I go to Africa
for the project for two or three months
at a time. I feel particularly sorry for mychildren.

and take a break from time to time.
Often I go to the seaside to fish; even if
I don’t catch anything, I enjoy it verymuch. One day, I went to my usual
fishing spot. It was a cool morning witha slight breeze. I was concentrating
so much on fishing that I was disconnected from anything else happeningaround me. My concentration brokewhen I heard a loud voice calling myname. It seemed as if the voice filled
the whole universe. Ramdane!
Wow! Who is calling me? I asked
myself, but when I turned around tosee where the sound had come from, I
couldn’t locate the source and realized
it was God’s voice. I was so moved torealize that God knows me. He knows
me by name.
The best part of working in theGambia is that I meet good people whocare and want to help me. We havebuilt a wall around the Cheonjoo Peace
Education Center. This was required
before we could invest in the projectfurther. Within the wall are the welland a small office. Next we want to add
solar panels, build classrooms, a student dormitory, toilets, a kitchen and agood irrigation system. For this, we areworking to find the necessary funds,
and we are looking for sponsors who
would like to become
part of the project.
There is great satisfaction in working to help
others. TW
For more information about
Mr. Hadj-amar’s projects
in the Gambia, please go to
www.italia-gambia.org

Recognition from heaven and earth
While in the Gambia, I have to stop
1 About $21,500

56

Today’s World

Preparing to Match Your ChildAn Interview with the Chairman of
the European Blessed Family Department

During a recent visit to Korea, Mr. Geros Kunkel, the affable man responsible for European second-generation blessing affairs, consented to being interviewed. His in-depth responses should
prove a good beginning point for parents facing the prospect of matching a son or daughter.
Today’s World: Has the function of the Second Generation Blessed Family Department changed with the advent of matching by parents?
Geros Kunkel: An element has changed; it’s no longer just about preparing candidates to
go to True Parents’ matching. Now the parents are included in the whole process. For
that reason, the education has changed, and of course there is a new focus for us—to
work with parents, to include parents and to reflect with parents about how to best go
about matching and the blessing.
For first-generation couples the focus in receiving the blessing was removal oforiginal sin. How would you describe the significance of the blessing for secondgeneration couples?
The removal of the original sin is part of the process of the change of lineage. Thoseborn into the second generation of that lineage should protect the lineage. This means
education for us has been on keeping purity and on preparing ourselves to establish
our own families through the blessing. We are continuing the lineage and continuing
within our own lineage to perfect ourselves, which is a goal of the first-generation
blessing that we have to achieve over the generations.
First-generation parents might think that accepting the blessing is natural for ourchildren. We might be lazy about helping them prepare. What should we be doing?
Having good communication between parents and children allows us to talk about
the subjects which are important—our values about marriage, and about purity. Of
course, as they grow up in the world and go to school, those in the second generation
are confronted with society’s values in terms of marriage and relationships. In order tohighlight what is important in our tradition, it’s good to communicate early and not ina stressful situation—meaning don’t wait until you are already trying to match them.
Build a close relationship with your children, convey your values and beliefs, and thenstep by step raise them to realize and understand the value of the blessing and to also
willingly prepare themselves to go this way.
You said it’s good to communicate early; how early?
It depends on the child, but you can start very early in a very basic form, even before
the age of ten, to generally talk about boys and girls, because already by then they’retalking about these kinds of things with their friends. Definitely, in teenage years—
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen—be more direct about relationships and why it’s important
to abstain from them and that God has prepared a spouse for him or her. There is a
lot of purity education available, which is valuable to use. The key is that children areable to feel that their parents are the ones they can go to about these issues. Often, I
think it’s difficult for parents to talk about the sexual relationship or things related to it
directly with their children, but it would be good if the children feel that they can ask
questions and freely communicate with their parents, because they will be confronted
with the issue in school and other people will talk about it.

January-February 200957

one of the biggest responsibilities we
as blessed families should inherit from
True Parents. We should continue True
Parents’ tradition in our own families,
and God wants to work in that way. It
is something we should at least try totake on ourselves and maybe not worry
about too much. It’s difficult, but I’msure God is very interested in working
in that area; it’s a chance for us to experience God working in our own families
if we take it on. We are setting the tradition for matching and blessing now.
We should take on this task and inheritfrom our True Parents. Also on bothsides, parents and children, we need to
set the right tradition of allowing God’s
will to work in our families.

