Inheriting Jesus' mission True Father’s suffering in Heungnam Prison was the indemnity course that made it possible for him, as the Returning Lord, to continue Jesus' mission. For the Returning Lord to continue Jesus' mission, he needed to survive despite the opposition of Christian believers. He could not die on the cross as Jesus had. Additionally, the Lord at the Second Advent had to find more disciples than the 12 who abandoned Jesus at the time of his crucifixion. Heungnam Prison in North Korea was like the cross. It too killed its inmates slowly and gradually. True Father not only had to survive but also had to find and establish more than 12 disciples. He was not allowed to witness to those around him, but even so, ancestors of the prisoners appeared to them in dreams and taught them to serve True Father and attend him well. When True Father finally left prison, he had more than 24 disciples.
For the first two weeks of his imprisonment at Heungnam, he shared half of his rations with cellmates. His mother in Jeongju took great pains to prepare powdered mixed grains and clothes for him, but he gave them all to other inmates. Moreover, during the course of his imprisonment, he was given the exemplary laborer award three times. Father always kept a little of his daily ration of drinking water to clean his body before going to bed. He did this with the awareness that he was God's Son. In these ways, he led such an exemplary life that God Himself could not help but be moved. 1 In the spirit world, Jesus had to go to the bottom of hell for three days after his crucifixion and overcome a path of suffering there, to make the starting point of victory both in spirit and flesh. Unless he was able to open the way to liberate those in hell, Satan would be able to accuse him; therefore, he had to make a way for them. This is the reason Jesus went to the spirits in hell and pioneered a way for them. Because I knew this principle, when I went to North Korea I was willing to go to prison there.
Even while I was being led away in shackles for incarceration in Pyongyang Prison, I was promised by the spirit world that I would meet certain people in prison. In other words, I was promised, "If you go there, you will meet people who are like Jesus' three disciples." If this were not so, it would not be in accord with heavenly laws that govern the realm of fortune and restoration. That is why even the path of shackles and imprisonment can be the path of the greatest hope. In other words, I actually went to prison with hope and expectation. I knew, "I will meet such and such a person." I did not go to prison in despair. Since I went to prison with such a hope, at the prison I made my own way, and through the merit of that hard labor I enabled that door to be opened naturally. To do this, I had to make a total indemnity condition. I knew that while I was living in prison I had to become a sacrificial offering. This is why I took on the most difficult tasks while I was there. (047-190, 1971/08/28) 2 After the liberation of Korea, I began to propagate the Word in North Korea, even though it was overflowing with my enemies. I started on that path in prison. When I went to Pyongyang Prison, I knew that I would not die. I even knew whom I would meet there. When I needed something, the spirit world would sometimes instruct other prisoners—for instance, ignorant thieves, robbers or murderers—that in a certain prison cell there was an inmate with number 596, and they should bring a certain thing to that person. When it became winter and the weather grew cold, and I had no clothes to put on, they were instructed to bring me clothes. And when I was really hungry because I had nothing to eat, the spirit world sought out people who had never met me and, telling them my name and my number, compelled them to bring me food. Such things happened, not once or twice but many times.
Since I knew that there were people prepared for me to meet in Pyongyang Prison, where I remained until May 20, 1948,1 kept hope. It feels like only yesterday that I saw the willow leaves brushing against the prison window. I can still recall it vividly. I met people there who had promised to follow God's Will. With those meetings, the secret meetings of heaven began from the deepest valley in the land of the enemy. From there, I started to recruit heaven's soldiers. Since I was cornered and driven away by the families and the society, I had to start my work in this way from prison. (022-129, 1969/02/02) 3 My transfer in shackles from Pyongyang Prison to Heungnam Prison took 17 hours. What do you think was on my mind as I rode in that vehicle? I felt so miserable, thinking of God who would have to see me in this situation. He had no one but me to restore through indemnity the 6,000 years of His providence, yet I ended up in this kind of situation. I was the only one who knew what should be done for God. Can you imagine how serious I must have been as I looked at the fields and mountains through the window? At the time, I was shackled in the vehicle together with a violent thief. As I sat there, I wondered with deepest seriousness, "How can I survive in these circumstances?" (221-068, 1991/10/23) 4 I spent two years and eight months in Pyongyang Prison and Heungnam Prison in North Korea. This corresponded to the three years of Jesus' public life. While there, I was able to restore more than 12 people. By doing so, I restored all the conditions that Jesus had lost. Even though most of them did not follow me to the end, when I was freed from prison I put other people in their positions. Since I had completed all that I had planned to do, heaven directed the United States, the archangel nation, and UN troops to attack North Korea in order to liberate me. That was how I came out of prison. Four people continued to follow me at the time. The UN troops protected South Korea. This set a global condition for heavenly fortune to come back to the democratic world, and the work of restoring Christianity could be launched. (052-185, 1971/12/29) 5 When Jesus was made to walk the path of death, the people of Israel and even his three beloved disciples betrayed him. That is why, according to the principle of restoration through indemnity, when I was in prison I had to restore the number 12 through indemnity, the same number as the 12 disciples that Jesus had lost. Since I was in such a position, even though I did not witness at all while I was in Heungnam Prison, people in the spirit world, who belonged to the realm of the Second Israel, witnessed to 12 inmates to follow me and fulfill that number. Such was the historical connection I experienced. Even while I was under the strictest surveillance in prison by the communists, God took responsibility to secretly organize people who united in heart with me. All this was unknown to anyone else. While there, I could not witness openly. Yet, even when I stayed silent, the spirit world witnessed to people for me. (016-059, 1965/12/26) |