Ken Hendricks, “Show me what to do, where to go”

On the night of Sunday, August 25, 1974, Jesus appeared in a dream. With arms outstretched, he invited me to join him. Overwhelmed by his presence and realizing my responsibility, I fell to my knees in deep repentance. “No, no. I must do more,” I cried. “I must do more.” Jesus had returned for me! He had fulfilled his promise. Now I had to fulfill my promise. I awoke in a deep sweat, my heart pounding uncontrollably. I rose from bed and immediately fell to my knees. “Dear God,” I prayed. “If you show me what to do, where to go, who to follow, I will do it without question, and without hesitation. I will leave everything behind, no questions asked.”

Three days later on Wednesday, August 28, 1974, I met two Unification Church members witnessing on Main Street in downtown Fargo. The rest is history. That night I heard the Divine Principle for the first time. That weekend I attended a three day workshop and heard the conclusion—the messiah is here! On September 1, 1974, I formally and unabashedly committed myself. My prayer had been answered. Jesus Christ had personally witnessed to me about the Second Coming. He led me to meet Sun Myung Moon. The Divine Principle changed my life forever, and its message is very simple: God is our parent, and we are His children.

From I Am in This Place, p. 55.

Keiko Foss, “Our Whole Family Joined”

I was raised in the Buddhist religion in the Kochi prefecture of Japan. In 1966, when I was 16 years old, I was introduced to the Divine Principle by my parents. My younger sister, then 14, saw a young college student street preaching. He was passing out a flyer asking: "Does God really exist?" She knew right away that she should bring the flyer to our mother, because our mother was crazy for God. She was always looking for a higher truth and answers for the mysteries of universe.

After my parents attended the first Divine Principle lecture, my mother was so inspired that she told me, "This is the one I have been looking for such a long time." She then introduced True Parents to my elder sister, my cousin, and me. We went to study Divine Principle every day.

During high school, I started to bring my friends to attend funcircle gatherings. We helped with activities such as haihin-kaishu (collecting and recycling newspapers, etc.) and street witnessing. Our lunches consisted of su udon (thick white-noodle soup) and mimi pan (only the crust of white bread). It was a humble meal, but the college students who came for 40 days of pioneering were afire with deep love and dedication to True Parents and God. They were constantly talking about how to restore the evil world and build a world of true love. I was completely drawn by their bright eyes and the smiles on their faces. They seemed so happy, bursting with hope and ambition. I wanted stay at the church center more than I wanted to stay at home

After I graduated from high school in 1968, I enrolled in a four-year technical college to be a knitting designer. After finishing one semester, I was encouraged to attend a seven-day workshop. That workshop was a life-changing experience. I decided to join and become a fulltime member. After another 40-day workshop under Rev. Ken Sudo's guidance, I was assigned to the Nagoya Church under Rev. Takeru Kamiyama and Mr. Motoo Furuta. My training began with selling flowers and witnessing. Every day I wrote a letter to my parents to tell them how happy I was. I told them of the joy of meeting new people every day and being surrounded by wonderful brothers and sisters. I invited my parents to come to the Nagoya church to greet Rev. Kamiyama and Mr. Furuta.  

My parents felt gratitude towards the church leaders for taking such good care of their daughter. They saw many devoted fathers and mothers coming to help the young members, cooking delicious meals for them, and cleaning the center, just as if it was their own home. My parents were so moved they decided to become full-time members. They inspired my elder sister and younger sister to join full-time also. Our whole family joined in 1970.

From Tribute, 118-19.

Joon Ho Seuk, “Returning Home”

When I was ten years old, our family was turned upside down when my mother, Won Pok Choi, joined the Unification Church. I didn't have any good feelings toward that church, therefore, and my environment made it impossible for me to join.

Around the time I entered college, I seriously injured myself while doing some strenuous physical exercises. From there my health deteriorated and I plunged into a state of despair. I spent several years filled with mental anguish, while I pondered the meaning of life. Around that time, I suddenly received the inspiration that I needed to learn more about the Unification Church. I made some inquiries about the church, visited it and listened to the Divine Principle.

Ultimately, my joining the Unification Church meant my father would feel betrayed, so it was a very serious decision. After I joined, I heard that in 1965, while True Father visited Manila, the capital of Philippines, on his world tour to consecrate holy grounds, he suddenly said to my mother (who was accompanying him): I heard you have three sons. What are they doing now? He had never asked this question before.

Surprised, she replied, "It's been ten years now since I saw my family. I have neither gotten any message from my sons nor heard news of them."

Hearing this Father said, It's time for one of them to join the church.

My mother told me this. About that time, I had heard the Principle and was beginning to study it deeply. No one witnessed to me; I don't have a spiritual parent. I came by myself following an inspiration, seeking to understand God's will. For this reason, I consider True Father to be my spiritual father.

