My Experiences with True Parents

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

by Mrs. Haruo Kitanaka

I was born in July 1946, in a small fisherman’s village on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. I always wished to go overseas because, after the end of World War II, life was not easy. Everyone had to work hard to simply live and eat. My father worked every day and often didn't come back home.  I was never troubled though because everyone around me was in the same situation. My mother opened something similar to a convenience store and raised our family with so much love. For that reason, I never felt lonely. I was happy and enjoyed my life.

But in the year I turned 12, my parents got a divorce, and I was overcome with sadness. I didn’t understand what really happened between my father and mother. I was so sad and I thought I wanted a family with a father and mother, even if I didn’t get anything nice.

Since I had experienced this, I began questioning my life, asking, “What is a true family? How should parental love be? Is there such a thing as true love?” Many more questions came to me, and I started to read books in order to find answers. One thing that helped me to practice a better way of life was my mother’s motto. She always told us two things we should never do.

1.       Don’t be selfish. Always think about how people want you to behave.

2.       Don’t speak badly about people in their absence.

Thanks to these lessons, my life was made better and I was always led to have good friendships with many people. Thanks to this motto, it was also easier to practice True Parents’ words. I knew if I lived for the sake of others, I would always gain something good for my life. Before I met the Unification Church, my lifelong purpose was to make my mother and younger sister happy. My mother dedicated her life to me – so, after graduating college, I was determined to offer my life to her.

My mother looked forward to my graduation, but I had to say, ‘Let me devote my life to God.” She was so shocked when I said “I need three years to change this world into heaven, so please give me permission. I will build the Kingdom of Heaven in three years and then come back.” There were many more tearful stories for me to decide to leave home, but my mother trusted me and let me go because she knew the teaching of Divine Principle (DP) changed her daughter’s life.

My experiences with True Parents

Sometime after joining, True Father said to me, “I appreciate your parents offering their child for God’s providence. Don’t worry about your parents, I will take the responsibility and care for your parents.” Since then, I never worried.

One miraculous thing that happened to me which I will share. God sent my mother to live with me in her 70s for 13 years. That was the only desire we both had. I am sure God knows everything about us. It was such a big help to me, and we experienced so many unforgettable memories together which we had missed for over 25 years.

In March 1967, I became a missionary and attended a 40-day summer pioneer mission. At that time, DP was not yet published and there were no pictures available of True Parents. I had only my notebook when I attended the special workshop. I didn’t know anything about how to witness. So, new members like me planned to go out with elders. But we received short notice about a plan change to go out by ourselves, given to us by True Father who was in Japan at that time. I don’t remember so well, but it was so shocking. I almost couldn’t believe True Father requested this of us. He encouraged us with this question: “When you go to marry someone, will you go with your elder?” What did it mean? I couldn’t believe what I heard from True Father. A 20-year-old woman going somewhere she’s never been before far away from Tokyo. The location was a coal mining area. At that time, the company had to close and change to another energy source. Many people lost their jobs and fought against the company for support. The communistic idea was spreading quickly. The town was like a ghost town. It was very scary.

But I couldn’t ask why he insisted that we go alone. I only saw True Father’s big smile and his eyes told me “You can do it.” I went with several members to Sapporo, Hokkaido and we prayed at the holy ground before departing. Can you imagine how much I cried? I had no idea what to do. Everyone got 1,000 yen (equivalent to $10) and bought the train ticket. A few members took the same train and got off one by one saying, “Good luck!” I was the last one to get off, so there were no more tears to share. I just had to go forward even though I had no idea about how and what to do, with no friends, no place to stay – Nothing except the memory of True Father’s smile was with me and this guided me from the beginning to the end of the 40-day mission.

I can’t go into the details about it now, but I got up every morning with tears and prayed. From morning until night everything was prepared for me. I got directions and inspiration from God. I met many good people, got support and help. I never felt that I was alone. I wasn’t alone. Was it a dream? No! There was no alarm clock, but I never overslept even once. That's a miracle. God and True Parents who sent me alone to this pioneer mission raised me up in my faith and strength to continue to work for God’s providence.

Another impressive experience with True Father was in the month of October 1973. I came to the USA in one of the 777 blessed sisters groups. I was witnessing in Manhattan in freezing cold temperatures. One day I met True Father at the New York Center and had the opportunity to be with and speak with him. He asked me “How is witnessing at Manhattan?” I answered him, “I am crying a lot because I can’t understand and I can’t speak English. I can’t communicate anything by myself.” True Father looked at me with a sympathetic smile and said, “I am the same too.” At that time, I was 27 and True Father was 54. I realized True Father had already walked the same way and had experienced the same as me with tears. True Father always showed me how to love people and live for the sake of others. So, I felt sorry and was determined to make more effort to learn English.

I had to leave the USA in the beginning of 1975 after staying in America for roughly 14 months with members of the 1st global team. Surprisingly, I was assigned a special mission to become a translator. We worked in Japan and Korea. It was sometimes very stressful because it was difficult to translate and connect one person to another. I appreciate very much how True Father educated me to grow. I can’t express the gratitude I have to True Parents for the many blessings that were given to me by them. I thank sister Carol who gave me this opportunity to share my experiences with True Parents in my life of faith.