信愛忠母, 신애충모, Mother of Faith, Love and Devotion, Professor Choi Won-pok! Standing in front of your spirit, I am going to make my farewell speech to send you peacefully on the way to heaven, where you will meet all the members that have passed away, leaving us behind, including Commander-in-Chief Heung-jin nim, the other True Children and Dae-mo nim. Professor Choi Won-pok! I call you by name, but you no longer answer me, which reminds me that you have indeed passed away. Now, True Parents have come to this place and the living God has joined us here. Professor Choi, to give a send-off to you, who ascended to heaven at 2:40 AM on January 15, in the sixth year of Cheon Il Guk, at the age of ninety-one, your sons, whom you loved so much and brought up excellently and wholeheartedly, are here with their wives and children. Besides a great number of our members and your former students, Chairman Kwak Chung-hwan and President Hwang Sun-jo and your spiritual children, who have always sincerely and deeply respected you, are here to see you off on your way to heaven. A number of large floral wreathes that are arrayed here appear as if they are smiling and marking the way for you to go. First of all, I would like to mention that True Parents would have thought of many things at the news of Mrs. Choi's ascension. She was someone who more than anyone else in the Unification Church had devoted her life to fulfilling God's will, bearing trials including the severe opposition of her family, expulsion from the school where she'd worked and being shunned by society. True Parents would have remembered the course of sacrifice she had walked. Professor Choi Won-pok lived a stormy life that was indeed full of up and downs. During the time that Korea was under the control of the Japanese Empire and enduring its terrible suppression, she prayed a lot and in tears and worried about the future of her nation, which was enduring every contempt and humiliation as well as maltreatment. She took part in the student movement for national independence at first in Gwang-ju and then in Kaesong, where she was imprisoned for forty days as an organizer, for which she was whipped and tortured. Her patriotism was an expression of her heart and welled up from her flesh and blood, from her very core.

After Korea's liberation from the colonial rule of Japan, when communists controlled the area where she was in 1945, she sought freedom; she stepped forward on the path of righteousness, all the while thinking of what she could do for mankind and for her nation. Often immersed in mediation, she was eager to find something worth leaving behind for her nation and the world. Actually, she was so filled with passionate loyalty; it is surprising what a great patriot she was.

Professor Choi had a happy family life until the end of November 1954, when she came to know the true will of God, who loved her and called her. After that, she was exposed to unspeakably severe opposition and persecution from her husband and society, including the university where she had worked. This could hardly have been overcome by her effort alone; such an ordeal led her to continually kneel humbly and sincerely in prayer with an earnest heart to God for the fulfillment of His will and for the sake of the nation and world. I'm certain that all the effort she made has been noticed and remembered by God and True Parents.

It was on a day in the autumn of 1954, as I remember, that she, as a professor of Ewha Woman's University, came to visit our church. Another member and I were so curious about the new visitor that we peeped through the narrow space between the jamb and the kitchen door. We saw such a tall, handsome figure that we were overwhelmed on the spot by her outstanding appearance, even though we were not able to discern what kind of person she was inside.

At that time, we, that is, the church members, were dispirited by the failure of our witnessing efforts. No one had joined for six months. I remember thinking that it would be wonderful if she would join the church. She came frequently after that to listen to lectures, which made her face look more cheerful and spirited. Fascinated by her affectionate, clear voice, I was compelled to follow her out each time she left and to say farewell to her.

Professor Choi Won-pok has an affectionate heart; she expressed sincere, true love to others. I don't think there is anyone here in this room who would refute that. I do not think that a person exists in the whole of the Unification Church who does not feel respect for a person of such character. Professor Choi indeed had absolute faith in God, despite her having been exposed to the severe opposition of the husband she loved. One day, he came to the church and broke the front gate in order to enter and shout his wife's name in an attempt to drag her out of the church. Throughout the incident, she remained composed; the color in her face did not change because of her resolute faith in God and True Parents. I dare refer to this here on this occasion, because I think it will be easier for her to ascend to heaven if she is able to feel forgiveness beforehand toward all these unpleasant memories.

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When, in Kodiak, Alaska, True Father asked her son, Dr. Seuk Joon-ho, "How is your mother?" and Dr. Seuk replied that she was in the hospital again, it was as if I could hear Father's unspoken words, "What a long road of sacrifice she has had to walk down due to the mistakes of mankind!"

Professor Choi trod the way of indemnity as a Cain-type mother in the fallen world shouldering a cross representative of every suffering, sorrow, grudge and vice of mankind. I had opportunities to talk to her about all those memories from past days and shared many experiences with her. I recall once telling her that a thief had broken into my room and stolen all my belongings. She had such a look of sympathy on her face as she gave me what amounted to ten times what had been taken from me. I still feel grateful for her abundant kindness.

The passing to the spiritual world of Professor Choi will bring great change not only to the spiritual world but to this world as well, which will be brought to acknowledge our True Parents as the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind. I believe that in the future more and more nations will gather under True Parents, like bamboo shoots after a rain. Now, because she does not answer when I call to her, I am reminded of her having passed on to heaven-the eternal, infinite world that we long for. How wonderful that world must be!

At last, Choi Won-pok, I would like to remind you that Buddha is now waiting for you in the spiritual world. I am convinced that he will be the first to warmly welcome you there.

Professor Choi, let us promise to meet each other there some day. Besides, how fervently all the elders who have passed away, leaving us behind, will welcome you! I am certain that people such as Mr. Lee Sang-hun, Mr. Eu Hyo-won, Mrs. Pak Bong-ae, Mrs. Kim Yeong-woon, Mrs. Kim Soon-hwa and the True Children who are there are very busy now preparing a welcoming reception for the Mother of Faith, Love and Devotion, Professor Choi Won-pok.

Professor Choi, let's work increasingly harder to realize the world of True Parents, both on earth and in the spiritual world, as quickly as possible. We feel great hope that you will be active for that cause. My wish is that you go to heaven with care and peacefully. Please give our best regards to our brothers and sisters there from True Parents and from all of us who remain on earth .*