Chambumo Gyeong - 308. Latin America, Europe and the Middle East
True Father visited Panama in Central America on July 3, 1965. In South America he visited Colombia on July 4, Chile on July 5, Argentina on July 7, and Brazil on July 8. On July 9, Father left Brazil and arrived in Portugal on July 10 via Senegal, in West Africa. He then traveled to 17 countries in Europe until August 24. On that day, he departed from Greece for Cairo. In addition to Egypt, he visited five other Middle Eastern countries, while continually encouraging the local members. On August 31, during a pilgrimage to the Jerusalem holy ground, True Father deeply consoled Jesus for his heartbreak over having had to climb the mount of Golgotha to go the sacrificial way of the cross. 39 I met one Japanese member in Brazil who, though unable to speak the language, carried the cross by going to Brazil at a young age to spread God's Word. My heart ached when I saw how this member had suffered so much in that wilderness. The world of heart cannot be blocked by borders, military force or any ideology. That member had gone beyond being Japanese. He had more heart than a Korean. I will never forget the loyalty of those members who were standing on the airfield at sunset bidding me farewell with tears. If we cannot meet the laborers of Unification while shedding tears of sacrifice for the world, this mission will never extend beyond the national level. (015-226, 1965/10/10) 40 I prayed as I traveled around Europe. I realized that crossing the Alps is not a problem. Neither is crossing the Himalayas. Fighting on the front line of a spiritual battle is more difficult than either. Because this battle is the path of restoration, this is my strategy: If I am not aligned with the rules and principles of heaven, nothing will be resolved. We are facing a time of urgency. The question is why communism is saying religion is its enemy. Therefore, we are all fighting under the proposition, "The enemy of religion is communism." (015-225, 1965/10/10) 41 I offered a prayer to God in front of the Vatican Palace in Rome. I prayed, "God, this church with over 600 million believers and over 2,000 years of history stands here. However, I am concerned about what will become of them. As You have wanted, we will unite the many divided denominations and religious orders." The Vatican is the headquarters and formative point of European civilization. God and I communed together with a heart of concern over the Vatican regarding what would eventually happen to it. There is a principle that when truth and falsehood collide, falsehood will shatter. (016-237, 1966/06/19) 42 The day I visited Egypt, governed by the military under Nasser, was the anniversary of the establishment of the Egyptian military. So I examined their military and found that they were armed with modern weapons. I could not see Egypt's industrial development in the capital city of Cairo, so I traveled to Alexandria, which is about 135 miles from Cairo. There I saw the industrial development of the city and thought that no matter how much Egypt boasts, it was not making enough progress. Looking at this, it seemed like Egypt was 10 to 20 years behind Israel. The country's original plan of using the East-West conflict to help develop Egypt was shrewd, but I returned thinking that from now on they had better consider changing their direction. (018-229, 1967/06/11) 43 During my First World Tour, I took a close look at the Middle East by visiting Syria, Israel and Jordan. The reason was that I wanted to know how people in the spirit world were working behind the scenes. In addition, the government of Israel provided special land for new immigrants. Israelis have been able to return to the blessed land of Abraham bearing an ideology of restoration, working to restore sovereignty. When I saw this, I felt that the ideology of being the chosen people cannot be taken out of them. With this ideology, no matter what they go through, they are resolute from beginning to end. (018-227, 1967/06/11) 44 When I visited Jerusalem, I saw a sign at the location where Jesus collapsed on his way to Mt. Golgotha. I looked at the place 12 times and thought, "This is the path of indemnity that Jesus walked." Then I prayed, "How heartbreaking Jesus' situation must have been 2,000 years ago, as he shouldered the new heavenly mission and entered the desert and the wilderness! Jesus set aside the rich and prominent people of that time and searched for extremely insignificant and incredibly poor Israelites, because he understood his Father's heart and desire to relieve the bitter sorrow of these people through their restoration even one day sooner." Anyone who visits that place must offer a prayer of deep comfort to Jesus for his heart-wrenching situation. Only then will Satan feel uneasy and God be comforted. Satan must be brought to weep with sorrow and God must be able to laugh with joy. Due to the Fall of Adam, God shed tears of heartbreak, and Satan and Adam also shed tears. God and Satan must shed tears on the path of restoration. Restoration cannot be fulfilled until my tears are enough to make God and Satan weep. (018-165, 1967/06/04) 45 I experienced many things when I visited Jerusalem. If you were to look there, half is desert. So much of it was desert that I took one look at a large camel and wondered if there was enough grass anywhere for the camel to eat its fill. Seeing that place, I realized that Korea is the most blessed among blessed lands. The grapevines there in Israel did not even span the length of my arm. During the day, the heat of the sun completely dried up one-third of the grapes. The vines were so withered you could not tell what they were. They looked like some other type of vine. However, even though it was very hot during the day, dewdrops fell during the night and at dawn. These dewdrops helped the plants regain their vitality.
I felt deeply that, just like the plants that grow on Israeli land, the Jewish people are a tribe that waits for the tranquil dawn when they can cry out in their prayers before God. I see something when I look deeply into Israelis' eyes. There is something that moves me. A song that is sung after one's heart has been deeply moved induces the best tears and the most soulful prayer. That is why I felt, "Ah, this is why a new history was able to start here." (017-021, 1966/11/06) |