A report by Rev. Joong Hyun Pak given at East Garden, New York November 11, 1998
(Note: Rev. Pak returned with True Parents from Jardim where he and Mrs. Pak are attending the Ideal Family workshop. True Parents asked Rev. Pak to accompany them back to America for the celebration of True Children's Day and the week's activities)True Parents have been gone since September 21. They have spent most of this time going back and forth between Fuerte Olimpo and Salobra in the Pantanal, teaching and fishing and then back to Jardim to teach there as well.
True Parents traveled to Sao Paulo on October 3 to celebrate Foundation Day for the Nation of the Unified World. On October 5 they conducted the Ceremony of Unification of the Spirit World and Physical World. At this ceremony, they assigned the major religious leaders in the spirit world to continents on the Earth. North America, of course, is centered on Jesus; South America is centered on Mary and Joseph; Korea, Buddha; China, Confucius and Islamic nations, Mohammed.
True Parents remained in Sao Paulo to officiate at an international religious freedom conference held October 10-12 entitled "Religious Freedom in Latin America and the New Millennium." Thirty-two countries around the world participated. It was reported to have been very successful, with notable people attending, including many from the United States.
True Parents stayed with the national messiahs at their workshop at Fuerte Olimpo until October 20. Although Parents have already fulfilled all the indemnity conditions necessary, still they continue to give their sweat and tears, investing so much everyday.
There are 1,500 members presently in Jardim attending the Ideal Family workshops. The spirit is high. The various races and nations are loving each other as a beautiful community. Father conducted 18 hoon dok hae sessions there in just a 12-day period, one day starting at 5 am and ending at midnight. There is a large stage in the main lecture hall and True Parents continually stayed on the stage, in view of everyone, sweating so profusely because it is so hot. But they are with everyone all the time.
True Parents matched workshop national messiah families. Mrs. Pak and I were matched with a Japanese 1800 couple blessing family. After that, True Parents sat for family photos for 900 couples! It took a long time. Can you imagine smiling for 900 photographs!
At Salobra, Parents made a special prayer condition and then caught 14 fish. After having them "preserved," they brought the fish to Jardim and displayed them on the stage. Father gave a prayer for the 3rd Ideal Family workshop and then offered the fish by lottery. The cost of a lottery ticket was $300, so Father raised $200,000! Two of the fish went to Korean couples and 12 went to Japanese couples. Then Father invested the $200,000 to buy 1,000 cattle for the farm. When the cattle arrived, the couples shepherded them into the fields. It was a powerful experience.
On November 6, Father declared the fulfillment of the restoration for the Garden of Eden. "Garden of Eden" means harmony of land and water, fish, birds and animals, and sinless blessed couples. This is the meaning of the 40-day workshop directly with True Parents. This third workshop was the foundation to declare the fulfillment of restoration.
The hoon dok hae focused on the following: a book of the prophecies of Nostradamus from a Korean translation; Dr. Sang Han Lee's book on the spirit world; the two hoon dok hae volumes on Spirit World; True Parents (vol. 10 of the hoon dok hae series) and from Father's Prayers, the volume on "the mind of filial piety." Following the readings, Father would then provide his commentaries.
The overall theme was for all blessed couples to arrive at the perfection level and for blessed children to find success, not just on Earth but in preparation for eternal life while still living on Earth. To do so we follow True Parents and True Family's victorious model of love. When we fulfill this, we can register in True Parents Family Registry.
Father is working so hard among the four chosen nations of South America. The populations of Argentina and Uruguay are all "white," making them Cain-type; Paraguay and Brazil, on the other hand, are racially mixed, so they are Abel-type.
I once read about an interview with Mother Teresa, in which she was asked when she thought the messiah would come and where would the Garden of Eden most likely be. She answered: "The year 2000, but if we are not prepared for him then he will be persecuted and delayed in his work. The location of Eden will not be Africa but in the South American rain forest," she said!
