John Doroski - 1975 American Foreign Missionary

John is born in 1948 in Greenport, New York. Since his childhood, his life was filled with spiritual phenomena. At 7 years old, when he received the Confirmation in the Catholic Church, he felt deeply the word of the priest when he said he was now a soldier of God.

Around the age of 10, he received spiritually parts of the teachings of Rev Moon as One Family under God beyond race, religion and cultures, that purity has been lost and has to be regained, that it was our responsibility to build God’s Kingdom. Afterwards, he had dreams of Rev Moon. So he was deeply thinking that all races were his real brothers and sisters, all religions were part of God’s plan and that he had a world level mission to build an ideal world; he really built a hut as a premise of an ideal world and shared his vision with some childhood friends.

He managed to have several works during vacations to have economic security to study in college. He liked to fish with his father who taught him also how to drive an army jeep. His family was living on the end of Long Island among Nature.

At 17, he was president of the Catholic Youth Organization, sometimes thinking to become priest. But around his 20, he saw that the faith of the members of his church was shallow.

In his first week of college, he had life-changing encounter with God seeing the movie: “To Sir with Love” with Sydney Poitier, he was crying during the movie feeling God’s presence.

He was studying to become a psychiatric doctor, but seeing how they solved problems with drugs or electric shock made him drop this program.

At this time, he read a booklet on spiritual world. And he found out we need friends to solve emotional and mental problems. He had a serious car collision and lived a near-to-death experience that made him to think about his life and to live more for God’s Will.

He graduated from his university of Albany. He applied in an advanced Business Masters program but as he was overwhelmed by messages from the spiritual world to travel to San Francisco; he prepared to leave with his Volkswagen van for California.

John met the Unification Church in San Francisco in 1970; he said: “After spending 40 days in San Francisco visiting various religious and new age groups, including living with scientologists for a week, I still did not find clear answers or the people to work with. I then traveled to Lake Tahoe and lined up a job as the floor manager of a restaurant in the evenings. I was sitting in the San Francisco University

snack bar when Alice Fleisher asked if she could sit and talk. I nodded yes, but kept reading a book on spirituality until I heard her say that her group was building an ideal city in Northern California.

That caught my attention. I closed my book and immediately said, “Let us go!” Alice brought me to the “Unified Family” center. When I entered, I immediately felt the high spiritual atmosphere and saw that the sisters were in long flowing dresses with a bright glow of purity in their faces and light around their heads. I told them I was available for a one on one workshop. Mike Warder taught me over the weekend, and that was it; I have since stayed with this family-centered movement. One soul-stirring experience I had in that first workshop was when a sister taught me the Mission of Jesus. As she taught, she cried and cried. This caused me to cry and cry with her over the life Jesus never got to live and over his suffering course.”

He joined the Unified Family because he felt the members’ quality of heart and the way they related to each other as he compared to the members of Scientology he met before. Secondly because his van was vandalized and he lost most of his belongings, he was somehow free to join. During the two first weeks, he had many spiritual experiences to feel the energy and the guidance from another world: the spiritual world. He enjoyed the Sunday events of the Church with morning service, picnic, afternoon sport and banquet in evening with cultural songs and dances with many guests. After few weeks, he was witnessing and teaching the Divine Principle. So he found his first spiritual child: Donna Chong Davis who will become a very dynamic and strong member.

When Papa-Choi, the Korean missionary, heard about his business degrees and his experience in restaurant, he assigned him the mission to start a large restaurant, and also to become the coordinator for their next major dinner celebration with 300 guests. In his first few months in the Bay Area, he was also selling and delivering the organic produce they grew on their farm of their Ideal City Project in Mendicino County, he was helped very much with the spiritual guidance to find the locations of the customers. The Korean leader expect John will start up a restaurant by his own way, as he didn’t do it because he misunderstood the Korean way of thinking, Papa-san assigned him near a rich man close to our movement to learn about business.

