First God’s Day, January 1, 1968 (proclaimed by True Parents at 3:00 am)
January 1, 1968, is a joyous day, because, for the first time in history, God can come down to earth based on the love emanating from Adam and Eve’s God-centered oneness; this has been God’s hope according to the ideal He held at the time of the Creation.
Winning (sometimes reluctant) respect
It seems that Christian ministers now tell their believers that even if they think the Unification Church teachings are wrong, they should nevertheless model their activities on our members’ work. Why would they say that?
We do things that members of other churches could not even dream of doing.
Having carried out our activities in the rural districts, counties, and provinces, we are now moving them into the central city areas.
Our Nongdowon won a 5.16 Citizen Award. A great number of our church members have received individual awards. The world probably did not imagine that the Unification Church would do so well. We love our country more than anyone else does, and we work harder than anyone else to stop communism.
Thwarted assassination attempt
The so-called “Shin-jo Kim incident,” the infiltration of armed North Korean commandos on January 21, 1968, was an opportunity for South Korea to pull itself together and to reach a new level.
Shin-jo Kim belonged to the North Korean Army Unit 124. You all heard the kind of training the commandos were made to go through. It was rigorous—ordinary people would have fallen and given up, on the verge of death.
By having gone through that training process, which gradually grew more severe, they would later be able to overcome situations that are even more difficult.
Nevertheless, why did North Korea attack the South Korean president’s residence?
The numbers add up. It was January 21. The Unit consisted of thirty-one soldiers. January refers to a new beginning.
The twenty-first signifies three times seven, and the thirty-one soldiers symbolize the number four. It is all based on the Divine Principle. The fact that they attacked the external president signifies that Cain attacked Abel externally.
From the viewpoint of God’s side, we are Abel, whereas North Koreans are Cain, so it is almost as if Cain struck at Abel. However, because the time had come, Cain could not kill Abel. Through the incident, the Korean people united. When faced with an attack from Cain, you need to unite with Abel.
Working to drive out communism
The people know they need Unification Church lecturers, so they come to us in their cars to invite our lecturers to their halls. They have learned that the Unification Church wants to win against communism, so they have given us the name “Victory over Communism Enlightenment Group”.
Our church has many anecdotes to share. One church leader went to a village as an anti-communism lecturer. Everyone of importance came to listen to him, including government officials ranging from the police chief to the county magistrate.
They had heard that an anti-communism lecturer was coming, but the only person they saw was a young man with unkempt hair walking toward them. At first, they thought he was the lecturer’s assistant, so they asked him, “Where did you come from? When is the lecturer coming?” The lecturer hesitated to answer. They said,” We heard that Mr. Kim from the Unification Church was coming today to give a lecture, and we want to know where he is.”
He replied, “I am Mr. Kim.” They hadn’t realized that the young man with disheveled hair was the lecturer and began to mutter among themselves. No doubt, they were embarrassed to learn that a man young enough to be their son was the lecturer.
Nevertheless, they had no choice but to give him the podium because they had officially invited him. He gave a two-and-a-half-hour lecture. By the time he finished, their way of looking at him had completely changed.
Our anti-communism lecturers are all young people in their twenties. They are friends with county magistrates and police chiefs, so you could say they have gone up in the world after joining the church.
Has listening to and putting my instructions into practice ever destroyed anyone?
No matter how great an ideology is, if you fail to practice it and your results do not reach the standard, the ideology will not properly manifest its value.
The founding of IFVOC in Japan
In 1965, I visited forty countries and reexamined the problem of communism. I examined where it was expanding. I thought then that we did not have much time.
Therefore, I made a plan to send forty-seven leaders to Japan in January 1967, but the South Korean intelligence agency blocked it. Behind the government were prominent members of Christian churches, who said, “Moon, with his Unification Church foundation, will disgrace our country.” As a result, I had to postpone implementing the plan.
We had no alternative but to work quietly behind the scenes. Finally, on April 1, 1968, the Japanese chapter of the International Federation for Victory Over Communism was founded. I held a meeting with the Japanese leaders and said, “From now on, we must promote anti-communism, VOC activities, here in Japan, which is a free land.” In the beginning, none of them welcomed what I said. I had to persuade them by explaining why it was historically necessary.
I armed them with theoretical weapons. I trained Japanese members so that they could give VOC lectures and sent them out. They went to areas where many communists could be found. I sent them to Chosun University.
I prepared one bold Japanese woman and commanded her, “You are to stand in front of Chosun University and give VOC lectures for three years, at the risk of your life! You could be shot, or run over by a truck; death will follow you wherever you go, no matter what. You must still go!”
I could tell you many stories about that. Chosun University tried to put pressure on us through the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We, however, continued to fight them at the risk of our lives. We carried out an active campaign against communism in famous areas throughout Japan, including Tokyo Station.
The 430-Couple Blessing Ceremony (February 22, 1968)
When I blessed the couples, I told them to become tribal messiahs. I meant that they should not live in comfort by themselves….
I want them to become tribal messiahs and, as the embodiments of the resurrected Jesus and the Holy Spirit, to save their clans…. The date of the Blessing Ceremony marks the twentieth anniversary of my imprisonment in Hungnam Special Labor Camp….
Church president Osami Kuboki represented Japan. I had originally wanted to bless him when I visited Japan in 1967, but I could not do it. For that reason, when I blessed the 430 couples in 1968, I invited Kuboki to come to Korea as Japan’s representative, and I blessed him.
I invited Ryoichi Sasakawa, a rich Japanese, to our large wedding ceremony. I sent him an invitation that read, “Sir, I believe you should come and offer your congratulations this time.”
Rev. Kuboki and his wife were blessed in the ceremony, and Mr. Sasakawa came.
In other words, Adam, Eve, and the Japanese archangel have been restored. When you think about Sasakawa being the Japanese archangel, you realize that this year’s Blessing Ceremony served as a good starting point.
At the end of the seven years, people such as Osami Kuboki were restored, which served as an important turning point in Japan’s restoration. Sasakawa came to the ceremony and thus established a standard on which we could begin to carry out our plan to put an end to communism.
Sun Myung Moon