Aren’t children sometimes more reluctant to discuss these issues than theirparents are?
That’s possible. In any case, it’s important as parents to be sensitive to how
our children deal with the issue. Somemight not deal with it early; usuallyboys wait longer or don’t want to talkabout it directly. The best education as
parents is to be a good example, to bea happy couple is more effective thanwords. Our children will think, My parents have a happy blessing; I also wantto have that.
How can parents increase their confidence that God is working throughthem in the matching process?
For many parents confidence is one ofthe difficulties in matching. As withmany things in our spiritual lives, it requires our full
effort, but we should feel
confident that True Parents
have given us this responsibility and that we canfulfill it. No parent is alone
in it; matching is our joint
responsibility as a community of blessed families.
We want to support
blessed families, so we’veorganized convocations
and different events whereparents can come together
to hear others’ experiences
and to gain confidence
and support each other.
There is support, and there
are ways to help eachother. Obviously, this is58

On the other hand, our children haveseen us in the mundane role of a dad
and mom. How might they deepen
their trust that God works through theprocess when parents match?
To attend a blessing workshop together
is very valuable, because in a very deep
way we talk about the process of theblessing and the change of lineage. The
parents can also gain confidence fromthe workshop because we value thecourse they went through. Children
hear testimonies from parents and cansee that there’s much more depth inwhat they went through than that theymarried and became my parents. I thinkit’s very valuable to share your life testimony, for those in the first generation
to share how you joined the church andhow you went to the blessing. However,you can’t expect the children, from theirside, to make that step, nor to see andappreciate the depth of the course of theblessing naturally.
And that’s better facilitated at a blessing workshop.
That’s one place. Of course, it can bedone in the community, at Sunday
services, or at other second-generation
workshops. There are many opportunities. A blessing workshop is a good one,because there we directly talk about
what the process of the change of lineage means from various perspectives—
from history, from the True Parents’course, the course of the first generationand the Blessing Ceremony itself. We
look at the marriage and the matchingprocess more from an internal point ofview, which gives you an opportunity
to share with your children about it. But
anytime you can find an opportunity isfine. When those in the second generation go to workshops or do public missions, it’s always a chance for them torealize more about the course of the first
generation and the course of our True
Parents, as well as the importance anddeep meaning generally of the blessing
and our lineage.
Emphasis on elevating the course of
the first generation makes me think
we’re seen as needy people. I wonder
how necessary it is.
It is important for us in the second
generation to be aware of the lineage,of the first generation’s providential
time and of the role they played. It is
our identity, the pride of the second
generation, what makes us special inGod’s eyes. Of course, it might not beeasy for those in the first generation to
go off and brag about it, but younger
people don’t know muchabout this. They don’t
have much direct accessto what occurred during
the wilderness course andwhat our movement hasgone through. There has
to be a way for them toaccess that, and to also feelpride in their parents. Ifparents live a very sincere
life, children very naturally
see that, but in daily life
it’s not always easy, so wemay need to find ways for
it to be brought out andmentioned.
What's the Cheon Il Guk
blessing standard?
What True Parents are try-

Today’s Worlding to establish is based on God’s original ideal of young people growing up
in purity, growing up in an atmosphereof parental love and brother–sister love,with everything that has to do withthe conjugal relationship coming only
after receiving the blessing. This is sothat we have no experiences of conjugal or exclusive love between man andwoman as preparation for receiving theblessing from God. God can be mostpresent under those circumstances; God
can bless that. In that sense, the basic
definition is to have no experience ofthe other sex.
We are not yet at a point where all ourchildren keep that standard.
Father, of course, uses the Cheon Il
Guk standard. He is trying to make it amodel for all of us, so we should focus
on the issue of keeping our purity andpreparing our hearts to receive ourspouse from God and to have God withus from the beginning point of this relationship. Everything we do is to prepare
ourselves to be absolutely free, with aclear conscience, in front of God and in
front of our spouse. That’s the guideline,that’s where we are trying to head.
In reality many people have struggled with that; some have made mistakes. In the matching, parents have todeal with all those situations. We haveto be able to embrace those who havemade a mistake, help them find ways
to restore that and come to the blessing
with a pure heart.
Father has supported us by giving us
a lot of grace, a lot of forgiveness, andby opening up the way for many kindsof people with difficult situations toreceive the blessing.
Still, we have to keep the ideal andtry to do the best we can to fulfill thatstandard. If mistakes have been made,it’s important that we don’t just accept
them, but that we go through the courseof confessing them, indemnifying themand coming to a pure heart. In thematching, we also need to consider how
this might affect a future spouse.
As blessed families, we need to takeresponsibility for all these situations andtry as much as possible to turn them in
the right direction, to move in a verticalway, so that God can still be present andguide us. That can be painful in somesituations, but the Cheon Il Guk standard should be our guide, the ideal we
strive to realize, as it is God’s originalideal and is absolute.
I imagine that keeping a vertical focus
is a concern in any matching by parents.
It’s important for the parents to discusswith their children what is important
about matching and blessing. They need
to be honest with themselves, because
everyone has different expectations.
Some might feel it’s important that theperson looks good or that I have a goodfeeling with the person. Some might
think it’s important that the matching
candidate have a certain education level
or income.
We want to try to see from God’s
perspective, to find the person God has
prepared and the person our child cangrow to a high standard with, have agood family with and raise children

