Dr. Kim’s Speech at Bay Area Family Church

The following is a transcript from Dr. Ki Hoon Kim’s speech at Sunday Service on December 30, 2018 at the Bay Area Family Church.

First of all, before I give my short message today, I’d like to have a little appreciation ceremony for the Bay Area family members from the New York community and from Family Federation for a Heavenly USA. Kevin, can you come up?

We prepared this crystal, which reads: “Family Federation for Heavenly USA presents to the Bay Area Family Church and Rev. Kevin Thompson: In Deep Appreciation and Gratitude for Your Generous Support of the Peace Starts With Me Rally and Welcoming True Mother at the Nassau Coliseum on November 12, 2018. Thank You. December 30, 2018. Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Chairman, and Rev. Richard Buessing, President.”

Even though your community is very far away from New York, your generous spiritual and physical support, especially financially, made a big contribution to the community in New York and the spirit with which we could welcome True Mother. I have one more award, so I’d like to ask Dr. Durst to come up. Based on the appreciation we feel toward the Bay Area community, we have started to support the Principled Academy school, which is based in the church community here. I’ve been getting some good reports about this school and about its scholarship program, and we’ve prepared a $10,000 donation for the school.

My job today is done already. Yesterday, I mentioned to Kevin that before I came to America 43 years ago, I went to an English class every morning. One American English teacher taught this class for 2 years, and we had a test every quarter on conversation and writing. However, in the end this teacher failed me, so I went to her office to complain. I said, “I thought I did a good job, so why do you want to make me have to pay the tuition to take the same class again?” I didn’t like it. She told me, “Don’t worry. I know you’re planning to go to America as a missionary, but don’t worry about anything; just remember one thing. Whatever happens around you, going to airports, going to school, going to meet or visit families, there is one simple phrase you must not forget: ‘thank you.’ If you say that, everybody will welcome you. So, don’t worry about anything else, just say thank you.” Yes, I know, she was a good missionary to Korea from America.

So, I really want to say, “Thank you, Bay Area community and Dr. Durst and Mrs. Durst, for your dedication.”

What else is there? My job is done.

Merry Christmas; and after two days we’re going to have the new year, 2019. Whenever I come to San Francisco, I love the pleasant sunshine and temperature here. Many of you might say, “Oh, Dr. Kim, today it’s very cold here,” but to me, this is nothing; it’s pleasant, still pleasant. When I see Mike Leone here and everyone else here, and Bento, Ray and Joshua Cotter, their spirits look the same as they did 30 years ago. They have the same kind of shape and spirit. This is the kind of place it will be, if we think about the kind of kingdom we’re looking for. Joshua has  the same voice and his hands play the keyboard just like before; and Ray on the drums, even if he’s getting physically old, he never misses a beat or loses the rhythm.

I just came back from True Mother’s 30-day worldwide Blessing tour that followed the November 12 Nassau Coliseum “Peace Starts With Me” rally. The subtitle this time was, “Healing America.” We had a very successful gathering. True Mother once again shared her God-centered message, saying that centered on God and centered on True Parents America can be healed and can re-start as a new America. That was True Mother’s main message. I know how deeply True Mother loves America and America’s blessed central families. When I am around True Mother, she always reminds me how True Father and the True Children, the True Family lived a great life and fulfilled a great mission for the sake of this country, America as the elder- son nation, as well as for the sake of the worldwide providence.

After the rally, I accompanied True Mother to Zimbabwe and Cape Town, South Africa. We stopped by Europe then went to Nepal. After this 30-day tour, I realized once again how God prepared America as the most blessed country. We can find no other country like America in the rest of the world. We sometimes don’t appreciate the fact that our families are living in the country of America. Sometimes you don’t appreciate that you are living in San Francisco. It’s the same. God, Heavenly Parent, prepared this country for one reason. According to True Parents, both True Father and True Mother have mentioned, the first reason God blessed this country was to welcome True Parents. It was to build up the environment for True Parents to be welcomed into this country, and then for this country to stand for the sake of world peace and for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

I went back to Korea for Christmas. The morning after the Christmas celebration, True Mother invited our sub-regional leaders, and also especially the East Garden staff members who are over 70 years old. They served as security guards and maintenance staff, and they’re now over 70. When she came in November last time, True Mother saw that those staff members, whom she had first met them when they were in their 30s, are now around 70. So, she told them that, before it becomes too late, she wanted to invite them to Korea, the fatherland; and she treated them there as her special sons and daughters. When I saw them there, I could see they had become younger and younger. True Mother had bought new suits for them, and everyone was wearing their new suit at the banquet on Christmas Day. They didn’t look like they were in their 70s, they looked like they were in their 50s. True Mother had made them appear 20 years younger.

San Francisco brothers and sisters, you also look great, and nobody here looks over 65 to me.

