What's the Big Deal about Fishing?
Updated: Nov 5, 2021
Importance and Urgency of Ocean Training
Even after True Father's Holy Ascension, the world is still troubled by sexual immorality represented by the LGBT movement, violence and conflicts, materialism, and even communism. How were world peace and world unity supposed to occur based on True Father’s plans?
This article is the first part of the 2-part series of lectures called "Guideposts to World Unification and Peace" examining what True Father planned to complete the world of peace from the perspective of Ocean Providence.
Ocean Hobby Seminar Team
What was the Purpose of Fishing & Ocean Training?
Why did True Father train us so fiercely on the ocean, even at the cost of sacrificing His own family, using up the precious and irreplaceable time of His earthly life as the parents of all humankind?
True Father engaged in ocean training for members everywhere He went, in North America, South America, Korea, and others. The leaders of the Unification Movement all had to go through ocean training. He required all graduates from the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown to undergo Ocean Church training (photo showing True Father teaching UTS students how to weave a fishing net). He repeatedly held intense fishing training workshops around the globe, such as tuna fishing in Boston, fishing in Kodiak, Alaska, and others. He even made fishing in Pantanal a condition to participate in the dedication ceremony for the Cheon Jeon Goon in Cheongpyeong. Until He ascended to the spirit world in 2012, He continued to hold the Ocean Leadership Workshops in Yeosu, Korea - some 68 times in total - for Japanese women.
Why did True Father, the Second Coming whom mankind has been waiting for, go so far as to spend such immeasurable and precious time on boats, relentlessly taking all of us out to fishing to train us?
(Photo below: Yamok, Korea in 1967)
To summarize True Father's words regarding "ocean training," through various fishing and boat maneuvering training, He aimed to (1) train youths physically and mentally to become leaders in the Ocean Era, (2) establish marine businesses, (3) take the leadership of the world, (4) solve the problems of world hunger, which is the manifestation of poverty and inequality in the world, and (5) build a substantial Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
It is very clear that He had all of these extensive goals if we only examine His words. He showed us His seriousness and its urgency through His own actions, investing in the ocean, and going out fishing relentlessly. In order to achieve all these goals, He had to train His leaders through ocean training. He even went as far as to say that the base qualification to become a leader is knowledge and ability on the sea.
Once a person receives intense training to become a fisherman, he can go anywhere in the world and become a leader of people. Learning to be a fisherman is good leadership training. (As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Ch. 7 pg. 305)
The ocean has everything to do with the future. Don't you know that? You have to become interested in the ocean or otherwise you will just disappear into history. In the future, the qualification for leadership will be to know about the ocean. The basic knowledge will be how to handle a boat. To know about the ocean and to be able to go upon it will become the two basic qualifications for leadership in the future. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch.3 Ocean Church and America)
Also, the purpose of ocean training given through Ocean Church and Ocean Challenge was not just to train one’s mind and body. He repeatedly professed that these trained members shall engage in global oceanic businesses, and this will lead to a solution for the problem of world hunger, which was his goal.
I created something that did not exist in the US by sending out people to pioneer Ocean Church. I created Ocean Churches in 30 of the most important seacoast locations in America. We can pursue seafood business, but we can also enter the charter-boat fishing business. This is the foundation for the global recreational fishing business I will create in the future. I trained people and built Ocean Church as an enterprise that gives tours to people who enjoy fishing as a hobby. (Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10, 186-306, 1989/02/06)
I saw that the key to future food problems lies in the ocean and have endeavored to develop a wide range of oceanic businesses from nothing. I spent more time in the ocean than anyone else, thinking on the ocean, praying on the ocean, and struggled on the ocean. How much time and effort did I invest? You cannot imagine it. How valuable it is, considering that catching a single fish leads to restoring several people? One time in the middle of the night, I went out to the sea and I proclaimed the ownership of the oceans, saying, "I am doing this to lay a strong foundation for oceanic businesses for the sake of future humanity." God said to me at the time, "You are right." (The Unification Church and The Land and The Sea, June1, 1991)
The Ocean is the "Shortcut to World Unification"
In His autobiography, True Father said that after traveling around the world, He felt that the most pressing issue in the world is the hunger problem (As a Peace-loving Global Citizen, Ch. 7). It can be said that it is logical to build oceanic businesses to secure more food sources to ultimately solve the hunger problem, but if we further examine His words, we can see that there was even a grander goal such as "uniting the world" and "going beyond communism."