with so that God’s tradition can carryon.
We need to consider how they can
support each other in keeping a healthy
spiritual life.
It’s important to share about thesethings, be aware of and reflect on what
our values are and perhaps challenge
those values if there are aspects that weshouldn’t focus on too much. Let’s see
how we can create a process where wetry to consider God’s will and guidanceas much as possible.
If we accompany that with prayer,with reflection and discussion withother families, I am sure God will workand show us the way. I think He will
work differently in each family; we all
have to find our way to allow God to
guide us in this process.
If being blessed to someone fromanother country or culture inspires thechild and the parents, what additional
preparation would you recommend?
Language is always one thing to consider. If both are from Western countries
and the two speak English, usuallythat’s fine. If it’s to someone from an
Asian country, it would be good to be atleast aware of the language situation.
To have lived in another country
is always valuable. It’s very difficultfor people blessed together, such as
someone from the West and someone
from Asia, if one of them is unwillingto move. Living in the other country fora year or so, not just visiting, changes
your view.
Two worlds are coming together withvery different expectations of marriage,
different views of how to do things anddifferent understandings of the roles of
man and woman. Any of these issues
might be confronted, so it helps that you
are open-minded and able to see thegood side and the value in the other culture, rather than just the differences andthe bad side. To live in a foreign country
is valuable before or after the blessing. We need to be aware that our own
culture may also seem strange to theother person. To be open to loving othercultures is important. Each situation is
so different, but being open-minded andhaving as much international experience
as possible is helpful.
How would you recommend parents
help their son or daughter once he or
she has been blessed?
It’s a bit of a tightrope walk, because on
Continued on page 65 ... Preparing

January-February 200959

The Messiah’s
CountrymenIn the years spanning True Parents’ births,
there was no division on the Korean Peninsula, no border to cross on the train journeyfrom Fusan on the southern tip of the peninsula through Keijo and Heijo to Shingishu
on the Joseon–China border.1 The Japanese hadchanged Korea’s name to Joseon, which some
non-Koreans publications adopted, though sometimes they used “Korea, a province of Japan,” or“Korea—that part of Japan situated on the mainland.”
True Father was born on February 25, 1920
(first month, sixth day of the lunar calendar) in
North Pyung-an Province, which abuts China on
the west coast of the peninsula. “I was born,” heexplained, “during the Japanese colonial administration of Korea. I have experienced firsthandthe pain and sorrow of a weak nation trampled
on by a powerful neighbor. During my youth, I
thought seriously about how to bring salvation tothis tragic world of war and evil.”
Saito Makoto was governor-general of Korea
at the time of True Father’s birth. Saito dealt with
Joseon in a more sophisticated manner than had
his predecessors. He encouraged social organizations and allowed a relatively free press. Two
newspapers still existing had their beginnings in
the first year of Saito’s administration.
Saito worked with Koreans that could serve
as models of assimilation and promoted relations
with them, while simultaneously greatly expanding the police force in order to mete out forcefulrepression to those who continued to fight the
government. He showed businessmen the benefits that could come their way by cooperatingwith his regime, though this meant colluding
with the government at the expense of their fellow Koreans. In this way, he set Koreans against
one another, thus harming the nation deeply. The
vestiges of these policies are with the Korean
people to this day.2

1 These Japanese names refer respectively to today’s
Busan, Seoul, Pyongyang and Sinuiju. Joseon, in thosedays spelled Choson or Cho-sen, was also the name of
the last Korean dynasty. For China, Japan used Ci Na, anoffensive term Japanese ultranationalists still use today.
2 As recently as February 2008, the Korean government
confiscated land worth $4.5 million from the descendantsof Koreans who collaborated and used it to benefit thedescendants of Koreans who fought for independence.

60

By David Beard
True Mother was born in South Pyung-an
Province on February 10, 1943 (first month, sixth
day of the lunar calendar). Koiso Kuniaki was thegovernor-general of Joseon when True Motherentered the world. He was later described as “atwo-fisted army man who is known as the Korean Tiger because of his brutalities while governorof Korea.” In August of that year, military conscription began for Korean boys beginning fromage seventeen. This led to frequent riots in Korea
over both conscription and Japanese food control.
True Mother’s home was quite near Pyongyang. A few years before her birth, it was estimated that more than half a million Protestant
Christians lived in Pyongyang and that it was themost Christianized city in Asia. Some churches
had Japanese approval, but the ones that True
Mother and her mother attended were underground churches, alive with spirit but in constantdanger of being raided by the police.
We know from Divine Principle that in relation to the Messiah and his bride, the years Korea
suffered under Japan fulfilled “a national dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan for thecosmic-level restoration of Canaan.” But othersignificant developments also helped prepare
Korea as True Parents’ birthplace.
Maitreya, the future Buddha
In centuries past, China was Korea’s suzerain.
Theirs was a Confucian-inspired relationship thatinvolved younger-brother Korea making material
offerings to elder-brother China and occasionally holding ceremonies that demonstrated theirrespect. In return, China interceded in any international conflicts involving Korea, while Korea
had complete control over her own domestic
affairs.
In ad 372, during a period when three kingdoms occupied the peninsula,3 Buddhism wasbrought from north China to Korea by Sun-do, amissionary monk. King Sosurim of the Goguryeo
Kingdom welcomed Buddhist teachings.
At that time, Chinese Buddhists were keenlyinterested in the Maitreya, the future Buddha.
In the Pali canon, an early collection of Buddhist

