411. The Opening of the Era of Women and the World Speaking Tours

Book 4: May You Blossom, My Beloved

Parts 3 & 4: The Wilderness Course and True Mother's Victory + 

The Opening of the Era of Women and the World Speaking Tours
Chapter 4: True Mother and the Suffering Course at Danbury

Prayer before departing for Danbury

Beloved Father! At this hour, 6:44 in the evening on July 20, 1984, I am about to leave East Garden, and, on behalf of all the children and everyone, I am here to dedicate this prayer before my departure, so, Father, please receive it.
Chapter 4: True Mother and the Suffering Course at Danbury & 

Outline of True Mother's Life 4: The Opening of the Era of Women and the World Speaking Tours 
Even though the path may be rough, I know that You are alive. I am following the path along which You guide me. Advancing on this path, I must pass beyond the final hurdle, overcoming it successfully. I pray that You can please approve this path that I must follow while enduring and suppressing sadness.

At this time, I come to You with my 12 sons and daughters, my young children, together with Mother, who must stand in the center and take all responsibility, and I place them all in Your care, Father. I pray that centering on True Mother, Hyo-jin and Ye-jin can become one and stand in a position of going the suffering path and carrying the cross in place of Father. Until I can cast off everything and come back, I place them in the position to take on all the suffering and other important responsibilities, so I pray that You can be with them, Father.

Even if I am not here with them, the blessed families must become completely one centering on our family and the children of blessed families must also become completely one. Furthermore, I know that you will protect this family that Heung-jin left behind with sadness. I know that Jesus and all of the spirit world will fully cooperate and march on with all their energy in order to resolve this pain.

As I prepare to leave, my heart is not heavy or burdened with pain. I know that even when I go to that place, I must attend you, Father, and take on the task that is entrusted to me so that I can fulfill my responsibility without shame. So, Father, please put Your worries about me to rest, and please protect my family, the church, the outside Christian churches, America and the free world. I pray that the path of the truth can be opened in the communist world as well.

Where I am going is a place that You have left for me. Therefore, I pray for Your blessing as I go to look over that place and prepare to manage things while I am there. I pray that our head of the staff and all our staff here can unite and that a new spiritual atmosphere can come about.

I pray for God's grace to come down upon that place where the cool, calm morning breeze blows. I pray for your blessing so that the glory of Father's pride, which is like dew in the morning sunlight, can sprout there. I hope that everyone here can continue to pray until the time when I can meet them in this very place again. Please receive their prayers as if I were praying together with them, and may the weekly Pledge time be a blessing.

I have one more hope: that the Parents and sons and daughters can become one, the blessed families can become one, the Unification Church can become one, the already established churches can become one, and that the free world can become one and find the position of the Parents that can realize Your original ideal. I am taking lively steps while cherishing in my heart the day when this can be offered to you as glory, so please, Father, remember this.

I believe that Your boundless grace and love will be with us, and I offer all this in the name of the True Parents. (133-253, 1984.07.20)

True Mother shared the suffering at Danbury

At this time, I am most grateful to Mother. I am sure that while I was in prison at Danbury, True Mother's heart suffered through the deepest valleys numerous times. Because her life has been like that, her standard is gradually rising. Through the events of Danbury, she has come to understand my value even more. (136-046, 1985.12.20)

You probably don't know what a happy time it was for True Mother when I was in Danbury. She would come to visit me without fail while longing for the times when we could walk around holding hands. During that time, she did not even think about why True Father was in the detention center. That husband is just her husband. That is true love. For a wife to visit her husband while he is in prison requires boldness and strength. How much stronger must she now be, since I entered prison as an innocent man! It is not something to be ashamed of. It is a fact of history that she can be proud of (235-279, 1992.10.11)

I must go on, even if the path I have to tread is one of suffering. That is why I had to bring my family to America, and now my children do not even know Korean. I brought my children to America when they were still young. They followed me here because I am their father. Their father was taken by the American government and is in prison in Danbury. When the world sees this, do you think they will be able to save face? True Mother suffered a lot because of me.