As he digested his monitoring, John asked Papa-san Choi to provide 35000 $ to begin a marketing company to sell art pictures from Japan or Taiwan in US, western coast and he opened also a retail supply store for San Francisco’s artists.

At the end of 71, rev Moon landed in America and spent 7 days in the San Francisco center to unite with the Korean missionaries’ foundations in America. He taught with President Kim a 7-day workshop on Chapter 1 and in spite of a high fever, John forced himself to attend the lectures, just in the back of True Mother, he was seeing angels flying around and he felt so deeply connect to True Parents. Afterwards, he had difficulties to keep going on his business because the spiritual world pushing him to help True Father in his speaking tour around USA. He asked Papa-san Choi about it, but he refused it. So he prepared Mike Runyon to take over his business mission and when rev Moon’s speaking tour was in San Francisco, he passed a note to colonel Pak to hand it to rev Moon. Immediately, True Father called him and told him to join as his direct disciple.

So he worked one week with Olga Kennedy preparing the Berkeley speech and she shared with him about the spiritual world.

And one week after, he was sent in Houston, Texas, for state pioneering. He felt the evil spirit shouting across drunken persons to prevent him to bring love and truth from the Messiah. He found a place to sleep but during the night he was attacked by evil spirits, he prayed desperately and when he shouted out “Sun Myung Moon” the evil spirits left and he didn’t sleep again in this place. People told him that the spiritual center of Texas was Austin; so he asked permission and he moved to Austin where he rent a two-bedroom bungalow near the University and found a job. The first day of witnessing, he met a young lady in a pool into a Catholic Youth Center and explained her he came in Austin to share about a new and deeper understanding of God’s Will. She was interested by the lectures and so MaryAnn Viscardi became his first member in Texas. He made many prayers, a street witnessing condition and made a 7 day condition to stand on a pillar overlooking the University’s main campus walk through; thousand students saw him and he spoke 21 minutes each day. He found a student and a professor to form a campus club focusing on the spiritual world and new age, so he printed a poster about a meeting about the spiritual world. He organized the 12 guests into a weekly discussion group; it is so he gained new members. So he repeated this way along two years, and let the participants share their views and as final words he taught the core of Divine Principle relevant about it.

So he reached 120 students attending these meetings, so he could teach the Divine Principle to those who were ready to hear it. After 2 months, he had already 5 spiritual children (Beatriz Steeghs …) living in the center. But when the Itinerary worker, Nora Spurgin visited to check his mission, she was shocked because John didn’t know how to teach the Divine Principle and he didn’t report his new members to the HQ, so she directed him to learn to teach or he will be replaced. Esteban, a Beatriz’s friend from Chicago came to save her from her mistake to join UC, but she asked him to listen to a lecture of the Principle. Finally he accepted, joined and became a very strong member. To meet people, John sold books on spirituality on the main walkway of the campus, so he met everyday his good contacts and established a

strong heart relationship with them. Many new members were guided by the spiritual world to meet John, as Laura Hampton. As they gained the most members in Texas, he was recognized by True Father as a capable leader. Susan Fefferman told him she saw his Polish ancestors surrounding him.

In spring 74, 18 members of Texas traveled to Washington DC to participate in the 3-day fast gathering on the Capitol steps to ask our nation to “forgive, love and unite “in support of President Richard Nixon” and for him to repent.

At the end of the event, they visited his parents in Greenport, Long Island, NY.

When he was visiting our candle factory in Maryland one sister, Nanette Semha, had the revelation when he passed by that John will be her husband and this really happened.

Back in Texas, they bought a 28-room center because they were successful to get new members and made many efforts during fundraising selling candles and seeds.