3 The three kingdoms period (roughly 18 bc–ad 668);the
Unified Silla Dynasty (668–935), the Koryo Dynasty(935–1392) and the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910)

Today’s Worldliterature and sutras, we find, "I am not the first
Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be thelast. In due time another Buddha will arise in theworld, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened one,endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious,
knowing the universe, an incomparable leaderof men, a master of angels and mortals.... He willproclaim a religious life, wholly perfect and pure,such as I now proclaim.... He will be known as
Maitreya, which means 'he whose name is kindness.'"
Poke around in Christian texts and you’ll findmany views on the returning Christ. Some say
he will come only to Israel, others that one’s own
acceptance of Jesus is his return; still others cling
to the idea that he will appear in the sky and that
Christians living and long dead will rise from theearth to join him. It is much the same with theMaitreya. The various views Buddhists hold on
the Maitreya will only be clarified once Buddhists
realize he is now among them. According to one
Korean scholar, “Every period in Korean history
and every local area in Korea has appropriatedMaitreya in its own way. The Maitreya faith has
played an ongoing and important role in eachperiod of Korean history in most all provinces of
Korea.”
Belief in the Maitreya still exists in Korea,
China, Japan and India—all Buddhist strongholds. In China, belief in the Maitreya was its
height just as missionary Sun-do was being dispatched to the Goguryeo Kingdom. News of the
future Buddha came—along with basic Buddhist
precepts—like mother’s milk to Korean Buddhism in its infancy. Though Maitreya expectation has waned in China, it not only remains
among Korean Buddhists but has crossed over
into general Korean folk belief. During the timethat True Father began his public ministry, morethan eighty active Korean Buddhist groups could
be identified as holding belief in the Maitreya.
The structure of early Korean society
Throughout most of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty(1392–1910) Confucian virtues of loyalty, filial
piety and faithfulness imbued Korea’s social
hierarchy, etiquette, government and education.
Socially, not only was Korea tightly stratified,with opportunities to rise in the social hierarchy
being severely limited, but social positions werehereditary, they remained fixed over generations.
The aristocrats, who monopolized land,
wealth and political power, were of two types,
the munban [문반] (civilian class) and muban [무반](military class); they were generally referred toas [양반] yangban, a term that simply meant “bothclasses.” There were nine tiers of yangban, eachhaving four grades. Only yangban could take thecivil service examinations, which emphasized
Confucian literary knowledge. With rare exceptions, only those who had passed such a test
were appointed to a government or military post.
Beneath the yangban came the chung-in, [중인]January-February 2009

Many sutras in the Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan
branches of Buddhism foretell the coming of theMaitreya, seen here in Tusita, a realm of Buddhist heaven.
(middle people) a relatively small group comprising petty officials, technicians, translators and thechildren of any yangban man and his chung-in
concubine. (A yangban woman couldn’t be a concubine, and a child by concubine inherited whatever status below yangban that its mother had.)
The vast majority of Koreans were sangmin [상민] (common people). Most sangmin were tenant
farmers, tilling land owned by a yangban; a scantnumber owned land. Merchants and artisans
were also sangmin.
The lowest social class was cheonmin [천민](low-born people). Most cheonmin were slavesof various sorts, burdened with varying degrees
of servitude. Actors (there were no actresses);kisaeng [기생], the Korean equivalent to Japan’s
geisha, and butchers were also cheonmin.
Korea’s tight social order may have been asource of stability at one time, but as the nation
faced foreign challenges and domestic corruption,it
became a national straightjacket. From themid-1800s, in pursuit of varying combinationsof profit and national security, the United States,
Britain, Japan, China and Russia all had designs
on Korea. Korea’s leaders seemed only to wish
they would all go away of their own accord.
In 1871, in front of every government office inthe nation, Taewongun, the tyrannical father of
Korea’s boy-king (Kojong 1852–1919) had largestones erected which bore an inscribed warning to “our descendants for a thousand years.”

