Emergency Time Period
by Larry Krishnek
On January 2, 1984, Heung Jin Moon, True Parents’ second son, passed away. He had been on life support for several days since the automobile accident that fatally injured him. The account of that sad event can be found in detail by searching Gary Fleischer’s excellent website: tparents.org.
Just prior to Heung Jin Nim’s passing, my MFT Region was restructured as was my mission. There was a business division, Blue Jay Products, which was a for-profit entity. Denver became the home of Blue Jay and I became the central figure. We were a group of about 20 people, about one third of our earlier number, which necessitated downsizing. We moved from the large house we had on Tejon St. in Denver to a suburban home in Arvada. We retained our warehouse as our products were assembled and stored there. Kevin Thompson was the warehouse and product manager. We also operated a small picture gallery in the Cinderella City Mall in Denver that was managed by Patti Mallaghan (Couweleers). In addition, there were two or three traveling teams.
It was March 1984. Miwa was just six months old and Akemi was pregnant with Bobeya. The whole family thing was uncharted territory for many of us. Our obligation in attendance to True Parents was that of missionaries. The imagery of “Heavenly soldier” was very present, especially with the MFT. Our church organization, and even some of our songs, reflected that. We had a clear understanding and absolute faith that the God-centered family was our ultimate destination but there was a lot we needed to do in terms of personal growth in building our church foundation.
Now there were 2075 newly Blessed families. Not all were in America, but most were. Amongst them, those who had been matched in 1979 started their married lives just 40 days after the July 1st, 1982 Blessing and, like Akemi and I, were actively building families. This would typically be a time of early marital bliss, but it was clouded by the death of Heung Jin Nim and the Federal court case against Father that was being manipulated to assure a guilty verdict.
It has been the tradition of the Unification Church from its earliest days to offer what is dearest to us and serve for the sake of the greater good, particularly in times of severe challenge. You can read about the origins of our church in Korea and the tremendous opposition it faced. True Father never advises that we step back or take a more “reasonable” path, or to ever give up. He knows, from his life and history, that ultimate victory that leads to the benefit of the future requires doing what the adversary is unwilling to do – live for the sake of others.
The Emergency Time period was announced in early 1984. In this huge shift in demographic makeup of our church, True Father unleashed a tsunami. Prior to this, the IOWC (International One World Crusade) was formed. These were traveling evangelical teams. The IOWC had existed in various forms since 1970 or 71, but hadn't been active since the mid-70s. This meant that newly Blessed couples, many pregnant and without consistent forms of income, were traveling from place to place, supporting local church communities through evangelical activities. As an MFT Commander, I was mostly an observer and a supporter. I remember well the first team to come to Denver led by Mark and Victoria Clevenger. We had a large center and could help accommodate the Clevengers and some of their team while others stayed at the Denver Church center where Susan Fefferman was the State Leader.
As a new Blessed couple staying in a secure, stable environment, I felt sorry for the circumstances of the IOWC families. The MFT members worked hard and challenged their limitations all the time, but they enjoyed the security of a stable organization as well as no worries about finances. The IOWC teams were self-funding and, in many ways, figuring things out along the way. If a team visited a state with few members, they could not count on accommodations or much support of any kind or, in some cases, they were regarded as a burden. I got only a glimpse of this reality at that time. Soon I would have a much clearer understanding of their challenges when the stable ground beneath my feet was removed.
IOWC 100
That happened sometime around March of 1984. After 10 years on the MFT, I received notice from my leader, Mr. Sawamukai, that I was being transferred to the IOWC in New York. I know it was a shock to me but, at the same time, not a surprise. I do not recall the details now, but I was part of a human resources swap, a standard practice in those times. If one organization had a particular need for someone with certain skills, then they had to produce a replacement that met the needs of the offering organization. I don’t think you will find this practice recorded in any sort of organizational manual, but that’s how it worked in real life.
So, I packed up and flew to New York City where I was to meet my new Central Figure, Mr. Won Pil Kim, True Father’s first disciple, and Mr. Ryoji Sawada, his assistant. I still didn’t know what I would be doing but that would be cleared up quickly. My first meeting with Rev. Kim was in his office in the New Yorker Hotel. He explained that there were many, many members who had left their IOWC teams – some with permission, some not – and had come to New York. Lots of these people were living in the New Yorker Hotel or with acquaintances and friends in the area.
Rev. Kim was deeply concerned about them and his desire was that they maintain their connection to the IOWC as it was of such providential importance to True Parents. I could feel his sincere desire to protect them.
So, what did this have to do with me? Well, Dr. Kim explained that he wanted to establish a brand new IOWC team and I would be the Commander. But this team would be very different from the 20 or so teams currently scattered around the country. We would be in New York – no vans, no travel. My job, with the support of Mr. Sawada, was to contact all of these brothers and sisters and re-engage them, in some form or another, with the International One World Crusade.
Rev. Kim was quite enthusiastic about this program, whereas my head must have been spinning trying to grasp the scope of this project and to imagine how to even start! He asked me to choose a number for our team. He told me I could pick anything e.g. 100, 500 or whatever. I went with Team 100 and we were spoken into existence. With that, my team, which included any IOWC person not connected, instantly became the largest in the organization. The next step was to find these people, get a grasp of their situations, and provide a workable plan to reconnect them.
Mr. Sawada knew Rev. Kim’s intent as well as the reality I was stepping into. So, together we could start working. Our first plan was to welcome everyone to a meeting, like a half-day workshop, to share Rev. Kim’s desire and to establish relationships.
The New Yorker Hotel is huge. Many of the rooms and probably whole upper floors were unused in those days. To manage it must have been like trying to govern boomtowns in the old wild west. Somewhere in those 34 floors dwelt a large number of IOWC Team 100 members.
With help from the Home Church group that Rev. Kim was also leading, we made leaflets and posted them all over the New Yorker and at our 4 W 43rd St. Headquarters building.
Rev. Won Pil Kim, his wife and Mrs, Inari together with some Brooklyn Home Church People: Berti Bacon, unknown, Jerry Chesnut, Carole Pobanz and Gary Abrahams
I believe we were able to have two major gatherings at the New Yorker Hotel and the turnout was good. I couldn’t tell you what the format was, but I know we were trying to spread our arms wide, embrace everyone and do our best to gain their trust. This was not easy for a lot of reasons. I had several years of leadership experience that was guided by certain principles and ideas that were mostly taken for granted. That’s not to say there were no gray areas or forbidden topics, but they were not common and I think a person would feel uncomfortable bringing these things to light in such a focused and idealistic environment.
Amongst our participants were many people who could no longer suppress some of their deep issues and were desperate to get help. A number of the brothers and sisters were seeing a Psychiatrist, Dr. Kronymeyer, and trying to get through their struggles and pain via his therapy. Other people had unaddressed health concerns they were dealing with, some were just burned out and yet others were between missions and hanging out until something came their way. Dr. Kim met with many brothers and sisters, encouraging them and explaining the importance of keeping their connection to the IOWC. He was always very kind and gave his whole attention to people without judgment.
We did our best to listen and understand, then to consider how to help our team find a place where they could make a contribution and be happy with their situation. In time, IOWC 100 became more of a placement service than an evangelical activity. New York was a very busy place with many Church-affiliated organizations. When word started spreading that we had lots of people seeking positions, leaders started calling and visiting. This wasn’t something we planned, but it was just what was needed. Our brothers and sisters filled many important positions from simple tasks to journalism and scientific research.