The Words of the Davies Family
|
|
The Words of the Davies Family |
Q: Can you give us a brief outline of your experiences in Korea?
Rosa Davies: I was asked to go to Korea by my central figure. It was a big surprise! I had already gone to Korea once before, in 1975, to represent my country, El Salvador. My husband and I prayed about this request and we felt that it was very important for me to go. Since Father was asking representatives of each nation to mobilize in a time of emergency. Father's speaking tour In Korea in December had been a great success; now he was asking for three members from 72 nations to come and start a campaign to get seven million new IFVOC members. I felt that Father was calling me again, and I wanted to go and serve. Circumstances made it impossible for me to go for an indefinite period of time, but I was able to dedicate three months to the campaign.
About three hundred members arrived in Korea before the Seunghwa ceremony. I was very surprised when I came to the Little Angels School and saw the altar where Heung Jin Nim's body lay: the whole auditorium was completely filled with members! The international representatives sat in the first rows with some of the 36 Blessed couples. We knew that Heavenly Father didn't want us to grieve, but it was almost impossible not to shed tears. It was not like a regular funeral: it seemed that the purpose of the ceremony was literally to be with Heung Jin Nim during the process of transition to the next world. I began to have some realization of how Heavenly Father wants us to feel when someone passes from this world to the spiritual world.
After the ceremony at the Little Angels School, everyone left to go to a special mountain located in the northern part of South Korea. It took two hours to get there by car. One elder Korean member told us that Father's family, Mr. Eu, and Tiger Park were buried in this mountain. Another ceremony was held there for Heung Jin Nim. It began with prayer and song. Afterward, the True Children began reverently to shovel the earth back into the grave, followed by elder leaders and members, and finally the international representatives.
After the Seunghwa ceremony we had a seven day training session. We heard VOC lectures and testimonies from some of the first Korean members. At the same time we were given our first lessons in the Korean language.
From January 19, we were divided into ten teams, and sent to our respective provinces. My province, icon Buk, located in the southwest of Korea, is not as cold as Seoul in the wintertime -- but it is still very cold! Our brothers and sisters from Africa and South America had never seen snow in their lives, and didn't have the proper clothes.
Our team had 27 members from Africa, Europe, Central and South America, and the United States. Sixteen different nations were represented. Mr. Moon In Song, the church leader for the city of Jeon Ju, said that the number sixteen was very symbolic, since sixteen nations had assisted Korea during the Korean War.
For while, at first, we couldn't conduct our activities directly because there was some difficulty with our visas. The residence cards and visas which we finally obtained permitted us, as members, to observe campaign activities.
Our basic strategy in the beginning was to present VOC lectures at large meetings with between fifty and three hundred participants. One lecturer from Seoul, Professor Sol Yong Su, who is famous in Korea, would often come to teach. These meetings were held in many towns throughout the province, which were about two or three hours away from where we lived. Sometimes three, or five, or ten members would go, and sometimes the whole team. The lectures would run for at least one hour, often two. The VOC office in our province would arrange to hire a hall where we could meet. These meetings were not only for the common people; often leaders of companies, other anti-communist organizations or large communities would come. Most of the participants had been contacted previously through the work of IFVOC in their communities. Sometimes the team would visit schools and we would introduce our- selves to as many as a thousand students at one meeting. Most of the time, almost all of the students over eighteen years of age would sign an application after hearing the lecture. In fact, most of the people who attended these meetings signed membership, and even took applications with them for their families, relatives and friends.
At the meetings we simply introduced ourselves in Korean; we had memorized how to say, "Hello, my name is..., and I come from a different country." After the introductions we would sing songs in Korean. The people were so moved -- especially the older people, the grandmothers and grandfathers -- and they would cry! When we would sing Arirang or the Korean national anthem, they would sing with us, but with tears in their eyes. It was a very moving experience for us, too.
It was our mission to attend these meetings about one to three times a week. Direct witnessing activities didn't begin for us until February. Some members went door-to-door, but I worked on the street. For these witnessing activities, we would stay in only one city. We set up two or three tables in the city of icon Ju, the most important city in Jeon Buk. My table was located outside of a department store and usually about four foreign members and two or three Korean members from IOWC would work together there.
We foreign members had memorized how to say to the people, "Hello, I am from this anti-communist movement, IFVOC." We would then present them with an application, and they would come to the table and sign up. Occasion- ally the people would ask many questions. In desperate moments when communication became difficult, we had to rely upon the Korean members. Soon, however, we learned how to fill out all parts of the application in Korean, and the process became easier and more natural. After two or three weeks we were able to take care of the people when they came to the table and we could encourage them to sign. Only when they had really deep questions did we have to call the Korean members for help; we had mastered the basics but still didn't know how to speak deeply.
The goal in our province was five hundred thousand signatures. The Korean members that we were working with in our province were known for having done very good IFVOC work in the past, so we were determined to finish by the end of February. By that time, we had accomplished only 50% of our goal, but three weeks later we were able to fulfill the other 50%.
Q: Did you set any special conditions?
Rosa: We set many conditions in our province. After Heung Jin Nim's Seunghwa ceremony we did a forty day condition during which we said Pledge after rising at 5:30 in the morning, and then again at night. At the end of the forty days we did an all-night prayer vigil. After that we just said Pledge and listened to a speech every morning, and prayed very hard at night. We didn't do any fasting, but we offered a lot of prayer.
