Reiner Vincenz, “He already knew me for a long time”

I have the honor to have joined as the first member in Europe, and I could be there when True Father came for the very first time to Germany in 1965, the year he blessed holy grounds. I can never forget the look of our True Father, as he stepped off the airplane in Frankfurt, Germany. He could not speak one word in English, but his face showed me that he already knew me for a long time. If I had never had the chance to meet him again, this moment was enough to motivate me to follow him for the rest of my life.

True Father was traveling to Essen, Germany in the north and wanted to bless our third Holy Ground in the city of Essen. True Father told me that he would wait for me until I came back before he would bless the third Holy Ground, because he wanted me to be a part of the blessing as well. Can you imagine, the Messiah is waiting for me to be involved in this blessing? Unbelievable!

From Tribute, pp. 350, 352-53.

Miho Panzer, “Father had to go to Danbury prison”

In the early 1980s, True Father had to face accusations from the New York District Attorney. After a long court case, Father had to go to Danbury prison on July 20, 1984. That day is like today in my memory. So many church members came to East Garden. Father gathered all his older children and spoke to them about what was going to happen. The small children asked Father, “Where are you going?” He answered, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Study hard. Don’t fight with each other.” Many members were in tears. Father and Reverend Kamiyama left in a car to go to prison. Father worked as a “servant of servants,” mopping the floor, washing dishes, cleaning the toilet. Every day Father washed the dirty mops by hand.

Sometimes there were threats against Father. Many nights Mother couldn’t sleep, worrying about him. Sometimes she asked me to stay at night in her room. She waited for a phone call from True Father each morning. She was in tears when she heard Father’s voice.

Once in a while, Father was able to visit East Garden for twenty-four hours. He would go to his room right away without speaking to anyone. He wanted to change out of his prison uniform, take a shower and shave, and put on regular clothes. Then he came down to the living room, singing, with a big smile. He never wanted to show that he had been in prison that day. Then he met with leaders and with his children. During these times, I went up to Father’s bathroom. I would see the undershirt Father had been wearing. Many times, it had a hole in it. The socks also had holes in them. When I saw these miserable clothes, I couldn’t help crying. Mother said we should keep these for history.

From I Am in This Place, p. 85.

Marie Ang, “Father understood the hearts of the IWs”

In 1972, I was serving as an Itinerant Worker (IW) to assist pioneers in the Plains states just after Father had sent out a pioneer to each state. I had left our two-year-old son, David, in Berkeley with Shirley Stadelhofer, who had volunteered to care for him. At one point, while traveling from one rather lonely pioneer center to another, I became very homesick to see David. Then I had a dream that True Father visited Berkeley, and as Shirley was standing in the crowd with David, True Father came over to her and took David in his arms with a big smile. That really comforted my heart. I wrote Shirley about my dream.

A few weeks later, I received a letter from Shirley, saying that my dream had come true! True Father had visited the Bay Area family, and at some point, he came over to Shirley, who was holding David, spoke to him a little, and gave him a monetary gift. I cried in gratitude when I read her letter, and was able to fully give my heart and energy to my mission as a "mother" to the lonely pioneers. From that time on, I knew that True Father understood the hearts of the IWs as we traveled from state to state.

From Tribute, p. 36.

Lynne Nishio Sofinowski, “Father's photographic memory”

In 1979, I was introduced to my future husband, Michael Adam Sofinowski, Jr., in a matching ceremony in the Grand Ballroom of the World Mission Center (known as the New Yorker Hotel). Three years later we were blessed at Madison Square Garden in 1982 as part of the 2075 Couples Blessing. I was amazed at Father's photographic memory during the matching process because he remarked to me about having grown my hair long since he earlier had spotted me at an Atlanta MFT gathering with very short hair (like a refugee boy from the Korean war) and spoke about how women should express the feminine aspect of God by their beauty and grace. This was several years and thousands of faces later and Father still remembered!

From Tribute, pp. 3118-19.

Keiko Walton, “Eat sandwiches with the western members”

On my birthday, January 1, 1973, it was announced that I would be part of the first group of 12 Japanese sisters going to America.

