I was born in 1915 in Seoul, Korea as the only child to a father of Christian background and a mother of combined Buddhist and Confucian background. My grandmother was a devout Buddhist follower and was spiritually open; she was associated with many religious groups in Korea. Many astrologers, Buddhist priests with psychic powers and other interfaith spiritual groups and people came to our home continuously. This interfaith-oriented background in my family helped me to research higher truth not only from Christian churches but also from religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Shamanism, and other small groups with Messianic expectations in the various mountainous regions in Korea. I know now that God prepared me to help God's dispensation.
It was in the first week of February, 1954 when I accepted Father as the Messiah to come, as prophesied in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, as the Second Coming of the founders of the major world religions in other non-Christian sacred books; and as the Righteous Man, Chung Do-Ryung in the book called Chung-Gam-Rok, a prophetic book written during the Lee dynasty in modern Korean history. I accepted him before I met him in person and even before hearing the lectures of the Divine Principle from the late Mr. Eu.
It happened this way. My alumnus, Mr. Lee, visited Father's small Taegu group around the latter part of January 1954 and returned with a report that this group, so spiritually powerful, could communicate directly with heaven. Based on his strong and persistent pressure, I finally decided to make an appointment to see the leader of the group.
Contrary to my expectations, the leader of the group in Taegu (supposedly Father), was not there. Only Mrs. Se Hyun Ok was in the house. In Korea it is very unusual to break a previously arranged appointment. So, when I came to Taegu, with all my pride and arrogance, I was very upset that the leader of the group was not present. However, my anger and indignation softened when Mrs. Ok talked about her visions seen in her early morning prayer.
In 1950, during the Korean War, I had experienced God's intervention in a time of crisis which saved my life from the communist atrocities in the southwestern region of Korea. Suddenly an "old, gentle, loving man" with purple robes appeared in the midst of my deep prayer, clearly giving me instructions about what to do from that time until the United Nations troops liberated that region. Thus my life was spared. I dearly remember that "old, gentle, loving man'' and his clear voice instructing me on how to survive in the midst of the Communist occupation.
In chat house Supreme God appeared a second time in front of me, this time through Mrs. Ok. Suddenly, her body shook and jerked, and the voice of God controlled her, and totally occupied her body and mind, causing it to act differently from Mrs. Ok. Now, God was speaking directly with a man's voice, just the same voice I had heard in my vision in 1950 in the form of an "old, gentle, loving man" in purple robes. With awesome feeling and deep reverence, I listened, immediately humbled myself and became obedient. I heard God's voice solemnly say:
"Listen, dear Sang Chul! I have been training you for 30 years since the age of 9, for your search of the truth through various religious experiences and groups. The time has now come and this is the place I wanted to lead you to. Unconditionally surrender. From now on, your new name is David, after King David who destroyed Goliath in the Old Testament. You will be going overseas for pioneer missionary work for this group."
From that moment I have followed Father with unwavering faith and total dedication.
From Tribute, pp. 185-87.