Out In the Field

Beverly Kato
September 1983

Beverly Kato, who works on Rev. Vincenz' IOWC # 10, reflects on their struggles and victories while out in the field...

Father we thank you with all our hearts for this mission of the IOWC. Thank you for your constant guidance and constant concern for each one of us.

It's the 26th of July, 1983. We're in San Diego. Just two days ago we heard that we are going to a new region. So next week we'll he traveling up to Seattle. Rev. Vincenz will be coming back from New York tonight from the IOWC commanders' meeting with Father. Time passes too quickly now. This morning Mrs. Vincenz reminded us that every day, every single hour, is precious.

At the beginning, I went through a really deep experience. I told God that I'd give my life -- to the point of death. It made me more free and gave me more power to go through this course. On IOWC we're understanding more deeply about Father's heart. We are in that position. In this mission, Father is training us to do everything. We're really out in the wilderness. IOWC has given me more confidence. We've done things we never thought we'd be doing and finding ourselves, in these times, very grateful even though it's difficult.
C.W. (American)

We learned a great deal from the experience of our last city, Phoenix. In preparation for Rev. Vincenz' public meeting at the Valley Center Bank, we started to witness in offices and businesses to reach government and business people. We passed out thousands of invitations and put up posters everywhere. Although not as many people attended as we would have liked, six people signed up for the two-day workshop.

In Phoenix we stayed in a large church. Most of us were unused to the 90-100 degree weather. On the 9th of June, we welcomed to our team eight members from Europe. One of the first places that Rev. Vincenz took them to see was the nearby Indian reservation. One person we met was Ed Big Eagle, a Sioux Indian from South Dakota. He also came to the center every night for the lecture series. He learned from us and we learned something from him about the deep heart of his people. (He is now at Camp Mazumdar.)

We also met a young Navajo by the name of Eugene Natok. He was so inspired by the Divine Principle that he immediately insisted that Rev. Vincenz go to meet with his people. So Rev. Vincenz, Keiji Endo, and Eugene together visited the reservation, which is the largest in the United States. They paid a visit to the Governor of the Navajo Nation and Rev. Vincenz was asked to sit in on their legislative session. The radio station there agreed to broadcast a message about our Arizona crusade.

For me, what I'm most grateful for is the chance to work with Rev. Vincenz because he really shares Father's vision and Father's feeling and desperation for America. He has a world vision not only for America, but fie can see beyond America.
N.C. (French)

On our first day in San Diego, we felt welcomed by the city (35 members came, half of our original team went with Don Sardella to Los Angeles.) Catherine Wells had gone on ahead and found for us one whole level of a motel downtown. Standing outside our new Beech and 7th St. Center, a woman dressed in a brash cowboy outfit appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and began to hug each one of us. She was involved in evangelical work herself and was excited to see so many young missionaries.

Early the next morning we went to the holy ground. We could look over the vast ocean and out over the entire city.

On the 2nd of July, five of our members attended an anti-communist rally at San Usedro. Surprisingly, they turned out to be the only Americans present. All the others who participated were Cubans, Afghans, Poles, Mexicans, etc. We wondered, "Why aren't there any Americans?"

Our brothers and sisters took part in the march. In fact, Michael Mueller was asked to lead the march dressed up as a bear to represent the U.S.S.R. Chained to him was someone who represented Cuba. Asked to speak, Elaine Okoda apologized to those present on behalf of America and she gave a testimony about Father's imprisonment under the North Koreans. On -- the 3rd we attended Sunday Service aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ranger. And on the 4th of July we attended the large parade on Coronado Island. We had made a 25-foot banner that read, "207 YEARS OF FREEDOM... LET'S PROTECT IT, LET'S SHARE IT" We sat across from the canopied stands assigned to the dignitaries. As the last entry passed, we got up to sing "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful," holding the banner. That night we stood together in an open field and watched the beautiful explosions of light paint the dark sky.

Before IOWC I used to go through ups and downs, but when I' saw the seriousness of the situation, I denied myself more. I'm trying as much as I can to give my best to the people so they can wake up and see what's happening in the world, so we can have hope, not just for ourselves but for the generations to come. Until now I didn't feel I was giving enough. We're on the front line now and it's more important than MFT or anything else. There is no other chance for America, and if there is no other chance for America, there is no chance for the world.
M.F. (Egyptian)

Won-hwa-do is an integral part of our schedule. Brothers and sisters take turns preparing morning service, and it's very helpful that we can listen to Father's words on tape. Everyone is taking more initiative.