My father vigorously opposed my joining. For that reason, I had to think about how I might be free to lead my church life and to witness to people about the Divine Principle.

At that time the Vietnam War -- in which thousands of Korean soldiers lost their lives -- was raging. I heard that the army was looking for martial arts instructors. I joined the army as a volunteer and was dispatched to Vietnam.

Martial arts instructors could invest time and effort in psychological tactics -- they were allowed to wear plain clothes and were free to interact with civilians. I thought it would give me the freedom to witness. So, though I decided to participate in the Vietnam War as a volunteer, internally I was going to Vietnam to carry out missionary activities.

As I was leaving for Vietnam, I prayed seriously, "Now that I've found the truth and True Parents, I have no regrets even if I die. There's no guarantee that I can come back alive, so I must dedicate myself to God's will even at the cost of my life."

At that point in the Vietnam War, there was neither a rear area nor a front line. The Vietcong were everywhere. They were living among ordinary citizens. The idea was to use martial arts instruction as a means of coaxing Vietnamese who were sympathetic with the Vietcong over to the friendly side. Since I didn't speak Vietnamese, I was looking for Vietnamese who spoke English. Thus, I naturally met people from the intelligentsia who spoke English well. Externally, I was teaching them martial arts, while internally I was witnessing to them.

I invested my effort in that environment where I had to be ready to fight and die. I was able to witness to several people in Vietnam. Two of them, a director of a YMCA and the principal of an international school, visited Korea, bowed to True Parents and received much love from them.

Now that I have been appointed the new president of the church, I want to revive that heart I had in the very beginning; I will make a new start with the same serious determination!

After two and a half years in Vietnam, I was discharged and came home from the army, but my father realized I was still attending the Unification Church. Those around me said, "You should either quit the Unification Church or move out of your father's house. Every time he sees you, he becomes hypertensive to that point that his face goes red. What will you do? If it continues like this, your father will die because of you."

For that reason, I decided to leave home. On the day of my departure, my father prepared a nice supper for me. It was our farewell meal. Looking at me, my father started to cry. Through sobs, he said, "I loved your mother so much, but she betrayed me and joined the Unification Church. And now you, my beloved son, are betraying me and leaving me too."

In front of my weeping father, I made up my mind. From the worldly viewpoint, how can one justify the behavior of a son who deserts his father? Thus, now I would have to accept True Parents as my eternal True Father and True Mother and show them filial piety with a desperate and sincere heart that more than compensates for my having left my father. I was causing my father grief, but, I thought, if I become a pious son to True Parents, bring them joy and glory, and make them smile, someday my father will also surely smile because of me.

With this resolve, I left home and continued on the way of God's will. 

Jeff Tallakson, “It was not easy for me to shed my Christian dogma”

In 1967, during my last year in high school, I helped Campus Crusade for Christ on a weeklong witnessing campaign at the University of California at Berkeley. The culmination was an address by Billy Graham at the Greek Theatre. I was a recently "reborn" Christian, but I was also a young adolescent feeling tempted by the youth culture of the "Hippie" 1960s. I felt freest of temptation when I was doing God's work, so I did it every chance I had.

I read a small want ad in the Berkeley Barb, the hippie newspaper, which read: "New Truth for a New Age." I phoned and spoke with Edwin Ang. He told me about "principles" and urged me to drive 50 miles to hear a lecture in Berkeley.

It was not easy for me to shed my Christian dogma to understand the Heart of God. Yet, I was not fully satisfied with evangelical Christianity. I loved the certainty of the "literal" interpretation of the Bible. But I felt confined by the fundamentalist prejudices against others - Mormons, Christian Scientists, Catholics, Buddhists, and exasperatingly, even against other Evangelicals. It did not fit into my upbringing in the more liberal yet more tolerant Congregational Church (United Church of Christ). As an Evangelical I had a small nagging feeling that God might be bigger than just my Baptist Church. Prejudice and intolerance seemed to me incongruent with the way Jesus lived and taught.

So, although overcoming my own religious prejudice and intolerance was very difficult, each time I visited the Unified Family Center, Heavenly Father had another revelation to knock away chinks from the conceptual armor I wore so tightly. One was the shock that "these people" prayed with tears. And they prayed not for themselves, but to comfort God! For me it was, on the face of it, arrogant blasphemy for sinners to assume they could do something for the Almighty God, but yet, I felt Heavenly Father loved their caring prayers and tears, the likes of which I had never heard. During another of my many visits, Ernie Stewart happened to be visiting. He "blew my mind" by showing me that the Divine Principle was also in the scriptures, and that much of what I thought was in the scriptures was not really there.

