The Seoul Western Center's God's Day Celebration

The evening began very calmly with a prayer. We then walked to the Seoul Union Church where we were to lend support to the pastor, Rev. Fuller, an extremely nice gentleman who had invited us to his midnight service as a result of our visiting him on Christmas Day. The atmosphere was very calm and our hearts were light and gay. As the service was soon to commence the people began coming in twos and threes. It was a rather small congregation but the spirit was present.

John, Loon, Hal [McKenzie], and Lynne [Doerfler Kim] gave excellent readings filled with feeling and the service was ended shortly after. After a brisk walk back to the apartment, we took a taxi to the Unification Church at Chungpadong and immediately sensed a complete change of atmosphere. The church was jam-packed and the service was in progress. There were at least 400 people crowded into that relatively tiny building and all were enraptured with the speakers. We made our way into the door finally and stood for several minutes listening.

Soon, a rest break was announced and we were able to make our way to a convenient spot within the room. As the service got under way again, we Westerners were invited to the front. Here we were introduced and all of us were invited to say something. The applause was enthralling, the glowing faces so very friendly and each one of us felt truly welcome.

All of our uneasiness quickly melted as we made our way back to our places and sat on the floor. Mr. Hwang then introduced Mr. Won-Pil Kim who gave the sermon. As Westerners not familiar with the Korean language, we were somewhat at a disadvantage, but the feeling and expression of Mr. Kim and his audience was enough for our hearts to comprehend.

When the sermon finally ended, we had lost sense of time. It was already 4:00 in the morning. Refreshments were passed out and we enjoyed apples and sandwiches. As the service broke up, we were invited upstairs where we filed through a warm carpeted corridor and sat in a luxuriously furnished room. Some Japanese Family members were seated opposite us. We went into an adjoining room where we were shown a scale model of the International Headquarters planned to be built in Seoul.

It was explained to us that this room was where Master stays when in Seoul. Having returned to our seats we were served several dishes of appealing cookies and fruits on tables inlaid with mother-of-pearl. As we seated ourselves around the tables we were able to talk and share our thoughts in each other. All too soon, we broke off and went to the minibus which returned us tired Westerners to our apartment. All in all, we felt very honored and more determined than ever to carry on the work required of us. With a deep sense of conviction and happiness we drifted off to sleep in the arms of our Father.