In 1974, they wanted to open a new center in Dallas to prepare for rev Moon’s American speaking tour. They found a house but it was haunted and when the speaking tour team arrived, the members were always arrested and the van confiscated. It was a wrong place, and John, as state leader was fired, he felt so humiliated. But when True father arrived and heard that John was fired, he called him immediately to join him for the evening meal and scolded the leader for their harsh treatment about him and reinstated John as state leader who was touched that True Father understood it was false accusations. Next day, True Father took him with him for sight-seeing and so True Father bound his heart and loyalty so tightly.

After two years in Texas, John was transferred to Belvedere to study under Dr David Kim for about 8 months. In the dining room, he sat near Nanette, his future wife, without knowing it. Being two years before him in the church, she became his mentor and answered all his questions. Afterwards, John and Nanette were leading a team in Albany, NY. But soon after, they received a call from Belvedere to prepare for the matching in Korea.

In Korea, he was confused because the spiritual world told him Nanette will be her wife and he didn’t know if he had to tell it to True Father during the matching. David Kim seeing his confusion asked him what happens to him and finally True Father saw it also and John explained to him, Father looked at Nanette and finally said: “Good match”. Nanette accepted it also and they became as lovebirds in romantic and mystical love.

John Doroski was blessed with Nanette Semha in Feb 1975 by True Parents among the 1800 couples in Korea.

When they came back to America, they visited his aunt giving them a grand dinner and she told them when he was in Korea, she had a dream where she was cooking a gigantic cake for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb for hundreds of couples, ignoring everything about the mass wedding in Korea.

The blessed couples volunteered for going out as foreign missionaries spent 120 days in Barrytown monitored by true Father each morning and after by rev Sudo. Then they drew the name of the country, it was Bahamas for Nanette and Philippines for John. He was so devastated to be so far from his beloved ones, he redraw again and got Kuwait. So he found books to read on Islam, Arabs and Kuwait.

Nanette and John worked on a team to earn money for airfare. His aunt hosted them in her home and prepared meals for them and also wrapped the flowers they sold; their team was fundraising in Long Island, NY. Quickly they took off to their countries.

When John arrived in Kuwait, his first problem was to find a bathroom with toilet paper and not shooting water as in Orient, but nobody spoke English. When he found one in a Sheraton Hotel, the second problem was to find employment because he had an only three-day tourist visa. He visited the two churches on his way and met a German businessman who needed someone to manage his photographic processing laboratory. Because of his connections, the German, living in Kuwait for 15 years, helped him to change his tourist visa to a work visa without leaving Kuwait. God had prepared the way. Fortunately John had learnt photo processing in high school and was doing well the job in the morning and in afternoon, during 3 months, this businessman introduced him to all his contacts, many English-speaking Kuwaitis and gave to him also a cultural understanding of the country, he had found his “John the Baptist”. He had to follow the customs and etiquette of Kuwaitis, so important for them, but their ways to drink tea and coffee at each business visit gave him stomach problems. His situation secured, he looked for the two other missionaries:

The German missionary had found a job as driving a tractor in the desert, but he was a bit naïve, but with a strong determination, only one year in the movement. He went witnessing in the streets few weeks after his arrival, and two months after, he was arrested and deported.

Harunobu, the Japanese missionary, obtained an extended tourist visa and spent most of his time in our apartment to pray and study English, Arabic and Islam.

The German businessman introduced John to the National Minister of Religious Affairs. He felt a great spiritual energy when he met this holy man who gave to him a beautiful copy of the Quran with words of welcoming greeting. John met also very good contacts in the western church communities. After two months in Kuwait, he taught the conclusion of Divine principle to an American teacher and began with her a 40-day prayer condition to understand the responsibility of knowing that Father is the Messiah, he saw angel coming during the prayer; two of her fellow teachers heard also the conclusion. But after few months she returned to America, but she gave him a tip to get an English teaching job at a British school; he switched employment because he would have more time free to do his mission. He found a way to witness as researching for a book he wanted to write on the common ideas between Islam and Christianity; so he established a network with Kuwaiti citizens and students. One day, his tiny car was crashed by a big Arab car, he was floating sideways: No damages for his car and no wound for him: God revealed He was protecting him. He organized a Thursday night dinner for his contacts in their apartment to share a meal and after to pray, to meditate and to teach a short section of Divine Principle, they were about 20 guests. He attended two classes at Kuwait University to learn Arabic, but pronunciation was hard for him, so he gave up the lessons and learnt by himself with Arab people.

