Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 272

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 10: Preparing the Ideal Environment Centering on the Providence of the Ocean and Latin America
Chapter 1: Economic Activities to Create the Environment for God’s Ideal
Section 3: Economic Activities in the Early Years, Portraits and stamps
Section 3: Economic Activities in the Early Years, Paragraph 12

Section 3. Economic Activities in the Early Years 

Portraits and stamps 
After coming to the South, True Father stayed in a mud hut in Beomil-dong, Busan. Living the life of a refugee, Kim Won-pil drew portraits of United States Army personnel to make money, which was used to help members in need. In the first years of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, members raised money to finance their witnessing efforts by collecting and selling postmarked stamps, and by adding color to black and white photographs and selling them on the street.

1  When I was living at Beomil-dong, Busan, we made portraits for soldiers from the United States Army base. We sketched on framed sheets of cloth. You cannot use just any cloth for drawing portraits. There was a glue to be applied to the cloth before drawing. We had to boil the glue, apply it to the cloth, and wait for it to dry. This process hardened the cloth, closing the small holes in the cloth before starting the drawing. We received $4 for each portrait. The soldiers from the US Army base usually were stationed there for one and a half to two years, after which time they returned home. They could not go back empty-handed. They needed gifts for their family. Soldiers would bring their wives' photographs and ask us to turn them into portraits. So we did.

2  The issue was how to draw the portraits quickly. In the beginning we would receive a couple of photos at a time, but since we needed money we organized so that soldiers could bring 20 or even 30 photos a day. The soldiers usually were at this base for a week, so I had to finish painting during that time. On some days, I drew as many as 30 portraits. I attached strings to the frames in advance. Kim Won-pil would use a 4B pencil to draw the faces on the canvases in lines as fine as the embroidery on the frame. The fine lines made it easy to draw the face; all I had to do was follow the lines. That sped up the process. In this way I drew the lips, painted them red, then drew and painted the hair. That was how I learned to draw. Even if you do not know how to do something, you somehow learn by trying. In the beginningI stood behind him, observing. Soon I learned how to draw one stroke at a time. So once he drew the shape of the head, I would be able to draw the clothes and the entire picture. In this way we made a good deal of money, earning nearly $100 a day.

3  As a refugee at Beomnaetgol, Busan, Kim Won-pil drew portraits of American soldiers. He drew up to 30 portraits a day. For him to do that I had to prepare everything. I stayed up through the night to do so. I worked very hard. That was how we made money to use for witnessing and pioneering the mission. There are many stories that might sound like something I dreamed up. I made money but never used a penny for myself. It is the same with God. He does not do anything for Himself. You have to use money for the sake of humankind, the world and future generations.

4  We participated in stamp-collecting events throughout Korea. A small canceled stamp removed from an envelope is worth but a few pennies. However, one can actually see this act of removing one stamp as a noble and lofty endeavor. The award winners for collecting stamps are usually young people, including middle and high school students. It is a shame that only young people do this. I once said that every Unification member ought to write a letter to three other members each month. If they attached 40 stamps to the letter, each worth one Korean won, instead of using one 40-won stamp, they could support our business activities. This is how much we can make just by using canceled stamps, which are so insignificant that they are usually thrown away. In other words, although our actions may seem trivial, we are actually bringing huge profit to the nation. Taking interest in seemingly insignificant issues will later lead to important achievements in which Unificationists can take pride.

5  We have been collecting stamps to finance our witnessing efforts. Through the stamps we collected, we raised nearly one million won last year. There was a time when I said that we need to set a standard by collecting one million or even two million stamps. On the one hand, we are collecting stamps to earn money. On the other, through these stamp-collecting activities, we have been able to unite in spirit based on a common goal. We are learning to share the emotions of daily life with each other.

Tongil Industries  

True Parents built and managed the Yehwa Air Rifle Factory as one of the first steps in creating a global economic foundation. On May 20, 1959, after the establishment of HSA-UWC, we received a permit to build a factory for Yehwa Air Rifles, and established the factory at Incheon and used it as a foundation to build Tongil Industries. Because True Parents believed that the machine tool industry was important for the revival of Korean manufacturing, they established Tongil Industries, incorporating technologies from around the world. True Parents devoted themselves to Tongil Industries, not for the sake of the company but for the future of Korea and the world. Although it began small, Tongil Industries' outstanding technology played an important role in the development of Korea's key industries, especially the automotive and military sectors.