Father said that he chose Jardim and the surrounding Pantanal region because it is the least developed area on the planet, hence the closest to the original creation. Father has gone there to love the land, water, and all creatures. True Parents have invested all their physical and spiritual resources there, to the point of almost dying, to make a vast foundation. It is now developing non-stop everyday. We visited all the holy grounds and heard the explanation of what True Parents have done at each place. We followed their footsteps. This has made me a new person. I learned Divine Principle all over again, especially "Restoration through Indemnity."
The RFK and Madison Square Garden victories did not come about because of our hard work, but rather because of True Parents' indemnity in South America. From the dark and cold of the early morning, to the dark of late night, True Parents were on the water. Father is so intent on maintaining the schedule that if the boat did not depart on time, he would become very frustrated. The boat is small, a five-person boat. The guide is a native, not a member. They would go up small rivers, full of alligators and the land populated with wild animals. The vegetation was so dense that even to make their way up the channels the guide had to chop away branches with a machete. The cut branches, on return trips, were dangerous, like spears pointing at the boats going up the narrow channel. But Father would push and push the guide to go faster. A boat that small can easily capsize.
They would travel three hours on this narrow river, in areas where there was no human habitation. The rivers are full of piranhas. Just recently a boat (not ours) capsized with six people on board; five survived but one was eaten by piranhas. But Father wanted to make his own trip faster each day! Father's mind and body were completely invested. This is what brought the miracles of RFK and MSG. This time, as I realized this, I could only cry tears. Everyone carries guns in that wilderness, but True Parents have no security; there was only one staff member with them.
One day, when circumstances allowed, a sister invited Parents to come off the boat to have lunch on the dock, but Father declined the invitation with thanks, saying that he had to eat on the boat because if he got off he would lose focus. At the end of the day, after sitting for long hours in that cramped little space on the boat, Father had difficulty standing up and walking. Everyday it was cold and rainy. In rain or sun, Father gives no attention to his health or his skin.
All this indemnity mobilizes the spirit world. I could not bear to raise my head and look at True Parents directly. At Jardim, Father asked the blessed couples to live a life of this standard. I realize that our attendance is not enough.
True Mother is a great fisherwoman. She caught five bacu on each of two successive days. The record for everyone else is 70 in 40 days, but most catch 30 or 40 in 40 days.
We can say that Chung Pyung Lake is the "cleansing center." We did not deserve the blessing, but Father forgave us. He has a timetable and has to work with unqualified people. This is why our blessing marriage life is not good enough. We disrespect God, the Principle and the value of the blessing. So at CPL we clean out our past character and liberate our evil spirits and ancestors so that they can attend Heung Jin Nim's 100-day workshop. CPL is like cleaning the dirty cup. Jardim is where we fill this cleaned cup. We receive the Holy Spirit. At CPL, Dae Mo NIm conducts the activities, but at New Hope East Garden, True Father, True Parents directly conduct the teachings, the activities.
Through doing the hoon dok hae and visiting the holy grounds, we gain power and energy to go out to the world as messiahs. Koreans, Japanese, Americans--everyone working together on teams, farming and building. It is a joyful experience.
The next stage will be to connect this work at the headwaters of the Paraguay River to the headwaters of the Amazon River, which flows out of the northern side of the Pantanal. Too many people are cutting down the Amazon rain forests. These forests are the lungs of the planet. Only Father's vision, leadership and love will save this. He will divide it into 185 territories and assign these territories by lottery to the 185 Eve-nation national messiahs. Father often spoke about the need for an insect museum, for tourism, boating, and so forth for this area. Now all this can be fulfilled.
To educate families, Father is conducting the Ideal Family workshops in Jardim. As the Elder Son nation let us prepare well.
[When all reports were completed, True Father gave a simple conclusion before dismissing us: "When we build a house, we need the component parts first; then we assemble them and the house is created. In the same way, to build the Kingdom of God, we need all the component parts. The major part is our family, the family system."]