Presently, the world is plagued by religiously motivated terrorism, uncontrolled environmental destruction, violence, and conflicts. Even within the Christian cultural sphere, people still suffer from poverty and hunger. Problems common to all humankind are unlikely to end with the shackles such as atheism and nationalism. True Father, who tried to unify such a world, positioned the ocean businesses as a "shortcut" to world unification.
We have to make this foundation for the entire world. This is the fastest way to bring people and nations together. I am always thinking how this can be done and that is why I am making a foundation on the ocean. When we make this foundation, our direction towards the future will be straight. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch.11)
In the future, through my leading role in the recreation industry, I will create a global organization that will bring together people from all walks of life, including those in the financial field, based on their shared love of recreational activities. I believe this will be a shortcut to guiding all people toward a world of peace. That is why for several decades I have been researching, planning and pioneering all sorts of ocean-related businesses. (Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10 252-210, 1993/12/30)
The oceans can become a central point for bringing the world together. (As a Peace-loving Global Citizen, Ch. 7, pg. 305)
We must further examine True Father’s Words to understand why ocean is the shortcut or the fastest way to unification, but we know from a few of His Words that true unification will not occur without the world becoming equalized, as water naturally flows to become level. It is difficult for a rich child and a starving child to become united. By solving the problem of hunger - the most acute manifestation of human inequality - the unification of the world becomes finally possible.
In order to build a united world, we should not be content to eat good food and live a good life in beautiful places. We should want to bring equalization so that all humankind can live at an equal level. (Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10, Ch1. Sec.2)
Human beings are created so that their mind and body become one. Something similar is true for the world we live in. The world can be completely unified only when there is both physical communication and communication of heart. (As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Chapter 7, p.345)
Fishing is a "Strategy to Overcome Communism"
True Father spoke about “training as a fisherman” as the solution to communism when He was speaking in the United States about Ocean Church activities in the 1980s.
I made up my mind. I know that you can become such people. Even the Ph.D. graduates must come to Ocean Church; they have to go this course. By training in this way, we will surely develop the kind of leadership that can truly teach this nation and show it the way into the future. I sincerely want to see you become those men and women. Look at the path I have walked. I have trained myself as a fisherman. Why? Not for myself, but to save the nation. I have determined to find the way over and beyond communism. I have been fighting all my life against communism. America must not be lost to this ideology. That is why for more than thirty years I have given every inch of my life for this cause. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 4, Why We Have an Ocean Church)
But how does fishing or solving the hunger problem overcome communism? How is it related? If we looked into history, we can find that the hunger problem - that must be resolved by the oceanic industry - is directly tied to the origin and solution to the ideological problems such as "materialism," "atheism," and "communism."
The Introduction to The Exposition of Divine Principle explains that the rise of both materialism (atheism) and communism was motivated by the "starving masses." It is written there that the Christian society which had "degenerated into a dead body of clergy trailing empty slogans" did not help the starving masses, who determined that there is no God, urging the rise of materialism and thus atheism. Then this degenerated Christian society itself became the "hotbed of materialism - the fertile soil in which communism flourished."
When ecclesiastic love waned, when waves of capitalistic greed surged across Christian Europe, when starving masses cried out bitterly in the slums, the promise of their salvation came not from heaven but from the earth. Its name was communism. Christianity, though it professed the love of God, had degenerated into a dead body of clergy trailing empty slogans. It was then only natural that a banner of rebellion would be raised, arguing that a merciless God who would allow such suffering could not exist. Hence, modern materialism was born. Western society became a hotbed of materialism; it was the fertile soil in which communism flourished. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
Hence, according to the Divine Principle, the hunger problem of the "starving masses" was the cause of the spread of materialism, atheism, and even communism.
We can see this also in history. It is usually accepted by historians that one of the main causes of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which was the first establishment of a communist state in history, was due to food shortages.
(Photo: 23 of February in Old Russian calendar, when workers at Putilov, Petrograd's largest industrial plant, rallied for International Women's Day, which central slogan was "feed the children.")
It is clear to see that the method to root out communism is to solve the food problem and corruption of Christian society.
Let us look further into the link between communism, materialism, the pursuit of equality, and Christianity.
Socialism and Liberalism Centered on Materialism: Communism and Collapse of Sexual Morality
As was discussed in the Divine Principle, materialism ideology stems from the disillusionment of the people in corrupt Christian society.
Although many of us associate socialism with communism, the Divine Principle teaches us that socialism is not necessarily evil, it was a natural pursuit of equality. However, socialism was hijacked by Satan and developed into communism centered on materialism. It is explained in the latter part of the Divine Principle in Chapter 4, Section 7, that the society centered on "interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universally shared values" is a society with God-centered socialism.
