The Words of the Lee Family
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The Words of the Lee Family |
How does Dae-mo nim prepare to conduct her spiritual work overseas?
Rev. Lee: Each country has a different spiritual atmosphere. Dae-mo nim (with Hoon-mo nim) offers conditions before she goes, certainly. Specifically, I can say she does many conditions of offering kyconshat (full bows). She might do one thousand a day, or even as many as three thousand a day. In addition, Dae-mo nim offers nighttime prayer conditions. She does these every day.
In Africa there are countries where there are many difficult situations. She could see this during her visits there last year. Slavery, for one, existed in the past. Many people were forcibly taken from Africa to be slaves. In the spirit world these people have great resentment and pain.
In Africa, too, there is the tradition whereby some men have more than one wife at the same time, sometimes many wives. These women have also had much bitter pain, as they wanted to receive their husband's love but died without ever being able to.
We use Dae-mo nim in the understanding that Dae-mo nim is almost constantly with Hoon-mo nim (Mrs. Kim Hyo-nam).
Without making many conditions, there would be many difficulties spiritually. Dae-mo nim has indicated it would be very difficult to hold these ceremonies without such an offering.
So before leaving Korea for Benin and DR Congo this time, Dae-mo nim offered many conditions in preparation.
How does Dae-mo nim decide when to go to a country?
It is difficult, as her schedule is very, very full. Also, Dae-mo nim cannot go without True Parents' specific permission. She may report her desire to go but she cannot just leave by her own will. In relation to this visit to Africa, Dae-mo nim had waited for some time for True Parents to give the final okay. True Parents are always looking at the spiritual situation -- whether there might be any danger for Hoon-mo nim, for example. True Parents know the difficult circumstances to be faced.
True Parents are always concerned about her when she travels but they gave her the spiritual blessing to go as the right spiritual foundation was in place -- "Have a good visit; bring much blessing and grace to the members there!"
Do you carry the materials you need when you go overseas?
It is not possible for Dae-mo nim to take everything with her. She will take one holy candle from the Chung Pyung training center, and other holy candles will be made at the destination. For example, Dae-mo aim holds a liberation ceremony for the second and third-generation children who have gone to the spirit world. The parents prepare one candle and inherit the flame from the one Dae-mo nim has brought with her.
Holy wine was also needed for this ceremony, and for the Special Workshop for the New Beginning of Cheon Il Guk Blessed Families-which was the central event in each country Dae-mo nim visited. Regional president Rev. Eiji Tokuno brought that with him.
We also have a manual that explains all the ceremonies. We sent this in advance by e-mail, so the staff members in both nations were able to prepare all that was needed.
How does Dae-mo nim use the travel time?
When Dae-mo nim travels by plane, during that lime, she is constantly making sincere effort. Heung-jin nim stays with her and Hoon-mo nim [Mrs. Kim Hyo-nam] they are discussing and organizing for the days ahead. Hoon-mo nim hardly sleeps at all. She also prays or thinks, or reads Divine Principle.
She also likes to read magazines or a newspaper.
What about when she arrives?
At the hotel she has no time at all to sleep. This is not only in Africa; she also travels to Japan once a month.
She might, for example, take dinner in the hotel, and then from 9:00 or so to midnight she has a little bit of personal time.
From midnight to 5:00 or 6:00 AM is the time for setting conditions for liberating the ancestors. Heung-jin nim and Dae-mo nim are together with Hoon-mo nim, and in unity they spend the time making conditions for the ancestors, and also to purify the church and the nation. They liberate those who have played central roles in that nation and who are now in the spirit world, such as former kings or presidents. This is her work to prepare the background.
From the time Dae-mo nim arrives in a country to the time she leaves, she hardly sleeps at all. Hers is a very challenging schedule. I would think Hoon-mo nim's health was a constant concern in light of this. Hoon-mo nim takes care of her health through a special method. As Dae-mo nim is working through her body, she has to keep it in good condition, as you can imagine. Since she was young, before receiving the blessing, Hoon-mo nim has practiced a kind of yoga-stretching and gymnastics. Also, spiritually, Heung-jin nim gives Hoon-mo nim a lot of strength.
What kind of staff members does Dae-mo nim take with her?
Someone is usually sent in advance to help prepare to register members for the different ceremonies. Care of the data is extremely important.
Then there is the work to train the clumping (holy song session) team. We send someone three days to one week in advance to train others.
We also need to have interpreters who can go from Korean to the native language, or if necessary to English and from there to the native tongue. Often local members with language skills do this work.
