Life of faith
True Mother came down to the South with her maternal grandmother, Jo Won-mo, and her mother, Hong Soon-ae, in 1948. They moved several times— from Seoul to Daegu, then to Jeju Island and then to Chuncheon, where they continued their life of faith. When they were staying temporarily at the home of her mother’s friend in Daegu, right after arriving in the South, a stranger who saw True Mother described her, "She is the most divine young lady in heaven and on earth." It was this way wherever True Mother went: She caught people’s eye, and people received spiritual messages testifying to her. 16 Rev. Kim Seong-do, founder of the Holy Lord Church, passed away after she was released from prison. Although the remaining members of her family continued in that church, the providential mission to prepare for the Returning Lord passed to the Inside the Womb Church led by Rev. Heo Ho-bin. The Holy Lord Church could not take root under the communist regime in North Korea. Rev. Kim's first son, Jeong Seokcheon, went to the South and became involved in a mining business. Later he purchased a house on Dongseong Street in Daegu and started a business that sold rice and fuel.
During the Korean War, when we moved to Daegu, we had a reunion with Jeong Seok-cheon. We were gathered with his family at his house and talking about this and that, when they said, "When we were in the North attending the Holy Lord Church, we received much grace from the New Lord (Kim Seong-do). We also experienced great works of the Spirit when we attended the Inside the Womb Church of Rev. Heo. They were preparing for the Lord at the Second Advent to come to Korea. Let us pray continually and earnestly to find him." Mr. Jeong called his older sister Jeong Seok-on to come up from Busan. She also joined their family gatherings, which were filled with intense prayer. In this way we continued our life of faith. (True Mother, 2014/10/11) 17 When I was very young and my mother was running a small store in Daegu, one day an enlightened Buddhist wearing a bamboo hat passed by and saw me. He gave the remarkable testimony, "This daughter is so precious that not even ten sons can match her. So please raise her well. When she reaches 17, she will marry a man who is much older than she is. She will live in great wealth, with fortune from the land, sea and sky." My mother was amazed at his testimony and asked him what it meant. He answered that I was born with that destiny. Hearing this, my mother resolved even more strongly to live a diligent life of faith as she searched for the truth. In addition, she resolved to raise me in purity until we could meet the Returning Lord.
That is why she took me to Jeju Island. There she cultivated her spiritual life and subjected herself to harsh rigors, including eating nothing but uncooked food. Later, when she met True Father, she thought about how she could raise me to be an important worker in the Unification Church. Such are the extreme and tearful stories hidden within the providence before I was brought to God as a pure offering for God's Will. (True Mother, 2013/12/06) 18 My grandmother Jo Won-mo led us in daily family worship. She made a point of staying away from evil influences in her daily life. She told me many Bible stories. She read the Bible seriously, and led a sincere life of faith with her utmost devotion, always keeping the Bible within her reach. Naturally, I read the Bible with her and lived a life of faith guided by our Heavenly Parent. We continued this life while we lived as refugees in Daegu, when I transferred to the school on Jeju Island, and later in Chuncheon, after the Korean War. When I was attending Sunday school at a church in Daegu, I often sang for the congregation as a representative of the students at the Sunday school. (True Mother, 2013/12/06) 19 While living in Daegu as a refugee during the Korean War, my mother met Jeong Seok-cheon, the first son of the founder of the Holy Lord Church, Rev. Kim Seong-do. After speaking with him, she came to believe that the New Lord would come to South Korea. She prayed hard to meet the Returning Lord, while keeping to an ascetic diet of raw pine needles. I was an elementary school student at that time. I was a good student and was very popular with the other students.
However, my mother did not feel comfortable that I had become a focal point, because there were revelations about me saying I would become the Lord's Bride, the Lord's daughter, and other similar testimonies. As a result, in 1954 my mother and I moved to Jeju Island. She wanted to protect me for the day when she hoped we would meet the Lord at the Second Advent. I remember suffering from seasickness during the trip to Jeju Island. (True Mother, 2013/12/06) 20 Because I had been given the blessing to be Heaven's Bride, Daemonim's main concern was to raise me pure and untainted by the world. So the year after the Korean War ended, when Korea was in chaos, my mother and I departed from the Korean mainland and went to live on Jeju Island. We lived there for about nine months. Jeong Pyeong-hwa, the second son of Rev. Kim Seong-do, the founder of the Holy Lord Church, was a man of such fervent faith that he wanted to experience the pain of Jesus. He even re-enacted the crucifixion and wore a crown of thorns. Daemonim joined him and led a more arduous life of faith than ever before. Every day she worked in the fields, eating nothing but raw food, and every night she exerted herself to the utmost in prayer. (True Mother, 2013/12/06) |