True Parents' History for Children




The Summer of 1960

by Linna Rapkins

Teacher and Mother (as they were usually called at this time) were blessed in holy marriage. Three days later, three other couples were also blessed in marriage. Teacher had told them there must be a total of 36 couples to act as his closest circle of disciples and defenders, but for now 3 would be blessed. Those first three couples representing Adam's family, Noah's family, and Jacob's family were Mr. and Mrs. Won Pil Kim, Mr. and Mrs. Hyo Won Eu, and Mr. and Mrs. Young Whi Kim.

Now, the question loomed in everyone's mind, "When will the other 33 couples be chosen? The first two weddings happened so fast. Who knows? Maybe the third wedding will be three days later." They had learned to be ready for anything.

The days went by and then the weeks, and everyone went about their usual activities. Nothing more was said about weddings. Instead, just as the days were taking on that intense heat so common to Korean summers, Teacher announced a new campaign, and everyone forgot about weddings.

"We must pour our total energies into witnessing to all the people of Korea," he explained. "It is time for a very important 40 day condition."

Over 400 teams were quickly organized with two on each team. Just as everyone had done the year before, they would have to take care of their own expenses. They would have to find places to stay and food to eat. They agreed to eat inferior food--basically barley and cheap vegetables such as bean sprouts. There would be no white rice or meat. They would share the hard life of the villagers.

"Win them over with your hard work," said Teacher. "Win them over with your love. Don't ask for anything. Just give. Serve. Understand how hard their lives are."

He shared many things, preparing them carefully for the days ahead. "You must understand that we are deeply in debt to those in other groups who have worked so hard in the past. Now we must work even harder. We must suffer even more. We must give our blood, sweat and tears. This you will do by going out on this condition. Never complain. Just do it."

They were sent out, two by two, to all parts of the small land of South Korea. Throughout the sweltering days of the summer of 1960, the Unification members, young and old, worked and witnessed and taught in 413 cities, towns and villages. From July 20 to August 30, they went with determination to inform every individual about the Divine Principle and the Lord of the 2nd Advent.

Tales to tell

Many things happened during this time, and everyone came back with exciting stories to tell. There was Shin, who was 22 years old, and his partner Kim, a teenage boy. They had no money to even get to their village.

"How can we get the train tickets?" asked Kim of his older partner.

Shin knew he would have to take responsibility, but he didn't know how to get the money either. Then an idea flashed. "We can sell our blood for money," he said. "Come on. I know where to do it." Kim was surprised, but he dutifully ran along. In order to raise enough money, they had to go back several times to give blood. It left them feeling rather weak, but they didn't worry. "We can rest on the train," Shin reassured Kim.

When they reached the village, they didn't feel very rested, for the train had provided a hot bumpy ride on hard seats. Still, they quickly went to work and found places to work in the fields to earn a little money for food and lodging.

They saw how poor the people were. They saw that barley and vegetables were not things these people ate for only 40 days but was their diet most of the year. They had rice, of course, but a lot of it had to be sold.

"How can we help these people" Shin wondered. "They are so poor."

"But what do we have to share?" asked Kim a little dubiously.

"I don't know, but there must be a way," he answered. They talked about it and prayed, and then they had an idea.

"We could form a club," said Shin. "I heard about something called 4-H Club. We could do that. I'll bet they would like to be in a club, and we could teach them practical things to improve their lives-and cultural things. We could also talk about having a good heart, using our hands for God, and so on. We could even use it as a springboard for teaching parts of the Divine Principle."

They both felt very excited about this idea and made plans quickly. Although they were young and inexperienced, Shin and Kim were hardworking and creative. Before one week, the 4-H Club of the village was begun.

On their 7th day in the village, they started a small class to teach the Divine Principle. Kim took care of the 4-H Club in the evening. At the same time, Shin held his class for teaching the Principle. Kim's class would end by 10 pm, but Shin's class went on very late. Soon the people in the club became very curious about the class and came to listen. They had never had any planned activities in the evening before, and it was a new experience. They liked it.

The classes became larger and larger. Soon, over 50 people were attending. Then one man decided he wanted to put a stop to these activities and started saying very bad things about the two young men. But before he could do much, he became very ill. He was so sick that nothing his wife did for him was of any help. One day, Kim heard about his illness and went to his house. He knelt by his side to pray for him, and much to the man's surprise, he was healed. Kim had given his blood for this mission. He had also given his sweat and tears. Because of this, he had received the power for God to heal through him.

By the end of the 40 days, they had 190 people who joined the Unification Church.

Small towns

Many other miraculous things happened throughout South Korea that summer. Two teenage girls went together to a small town. They felt very fortunate to quickly find a place to stay with a Christian woman.

"These are such nice girls," thought the lady. "Perhaps I can get them to join my church."

Before long, the girls told her the reason for their visit. "We would like to teach you about a new revelation. God is telling us that it is time for all Christians to unite. The Lord of the 2nd Advent is coming now, and we must all work together. May we share this revelation with you? It is called the Divine Principle?"

The woman's face suddenly changed, and she didn't look so pleasant anymore. "Is this the Unification Church?" she asked.

"Yes, it is," they answered. "It is very inspiring. May we explain the teachings to you?"

Unfortunately, the woman had heard bad things about the church. This was her chance to find out for herself what it was really all about, but her mind was closed.

"No thanks," she said emphatically. "I want nothing to do with it, and I don't want you staying in my house anymore either."