61

The inscription read, “Western barbarians areencroaching; failure to resist is appeasement.
Appeasement is tantamount to selling our country.” This, sadly, was one of the more innovative
responses to the prevailing national crises.
Uneasiness was a defining characteristic of thetimes. Impoverished sangmin were rebelling. The
political administration was in disarray. Government officials whose job was to tax and control
landlords were among the nation’s largest landowners and consistently found means of skirtingtax payments. As one writer described Korea’s
diminished state at
the time, “Extravagance, selfishness,dishonesty and jealously swept throughKorea like the wind.
In other words,
within the Korean
lifestyle, there wereno ideals, morality
or standards.” To fill
empty public coffers, yangban status
was openly sold;the yangban classmushroomed in size.
Candidates quickly
outnumbered thebureaucratic posts
they customarily
vied for. Since evenjobless yangban
contemned manuallabor and commerce,
personal economic
ruin befell many
yangban. This led toThirty-three patriots—sixteen Christians, twoa hitherto unheard
Buddhists, and fifteen members of a minorityof social category—religion founded by this mystic, Choi Che-u,
homeless yangban
signed the 1919 Declaration of Independence.
wanderers.
The Tonghak religion
On April 5, 1860, in this atmosphere of dismay,
Choi Che-u,4 a deceased yangban's son, who
had wandered for twenty years after his father’s
death, heard a voice. “Don’t be afraid,” it told
him. “People know me as Sangje. Don’t you
know me?” Sangje, who in Taoism is the supreme
ruler of the universe, told Choi that as an incorporeal being, he needed Choi to disseminate on
earth Sangje’s virtue and goodness. Sangje taught
Choi a talisman and a prayer. Choi drew thetalisman on paper, which he then ate. He soon
felt healthier and a sense of deep inner peace.
He lost his fear of impending death. He saw life
from a new perspective and experienced renewal.
Others had similar experiences when he administered the talisman and prayed. They gained confidence despite their instable circumstances.
4 Choi (1824–1864) is often referred to by his pen
name, Su-un. As a child he was called Choi Pok-sul.

62

Choi went into seclusion for a year, emerging
in June 1861 to proclaim the teachings of a religion that addressed the people’s deeper needs.
Recognizing that all people stem from Ultimate
Reality, a prime force in the universe, Choi taughtthat because anyone can serve God, all people
are equal. For five months, large crowds came tohear him speak on the outskirts of Seoul. Though
he insisted that people remain loyal to their king,government officials were nonetheless alarmed.
He moved to the southern part of the peninsula
where he spent the winter writing out the central tenets of the new faith. An official history
states, “The Great Master was simultaneously
critical of the collapsing traditional social andpolitical order of the Joseon Dynasty, as well as
the modern order of the West and its encroachment in East Asia. To meet these new challenges
he preached a new system of belief that hecalled Tonghak [Eastern Learning].” Choi Che-u
resumed preaching until his arrest in December
1863. The following March, though bound byropes, he mounted the execution platform under
his own power and was beheaded.
Tonghak is known today mainly for military
campaigns that members of the faith led against
first the king’s soldiers and then Imperial Japanese forces. In the years just before the Tonghak
Rebellion (1894), the religion itself had three hundred thousand followers. An impoverished vagabond who had endured years of mental anguishover the disparity between Confucian ideals andcommonplace existence provided the spark that
reignited the nation’s spiritual fervor. In that it
was an indigenous religion, Tonghak awakened
Koreans to their own divine potential. In thatit refocused its followers on their shared divine
origin, it prepared the way for the coming of the
Messiah to their nation.
Western Learning via Catholicism
Further back in the nation’s history, Korean
intellectuals had turned their attention to what
they had termed “Western Learning.” In theeighteenth century, along with cartography andgeography, they were curious about Catholicism
as taught by European Jesuit priests in China.
Envoys traveling to China had discussions withpriests, and among the books they returned to
Korea with were ones on Catholic teachings. The
son of one envoy, baptized in 1783, returned to
Korea and began holding services in his home.
Catholicism began to spread both among poor
farmers living near the border with China andamong yangban scholars further south. When
Korea's rulers finally took notice, they wereappalled to learn that the new faith was opposed
to ancestor worship. On that basis, Catholicism
was banned in 1785 and envoys to China wereforbidden from having contact with non-government officials.
Six years later, it was discovered that a yangban son had buried his mother without perform-