Because human beings are created to live in an ideal society, they will inevitably pursue a socialistic ideal as they strive for freedom and democracy and further search into their original nature. This is particularly true at the consummation of providential history, when this ideal can actually be realized. As this natural desire springs forth from within, politics in democracy, which is shaped by the will of the people, will also move in that direction. Eventually, a socialistic society embodying God's ideal will be established. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Part 2, Chapter 4, Section 7.2.6)
Democracies of two types arose with the purpose of dismantling absolute monarchy and transferring sovereignty to the people. Likewise, movements to further the ideals of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values arose on God's side, while communism was born on Satan's side, in order to demolish economic systems which concentrated a society's wealth in the hands of a privileged few. Each of these movements has sought to establish a system which would distribute wealth more equally among people. The aspirations to socialism on both sides have arisen in their providential striving to realize a society based on a truly democratic economic system. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Part 2, Chapter 4, Section 7.2.6)
We can summarise the development of communism in the following way:
Corrupt Christian Society ⇨ Materialism ⇨ Socialism with materialism ⇨ Communism
How about the collapse of sexual immorality represented in the modern day by the LGBT movement? In the first place, LGBT is not something any religion approves of. However, why do movements such as LGBT tend to become more prevalent in the free democratic world like the United States and Taiwan than in authoritarian states such as China and Islamic nations?
The LGBT movement in modern liberalism can be seen as a parallel to communism and socialism. Just as socialism is a pursuit of economic equality, liberalism is a pursuit of equal human rights. Just as communism was born from socialism violated by materialism, the collapse of sexual morality represented by the LGBT movement was born from liberalism violated by materialism. This is why the LGBT movement tends to spread easily in a free democratic society. Human freedom - originally something good - was violated by materialism in the contradictory Christian cultural sphere, leading to the collapse of sexual morality.
Corrupt Christian Society ⇨ Materialism ⇨ Liberalism with materialism ⇨ Collapse of Sexual Morality
In other words, both communism and sexual immorality represented by the LGBT movement are deeply associated with (1) the degeneration of Christian society and (2) humanity’s natural pursuit of equality.
Resolving Christianity’s Contradictions
Let us go back to discuss the rise of materialism to understand what the Divine Principle refers to as the degeneration of Christian society.
As was discussed before, materialism (and atheism) spread as the starving masses questioned, "how can God exist in such a ruthless world?" after they found no salvation from the Christian society. These starving masses may have found salvation if the Christians truly practiced its tenets, "love thy neighbor" and "love thy enemy."
In modern days, nations in the Protestant Christian cultural realms are undoubtedly the most prosperous. If these advanced nations went beyond race and nations to practice Jesus' words, "If you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21)," inequality across national borders may not have persisted as much as today. The world is divided between the starving, suffering nations and the rich nations that struggle with obesity, causing the spread of communism among the poor nations. The popularity of atheism and socialism among young people in the United States today stems in many instances from their grievances against nationalism and inequality, which are the contradictions within today’s Christian societies.
If the problem of the starving masses - which is the manifestation of human inequality and the ideological contradiction in modern human society - is solved by the practice of true Christian spirit following Jesus’ Words, there will be no basis for the spread of atheism and communism.
If the Christian cultural sphere returns to its intended position centered on Jesus and the Lord of the Second Advent and solved the hunger problems of the world through Ocean Providence (which is to be lead by blessed families and centered on True Parents), the unification between Catholic and Protestant as well as all religions could have become a reality. This is why True Father has been saying that the oceanic foundation is "the fastest way to unite people and nations."
In many instances, True Father spoke about the need to solve the hunger problem before the world of peace can come.
We cannot build a world of peace without first resolving the food issue. (As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Ch.7, pg. 316)
True peace will not come as long as humanity does not solve the problem of hunger. If the person next to me is about to die of hunger, peace is a mere luxury. (As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Ch.7, pg. 321)
In order to build an ideal World of Peace, True Father, who is the Lord of the Second Advent, must solve poverty and hunger. World of Peace and Heaven on Earth is a conflict-free and hunger-free world.
Hence, "solving the hunger problem" was the substantial and practical plan True Father devised to solve the contradiction of Christianity, solve the ideological conflicts of materialism and communism, and finally bring peace to the world. To this end, True Father demanded that we undergo intense ocean training, continuously went out to the sea Himself, and asked us to “love the ocean” until the last moment of His earthly life. True Father was in search of people who can implement the plans to unify the world and bring the ultimate resolution to the hunger problem, enabling a world of peace for the first time in human history.
