Heavenly Top Gun Missionary Joon Heon Choi reports from Kenya (December 17, 2024)
Dear Heavenly Parent, full of love and grace, and True Parents of heaven, earth, and humankind, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for always embracing us with your warm love! My name is Joo Heon Choi, and I am the first Heavenly Top Gun missionary working in Kenya, Africa. I hope my letter brings joy and pleasure to our True Mother.
Dear True Parents, I received my mission to Africa on December 25, 2023, at Cheon Jeong Gung. at the “1st Dispatch Ceremony Heavenly Top Gun” on February 25, 2024, in the presence of True Mother, the Only Begotten Daughter, I was honored with the “Heavenly Top Gun Badge” and “Death Valley Holy Salt,” which are symbols of light and salt to illuminate the darkness of this world. After receiving the full armor of true love, I began my first mission in Zambia, Africa, on March 1.
Zambia is a nation with nine churches with about 1,000 members. I worked alongside fellow missionaries in Lusaka, the capital, engaging in street preaching and organizing various events. Thanks to these efforts, we guided a precious person to Heavenly Parent, and that individual continues to attend church weekly, believing in True Parents!
On June 14, I was sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo for my second mission assignment. This country has 42 churches with about 5,000 members. In Matadi, a port city, I visited numerous universities daily to conduct character education projects, spreading True Parents’ Values to about 2,000 young people. Consequently, 14 student presidents from major universities participated in the “7-Day Divine Principle Workshop,” and 7 individuals joined the Family Federation. I have felt the presence of our Heavenly Parent in every mission field I’ve been assigned to, and I am determined to transform Africa into a continent of hope with my utmost efforts.
Dear True Parents, on November 29, I embarked on my third mission in Kenya, Africa. Kenya has five churches with about 500 members. Currently, I am in Nairobi, the capital, with fellow Heavenly Top Gun missionaries who arrived before me. We conduct various activities, including initiatives based on True Parents’ Theology, one-on-one lectures, workshops, and cultural events. It’s been over a month since I resumed my activities here, and although I haven’t achieved tangible results yet, I am committed to doing my best to bring a bundle of victorious achievements to the Entrance Ceremony of the Cheon Il Sanctum next year.
Recently, I won the witnessing idea contest at the Heavenly Top Gun General Assembly organized by the World Mission Headquarters. My idea, “Cheonbo Witnessing,” was inspired by the providence of tribal witnessing, a long-standing aspiration of True Parents. In Kenya, a fellow missionary has begun witnessing his family based on guests witnessing initially, and our mission team aims to connect with one tribe each before next year’s entrance ceremony, channeling all our efforts. With True Parents’ Theology engraved in our hearts, we strive to be a global model, proudly proclaiming to the people of Kenya!
Beloved True Mother, we, the Heavenly Top Gun missionaries, sincerely pray for the establishment of a tradition during True Mother’s long life and the three-generation True Family. We are dedicated to True Mother’s safety and the explosive growth of the Unification family. During True Mother’s lifetime, we hope to witness the establishment of a Heavenly Unified Korea and a Heavenly Unified World and spend joyful days with her in Hyojeong Cheon Won Complex, the restored Garden of Eden. Until then, we continue to pray for your strength and joy. Thank you, dear Wang Omma. We love you from the depths of our hearts!
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Heavenly Top Gun Missionary Rio Nakai Reports from Benin
Mother, how have you been? I am Rio Nakai, a missionary in Benin. It’s been nine months since I came to Africa, and even though it’s already been nine months, I’m still struggling with the situation here. In this letter, I’d like to share with you some of the things that surprised me in Africa and how I was able to feel Heavenly Parent’s heart through these experiences.
First, let me tell you about the Blessing of a Muslim candidate. Our church leader spoke with her parents to see if the candidate could get permission to receive the Blessing. When I was told about this, I knew I had to do my best, so I offered 43,000 name-calling prayers every day for a week.
