Based on extracts from his speeches throughout his life
Earlier installments are available for reading.
The 1970s: Vision of the Global Mission
The final months before Father and Mother emigrated to the United States.
Part 90
Forty-day summer witnessing campaign beginning July 20
The husbands must become one with their wives, who are on the front line, and make prayer conditions for them. Be it night or day, in your dreams or even when you’re talking in your sleep, you must have the kind of mind that prays to God beseeching Him that your wife can become a victorious daughter who is able to receive God’s love. You have to have this kind of mind for these three years. It is a time of suffering on the family level that you have to pass through with your wife.
Workshops for nationwide church leaders
August 12–18, August 26–September 1, 1971
Tradition needs to be rightly established. If we fail to do that, we will perish. Isn’t tradition established in connection to a nation’s patriotic philosophy? In that light, this is the only time in which we can establish an ideological tradition. That you have ushered in this era with your wives is truly amazing. It is even more difficult than achieving global unity.
The unification of the world begins right here. Therefore, you can be happier than any other people of any other era. That’s the position we’re in, and for this reason both sadness and joy can be found here.
Therefore, you should clearly know that it is your mission as Unification Church members, and especially as the leaders of local churches, to have the subjective character by which you can absorb both sadness and joy.
Didn’t I say that we should shed sweat for earth, tears for humanity, and blood for heaven, in the body of a servant and with the heart of a parent? That is what we must do. When the last day comes, you should be able to say, Even if my body crumbles, I have no regrets about having worked for the providence. Even if my hands and feet were cut off and used in one way or another, if it is for the providence I have no regrets.
Blessing of married couples
September 12, 1971
The day before yesterday I held a Blessing Ceremony for married couples. An eighty-eight-year-old grandfather was among them, but I still blessed him. I asked him, “Do you wish to be married?” He was so embarrassed that he just smiled, unable to speak. He was just like a child. [Laughter] The grandmother was also embarrassed and she just bit her lips. [Laughter] Even though they were embarrassed, they knew they had to receive the Blessing. Old and young alike are extremely serious in that kind of situation. Think about it. If you marry an old person, all you are going to do is take care of him or her. Nevertheless, you do that, run errands for and serve your spouse. If the person loves you, is it good or bad? Even though your spouse interferes in everything you do, the one thing that makes this all right is love. Those of you here who are unmarried, don’t listen when I say such things! [Laughter]
Meeting of the sixteenth group of Sunghwa students
October 8–10, 1971
In facing the path we have to take, how can we leave behind a national tradition in terms worldview? That road to restore a nation is a road of hardships, a road on which bloody tears will be shed. The historic, time-honored philosophy of our ancestors is the starting point.¡¦ It can be discovered within my lifetime. Six thousand years of history has passed. It was sad history. The story of my life is also sad, but you should create a joyful history centered on me. Until now, I have told you only to work hard; I never told you to eat well and live in comfort, did I? However, the day will come when you can eat well, rest and live in comfort.
The day before yesterday, I selected 142 middle school and high school students as the sixteenth group of Seonghwa students. I called them together and said, All those who want to go out to the front line, raise your hands. I asked each one of them, Will you go or not? I separated out those who didn’t want to go and am educating those who said that they would go. We have to make a beginning. That’s why they are being educated in Cheongpyeong now. They are doing four hours of farm labor every day, as part of the official course.
To lay the foundation for the restoration of the family, I have sent everyone out of their homes to go witnessing for three years. I asked everyone to experience suffering. So 1971 was the year our course began on the global level.
What is the purpose of this third world tour? It’s to establish ourselves in the United States and to make a financial foundation. Nowadays, we need money. If a man has money, he can do anything. The question is, How can we make money?…
We are on our third tour. You may not be aware of this, but I am making plans on a global scale. Until now, I have tried to save Korean Christians, but from now on, I will try to save Christians around the world and in America. Therefore, we need to approach this work from a new angle and continue our work in a new direction. We need to prepare to carry out international activities. To do that, we need considerable resources.
So during this tour I have the mission to establish mission headquarters in at least forty countries before I return. You have to know that it is the mission of the Unification Church family to establish mission headquarters in more than 120 countries within a few years.[1]
Parting words to Korean members
The first thing that you must do while I’m away this time is be one in heart and pray. In the same way that I prayed for this country and its people, because I am not going to be here, you also have to protect the country in my place. I want you to hold prayer vigils. I want you to unite internally and externally and pray together for the day to come when North Korea and South Korea can unite.
The second thing I want is for you to publicize our church. Make sure that there is no one in Korea that doesn’t know about the Unification Church. Originally, the work should have been done with the support of other religious groups, but because this hasn’t come to pass, we have to take on the added burden and accomplish it. Also the witnessing members on the front line haven’t become one with their local church leaders.
Some of you are too busy blowing your own horn and bent on self-promotion. You give me a headache. A truly devoted son or daughter would not say such things. Even though he accepts his own portion of responsibility without a word, he still has the attitude that he cannot raise his face in front of his parents because he is inadequate. Without such an attitude, you cannot be a devoted child. Of course, you are not qualified to be a patriot unless you can be a devoted son or daughter first.
In the Unification Church, we are trying to be this way. The world regards us as heretical now, but the day will come when people won’t be able to say anything critical of our church. On that day, the Unification Church will be lifted up. Knowing this, you have to be serious about the way you live, even for one day. You have to regard your daily life as precious. You should be earnest, and you should walk proudly, going forward step by step.
Overcoming obstacles at the start
We left Korea for Japan[2] on the day before the government declared a state of emergency.[3] We decided to leave Korea, but we couldn’t complete the formalities because it was Sunday. We needed to receive the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Passport Department chief’s signature, but we were unable to. Even though it was a Sunday, we needed to depart but we couldn’t because we didn’t have authorization. We were in difficulty. We had no choice but to wait. Remarkably, we were able to meet the Passport Department chief thirty minutes before our scheduled departure. That was a miracle wrought by Heaven.
The chief had made plans to go on a picnic with his department staffers to Cheongpyeong Lake, it being a Sunday. He had woken up early in the morning, but he felt so stiff that he didn’t feel like going on the picnic. So he called the others and told them he was not feeling well and couldn’t come. He got up and began sorting through things because he had nothing better to do. It was then that our people came to see him.[4]
To be continued…
[1] Father sent out missionaries to 120 countries early in 1975.
[2] There were no direct flights from Seoul to Los Angeles at that time, necessitating their going via Japan.
[3] Had they not already left, it likely would have prevented their leaving. The government invoked martial law the following year.
[4] It seems they actually went to his private residence.