Coming to America: Celebrating 56 Years Since True Father’s Arrival

Today marks 56 years since the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, co-founder of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) and affectionately known as True Father, first arrived in America on February 12, 1965.

From the early 1960s, the American Unification movement anticipated the arrival of Rev. Moon. Then in January 1965, he departed South Korea for his first world tour; and after spending two weeks in Japan, he left for America. Miss Young Oon Kim, the first missionary to the U.S., prepared for his visit in the Bay Area, where Rev. Moon established the first Holy Ground in America on Twin Peaks overlooking San Francisco. 

In the next 44 days, Rev. Moon traveled by car to all 48 contiguous states, establishing 55 Holy Grounds along the way. His first visit to America lasted nearly five months, until July 1, 1965, when he departed for Europe. Below is an excerpt from Rev. Moon’s 1975 speech “God’s Plan for America,” given a decade later at the House Caucus Room of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C.

Speech excerpt: 

“We must understand that America was formed to be the new flag bearer of God’s Will to move towards world salvation through cooperation between religion and state. America’s mission is abundantly clear. It is to fulfill the desire that God has had since the beginning, to make this world one world of God, a world in which His ideal will blossom. It is not by accident that America’s founding spirit is described in the motto, ‘One nation under God.’ This was already destined in the Will of God…

Let us re-examine whether God is dwelling in our hearts. How about in our homes? In our nation? Is God dwelling in the White House? There is even great concern over whether God is still in our churches. Without God nothing flourishes. No unity at any level can be achieved. God serves as the cement. Unity between mind and body, husband and wife, different families, peoples, and nations; between the East and the West, and furthermore, between heaven and earth and between God and man will bring forth one world of God. Most important, once God becomes real in our lives, soon there will be no trace of communism. When the sun rises, the darkness automatically passes away. With God everything is possible; no problem is too big. Without God, however, our problem is beyond our reach. 

Once we know this principle, we must realize that our urgent task today is to reach out to God at any cost. America must reach out to the world for its salvation, even at the price of sacrificing America herself. America must wake up. Her people must unite and launch the unifying movement of God to achieve the unification of Christianity and of all religions. Right now there must come a fresh spiritual revolution to ignite a new fervor in Christianity and in the national spirit to pursue a higher vision of the world. This must happen in America…

The Unification movement has a philosophy, an ideal, and a plan of action. It manifests clearly God’s plan for America. Its philosophy is large enough to embrace and unite the material civilization of the west and the spiritual civilization of the East — it has the capacity to create one unified culture of the world. It projects the hope of realizing the ideal world in which God’s purpose of creation is fulfilled here on earth…

To conclude, the supreme test of America in the will of God is at hand. First, America must avoid the failures of Israel, the Roman Empire, and the British Empire as God’s chosen champion. Second, America must return to the founding spirit of the nation and rise up as God’s instrument to save the world. Through a close cooperation between religion and state, America must accept the challenge to become the coworker of God in His Kingdom-building here on earth. America must be willing to sacrifice for God’s purpose. She must rush forward as God’s flag bearer. When America does this, her prosperity will be eternal. When America fulfills God’s Will, His blessings upon her will increase forevermore.” -Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon

Rev. Moon spent more than five decades sharing God’s Will for the world, centered on America uniting with God. His great peacebuilding legacy is continued by the global work of his wife, FFWPU co-founder and Mother of Peace Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

You can read Rev. Moon’s full speech “God’s Plan for America” here.

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