At the same time, we had a Catholic youth leader who was also thinking about whether he could receive the Blessing, and I felt that I had to mobilize the spirit world for this, so I did 43,000 name-calling prayers for him at the same time. It’s not easy to do even 10,000 name-calling prayers a day while doing other activities, but I felt that this was small and not difficult compared to the efforts of Heavenly Parent up until now.
The day after I set the conditions, the Catholic youth leader came to the church to start his preparations for the Blessing. I was honestly anxious, but I believed that heaven would be with me as I offered my conditions, so I proceeded with the preparations. It was a very strange experience because I never had anything go so well in my previous witnessing activities, and it doesn’t seem like my sincere devotion took an essential role. Despite my doubts, I continued to offer sincere devotion, and on the last day of my condition, our Muslim guest decided to go through the Blessing process.
She was able to get her father’s permission, so on the day of the Blessing application, she arrived three hours later than the scheduled time, but I was able to help her upload her profile on the website. While I was anxious during the three-hour wait, I trusted her with the assurance that God was with her. This way, we were able to get the Catholic youth leader, the Muslim candidate, and another Christian candidate on the Blessing website by the deadline for the first round of African Blessing application on December 15.
Mother, I had been trying to witness my friends for several years in Japan. I also did a lot of name-calling prayers, but no matter how hard I tried, the results were not good. Sometimes it seemed like the more I called for their names in prayer, the more people would move further away from me. Still, I wanted to send even one more child back to Heavenly Parent’s bosom, so I tried again and again, keeping my motivation alive. It was during this process that I decided to become a Heavenly Top Gun missionary. All I could do was to keep walking on the path of Heaven’s will, and here, in Africa, I finally found a child I could bring back to True Mother. I began to work with the desire to witness and save even one more person and after seven years, I met a precious child in Africa. I sincerely realized that this was not my mere strength alone, but also True Mother’s love and grace. Also, since the candidates are very close to receiving the Blessing, it is most likely for Satan to attack them. Therefore, I strengthened the conditions of the team and personally offered 10,000 name calling prayers every day. We will move forward so that we can ultimately bring them back to True Mother.
Dear Mother, I am in a region of Benin called Jugu. It’s about six hours away from the capital, and it’s a very rural region. I’m currently conducting a 12-day workshop at a school here. There are a lot of unpredictable situations here. Also, this is in the north area of Benin, so it’s cold, and it is very crowded by a lot of people living in this school right now. When you come to a school in Africa, the first thing you worry about is whether there are toilets and showers, whether there is water and electricity, and whether the bedrooms are decent, etc.
I don’t think I’m a true missionary yet since I still have this level of concern. However, because I’ve been trained in this environment, I’ve been able to move beyond cold water baths, dusty bedrooms, and missing bathroom doors to gratitude. I’m truly grateful that I have water and electricity wherever I go. I am grateful that I have a safe place to use the toilet and shower. And I am genuinely grateful that I have a room to rest. This made me realize that human beings can live anywhere as long as they are grateful.
However, in this environment, I saw parents and children sleeping next to the toilets, children defecating on the side of the road because the toilets are not maintained and closed, and people sitting and eating on this kind of unsanitary environment. The facilities were well built by Japanese people, but the roadside is overflowing with garbage and feces due to lack of education about cleanliness and maintenance. I sometimes feel helpless, but my heart aches for True Mother as she tries to take responsibility for this country. I will do my best to embrace and love the people in front of me, even though I only have two months left here.
True Mother, working in Africa sometimes makes me feel lost, but I still think it is a country where there is hope. Even in these remote areas, we have FFWPU communities and second-generation members. Some members worry about whether missionaries and trainees can live properly. They put effort into preparing an environment for us here. There are also young 2nd Generation who pray while listening to Cheon Shim Won songs from early in the morning. I can really feel the sincere devotion of True Parents and the conditions of the past missionaries. I am grateful to be in this country, full of sincerity and heavenly grace. I will do my best to resemble True Mother and love more Beninese people.