Today’s Worlding the required Confucian
guage and tried to devise
rites. On further investigastrategies for proselytizing.
tion, it was found that both
Baptisms took place, but nothe son and his cousin had
genuine acceptance of Jesus
embraced the Catholic faith.
is recorded until the year
Having rejected ancestral
following the first Sino–Japveneration, they had alsoanese War (1894–1895), oneburned their family geneaof two wars fought exclulogical records. This, in thesively by foreign nations
officials’ eyes, was a wickedon Korean soil. The Koreanact, counter to the mostpeople were hostage to thesacred duties of filial piety.
ineptitude of their leaders.
As punishment, the two
As they perceived theirwere beheaded.
nation sinking, some of the
Kim Tae-gon, the first Korean
French priests covertly
newly Christianized saw apriest, was born in 1821. His greatentered Korea in the 1830s.
connection with foreign misIn 1839, the government exe- grandfather had been arrested as asionaries as a lifeline.
Catholic and died in prison after more
cuted three French priests
Is there much food forthan ten years. From 1836, Kim studied followers of Jesus? was aand seventy-five local conat a seminary in China. His Father wasverts, fifty of them women.
common question put tomartyred in 1839. Kim was ordained in missionaries. The editor of
French government protests
1845 and returned to Korea. Within a
puzzled the yangban rulers.
a monthly magazine pubyear, he was arrested and beheaded.
They reasoned that if Korelished by the Methodist
ans were spreading Korean
Mission Press estimated thatideas in France, surely the French government
in 1893, for five dollars a person, three quarters
would have them executed.
of all the people in Korea would become bapThe first native priest, Father Kim Tae-gon,tized Christians. The early missionaries,7 men
was ordained in China in 1845. By boat, he
who saw “dancing, smoking and card playing as
slipped back into Korea with two French priests.
sins in which no true follower of Christ should
Father Kim was captured a year later and also
indulge,” set unusually strict, inflexible standards
executed. Despite the risk, the faith continued
for church membership. This was in part because
to spread. By 1860, more than sixteen thousandof their distrust of member-candidate’s motives.
Koreans were Catholic.
For those who did convert, the standards, in turn,
For whatever reason, the Catholic contribuadded to their sense of elitism.
tion to Korea’s preparation to receive the MesThere was a heavy stress on biblical knowlsiah was largely as a blood sacrifice. Beginningedge and evangelism for new Korean Christians.
in 1866, Taewongun, the same benighted ruler
As membership in churches grew, regional Bible
who had the Appeasement Stones erected, setstudy meetings took place. These were often tenout to rid Korea of all Catholics. Within six years,
day affairs, which people traveled to at their own
an estimated eight thousand believers had been
expense.
arrested and put to death.
By about 1905, thirteen thousand Koreans
were Protestants. Much of the Korean mission
Timing favored the Protestants
work paralleled developments in American
By the time Protestant missionaries arrived in
Christianity. To complement Koreans' biblical
Korea, Taewongun had for a time ceded control
understanding with first-hand experience of
to his son,5 King Kojong, who proved an incomJesus and the Holy Spirit, in 1907, missionaries began holding American-style tent revivals
petent ruler. Under pressure to do so, Korea
agreed to open relations with the U.S. in 1870. On around Korea with an emphasis on confession
and repentance. What ensued was a spiritual
Korea’s behalf, a Chinese official and an Americatharsis that stunned the missionaries. In city
can navy commodore negotiated a treaty thatafter city, but particularly in Pyongyang, revivals
was lopsided in U.S. favor. It was signed in May
saw all manner of deep confession and spiritual
1882.6 The first missionary arrived in 1884. The
experience. Membership reached fifty thousand
bulk of early Protestant missionaries to Korea
within five years.
came from America and the treaty protected
them from harm. Like foreign embassies, their
Later work in rural areas
homes, schools and churches had extraterritorial
status; they were outside of Korean police or gov- As a people oppressed, Koreans were drawn
to communism from its very beginnings. The
ernment jurisdiction. As wealthy men by Korean
Bolsheviks made use of the descendants ofstandards and as teachers, the missionaries wererespected.
7 For example, Dr. Horace Allen—Presbyterian Church
In the first years, they studied the Korean lanin the United States (PCUSA)—came to Seoul in 1884.
5 The Japanese would make use of him later.
6 China drafted six similar treaties for Korea with European powers between 1883 and 1889.

January-February 2009

Horace Underwood (PCUSA) and Henry Appenzeller(Methodist Episcopalian North Church) in 1885; Samuel
A. Moffett (PCUSA) in 1890

63

fortunate, as Jesus had done. Rev. Pai
believed in the restorative power of love
to bring resurrection within people’s
hearts and that God is to be found in
human relationships. Wishing to turnthe space occupied by the peasants into
sacred ground and the peasants’ timeon earth into a period to build spiritualwholeness, the men began pioneering“Jesus Villages,” where all the spiritual,educational and material needs of thepeople could be met.
A third important figure at thetime was an extremely pragmatic layman, Cho Man-sik, an experienced,
bold social organizer even under theJapanese. In 1920, while the nation wasunder tight Japanese control, he started
the Korean Products Promotion Society
to raise awareness of Korean national
When this church was built in 1900, there were fewer than five thousand
identity and retain economic power
Korean Protestants. Father's family converted around 1930 and attended theamong the Korean people. It was Cho
Dukhung Presbyterian Church. By 1934, there were more than a hundred
who first brought Rev. Pai to the counthousand Presbyterian believers in northwestern Korea, where Father lived.
tryside to show him the living conditions there.
In 1928, the three helped form the Christianimmigrants, such as Alexandra Petrovna Kim
Rural Research Association, through which they
(1885–1918) to fight their battles with the Japadeveloped the theoretical tenets that Pai would
nese Army in Siberia and the Russian Far East.
implement later when he was asked to head the
The first Soviet-sponsored conference for Korean
Presbyterian Church Rural Movement (PCRM) in
revolutionaries took place in Khabarovsk only a1933. From the time Pai assumed leadership until
few months after the Bolshevik revolution had
1937, PCRM held educational workshops in morebegun in late 1917.
In 1922, Japan withdrew its troops from Vladi- than thirteen thousand villages. Literacy education preceded Bible study and modern farming
vostok and entered into negotiations with thetechniques were among the courses taught.
Soviets. From that point on, Korean communists
Though known for his piety, Cho Man-sik
concentrated their revolutionary fervor on Korea,
where they quickly began gaining recruits among applied his efforts in other areas. He had helped
provide similar education to Koreans while with
impoverished farmers. At the time, 80 percent
the United Front, a group of patriots of all politiof the population lived in rural areas. Korean
Christians saw radical politics gaining popularity cal stripes, formed in 1927 but forcibly disbanded
because of destitution as a threat to their witness- in 1931. Near war’s end, the Japanese governorof the Pyongyang area appointed Cho to lead aing efforts, but the foreign missionaries were notgoverning body during a transition to Koreanconvinced that programs to alleviate poverty
independence. Pyongyang was Cho’s hometown.
were necessary. They advised pressing on with
their simplified evangelical message—we are sin- When the Russians arrived, they could not find a
communist as respected as Cho.
ners, the Bible is inerrant and our only hope for
Cho was ousted only after the arrival of Kim
salvation lies in accepting Jesus as our savior. The
Il-sung. Trapped in northern Korea once the Rusthe foreign missionaries' focus was not on earth
sians closed the border, he started the Korean
but on the glories of heaven to come.
Democratic Party there. He was placed under
Fortunately, for the rural poor, the progress ofhouse arrest in 1946. Soon after the Korean War
Christianity in Korea owes much to the foreign
began Cho Man-sik was put to death.
missionaries applying the principles outlined
The Bible records Moses referring to the Mesin Methods of Mission Work, a book by John L.
siah, “The Lord your God will raise up for you
Nevius, a missionary to China. Nevius stresseda prophet like me from among you, from yourthat churches should be self-supporting, that
local converts should propagate the faith and that countrymen.” Cho, Pai and Yu were three of True
Parents’ countrymen who believed that the kingnative pastors should govern the church in their
dom of heaven was meant to be built on earth
own country.
through vigorous personal effort. In instilling thisPai Min-su and Yu Chae-gi, two such native
attitude in their fellow citizens, they too were
pastors, shared ideas that were radically differamong the righteous Koreans who helped preent ideas from those of the Western missionarpare the way for the coming of the Messiah andies. Rev. Yu had traveled to the countryside
his bride to their nation. TW
because he felt the importance of serving the less64

