Japan In the early morning of May 30, 1958, in a garden in the pine woods behind the Gapsa Temple on Mt. Gyeryong, True Father spoke for the better part of two hours with Choi Bong-chun (Choi Sang-ik). He then decided to send Mr. Choi as a missionary to Japan. Father made this decision out of his overwhelming love for Japan; he was determined to save that country.
Missionary Choi left Busan on July 15,1958. After traveling for some time, he arrived at the port city of Hiroshima with a heart full of expectation and deep emotion. Upon his arrival, the Japanese authorities arrested him over his immigration status. He had to go through suffering and innumerable hardships before he could finally arrive in Tokyo and begin to propagate the Word. His method included handing out leaflets with the name "Tokyo Church of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity." He soon found new members. The first church service was held at 85 Nichome, Totsukacho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, on October 2, 1959. Thus the Japanese HSA-UWC was born. 6 If I look at Japan from my own point of view, it is my enemy. I was tortured many times under Japanese rule. But God commands us not to strike our enemy. Rather, if the enemy does not have clothes or is starving, He says to take care of him. This is why I sent Choi Bong-chun as a missionary to Japan. I knew that the whole of Japan and Korea was against us. But I also knew that in a few decades, it would become clear that this work was for their benefit. I knew that someday the people of both nations would clasp their hands together in respect and thank me. So I sent him to Japan despite the costs and the risks.
The persecution directed against the Unification Church was at its peak, and it was during such a time that I decided to send out Choi Bong-chun. Nobody understands the suffering we endured to send just one person to Japan. We sent this missionary at a time when not one person could be spared, and we held back our tears as he left. The achievement he made by putting his life on the line can never be erased from the history of Japan. Now Korea is thankful to Reverend Moon.
God loves Japan. I love Japan more than anyone in the history of Japan. I love Japan more than the Japanese themselves. If God loves Japan, I want to love Japan with a deeper heart than even the Japanese. (1969/04/27) 7 Even though Japan is my enemy, I have loved that country more than anyone else has. Because of this, Japan can respond as my object partner and work for God's Will throughout Asia in the future. Otherwise, I would not be able to find a country to serve as an object partner to the subject partner country. Because that is Japan’s destiny, in a show of love for Japan stronger than anyone else's, I borrowed money to send a missionary to Japan and thereby save Japan. (083-109, 1976/02/05) 8 In 1958 when we sent the first missionary to Japan, the Liberal Party of Korea was in power. It was vehemently opposed to the normalization of diplomatic relations with Japan. What could I do to ensure the survival of Korea? I knew that the Soviet Union and China were supporting North Korea and Kim Il-sung. For certain we had to find a way into Japan. This is the reason I sent the missionary to Japan. At the time, because diplomatic relations between Japan and Korea were not yet established, it was not easy to send a Korean national into Japan to do missionary work. (110-167, 1980/11/17) 9 If we are trying to fulfill God's Will for the whole world, then we have a responsibility to do the same for the neighboring nation of Japan and many other countries. Thus, we have to send out missionaries to the world, even though we are still on a suffering path ourselves. We cannot wait until we have money to spare. We have to do it under difficult circumstances. Thus it happened that when we pioneered Japan, we borrowed money to send our missionary there. I did this because I knew I had to set the condition of having loved the enemy nation of Japan more than any other person has ever loved it.
Upon the missionary's departure, I told him, "You must give everything you have to Japan in order to save it." It seems like only yesterday that I sent this man off, telling him he had to go even at the cost of his life. We did not even have enough money to make ends meet, yet I borrowed the money to send him. At the time, no one could understand why I did this. The path of God's Will is difficult. It is not the path of happy times, nor is it a smooth road over level ground. (032-307, 1970/07/26) 10 I said to a missionary going to Japan, "I will pray for you and set conditions for you. I will not sleep until you arrive in Japan. Do not come back until you have completed your mission, even if it means death." Upon arrival in Japan from Busan he was arrested and sent to Omura Prison. He was transferred to several facilities until finally he was scheduled to be sent back to Korea. But he felt he simply could not come back, even if it meant his death, since he had already risked his life to go there after I gave him his ticket. While he was on the train to Shimonoseki, he thought of jumping from the train but it was too fast and there were too many tunnels. So he arrived at the prison in Shimonoseki and waited to be sent back to Korea. But he knew that if he was sent back to Korea, everything would be lost. So he used his wits and started fasting. One week, then ten days of continual fasting eventually made him sick, whereupon a doctor diagnosed him with heart disease. He was sent to a hospital for treatment, from which he escaped. This is how he pioneered Japan and eventually trained many brave Unification Church soldiers. (023-137, 1969/05/18) 11 I sent out a missionary to Japan. Heavenly fortune seeks you out when you go beyond manmade systems and laws. Because I know how heavenly fortune works. I have to prepare accordingly, and that generally means that my path is full of danger, pain and persecution. If you always please others, there will not be any persecution. But when you are trying to do what is right for God, then you will be in conflict with others, and if they are in authority they will obstruct you. Despite this, Unification Church members are going heaven's way. (058-317, 1972/06/25) 12 When I sent the first missionary to Japan, I told him, "Love the Japanese people more than anyone else does. Love them even while you are shedding tears and even when you are trapped in a corner. Love them even while you are being chased out. Love them to such a degree that the evidence of it will force them to testify to the fact that you loved them." When a foreigner demonstrates loyalty beyond the level that Japanese people show to their own country, then the Japanese people have no choice but to bow their heads before him. This is an ironclad rule. While following this rule, Missionary Choi was taken to prison, but he managed to escape and started to witness. Some may think what he did was wrong from the viewpoint of conventional behavior, but the Japanese people will remember it gratefully for years to come. At the time, they may have opposed us and judged us negatively, but with the passage of time, their descendants will embrace this phase of history tearfully and take it as a source of inspiration. (159-056, 1968/01/28) |