It took me six months finally to commit. While driving down the road on my way to attend Biola (Christian) University, I decided to make a U-turn and head back to the Berkeley Center, where I moved in. Many people joined in Berkeley in the ensuing months and years, and it appeared to me that each one was handpicked by God for much needed "missions." God had so many things he needed each of us to do to restore the world of His original ideal.

From Tribute, pp. 344-45.

Geraldine Linek, “God will go to any lengths and use whatever convoluted means necessary”

I was a teenager during the restlessness and protests of the 1960s. I had attended community college right out of high school but had no idea what I was doing there. I had such a restlessness inside me. One time my girlfriends and I drove to San Francisco. As we passed through the Haight-Ashbury District, my friends were laughing at the hippies, but I remember identifying with them and feeling a kinship with their disillusionment and rebelliousness. I determined to find out more about them.

After moving to Haight-Ashbury, I had a profound experience in which I "became" Christ dying on the cross. But instead of dying just once, I died many times over, and asked those around me, "How many times do I have to die?" I had a deep realization that Christ didn't just die one time, 2000 years ago. Christ dies over and over again every day, as long as we continue to argue, fight, and kill one another. Even though this was a drug-induced experience, it was very real and profound to me and kept me on the path to discover the meaning of my life. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to live a more Christ-like existence.

My path to meeting the Unification Church was very roundabout. I was not witnessed to directly. In October of 1968, at the peak of my desperation to find God and the meaning of life, I was shown a pamphlet for an "Experimental College" at San Francisco State College by my sister's roommate's former roommate's sister, who was not a church member. I share this because it illustrates how God will go to any lengths and use whatever convoluted means necessary to lift His children up out of their struggles. Experimental College was an innovative program through which anyone could offer alternative education classes. I signed up for three classes that sounded interesting. One was entitled: "Man's Purpose: A Process of Creation." What intrigued me about this class was the promise that it would answer my burning questions: "Where do I come from? Why do I exist? Where am I going?" The course description stated that it was sponsored by a group of young people of different races and faiths living together cooperatively. Presented by the San Francisco members under Mr. Sang Ik Choi's leadership, the class was a vehicle for them to witness and invite potential members to lectures and weekend workshops at the center.

I had a difficult time at first, because everyone was so positive and squeaky-dean, and I was so questioning and challenging. But there was undeniable warmth from the members, and I can still recall the welcoming smell of barley tea as I ascended the stairs for evening lectures. I accepted the Divine Principle teachings on November 5, 1968, the day I heard the concluding lecture and realized the Messiah was on the earth.

From Tribute, pp. 207-208.

Edwin Ang, “I was the only one who joined”

I was born in Indonesia, but I was studying economics at the University of California at Berkeley in 1962 when I received a letter from a fellow foreign student, Peter Koch, inviting me to a small pioneer center of the Unified Family. Peter had sent out letters to all the foreign students there, stating that he had an important message for their countries. In response to that letter, I called him, stating that I would like to see him at a later time as I was in the midst of preparing for my oral examination for my doctoral degree in economics. However, when he told me that the message had something to do with a “new revelation,” I consented to see him that Thursday evening.

At that meeting in an apartment above a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley, I met Miss Young Oon Kim and some of the early members. After the Divine Principle reading session, I was so inspired that I stayed in the apartment until 4:00 a.m. to ask Peter many questions. This conversation gave me a good idea of what the movement was all about. That experience led me to investigate the claims of the Divine Principle by visiting churches and spiritual groups in the San Francisco Bay area, including the Golden Gate Spiritualist Church. After I faithfully attended the Thursday-evening Divine Principle reading sessions for two or three months, Miss Kim asked me to become a member. I responded by signing membership in December 1962. In the process of studying the Divine Principle, I found that it gave me the best interpretation of Scripture and a good explanation of life itself. It integrated science and religion, faith and reason, through the Principles of Creation. For example, I could see that the double-entry bookkeeping system of modern accounting bears resemblance to the Principles of Creation.

Later on, I was told that out of about 1900 letters Peter had sent out to foreign students at the University of California at Berkeley, about 25 responded to his invitation; however, I was the only one who joined.

From Tribute: Reflections from the Early Years, NY: HSA-UWC, 2011, 27-28.

Debbie Scott Robbins, “It is true”

My workshop lecturer was a young lady who came from the same faith background as I did, and we instantly connected in heart. Very quietly, and with much insight and wisdom, she set out to explain the Divine Principle.