6  To the same degree that we engage in church activities, we must think about the items young people like and use. One such product is the air rifle. We are the only ones in Korea who have conducted research into this technology. We did so for the sake of product quality and future results. If we do a good job in the development stage, I am confident we will eventually gain success. We will obtain patents to build new products. When you create a new product, it is not perfect from the beginning. I studied this industry and came to know the stages of product development. It is absolutely impossible to invent something and reach commercial success in the same year. It takes at least three years, if not more. I began with this awareness. We built a factory at Incheon, but at that time the factory had nothing. I had an assistant and one machine tool. It was a shop with nothing but a couple of machine drills, some saws and a plane. That is the origin of our air rifle factory.

7  When we first were making the air rifle, we used brass pipes as one of its components, and that failed. We decided to buy stainless steel pipes instead. That's when we began to make rifles from stainless steel. To start, we made about 30 rifles and sold them. We were able to sell them, but it was costly to continue the operation. For seven years we had to invest in the factory. After seven years, in 1964 we began full-scale marketing of our rifles. Those years were a period for us to identify our mistakes in the manufacturing process and address these problems. If we had started to mass produce air rifles without first identifying these issues, we would have sustained tremendous losses. It took us about seven years to identify and remedy the problems in every aspect of the production process. Now we have begun mass production with the confidence that nothing will go wrong. It was through this ten-year history that we began to mass-produce air rifles.

8  When we first began to manufacture air rifles, there was gossip among our HSA-UWC leaders and members. Nobody understood Father's heart. Even the people who were in charge of the project did not understand, so I commuted to the Incheon factory twice a day. People had to stay involved because I was visiting the factory every day. Now these operations have turned into a company that is considered in Korea to be the most, or maybe second most, successful in the production of patented products. This is how I developed this company. You are selling air rifles. This rifle is a remarkable tactical product. Korea is dealing with a communist threat, so this product is appropriate, given the backdrop of the times.

9  Companies that have a sturdy foundation have technicians, funding and professional managers. We grew our business under difficult circumstances in competition with these companies. The reality was that we had no funding, technicians or professional management. Faced with this reality, it was nothing less than an amazing adventure to enter a field of Korean industry. What we wanted to do in those circumstances was to create a product that would be unique all around the world and patent it. We chose the air rifle. Spiritually I knew this was the right choice, but it truly was an unusual idea. Old-fashioned air rifles had not been produced for a long time. That product line had not advanced for years, and you would not expect to make much profit. However, I saw the air rifle's potential, and that is why we made it. Those who have used it say that our air rifle is the best. That is why people buy it. We could do this because our people were organized.

10  Two years from now, once we are on track to make air rifles and rifles for target shooting, we will expand our market to other nations. Actually I have already investigated the global market. I believe we can export at least one and a half million rifles a year, perhaps as many as two and a half to three million. We have to lay a foundation upon which we can move forward on our own without any external economic aid. Otherwise, we cannot completely restore this nation. That is why it is an absolute requirement to set an economic foundation.

11  The most important issue in running a factory is having a plan and running things according to that plan. Next is the organization and then the process. You need to manage dozens of stages in the process of manufacturing even one product. You have to design your organization properly. Second, you have to install the proper equipment in the right facilities. You need to have the right equipment. And third you need technicians. These are the three key components. In the future we must equip ourselves with the right manufacturing processes so that we do not fall behind other producers in the global competition. You have to get these three points right when you are in a competitive market. You can shorten the production time for a certain product only when you have organizational unity, professional management and skilled technicians. There are a lot of factories that manufacture specialty items. In a competitive industry, each company tries to find methods to make the best products at the lowest cost. That is why you need proper facilities and technology, and you must excel at business management. The success or failure of the business depends on that.

12  To do good deeds you have to shed blood and sweat, offer devotion, be humble and gentle to others, display brotherly affection to your siblings, and love the earth. If you respond with goodness to the people who oppose you, and do that 100 percent of the time, they will submit to you. Hence, you cannot be arrogant. The person who gives first is the subject partner. I have carried out this responsibility as Abel in all matters. This is my philosophy of life. When you stand before someone who is more public-minded than yourself, you must be humble. I have fought ideological battles in the spirit world and also on earth. In commerce, what I invested through my devotion must grow. We have to make effort until we attain a foundation for this factory. There are still some areas where we need to make more effort. That is why I do not pray for heaven to help us make money.