Could she be assured of my safety in prison? Hostile communists worldwide had their eyes on me. In prison, I was completely vulnerable, as if I were lying naked in a field. Mother visited me every day in Danbury, shedding many tears. And when she was back at East Garden, don't you think she cried there too? Every Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. she shed tears as she bowed before God and prayed for my safety. Our children shed tears alongside her. Why did they have to endure this situation, crying like that? I have money, authority and knowledge. I can also lead people. But why did I come to America? Why did I throw myself into this fight? It is only because of God's Will. (146-183, 1986.06.15)

What is it that I must accomplish at Danbury? Because the first parents blocked the path, at three o'clock in the morning on February 1, 1985, Mother and I, at East Garden and Danbury respectfully, proclaimed the Day of Opening the Gate to Heaven, paving a highway that takes you straight from hell to the rest of the spirit world. Through this, people in hell can take that path and move up. The path is now open, so your ancestors can go down to hell and pay indemnity. They can be educated and then move up, one stage at a time. (137-114, 1985.12.24)

Because of the Unification Church, the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven have been opened. Yet, since I have not yet gone there, still no one has entered. I searched and searched throughout the earthly world and the spirit world, even to the lowest level, and I have created the only path that can lead people straight to the throne of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. To set up that path, I had to move from the individual level through the levels of the family, tribe, people, nation, world and the spirit world. When you travel on that path, you must signal with the banner of love. Without that signal, you cannot travel on that road. You are not allowed to. Do you have confidence that you can go to the Kingdom of Heaven? You can go there by driving the car of love. When you do, an angel will signal to the car of love and guide you to the Kingdom of Heaven. The highway is now built that will take you there.

I, in Danbury Prison, together with Mother in East Garden, opened the gate that connects heaven to earth for the first time. It is a road that begins in hell. Therefore, for people who entered the spirit world thousands of years ago to go to Heaven, they have to pass through all the levels of hell. This means they must come to earth and work with their descendants who are fighting to win over hell. For you to go to Heaven, you must win over hell. Those who win over hell can go to the Kingdom of Heaven.

I did not mind going to prison. When I went to Pyongyang, I already knew who I would meet, as if the meetings had been prearranged. Jesus had 12 disciples, but when he went to prison they all betrayed him. In my case, when I was imprisoned I actually found 12 disciples and even more. For restoration through indemnity, I had to restore all that was lost. In the future, where should you build a memorial tower to commemorate me? You should memorialize the places where I experienced prison life. One of those memorials should be at Danbury, where, based on Mother's unity with me during my incarceration, I proclaimed the realm of ideal oneness between Father and Mother. (566-183, 2007.06.19)


Outline of True Mother's Life 4: The Opening of the Era of Women and the World Speaking Tours

After Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation, True Parents successfully completed their 40-year wilderness course and announced that it was time to welcome the new era to enter and settle in the land of Canaan. The years 1985 to 1988 was the period to settle in the happy land of Canaan. Thus, True Father emphasized that we must be absolute toward True Parents' words, their commands, and their actions.

At the service to celebrate the 31st True Parents' Day, which was held in the United States on March 27, 1990, True Father announced the liberation of all women and that True Mother would be the second founder of the Unification Church. This was on the foundation of Pal Jeong Shik, which was consecrated on August 31, 1989, restoring the authority of the elder son, and the Proclamation of Heavenly Parentism, which was held the following day, on September 1.

True Father said, "From now on, even if I am not present and Mother is, there is no disruption to the will.” He also emphasized, "Until now, a woman could not represent the providence that represented heaven and earth. However, the realm of the Liberation of All Women centered on Mother, which is centered on a mother's and father's love, the ideal of one unified body, has been proclaimed on earth.”

The change in True Mother's status

Ten days after True Parents proclaimed the liberation of all women and declared True Mother as the second founder of the Unification Church, they departed for Moscow. It was April 7, 1990. True Father met with Mikhail Gorbachev, then president of the Soviet Union, at the Kremlin Palace. There Father stressed that for the Soviet Union to succeed in everything, it needs to attend God. Moreover, he clarified that the path to the Soviet Union's survival was to take down the statues of Lenin, accept religious freedom, and educate their citizens in religious values. Afterward, student leaders from the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States who received Divine Principle education played a large role in preventing a Communist Party coup. All of these things contributed to advancing the turning point for the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

In this way, True Father sought out Moscow, the headquarters of the world's communist camp. In such pressing circumstances, following the proclamation of True Mother as the second founder of the Unification Church, on June 15, 1991, the ceremony for the Gomyeongseong Proclamation was held at Clearstone Deer Park in Canada, with four Japanese women leaders present. This proclamation essentially made it clear that church members should attend True Mother as they would True Father, even when he wasn't present, and continue to work to complete True Parents' will. Father said that Japan, in particular, should unite with True Mother and embrace the world.

