Chambumo Gyeong - 450. Portraits and stamps
After coming to the South, True Father stayed in a mud hut in Beomil-dong, Busan. Living the life of a refugee, Kim Won-pil drew portraits of United States Army personnel to make money, which was used to help members in need. In the first years of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, members raised money to finance their witnessing efforts by collecting and selling postmarked stamps, and by adding color to black and white photographs and selling them on the street. 1 When I was living at Beomil-dong, Busan, we made portraits for soldiers from the United States Army base. We sketched on framed sheets of cloth. You cannot use just any cloth for drawing portraits. There was a glue to be applied to the cloth before drawing. We had to boil the glue, apply it to the cloth, and wait for it to dry. This process hardened the cloth, closing the small holes in the doth before starting the drawing. We received $4 for each portrait. The soldiers from the US Army base usually were stationed there for one and a half to two years, after which time they returned home. They could not go back empty-handed. They needed gifts for their family. Soldiers would bring their wives' photographs and ask us to turn them into portraits. So we did. (127-170, 1983/05/07) 2 The issue was how to draw the portraits quickly. In the beginning we would receive a couple of photos at a time, but since we needed money we organized so that soldiers could bring 20 or even 30 photos a day. The soldiers usually were at this base for a week, so I had to finish painting during that time. On some days, I drew as many as 30 portraits. I attached strings to the frames in advance. Kim Won-pil would use a 4B pencil to draw the faces on the canvases in lines as fine as the embroidery on the frame. The fine lines made it easy to draw the face; all I had to do was follow the lines. That sped up the process. In this way I drew the lips, painted them red, then drew and painted the hair. That was how I learned to draw. Even if you do not know how to do something, you somehow learn by trying. In the beginning I stood behind him, observing. Soon I learned how to draw one stroke at a time. So once he drew the shape of the head, I would be able to draw the clothes and the entire picture. In this way we made a good deal of money, earning nearly $100 a day. (127-171, 1983/05/07) 3 As a refugee at Beomnaetgol, Busan, Kim Won-pil drew portraits of American soldiers. He drew up to 30 portraits a day. For him to do that I had to prepare everything. I stayed up through the night to do so. I worked very hard. That was how we made money to use for witnessing and pioneering the mission. There are many stories that might sound like something I dreamed up. I made money but never used a penny for myself. It is the same with God. He does not do anything for Himself. You have to use money for the sake of humankind, the world and future generations. (097-222, 1978/03/15) 4 We participated in stamp-collecting events throughout Korea. A small canceled stamp removed from an envelope is worth but a few pennies. However, one can actually see this act of removing one stamp as a noble and lofty endeavor. The award winners for collecting stamps are usually young people, including middle and high school students. It is a shame that only young people do this. I once said that every Unification member ought to write a letter to three other members each month. If they attached 40 stamps to the letter, each worth one Korean won, instead of using one 40-won stamp, they could support our business activities. This is how much we can make just by using canceled stamps, which are so insignificant that they are usually thrown away. In other words, although our actions may seem trivial, we are actually bringing huge profit to the nation. Taking interest in seemingly insignificant issues will later lead to important achievements in which Unifi-cationists can take pride. (150-105, 1960/02/02) 5 We have been collecting stamps to finance our witnessing efforts. Through the stamps we collected, we raised nearly one million won last year. There was a time when I said that we need to set a standard by collecting one million or even two million stamps. On the one hand, we are collecting stamps to earn money. On the other, through these stamp-collecting activities, we have been able to unite in spirit based on a common goal. We are learning to share the emotions of daily life with each other. (150-105, 1960/02/02) |