Recently five of us visited a cafeteria in the downtown Federal complex where government officials eat their lunch. To the amazement of the people there, Katherine Bescheid stood up and sang for them. Her clear soprano voice caught their attention and they applauded her. Then she sang another song. She didn't pause when the waitress told her, "I'm sorry you can't do this!" Tamara Grapek then shared about our crusade explaining that we were young adults who want to inspire Americans about their country. When the policeman appeared and tried to interrupt her, she told him she needed a few more minutes. So he paced the floor behind her as she gave testimony on Father's life. Other brothers and sisters have gone into other public places to reach out to the people in this way. Also, members have visited Veterans groups, Congressmen, and local churches. Right now we're doing some witnessing work with St. Stephens Church of God in Christ.

We are working more creatively to reach the community. We're showing a different image of the church. People are becoming more receptive now, asking about us. But it's con- fronting -- we must really be able to live our ideals, because now more than ever we need to understand how to put our vision and our ideals into living reality.
P.S. (American)

We held our public meetings on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of July. This time we passed out three times as many flyers as we did before. We draped the Winnebago (our mobile witnessing center) with big banners besides putting up posters. We even took it to the sea, witnessing in the harbor from boats (with the help of Ocean Church). The meetings turned out to be very stimulating evenings. Bradford Parker, the new director of the San Diego Church, spoke the first evening. Rev. Vincenz on the second night, then Dr. Durst gave a speech at the Travel Lodge Tower on Harbor Island. We are especially grateful to Dr. Durst for conveying to us the deep sense of Father's daily sacrifice on the ocean and for reminding us to see the value in our sincere effort to be a friend to the people we meet as well as to our brothers and sisters on our team.

Dr. Durst was interviewed on television and on the radio. We were encouraged by the sincerity of the people attending the meetings. Many of the guests came back to hear our evening lectures. One guest who has done so is Jake. He's in his sixties and he belongs to a fellowship of people who believe they are being led at this time to find the church that God has chosen to work through. They aren't tied to any one church but they believe that God will reveal to them a deeper understanding of the Bible. He is studying and his heart and his mind are open.

Please look deeper and ask these questions. We are willing day and night to answer you. The time is late already. You may think it is 1983. But it's much later in God's history. If we don't wake up in the 1980's, I don't know how we will conclude this century because we cannot afford to have God leave this country. We must call God back to this nation.
Rev. Vincenz (German) 7-13-83

We gained something that we didn't expect in San Diego. Many former members started coming to the center.

Rev. Chung and Rev. Vincenz have spent a lot of time sharing with them and helping them to be reconciled with this movement. We members are very thankful to Rev. Chung tor his constant guidance and direction. We will miss him very much when he leaves us to visit other teams. And, we are very grateful to the Vincenz. They have put themselves in a position to deeply listen to brothers and sisters with hopes and healing the past disappointments, resentments, and misunderstandings and given us a vision, an insight into Father's tradition, and love for each one of us.

The other night a few of us were able to drive out to nearby Oceanside. We went and stood out upon a jutting rock to watch the sun go down. Waves swept across the rocks as the sun slowly touched the waters. We again renewed our determination to fulfill the desire of our True Parents and to fulfill the dreams of our forefathers.

In those moments, we have to again remember the most fundamental Principles that we learned in our very first encounter. We must go the way of repentance and enlarge our vision, realizing how significant our thoughts and actions are to the outcome of this world. If we can deeply feel our value and significance with God first, above any other relationship, then we would never lose confidence to be able to do the most basic thing in life, and that is to love.

On our team brothers and sisters are finding out so clearly that this way is their life and it's up to each one of us, what we invest day to day, how we give, how love, and how we learn. So it's not always easy but it's important that we encourage each other and support one another and listen to one another, and that we take our daily mission not just as a mission, but that we go out and seek and yearn for the people on the streets, what they have suffered and experienced. And we must deeply realize and remember the precious gift that we have in the Principle and the great power it has to transform one human life.
E.O. (American)

We wish to extend our greetings to all IOWC teams. Let us bring success quickly and wake up this nation of America.