Sun Myung Moon
1965
Entry from Won Bok Choi's 1965 Diary
Compiled by Taekon Lee
True Father speaks
In 1965, I embarked on my first trip around the world. My suitcase was filled with soil and stones from Korea. My plan was that, as I traveled around the world, I would plant Korea’s soil and stones in each country to signify Korea’s linkage to the world. For ten months, I toured forty countries, including Japan, the United States, and the nations of Europe.
My second destination was the United States. I entered the country through the airport in San Francisco, where I was met by our missionaries.
From there, we toured the entire country. During the time I was touring America, I felt strongly, “This is the country that manages the whole world.
During my tour of the United States, I visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii. We rented a station wagon and drove day and night. We didn’t waste time sitting down to eat. If we had two slices of bread, a piece of sausage, and some pickles, then that was plenty of food for a meal. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner like this. We also slept in the car. The car was our lodging, it was our bed and our restaurant. We ate, slept, and prayed in that small car.
After the United States and Canada, I went to Central and South America, and then on to Europe. From Europe, I went on to Egypt and the Middle East and completed my tour after ten months.
When I returned to Seoul, my suitcase was full of soil and stones from 120 locations in forty countries. I had brought soil and stones from Korea with me, and wherever I planted those small pieces of Korea around the world, I collected soil and stones to bring back with me. I connected Korea to these forty countries in this way to prepare for the day in the future when the world of peace would be realized centering on Korea. I began preparations to send missionaries to those forty countries.
