Yang Hur
May 2012
Father is offering conditions through extended fishing excursions that test the mettle of those accompany him.
True Parents have emphasized that the providence for the land as well as the oceans needs to be brought to fruition in Las Vegas. Through this, the era before the coming of heaven and the era after the coming of heaven will be clearly distinguished. Our True Parents are mapping out a multifaceted strategy to restore this city. The following are some aspects of the approach they are taking:
Father visiting the large property on Bermuda Road, Las Vegas, which began undergoing renovations that day in preparation for its use as a major training facility
Reconstruction at the New Peace Palace in Las Vegas
A year ago, True Parents acquired a very large property in the vicinity of the Las Vegas Airport. Originally built in 1966, the 135,400-square-foot' building at 6590 S. Bermuda Road is situated or six acres of land. Father calls it the Peace Palace.
On 3.28 [April 18, 2012] demolition began on part of the property in order to prepare the way for a new conference center to be completed by the end of the year. The new educational facility will seat two thousand people. The Board of County Commissioners unanimously gave final approval for "major training facility, convention facility and dormitory" on March 7, 2012.
Father visited the site to witness the demolition. He met the demolition foreman, posed for photographs with everyone and joyfully wished the whole group a nice day as he departed.
True Parents have blessed the city of Las Vegas as the place where not only members and ambassadors for peace but also leaders from every field of life can attend the Original Substance of the Divine Principle workshops. Moreover, the building is expected to play a role in the organization of the Abel UN.
The Wongu Peace and Happiness School of Oriental Medicine has acquired this property, which includes a number of buildings.
Wongu Peace and Happiness School of Oriental Medicine
True Parents have long had the vision of establishing a university specializing in Oriental medicine. On 3 8 [April 18], the State of Nevada Board of Oriental Medicine unanimously approved the establishment of the Wongu Peace and Happiness School of Oriental Medicine.
A building and the necessary personnel, including the university president, professors and the administrative staff have been secured. The school is scheduled to open its doors for the new school year this autumn. Students will graduate with a Master's degree in Oriental Medicine and will sit for a Nevada state examination if they wish to practice there.
The founding spirit of the university is the same as that of Sun Moon Educational Foundation in Korea: Love God, Love Humankind and Love Your Country.
Lake Mead a Training Ground For the Spirit
True Parents go fishing on Lake Mead in order to offer conditions. It is like an oasis in the desert, a place that Heaven has prepared in advance for the completion of the ocean providence, of which True Parents are the center. True Parents are establishing themselves there; they even know the different types of fish, animals and plants that can be found in the area. While offering devotions through fishing, True Father always teaches the small number of followers who are on the boat with him, pouring out his heart like a waterfall of boundless blessing and love; our parched souls are enriched through what he says.
True Parents own a number of fishing vessels. They are preparing to create facilities for ocean-related training combined with spiritual training.
A billboard advertising True Father's autobiography stands out against the arid Las Vegas landscape
True Father's Autobiography
Members are coming from Japan with the mission to distribute the autobiography on the street and door to door throughout the city. One billboard advertising Father's book is maintained on Highway 15 in Las Vegas, and another on Las Vegas Boulevard near the famous Las Vegas sign. They are visible each day to the occupants of tens of thousands of passing cars.
Dr. Chang Shik Yang speaks on video to explain the development to church members.
Establishment of a Korean Residents' Church
Two years ago, True Parents appointed then Gangwon Province (Korea) Unification Church leader Rev. Won-geun Park as church leader of the Korean residents' church in Las Vegas. He received a special assignment for the restoration of Las Vegas. Rev. Park is making headway in bringing together the Korean residents based on his decades of experience as a church leader. This church is affiliated with Lovin' Life Ministries and Rev. Park is working under In Jin nim's guidance.
Some people from the Las Vegas' Korean community have attended the Original Substance of Divine Principle workshops and a number are now attending Sunday service. Some among these used to belong to other churches.
After the Sunday Service, Rev. Park spends time with those who come to the church. He said that since the Little Angels' performance in Las Vegas a few months ago, the perception of True Parents and the Unification Church in the Korean community has changed; as a result, an increasing number of Korean residents are coming to meet Rev. Park.
Offering Jeong Seong through fishing allows Father to educate those who accompany him.
The True Teacher
As well as the average of seven to eight hours of teaching every day in Hoon Dok Hae, True Father teaches in public and private meetings and even onboard boats, where he also offers all-night fishing conditions. To use every second that passes, he even teaches about the essence of the providence to the few followers that travel with him in his car. Regardless of whether his audience is ten thousand people, ten people or even two or three, he educates those around him at every opportunity.
Sometimes he gives vent to the irritation he feels at having to teach such bat-blind, ignorant people, but he repeatedly attempts to implant the gist of his teachings deep in our hearts. With a serious expression on his face, he tells us that he needs to arrange everything while his body is still moving, because only then can all problems be easily resolved and our future be bright. If we tried to resolve all the problems and lay the foundation without him, he says, we could not finish the work in a thousand years.