Today’s World

Continued from page 59... Preparing

the one hand, it’s good that parents are
involved and support, but on the other
hand, they shouldn’t get too involved
and dominate. They have to let go andtrust their children to work out theirown situation. I think a key is having agood relationship where honest sharing
is possible. You can then let go and let
the child come to the parents and ask ifnecessary. We need to be sensitive about
when not to be involved.
Are there online resources that canhelp in the second-generation matching?
Yes. We have Blessed Family Department web sites, both in America andIt’s good if the blessed families
themselves can look for help, ways tosupport their own and other blessedfamilies. We have the trinities that havebeen set up, and it’s good to communicate within the communities where welive. In some countries we have quite
good and frequent communication andresources available for blessed couples;in other countries we live in isolationand there is not so much set up.
Please tell us something about the convocations you’ve held in Europe.
Convocations are held regularly in allcontinents where there’s a second-generation blessing department. In Europe,
we just started last year, so we’ve only
done two. It’s a little bit new for us.

sons and daughters, listen to lectures,
share experiences and get help if they
have any questions about the matchingor face any challenges.
We have also the Special Needs
Ministry for children that have mental
or physical disabilities. We also talkabout how to take care of children who
are struggling with their faith or withpurity. We try as much as possible toprovide comprehensive support forparents.
We are trying to set a tradition
together and it’s best to do that together
as a public task. We declare what ourvalues are and where we want to go. We
consider how True Parents match andhow we can inherit that tradition. We
then declare our determination to do
our best as blessed families to fulfill this
responsibility, which True Parents havegiven to the blessed families.
I noticed that most of the people on
your blessing web site have specialties.
On the European Blessed Family
Department web site, we have a committee and some national representatives, but we also have a large boardof advisers. These advisers are people
with some expertise in the partnershipand marital relationship area. They offer
seminars on various approaches, as wellas counseling. They are listed on the site
for blessed families that need help orwish to organize a workshop.

Europe,1 which have some resources
and people you can contact for help.
I think it’s better to have experienced
people to talk to.
In terms of how to build a successful relationship, there’s a lot of material
available in society that is often very
valuable. We provide some workshops
and opportunities for further education
for blessed couples.
It’s a good idea to set up a community where you live—to meet otherblessed families. I know that in Korea
some of the Westerners married to
Koreans keep in contact with each other,because they are in similar situations.
1 www.2ndgenblessing.com/(Europe)
www.familyfed.org/bfd/index.html (U.S.)
http://www.bcmatching.org/ (international)

January-February 2009

We’ll continue doing two every year.
I think the convocations are valuable for all parents who are thinking
about matching their children, even if
they haven’t already started the process.
They can still hear about the process ofmatching by parents and get to know
other blessed families in preparation formatching.
Those who are specifically looking
can use the convocations to find candidates; it’s an opportunity to present
pictures of the candidates. You can meetother candidates’ parents and look forpotential contacts for matching.
The convocations have those purposes. It’s a two- or three-day meetingfor parents where they present theirHave you any thoughts on the foundation the second generation is creating
for the third?
The first step in the change of lineage
happens in the first generation. Over the
next several generations, the challenge
is to substantially create ideal families,
which means to become perfect.
We want second-generation blessed
couples to create even better relationships than their parents’ generation did
and to raise children well, so the children receive more love, naturally connect to the values of the blessing and arestronger in terms of withstanding thefallen values that society portrays.
By going through the course themselves, I hope the second generation willtransmit even more to their children, sothat the third generation has an evenbetter foundation from the education
they receive and from the families theygrow up in. TW
Mr. Kunkel and his wife Astrid are a second-generation couple, blessed in 1997.

