Despite “no success,” true love rescued him

Recalling his university days escaping from the Unification Church, Kōji Ishikawa shares his thoughts on the group and its connection to the recent assassination of the former Japanese prime minister. Thanks to his parents’ rescue efforts, Ishikawa was able to escape from a dark situation and now works as a pastor in Okinawa.

Immediately after enrolling in university, Ishikawa was invited to an international exchange club. He attended two video-based seminars at a nearby apartment complex over several days, and was then invited to a six-day seminar. Right before that third seminar the club finally revealed that they belonged to the Unification Church. Ishikawa felt he had been deceived but was already too involved with the members. They worked all night to persuade him to join the seminar and he finally agreed. After that one he attended a forty-day seminar, and it was during this final seminar that he became a “real member” of the Unification Church.

The members had two main missions: proselytization and door-to-door sales. Day after day Ishikawa and the others stood in front of the train stations, asking passersby to answer a questionnaire and to attend their seminar. During long vacations, they went door to door selling sets of three kitchen cloths for two thousand yen. The church taught “no freedom without success,” so, in order to meet his daily sales quotas he felt compelled to sacrifice all he had, as well as every bit of the money given to him by his family. He felt a strong bond with the other members and worked diligently for what they believed to be the “truth.”

Worried for their son, Ishikawa’s parents tried to persuade him to leave the group. However, Ishikawa could not understand why his parents were so determined to take away the “truth” from him. However, after numerous visits from a Christian pastor, Ishikawa gradually began to understand how certain teachings of the Unification Church were not biblical. Once the realization that this was not the “truth” kicked in, it left a huge hole in his heart.

To fill that hole, Ishikawa began attending services at a Christian church. He pondered, “if God is love, why is my life so messed up?” One morning while he listened to the sermon, he felt as if the pastor was specifically talking to him. Ishikawa heard a small voice whisper, “This is the truth.” Realizing that God loves him just the way he is, even though he had “no success,” God’s love poured into the hole in the heart.

Now, Ishikawa serves as a pastor in Naha, Okinawa. The recent incident of the former prime minister’s assassination and investigation of the Unification Church brought up many of these memories. Watching the interviews gave Ishikawa the impression that nothing has changed in the organization. Ishikawa wishes that more people would come to know God’s true love, just like he did.

From Christian Shimbun, August 28, 2022
Translated by Hiromi Terukina