One thing is clear; saying “thank you” makes a lot of sense to everyone. One thing is also very clear to me from my experience with True Mother and True Father. We must remember this forever. If you remember this one thing forever you are guaranteed to go to the right place, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in Heaven. It is to believe in True Parents as the Second Coming Messiah. Even if this is the only thing you remember, you won’t have to worry about what to do to prepare to become a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Sometimes we suffer, sometimes we struggle, and sometimes we fall down because of this challenge, but when we make clear our commitment in our life of faith, it is not a problem. There is nothing around us that’s a problem.

So, when I appreciate people who are doing a great job… My parents were both teachers in North Korea; not South Korea, but North Korea. While they were both teaching in the school built by my grandfather in Jeongjoo, True Father’s hometown, there in Father’s hometown they met and married. When the Communists came into North Korea, they tried to kill any people who owned big properties. That really threatened my family’s lives, so trying to avoid that, like True Father and True Mother did, they escaped from the Communist-bloc country of North Korea.

When we teach, when we can receive things well, and when we put this idea into practice, it will make everything in our lives easier, externally and internally. I always practice this kind of life of faith, and this makes me always think positively in response to whatever comes to me.  For example, every day I receive hundreds of emails, but one practice is very clear for me—I never read any of those emails before going to bed. It’s always in the early morning, after finishing Hoon Dok Hwe and prayer conditions, that I start to review my email. Many of those emails have contents that can be bothersome for me about this thing or that thing that has happened; many things are happening around us. However, I always try to answer and to share positive ideas based on how True Parents are leading us and trying to educate us. That way I can help to resolve those situations better and better.

I’d like to share one paragraph from True Mother’s anthology, because this relates to Christmas: “He has come as an intermediary for humankind to resolve their bitter sorrow. Had he not appeared, it would have been a serious situation. There can be no greater blessing than his coming. Therefore, all humankind and all of heaven and earth must be on his side, even the Creator. Anyone who blocks his way will come to ruin, while anyone who welcomes him will prosper. The appearance of the Only Begotten Son is a joyful day for all humanity. God sends him first because history has been led by men. Once the Only Begotten Son arrives, the Only Begotten Daughter must then come.” This is from True Father’s message on May 18, 1965.

During this worldwide Blessing tour, True Mother shared in her public appearances, everywhere and every time, about the history of Christianity. She asked why when God sent the Only Begotten Son, Jesus 2,000 ago he went through all kinds of suffering and the way of the Cross at the age of 33. Was this God’s Providence; for his Only Begotten Son to go to the Cross? We don’t believe that. It is because of their misunderstanding of the essence of Christianity that Christianity is declining today and its leaders are falling down and people are leaving the churches. So, True Mother is reawakening them. We must teach the essence of Christianity. Jesus came as the Only Begotten Son not to die, but to live with the Only Begotten Daughter and create an ideal family centered on Heavenly Parent, and to build the Kingdom of Heaven on the basis of the family, the community and the world. This is the essential teaching of God, of Jesus and of Christianity; however, today’s Christian leaders are failing to teach this essence of truth. This has implications for our community as well.

You have heard about the mission and responsibility of those around Jesus, including his physical mother, Mary. I don’t know if you heard True Mother’s Christmas message. She said December 25 is not the birthday of Jesus. It was after Jesus’ death, 200 years later, that people decided on December 25 as his birthday. Think about it; if you are a mother, if you are a parent, how can you forget your own son or daughter’s birthday? Mary should’ve somehow overcome her own situation to make it very clear. She knew from the angel’s message that the baby she was carrying in her womb was from God. So, how could she forget his birthday? This is very serious. More than anything else, her mission and the responsibility of those around Jesus and around her, was to remember this historical birthday.

I don’t know if you’ve seen our calendar for next year—not yet? The day after Christmas, I was sitting by True Mother together with some American leaders having breakfast, and she asked me what my plan was for the coming year of 2019. “True Mother,” I said, “I understand your teaching throughout the year, and throughout your worldwide Blessing tour. You spoke every time about the history of Christianity, and you mentioned that America is the great outcome of that 2,000-year history.”

America is the country that has been blessed the most by God, but America is in decline because we are losing the essence of the Jesus’ teachings and the teachings of Christianity. We have no government today. The government has been shut down because the two parties are acting for their own benefit rather than thinking about the people’s lives. How can we believe this is the country that was founded with the spirit of our Founding Fathers? What was the spirit of the Founding Fathers? Everything should be centered on God, not on any particular human being, but absolutely 100% on God. That was the founding spirit of the country of America, but we have been losing that value, and now we have this current situation. I know many of our dear brothers and sisters support the ideas of the conservative movement that are centered on Heavenly Parents. I also support those ideas, but we are in this situation today as a result of this political conflict.

“So,” I concluded to True Mother, “our plan is education.” The essence of Christianity; what is the essence of Christianity? It is living for the sake of others. I really want to bring our community back to the essence of True Parents’ teaching, which is also living for the sake of others. In the calendar for the coming year, 2019, we have included the dates for the 7-day workshop at IPEC every month. During the last three years, we have held every month a national 7-day workshop in Las Vegas at IPEC. No matter what, whoever or however many people came and when, the numbers didn’t matter, but we had to have a national 7-day workshop. We did this for the last three years as well as hold many other special gatherings there. I remember that when True Father visited Las Vegas during the last four years before he ascended to the spirit world, he often said he wanted to give this as his last gift for the sake of America and the world, and tens of millions of dollars were invested to build the International Peace Education Center.