65

The Big Picture of Small Groups
By Angie WardI

magine something small, starting something big. It happened once, when a simple carpenter shared his life with
twelve close friends. For three years, they ate together,played together, learned together, traveled together, laughed
together, cried together, and even fought together. Theirlives were changed, and then they went out and changed
the world. Do you believe it can happen today? Imagine thedirect descendant of that group of followers—the Church—
doing the same thing today. Groups of a dozen people—
sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less—sharing life
together. Eating together. Playing together. Learning together. Traveling together. Laughing together. Crying together.
And even fighting together. Whatever you call them, small
groups have the potential to change lives. And your church.
And the world. It can be done. It has been done.
Small groups have been known to:• Hold an entire church together when its leader confesses
to moral failure.
• Transform neighborhoods, communities, and even entire
cities by selflessly demonstrating the love of Jesus inpractical ways.
• Laugh together ‘til the wee hours of the morning.
• Hold a broken member with strong arms of support—
physically, emotionally, spiritually, and even financially—during a time of crisis such as divorce, death, or illness.
• Spur individuals to greater personal spiritual growth.
• Instill a knowledge of scripture and a hunger for prayer.
• Share breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, high tea, midnight snacks, and pizza of all sizes, styles, and temperatures.
• Foster spirited discussion on matters both eternal andearthly.
• Introduce scores of friends, neighbors, and co-workers to
a newfound relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Become (imagine this!) best friends.
• Transform the entire culture of a church by moving its
attention outside its own walls.
• Serve as a laboratory for developing greater relational
skills and health, sometimes even through conflict.
• Pool their financial resources to impact the life of a child,another family, or a missionary.
• Celebrate! Births, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries,
graduations, accomplishments—anything from newbabies to national championships.

Small groups can do all these things, yet are even morethan the sum of their parts. Small groups are more than“just” a Bible study, although they provide the opportunity
to study God’s word. They are more than a prayer group,
although they can provide a “bridge line” to the throneroom. More than just a fellowship time or social hour, small

66

groups can serve as the foundation for deep, truly lifechanging relationships.
Healthy small groups have the potential to serve as a
microcosm of the church, in its purest form: a safe place
where people can encounter God, and find the resources
and relationships to nurture their spiritual growth.
Starting or maintaining an effective small group ministry
is not easy, of course. Relationships never are. “Successful”
small group ministries—the kind that change lives—areclear about their purposes and intentional about their programs, yet remain focused on people. Having a small groupprogram does not automatically equate to changed lives.
Relationships cannot be institutionalized. Growth cannot be
manufactured.
Yet while every church is uniquely called to minister in aparticular setting, there are some commonalities to effective
small groups:
1. They take commitment, and that commitment must
spring from all of the church’s key leaders, from thesenior pastor on throughout the entire organization. If
the Small Groups Pastor is the only person committed
to small groups, they will at best become a niche program for a few others in the church.
2. They require a clear purpose based on an understandingof biblical principles and an understanding of the spiritual growth process. How do small groups fit into themission of your church, how are they different from a
Bible study, a support group, or a social club, and how
will you determine whether or not they’re effective?
3. They require leadership development. This is different
from just recruiting people to fill roles; it involves
reproducing the vision of fully functioning, “minichurches” into a growing contingent of mature Christfollowers who are then equipped and released to help
make it happen.
4. They take time: time to pray through the best approachfor your setting, time to communicate the vision ofsmall groups, time to implement a strategy, and—mostimportant of all—time to allow relationships to grow.
No, small groups aren’t always easy. But the benefits areworth the effort. Participants build deeper relationships thanwould ever be possible on Sundays alone. People stay connected to the church, even when they can’t always attend
church. Pastors are able to share the responsibilities of spiritual care. The church grows bigger, smaller, and deeper, allat the same time. Lives are changed, and then those people
go out and change the world. Imagine something small,starting something big. TW
This content is taken from Orientation Guide: Small Group Leader, whichis available for purchase online at www.SmallGroups.com

Today’s WorldTODAY'S WORLDMagazine

Looking into the Heartof God's Providence
Some of the main areas TW focuses on:• Guidance and explanations from Father (directfrom the original Korean) and the True Children• The focal tasks and occurrences in the providence
True Parents are guiding• True Father’s life story in his own words• Interviews with members of the True Family• Issues-based coverage: church growth, blessedfamily life, Korean history, etc.
• Issues of importance to our second generation• Testimonies from the cutting edge of the movement that can inspire or help you in your mission

Add your story to
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January-February 2009for other families!
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