Q: What happened after February?
Rosa: Father asked us to continue; but during the week after we completed our goal, the spiritual atmosphere became very heavy. We all felt that something was happening, but we didn't know what it was.
One IFVOC leader in our province, Mr. Ho, took his car to his office at about 8:00 a.m. In front of him, a big bus stopped without any signal. He swerved quickly to the left, but didn't see an oncoming school bus. He didn't have time to brake, and he collided with the school bus. It began to turn over, but the trees along the side of the road prevented it from turning over all the way. No one was killed, but many of the children were injured. None of them was injured drastically, but some had to go to the hospital right away.
Mr. Ho's car was totally destroyed. When the police saw it they thought Mr. Ho must be dead, and later said that it was a miracle that he survived. He was seriously hurt in the ribs and the left ear, and the doctors requested that he stay in the hospital for at least forty days. But he recovered; he can speak clearly, and now he is fine.
I visited Mr. Ho three times in the hospital before I came back to America. He told me that he feels God saved his life because he has a great mission. This man is very dedicated; he worked so hard, and he always looked as if he never slept! The first time he spoke with us, he cried; and through an interpreter he said, "I wish I could communicate with you; I wish I could speak English!" He had such a deep heart and love for brothers and sisters, and True Parents. He is a 777 Blessed couple. Mr. Moon told us that this leader paid indemnity for Korea and for the campaign.
Still later, the Monday following Mr. Ho's accident, a Japanese brother had to be taken to the hospital for appendicitis. It was an emergency: the appendix had already burst, so the brother came close to death. It was very serious. Mr. Moon said that this brother paid indemnity for all foreign members.
So the province really suffered at the end. We felt that Satan was attacking because we were bringing great success there. I went to Seoul the day before I came back to America, and I learned that the campaign had reached five million new members. Since our province had such potential, the team continued working in order to help other provinces that had not yet reached their goals.
Q: Did you receive persecution?
Rosa: We received persecution mostly from Christian people, but it was not very heavy. They asked, "Is this the Unification Church of Reverend Moon?" and then they just didn't want to sign.
Otherwise I was amazed by how easily the Korean people signed the membership applications. We had a bill-board with a map showing all the communist countries in red and all the countries in danger of being invaded in pink. Sometimes the people would just read this, come over to the table and say, "Where do I put my fingerprint?" -- especially the older people who had already experienced communism. With- out even questioning or being able to understand my Korean, they were very willing to sign! I know that if I tried to do this in New York City, it would be a different story.
Q: What was the team's everyday life like?
Rosa: Food and sleep, of course, were very different for us. The food consisted mostly of rice, soup, and some very hot vegetables. Ten sisters slept with blankets on the floor of a small room, squeezed tightly together. The Korean heating system is in the floor, so sometimes I almost felt as if I were burning myself because the floor was so hot. On the other hand, while standing up. I couldn't even breathe because the air was so cold! Personally, I liked to sleep in the corner so that no one would step on me when they got up to go to the bathroom, even if it was a little colder. One brother in another province wrote to a sister on our team that he was desperate because he didn't have money even to buy soap or take a public bath!
After a while, we adapted and overcame these physical struggles. We did not suffer so much because spiritually our leader was taking very good care of us. Mr. Moon and many of the Korean members in our province tried to serve and support us in many ways. Every time one of us was sick, Mr. Moon or his wife would come to the room and visit, like real parents and good servants.
Sometimes the schedule of activities was not so clear. It was difficult to organize because of lack of funds and transportation. Because of this there were times when we just had to stay home and study. This situation created some struggle for us because everyone was eager to work. Sometimes the physical foundation for our work was not entirely adequate.
Q: What was your best personal experience?
Rosa: For me the greatest experience was the heart of the Korean people. They are so caring. The last time I went to Korea, I was only able to spend about eleven days; this time I was able to experience more -- not just in Seoul, but in the villages among the people. After being in the church eleven years and going to Korea, I felt that the kind of heart that exists among the Korean people is what Father is talking about. My experience confirmed my feeling that these are God's chosen people.
Q: What was your most difficult experience?
Rosa: I adapted to the physical struggles. My real, basic struggle was not being able to communicate, to express my heart. Many times there were misunderstandings, and I wish I could have spoken Korean!
Q: What special points did you learn?
Rosa: After being in New York, having an office mission and starting family life, it was a great experience to go and witness to the people again, and to live and work together with brothers and sisters on a team. Actually I was the oldest sister there, so I had a lot of responsibility as a team mother. I felt that I could pray more, and it is easier for me to pray even now, after having come back. I have a closer feeling when I hear someone such as Rev. Kwak pray in Korean: tears come to my eyes even though I still don't understand completely. These three months were a rebirth for my spiritual life. I hope I can keep this feeling, even in New York.
Q: As a member from El Salvador, how did you feel about the situation in your own country regarding communism?
Rosa: When I prayed for nations like El Salvador that have no native members working in their own countries, especially those that are suffering under communism, I felt that what I was doing in Korea would directly influence and help those nations. I felt that what I was doing in Korea, I was doing for the world.