From childhood, my mind has always yearned for faraway places.In my hometown, I would climb a mountain and long for the
sea. When I arrived in Seoul, I wanted to go to Japan. I have
always dreamed of going to places larger than where I was.
In 1965, I embarked on my first trip around the world. My suitcase
was filled with soil and stones from Korea. My plan was that, as I traveled
around the world, I would plant Korea’s soil and stones in each country
to signify Korea’s linkage to the world. For ten months, I toured forty
countries, including Japan, the United States, and the nations of Europe.
On the day I left Seoul, hundreds of our members came in buses to see
me off, and they filled the departure lounge at Kimpo Airport. In those
days, going overseas was a significant event. Our members thronged to
the airport on that January day with a cold strong wind blowing out of
the northwest. No one had told them to do this. They did as their hearts
told them. I received their hearts with deep gratitude.
At that time, we were performing mission work in ten countries, and
it was my plan to increase that to forty countries within two years. It
was to lay the foundation for this that I decided to visit forty countries
on my trip. My first stop was Japan. I received a tremendous welcome
there, where Bong Choon Choi had risked his life to start our mission.
But looking back, we can only be grateful.
I put the following question to the Japanese members: “Are you ‘of
Japan,’ or have you transcended the state of being ‘of Japan’?”
I continued: “God doesn’t want that which is ‘of Japan.’ He doesn’t
need that which is ‘of Japan.’ He needs people who transcend Japan. You
need to go beyond the limitations of Japan to become Japanese people
who love the world, if you are to be people who can be used by God.”
It may not have been easy for them to hear this, but I made myself
very clear.
My second destination was the United States. I entered the country
through the airport in San Francisco, where I was met by our missionaries.
From there, we toured the entire country. During the time I was touring
America, I felt strongly, “This is the country that manages the whole world.
The new culture that will be created in the future must rise up with America
as its foundation.” I set a plan then to purchase a facility for workshops
in the United States that would hold five hundred people. Of course, this
would not be only for Koreans. It would be an international facility that
would receive people from over one hundred countries.
Fortunately, this hope was soon realized. Many countries sent people
to this workshop facility, where they would study and debate about world
peace for six months at a time. Race, nationality, and religion made no difference.
I believe that the world will develop better societies when people
who have transcended race, nationality, and religion and hold a wide variety
of opinions come together and candidly discuss world peace.
During my tour of the United States, I visited every state except
Alaska and Hawaii. We rented a station wagon and drove day and night.
At times, the driver would be so tired.
“Listen here,” I would say, “I didn’t come here for sightseeing. I’m
here to do important work. We need to go carefully.”
We didn’t waste time sitting down to eat. If we had two slices of
bread, a piece of sausage, and some pickles, then that was plenty of
food for a meal. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner like this. We
also slept in the car. The car was our lodging, it was our bed and
our restaurant. We ate, slept, and prayed in that small car. There
was nothing we couldn’t do there. I had a particular purpose to accomplish,
so it was easy for me to endure minor inconveniences to
the physical body.
After the United States and Canada, I went to Central and South
America, and then on to Europe. To my eyes, Europe was in the cultural
sphere of the Vatican. It seemed to me that we could not succeed in
Europe without understanding the Vatican. Even the Alps, which were
supposed to be so difficult to climb, seemed of little significance in
comparison to the Vatican.
I went to the Vatican, where Europeans gather to pray, and prayed
with such fervor that beads of sweat ran down my face. I prayed that
religion, which had become divided among so many denominations
and groups, could be unified quickly. God created one world, but
people have divided it in ways convenient to themselves. I became
more convinced than ever that these divisions must be erased and
the world unified as one. From Europe, I went on to Egypt and the
Middle East and completed my tour after ten months.
When I returned to Seoul, my suitcase was full of soil and stones
from 120 locations in forty countries. When I planted the soil and
stones I had taken from Korea, I took soil and stones from each location
and brought them back to Korea. I connected Korea to these
forty countries in this way to prepare for the day in the future when
the world of peace would be realized centering on Korea. I began
preparations to send missionaries to those forty countries.