It was Saturday afternoon. She had finished two lectures: “Principles of Creation” and “The Fall of Man,” and now was in the middle of the lecture, “The Mission of Jesus.” This was something most interesting to me, as I loved Jesus very much. I doubted there was much she could explain to me about Jesus’ mission that I didn’t already know, having read the New Testament many, many times and having participated in literally hundreds of Bible study sessions. Still, I consider Jesus to be very much my personal Lord and Savior, and was always interested in talking about him.

Then she started talking about John the Baptist and had an interesting angle on his life, one I had never heard before. But she backed up everything she said with evidence from the Bible. It was a bit unsettling for me to learn this other perspective on the prophet’s life and work.

She went into great detail about Jesus’ mission, and how God had prepared His chosen people for thousands of years to love, follow and accept Jesus as the messiah. Using Jesus’ words and actions, she illustrated how intensely Jesus wanted people to understand his mission and believe him. She made history come to life, and I understood more deeply than I ever had before how great was Jesus’ anguish when he wept over Jerusalem and lamented how he had wanted to gather his believers under his wing, as a hen gathers her chicks. She gave a deep explanation of the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, of asking that the way of crucifixion be reconsidered, but in the end offering himself as a complete sacrifice to God’s will.

Through the lecture, I understood something I never had before. I understood that the anguish of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was entirely without selfish motive. Jesus’ tears in the garden had nothing to do with a last-minute struggle with his h u m a n i t y. Intuitively, this explanation just seemed right to me.

Then she came to the conclusion that shocked me out of my mind—that Jesus’ crucifixion was not God’s original plan for Jesus. He was not sent here to die. He came to save us by living and demonstrating by his own example, how to embody God’s standards as a brother, a husband and a father.

“What?! Did you say Jesus didn’t come to die? No way!” I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.

I stood up suddenly and said, “I have to go pray.” They were surprised that I was leaving, but I didn’t care. I went upstairs to the bedroom where I had slept the night before and locked the door behind me. I wanted to be alone.

I got down on my knees and I started to pray. I am now forty eight years old, and in retrospect, I have to say that my prayer at that time was the most sincere, most ardent and the most desperate of my entire life! I remember the prayer as if it were just yesterday that I offered it. “Jesus! Jesus! Can this be true? Could it be true that my Lord and Savior did not come to shed his blood for me? How could this be? Jesus,” I cried aloud, “I have to know if this is true! I will not move from where I am kneeling now until you tell me what is true. I will not eat. I will not sleep until you tell me what is true! It doesn’t matter how long it takes for you to answer my prayer—I will stay here, at this spot until you answer my prayer!

“Jesus, if these people’s teaching is false and you were sent by God to die on the cross, then I promise you that I will bring this movement down with my bare hands. Whatever it takes, I promise to bring them to the dust. We can’t let falsehood be spreading like this through these workshops.

“If, however, this teaching is correct . . . If you did not come intending to die for our sins, then the world must know, and I will share this with everyone I know, and especially all my friends who have committed their lives to you and who love you.”

By this time, I was praying and crying so hard that I felt like my insides were pouring out my eyeballs. I was sweating and praying so intensely that time stopped for me, and all that existed in the world was my desire to know the truth. I have no idea how long I was on my knees but I know that I was very loudly wailing in prayer, and the bed at which I was kneeling was sopping wet, as were my clothes and the floor around me. I begged Jesus to let me know the truth about his mission. I had to know! I told him I couldn’t live another day without knowing. “Did you come to die? Or didn’t you?” I demanded. “I have to know. Is their teaching true or not?”

I would not budge until I knew the truth. I was exhausted from crying so hard and so long, but I would not get off my knees until I clearly knew the answer to my prayer. I had been choking because I had been crying so hard. Finally, I was trying just to get my breath back. Then I heard something . . . a voice... I heard a voice.

“It is true.”

I stayed still as a statue on my knees. I waited . . . Did I actually hear what I thought I had heard?

“It is true.”

I looked behind me. I was alone in the room. I felt the voice came from within me, not from outside, but I looked just to be sure. I had never ever before heard a voice like this. I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked to hear that the voice was saying what I didn’t expect.

“It is true.”

Hearing the voice the third time, I knew that this was Jesus answering my prayer. “Oh, Lord Jesus! Thank you! Thank you!” Once again I broke into tears as I rejoiced to learn the truth about Jesus’ m i ssion. Once again, I watered the bedspread, the floor and everything around me, but this time the tears were shed in gratitude to know that my Lord and Savior cared enough to answer my prayer. I wanted to shout it from the mountaintop. I wanted to immediately go out and tell all my friends at my church. But how could I help them understand? Well, Jesus would help me

The next day was Easter Sunday. It was the most special Easter for me. I felt so much closer to Jesus than ever before.

From, I Am in This Place, pp. 9-11.

David S.C. Kim, “From now on, your new name is David … You will be going overseas for pioneer missionary work”

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.