Equalization - or the resolution to inequality in various aspects - is an unavoidable subject of discussion for us Unificationist families, who are proclaiming peace and unity of the world. If we truly are the children of True Parents, we cannot ignore this and continue living our lives.
My purpose of doing business and making money is to perform the role of bonding all the people of the world, whether rich or poor. My financial foundation is to be shared with those in poverty for the liberation of all humankind. This is the equalization that I am trying to realize.
Developed countries try to place weaker nations under their control, but they should not do that. Rather, they have to walk with those nations hand in hand. In this way, all nations link together laterally. Yet because I work for this, I am stigmatized by people in the advanced countries, saying that I am trying toundermine their national economies. All I am doing is advocating for the equalization of the nations of the world. I am trying to place all nations on an equal footing.
Yet, to this day, some countries in Europe still continue to exploit Africa and implement policies to perpetually enslave the nations there. Likewise, the United States implements policies putting SouthAmerica under its control. I am trying to do away with all of this. (225-291, 1992/01/26 Chambumo Gyeong, Ch. 10)
Why did True Father say that Ocean Training is the "Fastest Way to Liberate the Eve Nation"?
Between the years 2004 and 2012, True Father held ocean training workshops for 7,000 Japanese women in Yeosu for a staggering 68 times. We can infer the importance and urgency of the purpose of these workshops from the following words:
I brought you Japanese women to Yeosu and Suncheon for a serious training program because I want you to love the nations of the oceanic realm. Why have I called Japanese women to take part in this training? It is because it is the fastest way to liberate the Eve nation. You should never forget this. (Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10, Ch. 2)
The Eve nation has the central mission for the restoration of heaven and earth. (Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10, Ch. 3)
It is clear that ocean training is of great significance and importance to Japan, the Eve nation. True Father called this "training" of fishing and boat handling for Japanese women, "the fastest way to liberate the Eve nation." What could this mean?
Given the words "Eve nation" express a specific providential position of responsibility or mission, “liberation” can be understood to signify the completion of the responsibility or the mission and to be "freed from duty." Then what did He mean by saying that this ocean training for Japanese women was the "fastest way" to the completion of responsibility of the Eve nation, which holds the "central mission for restoration of heaven and earth"?
In late 2004, True Father told 8 representative Japanese women (photo above) the following, at the Ocean Leadership Workshop in Kodiak, which was a predecessor to the Yeosu Ocean Leadership Workshops:
Many Japanese women are married to different nationalities around the world. With these women at the center, you must work together with the men to form a community and leave a track record of influencing nations around the world. If you don't do that, international marriage would have had no effect. From the perspective of Heavenly Providence, it will end up being ineffective. The mission of Eve nation is a mother's mission where you must genuinely pass down the traditional spirit to the world through lineage, at any cost. In the future, Japan will have authority over the oceans and will possess fame. (Kodiak, August 2004)
According to True Father, Japanese women who are in the position of a “mother” have the mission to genuinely pass down the wishes and traditions of True Father to their children (the world) and fulfill them across generations “through lineage.” It is obvious from the context that the wishes and traditions He wanted the Japanese mothers to pass down to the world were about the ocean providence. He was entrusting the Japanese women with building oceanic industry bases in all nations.
In the future, humanity will face a serious food shortage. I began the ocean businesses in order to create a foundation in each nation to address this problem. So, while traveling around the world, I have been teaching people to prepare them to handle it. To address the problem of food shortages, we must develop the ocean.. (190-021, 1989/06/18 ChambumoGyeong Book 10 Chapter 2, Section 4)
Since the Fall began with Eve, it must be that Eve ultimately brings an end to Providence, but also, True Father had said that Japan is in the position to restore and indemnify all of the failures of the previous Eve Nation, England, and the failings of Christianity.
The age of the Pacific civilization is unfolding, centering on the Korean peninsula. Japan is exactly like a woman's womb. These two must become one. That is why Japan must restore through indemnity all the mistakes of Christianity and of Britain. (226-134, 1992/2/2 The Pacific Rim Providence, Chapter 3, Section 1)
By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire controlled the seas and became the largest empire in human history to the extent that it was a "country the sun never sets," and expanded the Christian cultural sphere while engaging at the same time in economic exploitation under imperialism. Although the Christian cultural sphere was able to expand to the world, it could not realize the equalization of the world, as Jesus had wished.
