Noriko Chapital’s Testimony from the 7-Day Japanese Revival Workshops
It has been a long time since we left Kodiak, Alaska. Since my memories are fading, I can’t say the exact date, but I think that True Father gave us the mission to work in Alaska in 1983. When I got this mission I was at East Garden. I was with many young Unificationists from Japan. That day, we were supposed to leave New York and visit different states, but True Father came back to East Garden and wanted to see us.
He was very happy to see us. I was excited, but nervous. During his short speech, he asked how many Blessed couples were there, and about four or five people raised their hands. True Father told us, “Go to Alaska and work at the seafood company.”
Alaska? I couldn’t believe what I heard. I was shock for a while. True Father told us to “be like True Parents’ hands and legs, and work together as one body”. These words stayed in my heart and gave me strength to go through some difficult times. Most of the 43 sisters worked from the spring of 1984 until the winter of 1989.
As you may have heard, we worked hard cutting fish, taking out the guts, making fillets, loading and unloading products, quality control, doing office work, laundry work, etc. We worked hard and ate very well, because we had sisters who cooked very delicious meals every day.
The best part about living in Kodiak was seeing True Parents and their children almost every year. True Parents took their children to the river to fish for salmon. Many were little at that time and so adorable. I thought we were lucky to see True Parents’ family in a natural setting. True Father often caught big fish, and True Mother caught big fish, too.
I really thank Rev. and Mrs. Choi and Mr. and Mrs. Inoue for giving us spiritual guidance and teaching us some practical things. Rev. Choi and Mr. Inoue taught us how to use a fishing pole, how to make a line, and how to connect hooks. One day, they took us to a river and made us practice throwing a line so many times, even though we knew there were no fish at that time. I think that for many sisters it was their first time holding a fishing pole and throwing the line. We had salmon fishing and halibut fishing tournaments every year and the winners got prizes.
We cried when we heard the sad news that we lost our beloved brother, the boat captain, his young crew and Ocean Hope 2 to a big storm. The Alaskan sea was cruel sometimes. After many years of fishing on a small boat, I overcame seasickness. But the power of the sea (or mother nature) always made me uneasy. I felt that though humans can control many things, we are nothing in front of the power of the nature. When you go out to the rough sea, you have to be brave. My boat captain, an American sister named Susan Bouachri from Ocean Church, taught me to be brave and trust the captain. One evening we were taking the boat back to Kodiak Island after fishing, and we were very wet and cold. It was getting dark outside. I was scared. Can we go back? Are we okay? I held the boat tight. Then, Susan looked at me and told me, “Noriko, don’t worry. I will take you home.” At that moment, I wanted to be brave like her, my beloved an American sister.
Now I would like to share with you some blessings I keep in my heart. The first blessing I can think of was attending Pal Jeong Shik (the Ceremony for the Settlement of Eight Stages). Because of True Parents’ victory, we could attend the ceremony as the representatives of humankind. True Parents took photos with us. It was a very precious moment with True Parents. I regret that I really didn’t understand the meaning of this ceremony then and even now.
The next blessing is that I had one-on-one moments with True Father. Many sisters had worked and served at North Garden when True Parents came to Kodiak, Alaska, but I didn’t have that chance. Most of the time, I worked at the fish plant (factory). One evening around midnight, during True Parents’ visit, I was praying with tears, repenting for the year before when True Parents couldn’t come to Kodiak because there was no spiritual protection.
True Father’s security personnel called by phone. That night, True Father was talking to the worldwide leaders at North Garden and suddenly decided to come to the bank house where we lived. He talked to us and walked around touching many sisters’ heads. True Father touched my neck. I really felt that even though he was busy, he wanted to show us he didn’t forget us. He was like our father.
On another occasion I spent time with True Father after he came back from fishing. We were told that True Parents went fishing to make devotions. True Father was very serious and on many days he and the other leaders came back late from fishing in the sea. One night, he and the leaders arrived at the dock very late. It was a cold night and raining. Many of us started to worry about True Father and the leaders. I thought that True Father must be very wet and cold.
My friend, Mr. Kubo, got True Father’s towel from North Garden, and I warmed it up in the dryer at the fish plant. The dryer was smelly. I cleaned inside dryer many times because we wanted to use it for the Messiah.
We were waiting for his arrival. When I heard of his arrival, I rushed to his car and gave that warm towel to him, saying “Please use this.” True Father didn’t say any word. I still don’t know what he thought about me, with such crazy manner, but my friend and I just wanted to warm him up at that moment. I was young. When I think of these experiences, they are my treasures now.
The third blessing is that going through a hard course, we sisters made strong bonds with each other. We are living in different countries or states now. I hope this reunion in Las Vegas takes us to another level and makes our friendship stronger.
Now I would like to talk about our husbands. While we were working in Alaska, I’m sure many husbands were anxiously waiting for the sisters to join them and start a family. But they didn’t receive any news about when they could start a family. When I think about these husbands’ situation, I realize that without their faith and support we sisters couldn’t continue our mission. I thank them for waiting for almost seven long years.
Before I end my testimony, I have a very interesting experience to share with you. When I was working in ISA, our fish factory, I was one of the many young members. One day we had many fish to process, and I was preparing the fish by cutting their heads. I kept receiving many big salmon covered with ice. I was so tired after working for over 16 hours. I couldn’t move my hands, arms or shoulders anymore, but I couldn’t ask for my replacement because I knew everyone was working at their limit already. I cried and prayed to God to give me strength. Then, in the next moment, I felt warmth in my entire body and my hands started moving fast. I couldn’t believe I was having such an experience, but it was real. I felt that God was with me, or if it was not God, someone was with me. I cried with joy that day.
When you ask other sisters about their experiences, they will tell you very similar stories. When I worked in Egegik to process salmon, we sometimes only slept two hours. During busy times over 100 totes were waiting on the beach. “Never-ending work,” I repeated. Everyone worked hard and finished processing without much complaining. We laughed a lot, too. These remain beautiful memories for me now.
Lastly, after I heard about this gathering in Las Vegas, I had mixed feelings of joy to meet with my old friends, and guilt from not doing enough. But through writing this testimony, I realized that I received many blessings that not many people experience in their lifetime.
Thank you very much Heavenly Parent, True Parents, Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Dr. Michael Balcomb, and the American Unification community for inviting us to this event.