Bo Hi Pak: I’m 83 years old, and I keep going, and I keep testifying to True Parents

It was like old times for old timers and a rare opportunity for new timers when Dr. Bo Hi Pak, a legendary disciple of True Parents, mounted the stage to give a sermon on Sunday April 14, 2013. He spoke at a school he had helped to create in the late 1980s, the New Hope Academy in Landover Hills, Maryland.

The atmosphere had been prepared by the church’s Sunday service band that performed a holy song, then “Real Man,” a patriotic Korean folk song, followed by a cover of the pop classic, “Shout,” by the Isley Brothers.

Dr. Pak appeared stage right, arms open wide to embrace the never-met-before 25-year-old pastor of the Maryland congregation, Miilhan Stephens. Then, the golden, signature voice boomed over the podium from the man who once was as well-known as Rev. Sun Myung Moon himself due to his forceful translations of Rev. Moon’s speeches at hundreds of venues.

“I’m already speechless,” he said to giggles. “This is my home. You are my brothers and sisters. I started out here in 1961 as the military diplomat assigned to the Korean embassy. And what did I do? I created a church, the first Unification Church in Washington, D.C.,” he said to the crowd that included former colleagues he had known during the International One World Crusade (IOWC) period of the 1970’s and of CAUSA and the Washington Times during the 1980’s.

The Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea, created by True Father and directed by Dr. Pak in 1962 and still going strong today, was the focus of Dr. Pak’s talk. The audience viewed a 37-minute film documenting the Little Angels’ 22-nation world tour to thank the heroic veterans of the Korean War. The scenes of wartime footage and of wizened vets being kissed by the little girls brought tears to many. Dr. Pak explained that he had told Rev. Moon at the time of the founding of the troupe that it would be easier to create a troupe of college students, but that True Father had insisted that the ballet should be composed

of girls between the ages of 9 and 15 years old. “Children are the symbols of world peace. As Jesus taught, none can enter the Kingdom unless they become as a little child,” True Father had said to him.

“And today the Little Angels truly are great soldiers of world peace,” he said of the world-famous folk ballet.

“I’m 83 years old, and I keep going, and I keep testifying to True Parents. True Father is now in Heaven. But I want to hear True Father again. I stood beside him translating for 30 years,” he said.

“On Sept. 3, 2012 I cried a lot, I missed Father so much. But True Father said once in Hoon Dok Hae that he might have to go to Spirit world earlier than you think. He said, ‘If that happens, it’s my strategy.’”

Referring to the new leadership of True Mother, he said, “You are going to have the best time with True Mother in commanding position. Father is in Heaven. True Mother is on Earth. The second generation is moving up taking our positions, but your job is not over! True Mother said that in 2020 everyone will have heard about True Parents. I am more than confident than ever that great things will happen.

“In the next seven years, you and I will do it together. I am just so happy what a great Queen we have. You know, in world history, the greatest things happened when a queen was in power. You remember Queen Elizabeth the First, well, under her reign Great Britain went from being one of the poorest nations in Europe to one of the richest nations. You have heard the slogan, ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire.’ Now, that’s going to be our slogan: ‘the sun never sets on the Unificationist Empire.’ By 2020 we will definitely see a different world. ”

Dr. Pak awarded two personal donations of $1,000, one to the pastor of the Maryland congregation and one to the pastor of the District of Columbia congregation.

Dr. Pak presented two sets of commemorative books, one set to Rev. Henri and Loretta Schauffler, and one to Pastor Miilhan Stephens. The books commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Little Angels and the Little Angels’ 22-nation world tour.

Sebastian and Naomi O’Connor, a second-generation couple, presented Dr. and Mrs. Pak with floral bouquets, after which Abbie Goldberg performed “Awake My Soul,” by Mumford and Sons.