True Father entrusted Japan with a mission to once again control the oceanic sphere and to establish ocean industry bases across the world under the ideology of "interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universally shared values," bring equalization (eradicating hunger) instead of economic exploitation and to guide the world towards unification and peace under True Parents.
In Peace Messages 13 and 16, True Father stated that during the Ocean Era, the mission of the women is central in bringing about the “era of God-centered civilization.”
Now, the oceanic era that represents the universal women's era has begun. The culture of the oceanic sphere constitutes the sphere of the original women's culture that transcends nations and oceans. In order to create this culture, the sphere of the Pacific Rim civilization should fulfill its mission as the main vehicle for successfully passing through the labor pains of the birth of a revolutionary era of God-centered civilization, with all women becoming one in heart and body centering on the True Mother. Please take this to heart. (Peace Message 16)
At this time - "Oceanic Era that represents the universal Women's Era" - all women centered on True Mother are tasked with an urgent and difficult mission to give birth to the "God-centered Civilization." What will happen to all of True Parents and True Family's investment and sacrifice if we do not clearly understand and carry this out?
What Happened to the Results of Ocean Training?
True Father had trained us for decades through countless ocean leadership workshops in Gloucester, Alaska, Pantanal, Yeosu, and others, but did the results He was looking for materialize? Has the precious and immeasurable time True Parents devoted to training us on the ocean, at the expense of time with their children, come to fruition?
In 1998, decades after He had started the Ocean Providence and already at around 80 years of age, True Father was still lamenting that He had almost no one to pass on and continue His spirit of going out to the ocean.
I may not go out to sea now as much as I used to, but before I die I must pass this spirit on to others. If I die without passing it on, everything will come to a halt. If I pass it on to someone, will he or she continue it? I am doing this for the Will. (294-177, 1998/06/14 Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10, Ch. 2 Sec. 5)
True Father, who spent decades of His earthly life up to His Holy Ascension in 2012, trying to teach the Ocean Providence to us through ocean training, mourned until the end, "where is the person who will continue this work?" He was worried about the future of the Unificationist families and the world.
We have to make this foundation for the entire world. This is the fastest way to bring people and nations together. I am always thinking how this can be done and that is why I am making a foundation on the ocean. When we make this foundation, our direction towards the future will be straight. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 11, True Parents and Indemnity)
True Father attempted to build the oceanic foundation as a strategy to bring nations together. He said, "If we make this foundation, our direction towards the future will be straight," but we have not been able to do it. Perhaps due to this, the direction of our Unificationist families is still difficult and uncertain.
Almost all of the marine businesses that should have developed across the world have failed or ended up being sold, and there are but only a handful of young Second Generation that are willing to continue the work in the ocean. It is like a candle fire in the wind, a very precarious situation. Although ocean training and fishing had been a central activity of True Father, it is also only being carried out on a small scale in several places. We can imagine True Father saying, "saram-i obta (there is no one)," lamenting until the moment He ascended to the spirit world in the area of Ocean Providence.
Shouldn't the ocean training, considering the amount of time and effort True Father spent on it and upon understanding the words, "the fastest way to the liberation of the Eve nation" and "the fastest path to uniting the people and world," become one of the priorities of the members around the world? As children, shouldn't we love what our parents loved?
In reality, the ocean training carried out by investing much of True Father's life, is no longer the central activity of our Unificationist families. It can be said that the near-forgotten path of the Ocean Providence was a history of our ignorance and the endless sacrifice and lamentation of our True Parents.
Is Ocean Training Really Urgent?
Perhaps we, as Unificationist members, did not realize the importance and urgency of ocean training that True Father ceaselessly attempted to convey. Many of us may say, "we cannot go fishing right now since we have other urgent and important missions."
However, this path of ocean training is an unavoidable path to world peace. As a result, True Father lamented until the end for the lack of people, and He was always in a hurry to seek the ones that can continue the work in the ocean.
I am very busy because I have to quickly save the nations of the oceanic realm. I gave a direction to the Japanese women that they should hold 40-day, 72-day and 120-day workshops at the same time. We have to finish this quickly. (Chambumo Gyeong, Ch. 2, Sec.5)
When I look at the world situation, I feel that securing sufficient food supplies is the most pressing problem. Solving the food crisis cannot be put off for even a moment. Even now, some twenty thousand people around the world die of hunger-related causes every day. We cannot afford to be apathetic just because we and our immediate families are not facing hunger. (As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Chapter 7, page 315)
The future economy of the world, the food problem of the world, the survival of mankind will be solved by the ocean. This time of study can determine the future life or death of mankind. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 14, Leaders' Conference June 27, 1983)
Both the deeds and words of True Father continuously conveyed to us the urgency. The food problem is the "most pressing problem" and that it "cannot be put off for even a moment." He also said that the ocean will determine the "future life or death of mankind."
