The Life of a Proud Unificationist
The Elite Daughter of a Wealthy Family
I had to decide whether to choose my faith or choose my university. We said this to Ewha University President Kim Hwal-lan: “If you give us a more wonderful truth than the teachings of the Unification Church, we will stay in the university. But if not, we will choose the Unification Church.” And so we chose faith and we were expelled from Ewha University.
Since I was expelled from Ewha University, which I had been diligently attending, people probably think I suffered great persecution at that time. But unlike others, I never once received such persecution from my family. Our family was a very wealthy household. At that time, we lived in a spacious house of more than a thousand pyeong [one pyeong is 3.3 square meters], and we grew up in such an affluent situation that each of my seven younger siblings had their own private tutor.
Seeing stories about the Unification Church frequently appearing in the newspaper, my younger siblings became curious about what kind of place their older sister was attending and went to see for themselves. After hearing the teachings that day, my siblings returned home, and told our father: “The church that our sister attends is advocating neither communism nor democracy. It speaks of a new ideology, a new teaching that will come in the future. It’s called the principle of interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universally shared values.”
Upon hearing this, my father said, “interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universally shared values are good. There will be no problem.” My father was someone who always taught us, “Even if you come from a wealthy family, don’t jealously guard what you have; always share half.” Whenever he bought something, he first donated it to the school. Even if he bought a ball, he sent it to the school; even if he bought scientific equipment or a tape recorder, he always left it at the school first. “Hundreds of people at school will benefit; there are only eight of you siblings at home, right?” he would say. He was one who always gave to others. Because my father was such a person, I never received a scolding from him, even when I was expelled.
The Pioneering Course: Dignified Even in Hardship
The pioneering witnessing period that began this way was not easy. There were many days when we had nothing to eat and survived on boiled barley, noodles, and salt. However, we were grateful even for that because we gathered and ate our meals together. At that time, we didn’t even have one room to sleep in, so we moved from house to house to sleep. Having grown up as a daughter in a wealthy family I was not used to sleeping just anywhere, and it was difficult at first. Yet because Heaven always prepared the path I walked, it was filled with much love and amazing grace.
In 1961, I received the Blessing among the 36 Couples with Lee Jae-seok [who later became church president in Korea]. We understood and helped each other, and never stopped witnessing and doing church work no matter what difficulties we faced. When I was pregnant with my first child, I went out pioneering and had nothing to eat, so I climbed mountains and picked mugwort to substitute for meals. My husband suffered from very poor health. He suffered from both cirrhosis and pulmonary tuberculosis and would cough up blood, yet he worked without resting even a single day. There were many difficulties, but each time, I understood and helped my husband, and my husband embraced me with love.
Once, I was passing through Cheongpa-dong carrying my son on my back when I happened to meet an old high school classmate. She looked at me with a tearful face and said, “Kang Jeong-won, what happened . . .” The image of the former wealthy family’s daughter was nowhere to be seen, as I must have looked so shabby. However, I was not ashamed at all. I was very confident. I took various jobs including door-to-door sales, insurance agent, salesperson, telephone operator, and working in a dressmaker’s shop and Chinese restaurant. If working might support our church work even a little, I did not refuse any kind of work.
Looking back at how I, who had not known what hardship was, could walk such a path of suffering, I think it was only possible through the power of True Parents and the Principle teaching. I was never ashamed of any difficulty. I was happy even without possessions. This is because we are people who are attending Heavenly Parent and True Parents and have the responsibility to establish Cheon Il Guk on this earth in the future.
Warm Memories with True Mother
I had many opportunities to attend True Mother closely. I went to America with Mother and slept in the same bed, and Mother would personally prepare scrambled eggs or toast for me, or brew coffee. I have many memories of living very affectionately with True Mother. Through this, I felt how warm and deeply loving True Mother is.
In 1992, I accompanied True Mother on a visit to China. Deng Pufang, the son of Deng Xiaoping, had invited us to visit. When Deng Pufang first met True Mother, he said, “It’s as if spring flowers are blooming as you enter.” That’s how beautiful True Mother was. During the rally, Mother spoke the name “God” for the first time in China, an atheistic country. This was something we could not dare to imagine at that time. True Mother conveyed Heaven’s Will to China’s women leaders. After finishing the rally, True Mother took off the watch she was wearing on her wrist and personally gave it as a gift to China’s Minister of Women. I felt once again that True Mother is someone who always warmly leads people and shares true love.
Last year when I turned 90, on that Sunday I distributed rice cakes at Cheonwon Church to express gratitude. True Mother saw the video news and personally called for me. Soon after, I had lunch with True Mother and we conversed. I feel True Mother is closer to me than my own birth mother; perhaps I can say we are more deeply connected in heart. That’s why I feel no distance between myself and True Mother. True Mother is the Mother of humanity who treats everyone with the same love.
The Life of a Proud Unificationist
One memory I have is of when one day I was eating at a Lotte Hotel restaurant, and sitting across from me was the president of the Christian Women’s Temperance Union. This person had closely attended Korean President Rhee Syngman, and one of her daughters studied at Harvard University, and another studied theology in England. During our conversation, she asked me, “Which church do you attend?” When I answered that I attend the Unification Church, she was startled and asked why I attend such a church.
So I said, “The Unification Church possesses truth that embraces not only the Presbyterian and Methodist churches, but all world religions and ethnic religions.” The person who had felt sorry for me when I said I believe in the Unification Church then said, “Then I will research the Unification Church.” I feel deeply how little the world knows about us. That is why whenever I meet people I always tell them proudly that I am a Unificationist, without hiding.
These days, the world tries to measure a person’s value in monetary terms. But life is not something that can be exchanged for money. Although our Unificationist lifestyle may sometimes look miserable from the world’s perspective, we possess true meaning and value given by Heaven. This church is not a church established only by Heavenly Parent, or only by True Parents. It is a church established together by our first and second generations. True Parents have also spoken this way. Then shouldn’t we develop our church further with pride and dignity? I must actively participate in this church that is like my own life. I hope that in the future all blessed families of the Unification movement will go out to the world even more proudly. I hope that through our efforts we will become proud Unificationists.