It was a terrible blow to the girls, but it was only the beginning. This happened three times. At each house, the girls were told to leave when it was learned who they were. Besides that, two young men followed them around and made fun of them all day and told people not to listen to them.

Then, one day, Teacher came in his jeep, along with Mrs. Choi and Mr. Eu. He comforted them and reminded them about the importance of suffering, but inside, his heart wept for them. How could people treat these nice girls in such a terrible way?

After he left, the people who treated the girls so cruelly experienced suffering themselves. The two guys were put in jail for some crime they had committed and the others seemed to have more accidents and illnesses than usual.

Soon thereafter, the girls found someone who became their friend and gave them a place to stay. They were able to teach many villagers, and those who believed were healed of their illnesses. The girls became known as the "miracle girls."

There was a high school boy sent to another village who had never been away from home before. He couldn't find a way to earn money so he just fasted a lot.

He couldn't find a place to hold lectures so he stood outside and taught the Principle in a very loud voice to anyone who would listen. One day, after a small group had gathered around him, someone started shouting at him, "Shi-ku-lup! A-i-shu!" ("Noisy! Ach!" It really means "Shut Up".)

But the boy did not shut up. He kept on lecturing. There was more heckling and jeering. He taught louder. Finally, the heckler rushed up to him with a stick and started to beat him. He only taught louder.

That night, his body was bruised and sore, but several people had been so impressed by his courage and deep heart, they had asked to hear more.

The next day he was trying to witness door to door, and at one house the woman suddenly acted possessed. "Get out! Get out right now!" she screamed. She pushed him out the door as she continued to scream. He held on to her arm and kept on telling her about the Principle. She pushed him across the yard and out the gate, and only then did he let go of her arm. But he kept lecturing loudly outside her gate.

As people walked by, they looked at him fearfully. "I think he's gone mad," they said to each other. And they hurried on. A few began to notice what he was saying and stopped to listen. Whenothers asked what was going on, they were told, "This boy still smells his mother's milk (this means "he's still wet behind the ears"). He seems a bit crazy, but he is teaching great things."

Within a few days, many of the people from that town were coming to hear his lectures, and soon a new church center was started.

Another young man had been in the church only three months when he was sent to a village. He hardly knew the lectures at all, but he got the whole congregation of a Holiness Church to join.

Of course, the Holiness minister was very upset when he found his church empty. He came storming over to see what was going on. He rudely interrupted the meeting and accused the lecturer and argued with him. Afterward, he told the people terrible things about the young man. By the end of the 40 days, half of the members did go back to his church, but half of them stayed to start a Unification Church in their village.

In still another village, a young girl who had only finished 6th grade, lectured the Divine Principle so well that the pastor of the village church resigned. He saw that she knew more than he did and felt unworthy to be a pastor any longer.

Two middle school girls (maybe 13 or 14 years old) went to the chief of police in their assigned town.

"We would like to hold meetings to share with the people some inspiring spiritual messages," they explained.

After discussing it awhile, he was so impressed by their sincerity, he decided to help them. "You have my permission to hold meetings," he told them. "In fact, why don't you talk to the head of the village about a place to meet? Tell him I sent you."

They did just that and ended up making friends with him, as well. He gave them permission to use a room in one of the buildings.

Soon, they had a thriving study group meeting every night.

Some of the older members were assigned to Seoul. They chose six parks and sent three women to each park to preach and witness. Whenever these women found interested people, they sent them to a lecture hall where the men lectured the Divine Principle day and night.

Sometimes, people heard the lectures in Seoul, and when they went home to their villages, they were amazed to find posters announcing the Divine Principle lectures in their own village.

"What a surprise," they exclaimed. "I thought it was just in the big city that these kind of things were going on. Maybe I should check it out here, too."

They went to the meeting place and listened. "These are the same lectures, alright," they realized. Afterwards, they introduced themselves to the lecturer.

"I heard this teaching in Seoul, but I live here," they explained. "Do you mind if I attend your meetings?" Soon, many of them were helping to witness and bring more members.

Lt. Col. Han and Maj. Han worked in Seoul, and they were not allowed to leave their jobs for such a long time. Therefore, every day, they went to work as usual. Then, instead of going home, they went to their assigned village and witnessed and lectured until late at night. Then they traveled back to Seoul and were back at their desks the next morning. It was a grueling schedule.

During these days, Father was busier than anyone. Always getting up before 5, he prayed his usual long hours, often hiking to the mountains to do so. He also traveled over 1800 miles in his jeep to visit all the members. Often the jeep was overloaded with people, and always it was hot and bumpy. But nothing could stop him.

He could think only of the members and their suffering. He saw that many of them looked sick from overwork and lack of sleep and food. Whenever he saw the older women preaching in the park or the middle school girls being ridiculed, he could never contain his tears. He decided to share their hardships by eating only barley and humble vegetables himself and sleeping outside on the ground many nights.

By September 1, everyone returned. As they shared their experiences, they realized that, despite the hardships and rejections, the 40 Day Condition of the Summer of 60 was a success beyond their wildest imagination. For so many years, they had been persecuted, but now a great flood of new members had joined and new groups had been established all over South Korea. There had not been as much opposition this time, and in many instances, the police had even helped the Unification Church members.

The fact that the holy wedding had taken place was surely the reason for this great change.

"This is a very definite sign of the new age," they all agreed with great hope for the future.




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