My first mission was to make Japanese rice balls, onigiri. One day True Father came to the Japanese cottage at Belvedere where I was working in the kitchen. He told me that we should eat sandwiches with the western members, and after they left I could give onigiri to the Japanese brothers and sisters.

From Tribute, p. 357.

Keiko Burton, “The greatest person in history”

When I moved into the church center in Nagoya, there were about 100 members. We slept in the church office. I slept on top of a desk. Another sister slept on the floor underneath. Every bit of space in the office was covered by a sleeping bag.

I asked the members to show me pictures of True Father, but no one had any. In early December, I was recruited to attend a special workshop in Korea at the training center near Cheong Pyeong Lake. There I met True Father for the very first time in early December, 1969.

I really wanted to find out what True Father looked like. So, when we arrived at the training center, I went that very night to the little house where Father was sleeping. I started praying outside the building where he was sleeping around 3:30 a.m. It was dark and very cold, and maybe I was praying loudly. About 4:30 a.m. he appeared and opened the door so I could see his face. But I was shocked! I knew this man already. I had seen his face many times in dreams since I was 13 years old. In those mysterious dreams I saw an Oriental couple standing in white robes. They told me they were my "True Parents." However, I already had two very good Japanese parents. The couple in those dreams was not Japanese, but I didn't know which country they came from or if they were people living on the earth or spirits from a distant past. After seven years, I had found the person I had been looking for.

True Father didn't ask me my name but said only, "Why did you take so long?" Then, as he walked out of the hut toward the worship center, he gestured to me saying, "OK, follow me!" At morning service, True Father asked me to introduce myself and tell about my upbringing and my family to all the members. And he asked me to sing a song, which I struggled to do. But I didn't feel embarrassment. I had a strong feeling that he had been waiting for me. In my heart, I felt like I had met the greatest person in history. I felt so much hope for humanity.

From Tribute, pp. 54-55.

Keiko Breland, “Receiving the fire”

Growing up I was raised as a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. My great-grandfather joined that church, and he and his friend built a church in Shirakawa City, my hometown, which still stands as one of the city's treasures.

In August 1971, I had a chance to visit Korea with other Japanese members for two weeks just to be loved and cared for by True Parents. As a Christian, I felt that I could not die without meeting the Messiah, so I was overjoyed to have this opportunity. I decided to do a second seven-day fast to prepare for it. I had an important personal purpose for meeting Father. I needed to confirm my original mind and my own true standard of right and wrong. I thought I could only confirm this by meeting with the Messiah.

When I met True Father in Korea, I realized chat he was more than any ideal father I ever imagined in my heart. He sometimes came to speak to us from early morning because he saw spiritually that we were longing to see him. He took us to the mountain, and we sang and danced together centered on True Father. There was one crippled girl in our group. He always came to her to make sure she was doing fine. I became so brave and even asked him if I could drink from his glass. True Father treated us like his children; he even took us to his house where he lived and showed us all the rooms including the bedroom.

When I was listening to Father intently, I experienced literally waves of love coming to me. My body became warm and even hot while I was listening to him. I later realized it was a spiritual experience called "receiving the fire." I was able to confirm my original mind by being with him, and that has been the standard of my heart ever since.

From Tribute, pp. 45-46.

Judith Lejeune, “You can do this job very well”

One day in 1973 I was told True Father had assigned me to work for Col. Bo Hi Pak (he wasn't Dr. Pak yet) in Washington, D.C. My knees buckled, and I literally fell into the chair. My most memorable experience with True Father was when I asked to see Father to tell him I was not qualified for this position. Father called me to Belvedere, and 201 TRIBUTE he took my hands, looked at my face and said "I can tell by the shape of your face and your hands that you can do this job very well." Well, I ended up in Washington, D.C., in 1973 and traveled with Dr. Pak through his transition to becoming Father's translator and his fight to protect Father during the Fraser Committee hearings on Capitol Hill.

From Tribute, pp. 201-202.