Recently, at King Garden in Kona, Hawaii, Father said,
"I have never forgotten the children I blessed. I have never thought differently about taking responsibility for them, even at this moment in time. Even when I go to the spirit world, I will visit them at least three times." He is giving us so much love and showing a deep interest in us, and we should not disappoint him.
As the six-day sojourn in Hawaii at the end of March drew to an end, Father said:
"You need to sleep six hours a day, but can bear up without sleeping for at least three days. You need to become focused in achieving your goal to such an extent that you even forget the taste of delicious food. I have a recon of speaking for seventeen hours and forty-two minutes, standing the entire time. With such a spirit, there is nothing you cannot do."
In the town of Sedona, Arizona, on 3.21 [April 11], at the conclusion of the Hoon Dok Hae reading entitled "Victorious Sacrifice," True Father said that what we had read was in complete accord with the present moment, in which we are making preparations for Foundation Day. He added, "Indemnification must pass through the process of sacrifice. You need to march forward for the completion of the providence with the attitude and the heart of making the final sacrifice. It's as if have restored Shimcheong, Choonhyang and General Lee Soon-shin to their original state before the Fall and given then each a key so that they can freely visit True Parents' residence. You need to model yourselves after their loyalty and filial piety."
A license Father needed for fishing on Lake Mead. Note that he has signed it personally.
The Ocean Providence on Lake Mead
For three days from 3.22 to 3.24 [April 12-14, 2012], True Father went out to Temple Bay on Lake Mead with a small number of church leaders as an all-night fishing condition. The nights on Lake Mead are cold and chilly. To make matters worse, when it is windy and raining, it feels eerie and one cannot help but cower down. We do our best to cover True Father up from head to toe with sleeping bags and tuck him up tightly so no wind can find its way inside, and to block the winds and the rain with umbrellas, but as the night grows long, it becomes colder and colder.
While we are waiting for a fish to be caught on one of the lines cast into the water, True Father speaks to us on the boat or listens to reports. He changes the atmosphere on the boat, and worldly thoughts about the cold and other mundane things vanish in an instant. Mostly, he catches carp, catfish or bass. When a big fish is caught, we take photographs with Father. Sometimes we pose for individual photographs with Father, who says that we should remember that moment for all eternity.
We were returned to Cheon Hwa Gung, where True Parents reside in Las Vegas at around four in the morning. Father never misses a Hoon Dok Hae session and continues to offer other devotions. When you consider his age, it is altogether unimaginable.
Father continues to visit dark, low and vulgar places and voluntarily follows the path of a pioneer and a living offering. Why does he do that? He has to continue with such struggles because he has to complete even the unfulfilled responsibilities of the chosen children for the liberation of God and the salvation of humanity. It seems as if the sounds you hear in the lonely and almost silent surroundings -- the wind blowing, the waves lapping the shore, and an occasional cry made by animals -- reflect True Parents' heart.
True Father with the writer, Rev. Yang Hur, and a large carp hooked on Lake Mead.
Conclusion
It is said that sincerity moves Heaven. I have no doubt that as they give everything they have at the risk of their lives, True Parents' devotions will be brought to fruition. We lead our lives under True Parents' guidance, and what we should value above all else is True Parents' oversight while they are with us, and we need to reestablish our identity in accordance with that. Foundation Day is less than a year away.
Father has said, "I embarked on this path in suffering, and I plan to end it in suffering. This is actually my motto. Even when I am ninety years old and in need of a walking stick to support me, I will follow this path."
With the belief that the person who tied the knot should be the one to untie it, True Parents are following the one and only path before them, devoting all their energies and risking their lives, enduring everything like a phoenix, and marching on and on. I remember Father saying, "Rather than beginning something, you should try to finish something well. I am the person who knows whether the last knot should be tied to the right side or the left."
True Parents are trying to fulfill all the promises they made to God flawlessly while they are still here on earth, so that they can complete their work and thus liberate God and dedicate humankind on the cosmic altar to open the way to the era of peace and prosperity and to eternal life.
The completion of the providence begins with the fulfillment of our own portion of responsibility. True Father said that the history of the providence was prolonged for six thousand years because people failed to bear their burdens. In every Hoon Dok Hae, True Father says that he has fulfilled everything. We should not forget that in saying this he is emphasizing our responsibility.
The gist of True Father's message to us during his recent travels was that we should value, take pride in, and develop our foundation. Rather than putting ourselves forward, we should look down at our feet and know our present situation and identity ourselves as blessed families and church members with a humble attitude based on our devotion.
Only when we work with such an attitude can the spirit world be moved and can we be given the master key that can create something from nothing and make the impossible possible. To continue with my summary of Father's words:
I too, offer devotions as I follow this path. Do you think you can prevail without offering devotions? While following the path of the providence, you can complain or rest when things are too difficult and you can even discuss your problems with older people around you, younger people or your colleagues. But I can never complain or discuss things with anyone because I have to struggle on all by myself to fulfill my one and only goal. When you engage in a fight, you should win. We cannot show Satan the dead bodies of those who have been defeated. Once you taken on your responsibility, you should stake your lives on fulfilling it. You cannot be victorious without fighting. It is only after a fight to the death that you can be declared the winner.
How meaningful and heartfelt this message is!