Rev. Moon is Dead

    Years ago I led a Bible study in Bangkok. Sometimes we had 18 people with 10 different nationalities represented. One day a young American woman came to a meeting. She was very knowledgeable about the Bible, and could quote chapter, verse, and line from the Gospel of John. She was friendly, but didn't really talk much about herself, and gave slightly evasive answers to any personal questions. As a leader, I welcomed everyone, and didn't pry.
     One morning an Australian lady said to me, "Have you seen the sign in front of _____'s house? (referring to the young woman)  I had not seen the sign.
She went on to say, "It says 'Unification Church'."  Ah, I knew it was Rev. Moon's group.
     I made a point to talk with the woman after study. I said I had heard about the sign, and asked if that was the group she was with? She affirmed it. I told her I did not know exactly what they believed and taught, and asked her to bring me a book about Christology - what they believed about Jesus - and a book about their church lifestyles.
     She handed me two books the next time we met. I had little time to read anything extra, except right before bed. So I started reading about Christology. I soon was waking up covered with hives. I was shocked by what I read, but it was obviously "getting under my skin" as well.
     The book reported that Jesus Christ failed in his mission by not marrying and having a family. And that Rev. Moon was the 2nd Messiah, come to fulfill what Christ was supposed to have done. They taught that Jesus was the illegitimate son of Mary and Zachariah (Elizabeth's husband). And there was more.
     Our young friend was having some marital issues, and would talk with us about them. She and her husband were one of many couples who were introduced and married by Rev. Moon. They did not know each other beforehand, and Rev. Moon chose the spouses for them, and performed mass weddings.
     Our friend was coming to our study in order to find and recruit young women from other countries who were dissatisfied and feeling out of place in a foreign land, and encourage them to join the Unification Church and find a new family.
She was an unhappy, stressed out woman...who desperately needed to truly know the joy that could be found only in Jesus Christ. Nobody - not even Rev. Moon - could give her what she was looking for.
     I met and talked with my friend many times, sometimes for two or three hours. She had come from a fairly conservative Christian background. She had gone to church, participated in Campus Crusade for Christ, and more, but she said, "I never felt like I belonged there. I found a place to belong here." It was obvious from her demeanor that simply belonging was not working.
     I hope she found MORE than the Unification Church.