Dae-mo nim also takes two or three counseling staff with her when she travels. The culture in Africa seems to be spiritual in inclination.
Africans, whether members or not, are rather sensitive to the spirit world. Dae-mo nim has alluded to this. Our blessed family members are very sensitive. Even compared with members in other countries, they have many have experiences with the spirit world. There are those who actually see their ancestors during the liberation sessions or during prayer; others hear their voices. There are also members who can feel the resentful spirits residing within themselves. During holy song sessions these spirits manifest themselves: people suddenly collapse, some shout without reason, others suddenly start to dance. In one incident a person's belly suddenly grew in size-it was because of someone who had died with a child in her womb. That spirit made the woman look as if she was about to give birth. We saw such phenomena. So African members can easily understand the concept of relating with their ancestors, and other matters to do with the spirit world. They listen very carefully when Dae-mo nim speaks and during the holy song sessions they have experiences with the spirit world.
This is why members had waited expectantly for Dae-mo nim's arrival in the sincere hope that she could help them solve their spiritual problems.
How did the members welcome Dae-mo nim?
The leaders and other members in, for instance, DR Congo, had made many conditions to allow Dae-mo nim to come. Almost three thousand people came to our auditorium to welcome Dae-mo nim warmly. As it is a church property; that was even better spiritually and the members could receive much grace. Even though we encountered practical difficulties, the spiritual atmosphere was highly charged, and the members were so pure in head.
How close was it to the atmosphere at Chung Pyung?
The atmosphere was more charged than at Chung Pyung. The members worked even harder. Members who come to Chung Pyung sometimes participate out of a sense of duty or just formally...
Not only in Africa, but also in Asia, South America or Europe, many members have not been able to meet Dae-mo nim, and they do not have much knowledge of the work Chung Pyung is doing. They have been waiting. Because they have waited and waited, they are so fired up, and they have prayed earnestly. Whether they are listening to Dae-mo nim's message, doing the ancestor liberation, or involved in any of the ceremonies, they are certainly not dozing off but instead are shedding many tears, praying so deeply-more earnestly than at the Chung Pyung training center!
Their hearts were truly being revived. I had to repent; I received so much grace.
The African members really worked more intensely than members do at Chung Pyung. There was a tangible atmosphere of dedication.
Do you have a particular story you could share from your time in Africa?
After the ceremonies in Benin had concluded, we went to Ganvit, a large village of 30,000 people that is built on a lake. There are three blessed couples living there. Dae-mo nim went to visit them.
We went in a boat, and the national leader steered us to a home that he indicated was that of a blessed family. One small girl of about ten years old came out of her house. We asked her "Are you a blessed child" and she answered that she was. "Do you have a picture of True Parents?" She said she had. She went back inside and reappeared with a framed photograph of tourists. Its homes are of wood, and built on stilts over a lake-originally to avoid attacks from warriors who would not cross water.
At that moment I had a tearful moment of realization: in Africa, even in such a remote village as this, there are blessed families with their children. I was sorry for their difficult situation, but at the same time I felt grateful to God and True Parents that all over the world there are blessed families, our members. I actually wept. Dae-mo nim was also in tears. She embraced the children, gave them some money, and took photos with them. The families sang a song for her.
Do you have any further reflections on how Dae-mo nim sees Africa?
Dae-mo nim always emphasized the education of the second-generation children, who are becoming very numerous! Dae-mo nim gave 70,000 dollars to the Benin church, so that they could finish construction of the Peace Embassy and use it to educate the second-generation members.
Dae-mo nim said that Africa is the land that God has blessed the most, but that the mindset of political leaders who only sought to live comfortably themselves was a problem. She encouraged our blessed members to have the heart to become the owners of their nations, and change the spirit there.
In both countries Dae-mo nim spoke about the importance of witnessing.
In Benin they held the ceremonies in an auditorium with a capacity of five thousand people. There were about one thousand members present. Dae-mo nim said she would come again when they could fill the auditorium with five thousand members. She asked the members, "Can you do it?"
"Yes!" they shouted.
We asked Ken Lee one general question about bow Dae-mo nim works: How does Dae-mo nim find all those thousands of ancestors in the spirit world?
Dae-mo nim said that in the very beginning it was exceedingly difficult to find the ancestors. Now she has the help of many angels who give their support, and of the 320 billion absolute, good spirits. They work with her. All by herself it would be impossible for her to find all the ancestors. She has a list, and she sees that spiritually when she prays.
With the list she can explain to the absolute good spirits whom to find. The absolute good spirits also know where their own ancestors are, so they can find them swiftly no matter where they are, and bring them to liberation.