True Parents held the Proclamation of the Day of God's Eternal Blessing (Chil Il Jeol) at Hannam-dong at seven o'clock in the morning of July 1, 1991. Beginning on that day, the providence transferred from the age of restoring the authority of the elder son to the age of restoring the authority of the parents. With this, the foundation was completed for True Mother, who previously had stayed behind True Father, to be elevated to stand next to him.

True Mother gave her very first public speech on September 17, 1991, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Japan at the First Women's Federation for Peace in Asia Japan Convention, with the title "The True Love Movement Bringing Salvation to Asia and the World:' Following that, on October 31, 1991, the Korean branch
was founded and on November 20 at the Seoul Olympic Fencing Stadium, the
Women's Federation for Peace in Asia National Rally was held with 15,000 people in attendance.

Then, on April 10, 1992, at the inauguration of the Women's Federation for World Peace, True Mother proclaimed that as the representative of the Eve nation, Japan, she had collectively indemnified Eve's failures. On the foundation that True Mother had successfully laid, True Father declared the liberation of women and the opening of the era of women.

True Mother's world tours

On April 10, 1992, at the inauguration of the Women's Federation for World Peace, True Mother officially stood beside True Father. After it was declared that she was the True Mother of humankind through the "Proclamation of True Parents,” True Mother began her world tour of more than 600 public speeches in commemoration of the founding of WFWP, which continued until 2000. True Mother's world tour course was a period for her to educate all humankind as True Father's representative and as the True Mother of humankind. Before and after the inauguration, True Mother worked to lay a foundation for peace through meetings with present and former heads of state and expanded the missionary foundation by encouraging our members.

After the founding of WFWP in 1992, from September 24 to December 23 True Mother gave the speech "Women Will Play a Leading Role in the Ideal World” at WFWP inauguration ceremonies in 31 cities in 11 countries, including Japan, the United States, Russia and China, as well as in countries in Europe. On this foundation, True Father proclaimed the historic realm of liberation that brought back the unified global standard that existed after the end of World War II.

On April 10, 1993, True Parents proclaimed "True Parents and the Completed Testament Age.” Then, for more than a year they embarked on a speaking tour to the United States (53 cities), Japan (62 cities), Korea (40 universities), and 40 more cities worldwide for a total of 195 cities. Following this, they toured to an additional 100 universities in the United States. During the university speaking tour in Korea in particular, True Mother followed an intense schedule amid difficulties such as persistent opposition from activist students and Christian students, as well as potential danger to herself

On July 28, 1993, True Mother was the first Korean woman to give a guest lecture at the United States Congress. Moved by True Mother's speech, the senators and congressmen decided to enact Parents Day on a national level. On March 3, 1994, the law went into effect with President Clinton's signature, and every year Parents Day is celebrated nationally on the fourth Sunday of July. True Parents opened the doors to the United Nations on September 7, 1993. Since then they have given several speeches at the UN Headquarters and have met heads of state from many nations. They also have given speeches in national assemblies in seven nations, including Korea, Japan and Brazil.

As her speaking tour continued, True Mother followed a strenuous schedule, moving to a new country each day. In La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, which is 4,000 meters (more than 13,000 feet) above sea level, a respirator was kept on standby next to the stage for True Mother as she spoke. In Croatia, where surrounding nations were engaged in war, she felt innocent spirits who died miserably come to her to receive salvation, and she withstood physical and spiritual hardships alone as she offered prayer and devotion for them. During her tour in Africa, she caught malaria, yet without taking a break to recover, she continued to go from country to country to spread the Word.

Meanwhile, in the background, True Father offered sincere devotion in support of True Mother. True Father's utmost prayer and devotion were the greatest source of strength and the driving force for True Mother. True Father would wait more anxiously than anyone else for the telephone transmissions and video broadcasts of True Mother's speeches and would cry and share joy with her during their telephone conversations.