Suhaila Al-Samhan joined the Unification movement in late 1975 in Kuwait. She was the first Arab Muslim to join our movement. Suhaila was known as a person who deeply loved God, and she was devoted to the providence of restoration. She was very supportive and compassionate toward brothers and sisters. She will be remembered as a pioneer for the way of an Islamic Unificationist. (On March 4, 1986, in Kuwait, Suhaila died of cancer; she was 34.)

In September 76, John was doing the Ramadan with people of Kuwait. Celebrating Eid-el-Fitr in a friend’s village, he felt much more deeply tied to them and a warmer heart than he had ever known with Muslims. This was greatly enhanced by the fact that he, though not a Moslem and professing as much very frankly, had still fasted the whole 30 days in honor of their social, moral and spiritual, observing this vital Islamic custom. He now feels some kind of spiritual bond with Islam that he didn’t have before, as long as he has been here. He thought Islam can be restored, but from the inside out. Now, however, he could understand their heart, and he could find an affinity that comes much more easily, even if they didn’t know He had fasted. He even got invited to pray with them from time to time. If we exalt their faith, they have no basis to accuse and we can speak with authority. Three days before their arrival in the village of his friend Nurul, his wife gave birth to a little girl, the third one and as strong adherent of family planning of his country, he could have no more. In this Muslim society, women are relegated to the position of relative non-entities, existing only to serve their husbands, and rumor spread about his unluckiness. John was encouraging his friend telling the society was changing and when they will have grown they will have same opportunity and equal value as children of God. But the baby became sick and died, Nurul was shaken; but in the family there was a sense of relief that Allah had taken the girl and now a son could come. John had prayed for the recovery of the baby but that if she died Nurul could deeply understand Heavenly Father’s heart. As he was gaining capacity to influence Nurul he showed him God is more than a heartless, static force.

When about 100 Kuwaiti women students were reading the self-printed chapters of Divine Principle (DP), the parliament was discussing what they were going to do with this American missionary because DP teaches equality between man and woman, and the authorities saw it as political insecurity and as the starting of a woman’s rights movement in Kuwait. They perceived threats to their masculine centered culture. At 2 AM, one morning, strong secret police arrived at his apartment and carted him off warning each other that he was an expert in martial arts and dangerous. The head of secret police turned him upside down and held there as a policeman struck the bottom, insoles of his feet, 25 times with a broom handle, so he began to scream in pain, after they made him walk 20 minutes up and down the hall.

He returned before his inquisitor and with a smile back and radiating love before attempting to answer his questions. He claimed to be a “True Muslim” carrying the Koran with him and teaching DP out of the Koran. 21 days after being tortured, in solitary confinement and having begun a 40 day fast, he was allowed to leave the country.

When he realized his life up to that point had become organized around the “providential” restoration time period numerology, he then understood he could not just go to the Philippines, but had to make a 40 day “spiritual-prayer” condition, as Jesus did for his disciples, before moving on; he thus travelled over land across many nations to reach the Philippines, which was his “original chosen nation” and arrived there on the 41st day. His wife Nanette joined him in Philippines in 1977.

Nanette and he were the National Leaders of the Philippines, and he became the Regional Leader of Southeast Asia

After serving as the national leader of Australia for 5 years (1982 to 1987) he was given a choice by Rev. Kwak of any mission. He chose to return to America to help save this country, but more concretely to return to his roots to gain a sense of direction of the future of our movement.

To be followed by the mission in Philippines