Personal testimony by Chung Sik Woo
July 18, 1986
Part 2 (Click here to read Part 1)
For almost four years I had the chance to stay near Father. I went everywhere Father went. I never skipped a single church service or activity. I was able to attend Sunday services with Father and listen to many of his speeches through my work. Sometimes on Fridays or Saturdays he would call us to go mountain climbing, and once up in the mountains he would teach us a chapter of the Principle or testify about some of his experiences. As we climbed the mountains he was always in front of us; he never yielded first place in anything. At other times he would take us to the ocean and teach us how to fish.
We were such a small group of young men and women that sometimes it was hard to trust Father’s words that a global kingdom was coming. Yet through these outdoor activities Father was always training and teaching his disciples and checking us to see who could be a good leader. In this way we could develop a close and deep relationship with him. Mother was not with us then—because Father was not yet married.
Around this time my own father contacted me. He was very distraught because I had joined a “cult” instead of becoming a lawyer. He broke down when he spoke to me and said that if I didn’t stop my devotion to the Unification Church, I would no longer be his son. He withheld financial support, but after six months both he and my mother changed their minds and agreed to help me. He did want me to study law, so I attended law school, but I never had a chance to take the bar exam.
On July 20, 1960, I began witnessing. I determined myself to die for the mission. Since it was vacation time, there were many people at home. After going house to house all day, I was exhausted! I never had enough underwear, so I would just wash whenever I passed a river and then I just kept going. Two or three times a day I was able to deliver a message or give a Principle lecture to someone. It was a very good experience.
My “honeymoon”
In the winter of 1962 I was blessed in the 72 Couple Blessing. I didn’t know my wife beforehand; she was in high school while I was in college. At that time the church had no money; we only met in a small room with a straw rug! Even though it was extremely cold Father took us to a beautiful mountain, Bo Un, in the Sok Lee mountain area for a seven-day fasting workshop right after the Blessing. We fasted not only because there was no food, but as a special condition. While we were there, I lectured 10 hours a day.
On the last day we ate something called “dry bread.” It is a small rice cake that can be eaten when it is moistened with water. The Korean soldiers used to carry these during the war. Even with so little food, no place to sleep, and no money, I cannot forget the memory of my “honeymoon” with my wife! We had a good experience in the beauty of nature, where we could deeply reflect and connect with God’s providence. We gave thanks in our hearts to Father and Mother.
Both before and after I joined
Before I joined the church I admired Dr. Albert Schweitzer for his sacrifice and service to humanity in Africa. I had always wanted to be a missionary and contribute to God’s providence in a productive way. Even though I worked as a church leader in Korea for 15 years I always preferred and yearned for overseas missionary work. My sister-in-law had moved to America about 30 years before and had become a professor at a college in New Jersey. My motherin-law was in America with her, and they invited us to come. I waited for about a year and a half to receive Father’s permission.
I wanted to go to America rather than any other country in order to participate in the providence at the worldwide level. I wanted to stay with Father and help him wherever he went, although I would have accepted any mission he might have given me. Finally, Father asked many of the leaders to come to America, and thus my dream was realized. In March 1976 my wife and I went to join the front line in America.
Upon our arrival Father asked me what kind of mission I wanted here, and I said it was up to him. Since I already had some experience, he asked me to go into business because the church needed an economic foundation. However, I developed a physical problem which at times caused me to fall down and lose consciousness, so I had to return to Korea. President and Mrs. Young Hwi Kim were very concerned about my health so I got a job with the II Hwa Company where I could drink a lot of ginseng. When I recovered I returned to America, and I am now in charge of the II Hwa business here in America.
Trust Father’s ideas
Looking back, the most important lesson I have learned is that even though my own ideas may seem logically right to me, Father’s ideas are always better; they are correct in the original sense. If I follow Father’s direction I will always get a better result. This is true for the Blessing, for our missions, for everything. Even though we may not understand, we should trust and follow Father rather than our own thinking.
I have always pledged to be honest in front of God, to be sincere, and to try my best without ever giving up. It is often difficult to resist the temptations posed by our own minds and the fallen environment and remain concentrated upon God’s will—especially when so many people around us cannot understand. I have a motto to respect and follow my own original mind and original heart no matter what. By doing this I feel I can become a better person. My first Messiah is God, the second is Father and Jesus, and the third is my own original heart.
I have to tell my members not to learn from me, but from God, True Parents, and the Principle. Even through my own sermons I can learn by trying to listen to God. I still have fallen nature, and it is not good if the members lose any kind of fortune through my own mistakes. All of us, including Japanese and Korean leaders, are on the way to perfection. That’s why we should pray every moment! We have to find the way for God to use us more and more.
All of us should develop good, positive thoughts and habits. That is the way to avoid trouble along our path. If we focus our minds on clear and high ideals, we can accumulate knowledge and wisdom and create a well-rounded character. I always try to maintain noble and precious ideas and inspire myself to go the course of indemnity in whatever I am doing praying, fasting, reading, traveling, listening. Then I can have deeper and broader experiences of heart. I want to make my heart God’s sweet home. If I make my heart a beautiful home, then God will want to dwell with me.
I always try to pray, confess, and turn to God. Every moment can be a new start. Our walk through life should itself be a prayer. If I can dominate myself this way as God’s true son, then Satan can never attack. I can become close to the living God, as Father and Mother are.