I’d like you to be responsible to educate whoever comes to Las Vegas about True Parents, and after they go back to their city or country, let them testify about True Parents. This is the will of True Father and True Mother. That is why we included the monthly 7-day Divine Principle workshop dates in this year’s calendar. This is our first commitment for throughout the year 2019.

How can we receive Vision 2020? Without understanding, no action will follow. First, we need an understanding of God’s Providence today, not only about Jesus and his teachings from 2,000 years ago. We must understand God’s Providence for today that is centered on True Parents. This is the only way we can save this country and save the world. What is our responsibility? It doesn’t matter if you are first generation, second generation or third—understand God’s providence well, then you can have the right lifestyle and the right qualification to enter the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. So, our primary activity throughout the year 2019 will be to educate our family members, including our younger generation, as well as newcomers, centering on True Parents.

True Mother was impressed that over 360 second generation and CARP members went to Korea and Japan last summer. True Mother was in Japan at the same time for some important gatherings, and she invited the American CARP members to have lunch at the best hotel in Tokyo. The Japanese leaders were very shocked. They themselves had never been to that kind of expensive hotel before, but True Mother treated our second-generation members to lunch at that best hotel. That’s how much True Mother feels happiness and is delighted seeing the young, upcoming generations.

I’d like to make our headquarters office a playground for the second generation. I can see one part of the 12th Floor in the New Yorker is already what I can say is a second generation playground. These days, many of our young people are becoming IT professionals; our headquarters IT, email and other communications and publications work is all being by second generation staff members. Sometimes when I go over to that section, some young person there is introduced to me as someone’s daughter or son; sometimes he or she may never go to church, but they come and visit their friend working at the headquarters. I am very impressed by how the second gen keep in communication and have these relationships. They are our future leaders, and we really need to communicate and make great relationships, and then raise up our nation centering on True Parents.

When we study American religious history, the Founding Fathers had that kind of absolute standard centered on God. But over time from generation to generation their ideals have become more and more unclear. It isn’t getting more clear, but more unclear. The situation we are in now is not just because of the Trump administration. It goes back to 200 years ago. So, things are becoming less clear. This is the big challenge today. We don’t want to go in the same direction. As time passes by, if it’s becoming more clear what True Parents are teaching about True Father’s position and True Mother’s position, then we’ll have no problems.  We have this spirit, and  we’d like the coming generations to have the same kind of commitment and same kind of attitude in attending Heavenly Parent and True Parents.

Our mission as tribal messiahs is to witness about True Parents to our neighbors and our relatives. That is our eternal mission—testifying about True Parents, testifying about Heavenly Parent. We really want to encourage and offer many opportunities to those who are willing to fulfill our portion of responsibility, by having many workshops and seminars for them to learn how to reach out to people through ACLC, through UPF and through Women’s Federation and CARP.

I heard you had a great interreligious prayer meeting last month. Think about how for the Nassau Coliseum rally, and even for the Madison Square Garden rally last year, we reached out to many churches. This time over 300 churches participated in the rally. Thousands of choir members came and they sang “hallelujah” for the sake of True Mother. We must build the Kingdom all together for the sake of our community and our nation, America. As the elder son nation we have two purposes, two missions. The first is to attend True Parents as the elder son. As the elder son, you are responsible. We are the elder son, and therefore we are responsible first, to attend True Parents, and second, to take care of our own brothers and sisters. This means the world—the over 200 nations in the world.

This is the reason True Parents came and why they went through a suffering course for the last 50 years. You must always be proud that True Father came in 1965, in February and took his first steps on this continent on the ground in this San Francisco Bay area. You also have the first Holy Ground in our history. So, the Founding Fathers came to the New England area, and this is the first place True Father and True Mother came to and started to build the ideal of the heavenly kingdom. They started from here. We also had many great brothers and sisters come from this area.

Mrs. Durst always reminds me, she is always talking with God. When she had a bad fall some time ago—sorry to share this—she thought maybe her time was ending soon. However, she keeps coming back, again and again. The last time I met her in Las Vegas, she shared again that God told her to live longer and share more about God’s message. With that commitment, she looks beautiful today.

This is my short testimony about what more we’re going to do next year. This is my new resolution for the coming new year, 2019. We have a wonderful True Parents Birthday coming, and we would like to celebrate this birthday throughout the world. They are the Second Coming Messiah. We shouldn’t forget the date and we should celebrate it worldwide. This is our commitment: that people remember forever the birthday of True Parents, and that people remember God loves humankind and this land so much and that He sent True Parents after Jesus to fulfill messianic mission. We are the witnesses who are called to testify to and to keep this tradition as the representatives of Heavenly Parent and True Parents.

Once again, thank you so much. I stopped by specially on this last Sunday of 2018 to say thank you, thank you, thank you, and God bless you.