Ocean training is an urgent and important matter.
Oceanic Businesses was to be the Global Economic Foundation for the Unification Movement
Perhaps many will say, "if we participated in the Ocean Providence, what do we do with fundraising? Witnessing? Our livelihoods?"
According to True Father, He had selected oceanic businesses as the main method of raising funds when He went on His first world tour in 1965. He writes in the 4th chapter of His autobiography that He determined oceanic businesses to be the global economic foundation of the entire Unification movement while touring around the United States. To that end, True Father bought boats, acquired real estate and maritime businesses, and started ocean training and oceanic businesses while at the same time engaging in speaking tours across the United States in the late 1970s, calling for the Christian spiritual revolution.
Today, the fastest-growing sector in the food industry is in fact the seafood sector. From 1961 to 2017, according to the UN, the world's average seafood consumption per person nearly doubled. China also quadrupled its fishery production from 1980 to 2000, while drastically reducing its domestic hunger problems. Not many people in the world now doubt that the key to the world's food problem lies in the ocean. What kind of economic foundation would we have had if the Unificationist members in the world had unified with True Father’s vision from the 1960s and engaged in oceanic businesses?
Witnessing through Ocean Church
True Father also envisioned the Ocean Church to become the main vehicle for witnessing. In 1980, He established the Ocean Church and declared to us that the era of the land church was over and that the era of Ocean Church was beginning.
Many people say the space age has arrived, but you cannot dwell in space. From the ocean, however, you can draw resources, you can make a living from it. For this reason I founded and created Ocean Church. I feel in the future, the Ocean Church foundation can be greater than the land church. So far we've been living in the land church era, but from now on we'll be living in the Ocean Church era. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 14, Leaders' Conference August 26, 1983)
You are taking care of a boat. Go out and catch fish. Use the boat for evangelical programs and train the youth of the city. The boat can supply you with all you need. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 8, Let Us Begin Again)
I believe that Ocean Church will succeed more than the IOWC and state centers. Why? Because the work you do with your boats will quickly gain recognition by the city. Someday you may even become the mayor of your city. The people will elect you based on your contribution to cleaning up their city. Some of you might even become congressmen or senators. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 8, Let Us Begin Again)
The only hope that Unification Church has for the future lies in Ocean Church. Don't you see how serious your position is? (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch. 6)
The historical and revolutionary aspect of Ocean Church concept was that it would provide us a way to train our youth and have economic production, i.e. fishing and tourism, while having a traditional function of a normal church, which is to worship and connect to God. True Father also saw Ocean Church as a foundation of marine businesses whose goal was to solve the global food problem. Jesus was only able to achieve spiritual salvation, but the Lord of the Second Advent is supposed to complete both the spiritual and physical salvations. The Ocean Church concept was the substantial plan that the Lord of the Second Advent devised that led to both.
(Photo below of Feb 26, 2001, with NJ Christian ministers connected through Ocean Church)
Practically speaking, if the Unificationist families can effectively engage in the resolution of the global or even just the domestic hunger problem, the outreach and witnessing could be much easier. If we could solve the global hunger problem that neither capitalism nor communism could solve no matter how hard the heads of states tried, it would be much more convincing to testify about True Parents all across the globe. We can truly open the path to world unification.
Also, as a strategy for restoring developing countries to God’s side, True Father sent boats and fishing tackles to each nation and wished the Unificationist members who received the ocean training to use these tools to realize the "equalization" to fulfill their responsibility.
You Unificationists must fulfill your responsibility to lead them and care for these people. You should go to the developing nations and become instructors and teachers at kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and universities. You should improve standards by teaching them the most modern agricultural methods. This is how you can save people who would otherwise starve to death. They first need to know how to fish effectively; this is why I prepared to send four boats each to 160 nations. You are thinking, "What's the use of doing that?" because your hearts and minds are not enlightened. But I am telling you we must do it. (444-191, 2004/04/04 ChambumoGyeong Book 10, Chapter 2, Section 5)
True Father was always preparing for the distant future, but we were always distracted by the myriad of miscellaneous things in front of our eyes and unaware of the importance and urgency of the ocean training.
