Interview of Ju-hyeon Park, a Third-Generation Adult Korean Member

Question: Can you say something about your background? Do you feel proud of being a grown- up third generation member of a central blessed family?

My grandparents on my father side are from the 430-couple blessing group. My grandfather, Park Dong-ha, was True Parents’ driver for more than thirty years. My grandmother managed the True Family’s clothing over similar years. I can say that I am lucky to be born into this kind of family because in my life I was always physically close to the True Family. My grandparents weren’t able to study much, but they are faithful and good hearted.

Since they attended True Parents right next to them, they used to receive revelations through dreams. For example, about two weeks before True Father’s Seonghwa in 2012, my grandmother dreamed of him. He ordered her to make a white shroud (probably because making clothes was her lifelong job) so she secretly began making one. It was used after True Father went to the spiritual world. I have to say that through seeing my grandparents’ lives, I learned what attending True Parents means.

They were eager to restore their extended family, so even my second cousins were born into blessed families. My aunts and uncles also worked in church organizations. My father now works in the Cheon Jeong Gung Museum. He has managed all the materials related to True Family’s history since he started the first job. My aunt works in Cheon Jeong Gung as an attendant of True Mother now. She is mainly in charge of True Parents’ meals.

My father strongly influenced my faith. Actually, when I was young, church education was not systematic at all, so I had to learn Divine Principle from my Father. Since he studied Unification Theology at Sun Moon University and he had to study more about True Parents for his mission, he was quite a good faith teacher for me. Whenever I had doubts and questions about Divine Principle or the True Family, I could ask him immediately so it was easier for me not to deviate as a blessed child.

Members of my father’s side of the family are not in high positions but I think they play important roles in True Parents’ providence. True Father also said many times that my family is destined to attend True Parents. He said to my father, “Your mission is leaving True Parents’ history on earth.” My father always told me that his father (my grandfather) “made” history with True Parents and he is organizing True Parents’ historical materials. And he wants me to do the similar work, whatever I do. That is why I am working in the Sunhak Institute of History now. I feel that my mission is studying and making the best use of True Parents’ history based on my father’s work. You know, I am in the third generation, which means the level of perfection. [This was stated lightheartedly.]

My mother’s side of my family

My maternal grandparents are from the 124-couple blessing group. They did not attend True Parents while right beside them, but they are also faithful people. I heard that my grandparents supported the church economically through activities such as selling gasoline. Actually, seen from my maternal grandmother’s side of the family, being Unificationist has lasted for four generations, since my grandmother’s mother first joined the church when my grandmother was a young girl in the 1950s. She (my great grandmother) was the first person blessed as a single person, as a widow in 1963, in the first single-person blessing. A few days ago, having seen photo data in the office, I found a picture of that blessed old woman’s picture taken in 1963. I saw my great grandmother’s face for the first time! I showed it to my grandmother and she was soooo happy to see her mother again!

One of my maternal aunts is actually quite famous in the church; she is the one who recorded the Cheon Il Guk Anthem. She also has an interesting history with True Father regarding her mission as a musician; but it would take too long to explain all of that. Now she is doing her best for her mission of arranging

holy songs and singing at major church events. Her daughter (my cousin) studied opera singing. I hope she continues her mother’s mission in some form.

My mom is a math teacher who has never worked in a church organization. She was busy supporting my younger sister and me. She had me when she was twenty-four (Korean) years old, which is a year younger than I am now. She is a strict mother. She tries hard to separate us from environments that she considers “satanic.” So I felt that I had less freedom than my friends when I was young, but now I understand her; she wanted to protect us just as Dae-mo nim, True Mother’s mother, did for True Mother when she was young. She did not let me sleep at friends’ houses and even restricted me from eating unhealthy food when I was under twenty. Now she trusts me and let me travel all around Europe alone, but I still always ask her permission before I do something that she might mind. I think I should do this until I meet my husband and have my own family.

I have one younger sister who is eleven years younger than I! I somehow learned a parental heart while she was a baby. I still can guess my parents’ feelings through my experiences with her, seeing her adolescence. When I was young, I thought it was better not having many siblings because I was able to receive much love from my parents. Now I realize that it is better to have many siblings to feel the heart toward siblings in all positions such as the heart of a younger sister toward her brother or the heart of a younger sister toward her sister.

I explained a lot about my family, because my family influenced me. Our background is not typical even in Korea. I was so lucky that both sides of my family are into church; not all the parents and grandparents of those in the third generation involve themselves in church organizations.

Not all my family members are into church, either. My maternal uncle had difficulty keeping his blessing, which made him almost leave the church. But even observing him, I learned how important it is not to lose faith and not to break the blessing even though personal difficulties arise, because after breaking his blessing and starting to distance himself from the church, his life became worse and his son, who is also in our third generation is having a hard time, too. I want to say that even those in the third generation can stumble into tough times if their parents and they themselves don’t try to complete their responsibilities or if they betray the church.

Finally, yes I am proud to be in the third generation of a blessed family. I feel grateful for my family, who kept their faith and blessing, overcoming many hardships and Satan’s attacks. I know that all the blessings and grace I have received are thanks to my family. Our Heavenly Parent is giving blessing to me as gifts for my family members’ efforts. I feel so lucky to have been born into the third generation, because I can live under good conditions not having to make as much effort or pay as much indemnity as my grandparents and my parents had to. They might even feel it is unfair.

