Bodyguard for Christ: One Disciple's Experience Protecting the Messiah (Gerhard Peemoeller)

Michael La Hogue
July 14 2011

Bodyguard for Christ, published in 2010, by Gerhard Peemoeller, recounts his experience as part of True Father's security team.

Not many people have been directly accountable for the safety of the Messiah. In his recently published book, Bodyguard for Christ, Gerhard Peemoeller recalls his experiences during the three years (1974-1977) he worked in the security detail for True Parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. While most Americans only see True Parents at large events and speaking tours, Peemoeller ("Big Gerhard") provides the perspective of one whose job required him to be close to the family, both physically and spiritually.

From the preface of the book, Peemoeller describes his purpose as presenting "the human side" of True Father, a side that most people do not experience firsthand. In Bodyguard for Christ, he provides personal stories of time closely spent with True Parents, whether shopping or fishing, praying or sight-seeing.

From the first moment he encountered the Unification church in his home country of Germany in 1972, Peemoeller was infused with the desire to be a "bodyguard for Christ," ignited by a vision he experienced while praying. After joining the movement and coming to America in 1973, he was given the opportunity to join True Parents' security team for a speaking tour, and later at East Garden. Eventually he became one of three traveling bodyguards for True Father.

Despite Peemoeller's already impressive 6 ft. 6 in. stature, he, along with the entire security team, underwent extensive training in judo and karate. However, Peemoeller emphasizes that the most important aspect of his job was his internal unity with True Father. He outlines the conditions he set for the safety and protection of the True Family, including a daily breakfast fast, washing and waxing a car everyday True Parents weren't at East Garden, and praying constantly while on duty.

Peemoeller explains: "The oneness between a bodyguard and his subject is absolutely necessary. If those two are not united, one going this way and another going that way, and if in addition one is tall and one is short, it is like a magnet for trouble. The satanic spirit world is instantly alerted if there is not unity, and bad things can happen."

Indeed, there were many instances bad things could have happened during those three years. Peemoeller provided security for True Father at about 250 speeches and he recalls how he always needed to be vigilant, not only watching for physical dangers, but also keeping the spiritual atmosphere focused, even if that entailed praying for his fellow security guards and audiences to remain awake and alert.

As evident through Peemoeller's stories, the dangers that True Parents faced from 1973 to 1977 were surprisingly numerous. To name a few, True Parents received death threats before the Yankee Stadium event (1976), were almost run off the road by mysterious cars, and had the majority of the City of Gloucester "waging their own personal war" against the "Moonies." "By the grace of God," Peemoeller states, "major incidents were prevented."

In juxtaposition to these harrowing accounts, Bodyguard for Christ also provides readers plenty of joyous, and even comical, accounts of Peemoeller's experiences with True Parents. He recalls how True Parents sang German songs for him when he was first introduced, and how True Father once challenged him to eat as many Big Macs as possible to set a record.

Through Bodyguard for Christ, Peemoeller aims to allow readers to understand the love that he has felt from True Parents and the blessings he received from being given the responsibility to keep them safe. His accounts of True Father's continuous thinking of the providence, or setting conditions through fishing in grueling weather, for example, are able to remind readers of the heart that True Parents have for each of God's precious children.

I feel that Bodyguard for Christ is an extraordinary and heartfelt account of a remarkable time in the history of the Unification Church from the perspective of a man closely connected to True Parents. Readers are sure to be touched and inspired by the dedication that one "big German" exhibited in carrying out his God-given mission of protecting the Messiah.

Gerhard Peemoeller was blessed in 1977 in the 74 couple Blessing to his Japanese wife, Nobuko. They now have 7 children and live in Virginia Beach. After completing his bodyguard mission, Gerhard went on to work as security at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, and later became involved in Ocean Church and commercial fishing, which he continues to do. His book is available on Amazon.com and can also be purchased by e-mailing him.