Cheon Seung Ho was an exceptional boat. It sailed throughout the Yellow Sea and caught many fish. The reaction of many, though, was that we had enough to do on land and that there was no need for us to be going out onto the ocean and catching fish. (As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Ch. 4)
If all of us took True Father's hopes for ocean training seriously from the very beginning, the Unificationist families would have grasped a global influence and foundation in the aspects of evangelism, economy, and social contribution.
Imagine what True Parents can achieve in the world’s political and religious arenas if they can stand upon such a foundation.
Who Should Get Involved?
True Father urged all of the Unification members to receive ocean training, each family to purchase a boat, and hoped for all members to engage with the ocean in some shape or form. And He expected members from all nations to participate. He had sent out fishing tackles from His NY residence, East Garden, to 185 nations for the missionaries in 1997 (photo below). He aimed to mobilize all members around the world towards the ocean to form a global network to tackle the problems of the world.
As you know, only one third of the surface of the globe is land; two thirds are ocean. Therefore, without knowing the ocean we can never have dominion over the entire globe. So every one of you, every member of the Unification Church, is required to take a basic training in Ocean Church, including navigation, repairing and so forth. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch. 14 Leaders' Conference August 26, 1983)
The ocean is our foundation for the future and we will all participate in some way or another in the ocean providence. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 11, True Parents and Indemnity)
You should sleep and live right on the boat, and create a wonderful history for it. Every Unification family should buy one of these boats. That is how historical and precious they are. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch. 2)
So this morning, I spent a considerable amount of time right after pledge to talk about this subject to all blessed couples. I asked that all blessed couples buy a boat and practice living on the ocean, catching and eating fish. Buy a trailer and a 20-foot boat. (The Day of All Things and the Fruits of Love, June 12, 1991)
So all Unification Church members, will you buy a boat for your family? What if you have no money? For years to come, you can skip one meal and set money aside to get one boat. I foresaw this happening and have already prepared for this. Father skipped lunch everyday when I was young and yet had the most energy. I did this for seven years. I made the foundation, all we have to do is just follow it. We cannot say no; there is no reason. For whom will we do this? For our own sake, or to please Father? More than that, for the sake of humans starving to death all over the world. We have to help those people! That is our mission. (The Day of All Things and the Fruits of Love, June 12, 1991)
Now, 20 million people on earth are starving. 60,000 people are dying from starvation every single day, and the President of the United States doesn't think it is his responsibility. Neither does Gorbachev. Only True Parents feel it is their responsibility--our mission and our children's responsibility. (The Day of All Things and the Fruits of Love, June 12, 1991)
Solving world hunger was True Parents' responsibility, and it is the mission of the Unification family to carry it out in their name even if it took us generations to accomplish it. In the Providence of Restoration, the sooner one accomplishes it the lighter the price, and the more one delays, the more the future generations must pay.
Ocean Providence is the concrete method and a plan to horizontally embody the vertical training given to us by True Parents in order to once and for all, lead the world to unification and peace.
Should We Give Up?
Based on His Words, it should be clear that we have yet to complete our responsibilities in the oceanic realm. It has been a difficult path for unificationist families to follow. Many businesses that True Father started had collapsed and were sold.
Should we give up? True Father did not give up ocean training until the very end of His earthly life, as was demonstrated by the 68 ocean leadership workshops in Yeosu up until 2012.
If you read the speech from when I began Ocean Church, you will see how serious and how important that message was. However, even after I gave that kind of explanation, many of them since that time went away from this Ocean Church activity. It's a shame, but I cannot give up. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Cha. 12)
You have to go out to the ocean. That is your role and mission. If you Americans fail then I may ask the Japanese or Koreans or even the blessed children to accomplish the mission. I am absolutely determined to succeed. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch. 8)
Ocean Church is not a random whim. I have a vision for America and Ocean Church plays an integral and important part in that. My mind is very deep. Everything that I do has a purpose which covers thousands of years. When Allen Hokanson gets in the New Hope and drives, he has a purpose, but when I take the New Hope out my purpose is much wider and greater. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 4, Why We Have an Ocean Church)
Since the 1980s, True Father has told us that He "cannot give up" and that He is "absolutely determined to succeed." True to those words, He continued fishing and training us until the year 2012 when He ascended to the spirit world. He also said that it has a "purpose which covers thousands of years." We must inherit His wish and resolve. We must absolutely do it. It is a mission that must be fulfilled even if it takes us generations to accomplish.