Question: Please define the third generation’s mission, in light of your personal experiences and those of others in your generation in Korea.

As I’ve mentioned, I believe the third generation is on the level of perfection (according to the three stages of growth.) The providential mission of the first, second and third generations is basically the same, to complete the ideal of creation, the four positions, through blessing and restoring people around us — our distant relatives and friends, which we call tribal messiah activity. Yet differences exist between the generations because of varying circumstances of the time, spiritual conditions, and differences in position. To borrow what the Korean national leader said, the first generation’s mission is to establish blessed family traditions, the second’s is passing the traditions to third generation, being a bridge, and the third generation’s is receiving the entire legacy through their second- generation blessed parents. The second generation’s mission may seem like nearly nothing. We grew up amidst the second generation. Was it easy for them to realized their identity as blessed children? Was it easy to understand True Parents and their teachings? Was it easy to keep faith and maintain the blessing, when they saw all the bad things happening in the church and even in the True Family? Was educating the third generation faithfully, by themselves, without fully understanding True Parents and providence easy? Is it easy to be proud of being Moonies regardless of all the world’s blame and ridicule and the economic problems of their own families? This is the same for my generation. For us it can be harder to have faith if second-generation blessed parents are not faithful and don’t educate their children appropriately.

That’s why the Korean national leader used a bridge as a metaphor for the second generation’s role. Of course, being on the foundation the first generation built makes life easier for the second generation and having a two-tier foundation and two generations of indemnity paid makes it easier still for the third generation. But I think this process works only when each generation accomplishes its responsibility

appropriately. Third generation members should receive their grandparents’ and parents’ tradition, complete the four positions through blessing and most importantly, let people in the world know who True Parents are in their own sphere of life.

The Youth Department within Cheon Bok Gung, our central church in Korea, held a bazaar. Ms. Park is the woman directly behind the blue sign

Question: What is the main difference, in your opinion, between those in the second and third generations?

Only recently realized differences exist between the two generations. My parents always told me that we in the third generation are God’s aces. Other adults I met at church or at Chung Pyung told me that the third generation is brighter than the second, which I couldn’t agree with. I have known since I was young that I am not such a good girl! I was good at competing in school. I knew how to secure my own portion of good things or tasty food. Yet, since I went to Europe, I have begun to recognize differences between the two generations.

First, an obvious difference: we in the third generation have many blessed children as relatives. This is important for faith education. Until I was eight, I thought all the world’s people were sharing the same religious life with me, because all the relatives I met were church members as were even my neighbors, and my closest friends were blessed children.

I realized that my life is uncommon when one of my school friends visited my house and asked me, “Are they your grandparents?” when looking at True Parents’ picture. But even after realizing that, having an extended blessed family allowed me to feel a sense of belonging in the church so I avoided having an identity crisis as a blessed child.

We in the third generation generally have different relationships with our parents, too, since being in the second generation, our parents understand how it is to be born into the Unification Church and have already experienced internal conflicts between the church and the world, so they are less pushy to their children.

Basically, I think the two generations naturally have different spiritual foundations, because third generation has one own more foundation. One more generation succeeded in receiving the blessing and having children.

Since I was young, I have always felt that God protects and guides my life, and that my life has been easier than others’ as a result. As long as I did my best (completed my 5 percent portion of the responsibility), God gave me almost everything. For me to find my identity as a blessed child and relate to the church wasn’t so difficult. God has guided even areas unrelated to faith. If I made my effort I could reach my goals, and I received economic support, somehow, even though my family was not rich.

Although I knew God guided my life, which was going smoothly, I didn’t understand why, but as I began studying True Parents’ teachings and Divine Principle more deeply, I realized it was because my grandparents and parents had indemnified big difficulties for me.

True Father also said that completing their responsibility is easier for those in the second generation than for those in the first and is easier still for those in the third generation. He used bridges crossing a wide

river as an analogy. The first-generation bridge is a long, thin log. The second-generation wooden bridge is stronger and wider and the third-generation bridge is made of steel. The responsibility of having to cross the river is the same for all generations but each generation has different conditions and foundations.

Question: What is your advice to parents in the second generation on providing a good education for the third generation? What are the best practices?

I recommend doing Hoon Dok Hae with their children a lot from when they are young. I am sure that absorbing True Parents’ teachings is easier for the third generation. There couldn’t be better way to educate those in the third generation in terms of faith. I see many young third generation members who benefited from learning from Cheon Seong Gyeong at home. It may seem like brainwashing, but at some point, they will seek their own faith and what they have read of True Parents’ teachings will help them go the right way.

Teach them Korean Language so that they can understand better True Parents are saying! I know our church translators are good, but reading in True Parents’ mother tongue is never the same as reading a translation.

Question: What are the unique resources and contributions that those in the third generation can bring to our movement, especially now?

In my opinion, what young third generation members mainly bring to our movement is hope — hope that our movement continues down to a new generation and hope that it will be better than the former generations.