I go out to sea with such passion, and problems would arise if I lost that passion. That heart must be maintained. Devotion must last for tens of thousands of years. Indemnity conditions would not be established if I offered devotion in comfort. So instead, I should be going so out upon the ocean. Today must be better than yesterday, and tomorrow must be better than today. The waters from the lakes gather in the Atlantic Ocean, and it in turn flows into the Pacific Ocean. If I continue offering devotion until the day I save all those people who are starving to death, I believe that the will of God will be established on the earth, even if I were to die. (279-308, 1996.9.22 Pacifice Rim Providence Ch. 2, Sec. 3)
True Father said: "the will of God will be established on the earth, even if I were to die." Hence, we must not change course but continue this path of Ocean Providence even if True Father is already in the spiritual world.
We are now living in the Ocean Era and must plan and live accordingly. True Father who continued to train us through ocean training went out fishing throughout His life, devoted Himself at sea, and left that tradition behind.
I saw that the key to future food problems lies in the ocean and have endeavored to develop a wide range of oceanic businesses from nothing. I spent more time in the ocean than anyone else, thinking on the ocean, praying on the ocean, and struggled on the ocean. How much time and effort did I invest? You cannot imagine it. (The Unification Church and The Land and The Sea, June 1, 1991)
What We Must Do Now is Once Again, Ocean Training
How should we, Unificationist families, carry on this tradition and responsibility, moving forward?
We must first all go out to the sea, rivers, and lakes. We can find True Parents' Shim-Jeong (heart) there. We must start as soon as possible, with the same heart of urgency that True Father had towards the ocean. We must invite our family members to the sea, rivers, and lakes, and each family must inherit the ocean training as one of True Father's central traditions and plans for us.
Next, we should once again reexamine True Father's words and come to an understanding and recognition that all Unification family members must inherit and continue ocean training. We must convey the Shim-Jeong that flows there to our second and third-generation youths. In particular, we must let them know of His heart of loneliness in this providence.
Further, we should consider how to implement True Father's plans in an organized manner as an entire Unification family. We must make detailed plans on how we can further clarify the inevitable path and the blueprint that leads to world peace drawn by True Father, and how we can build a global economic network centered on the Unification members around the world.
Finally, the plan must be put into practice. We must train the next generation and fulfill our mission even if it goes beyond our own generation. Beyond that path lies true world peace and unification.
We must follow the path of True Father's ocean training, and we must absolutely succeed. Children must love what their father loved, inherit, and continue his work.
The real Moonie is the one who loves the ocean. Why? Because the head of the Unification movement loves the ocean. Reverend Moon loves the ocean. So, if you are a Moonie, you have to come to that point as well. What about you women? Are you a real Moonie or a make-believe one? How about you men? (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 6, Who Will Inherit the Ocean?)
This has to be done. For the future, someone has to do it. You are my hope. If you don't know that, you cannot understand even who you are. The one who is close to me is the one who will determine to be successful on the ocean. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Chapter 6, Who Will Inherit the Ocean?)
The path of ocean training and oceanic businesses is difficult, but through the difficult path, we will find completion, separation from Satan, and Heavenly Parent who is waiting for all of us.
You have to select the route where Satan cannot go. It must be so extreme that Satan will say, "Oh no, I could never go that way. You go without me." That is the course you must select. There, God alone will be waiting. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch. 13)
Each one of you shall go on to your mission. Go with strength, fortitude and determination. I will always be with you. Ocean Church and the ocean businesses are a divine providence. I have declared it many times before and I declare it again tonight. These are providential missions. Therefore, anyone who is devoted to this direction will receive God's blessing and protection and shall eventually prosper. (God’s Will and the Ocean, Ch. 13)
If we cease ocean training, True Father's wishes will also disappear. Think about True Father, at about 80 years of age, expressing His lonely situation as "If I die without passing it on, everything will come to a halt" (Chambumo Gyeong, Book 10). It will mean that all of His investments and the sacrifice of True Family would be lost. In addition, how are we to reciprocate the incalculable blessing of being trained directly by the Second Coming? Christian society had become the hotbed of materialism and communism due to their failure to obey Christ completely. What of us Unificationist families, if we fail to obey the Second Coming?
We must act now and not lose to the real-life difficulties that are in front of us. We must not pass on more debt to our future generations.
[Ocean Providence can be understood better in a higher context of the Providence. In the next seminar article "What's the Big Deal with South America (North & South America Unification)," we will explain more in detail how the Ocean Providence is an integral part of True Father’s Plan for World Unification and Peace and how it begins in South America. Also, we will introduce more details about how True Father planned to distribute the ocean resources to the entire world to achieve equalization.]
