In July of 1993, Priest Makadawala Ananda came to this far away land to meet me.
The was studying for a doctor's degree in Buddhist Philosophy at a University in Delhi, India. He prayed in the WonBuddhism way, and came to the mass. It was the start to a precious experience for him.
After that he visited Korea again for 40days and during his stay at Kangnam Temple he translated the scripture into Hindu and Shinharlitze. Then I started to support the Republic of Sri Lanka which is a suzerain of Hinayana Buddhism. Park Chung-Soo Kindergarten and Park Chung-Soo Foundation were built.
I received a letter from the leader of England, David Young.
The letter said that in Cambodia, there were thousands of landmines in about 1,700 mine fields and that because of the mines a number of people's hands and feet are being amputated.
The approximate amount of mines was 10,000,000, more than the population. It said it would take at least 300 years to dig up all the mines.
I would be able to save 12 lives in a year, save one person in a month if I were to dig up one mine a day. Digging up landmines became my task and I started to send money needed to dig up the mines through the Halo Foundation.
I got a call from a foreigner, a stranger. He was Sonsubert, the son of the former prime minister of Cambodia who now is the Vice Speaker of Cambodia.
I asked him about the landmines, but he said children out on the streets was a more urgent problem. He said there are too many orphans without a place to stay.
The impression of Sonsubert was very quiet and gentle to me. I gave him funds for the education of orphans and the training of educators in Cambodia.
I received an invitation from Sonsubert to visit Cambodia.
The procedure to get in the country was very complicated because there wasn't a diplomatic relation with it. In March 15, 1995 I left for Cambodia. The little amount of money I first handed to Sonsubert was used to build a orphanage and a small Technical School. There was a ceremony for the completion of the orphanage the day after I arrived.
In the center of the building, there was a sign saying 'An orphanage built with the support of Seoul's WonBuddhist Kangnam Temple'. There were about 20 children crouched down with no interest in their faces.
China, another border on North Korea. After 1995, I continuously visited China.
It started from when I participated in the Religionist Rally held in Hun-chun. There was no choice but to sail a boat in Tumen river because China was a socialist country and so we couldn't do any religious acts. North Korea was so close to us when we were praying for the reunification of Korea on the boat. 45% of the residents in Hun-chun are Korean kindreds. Especially, they can come and go freely from North Korea to South Korea.
Helping the Korean kindreds in China could become a catalyzer to the reunification of Korea. When my thoughts reached to this point, I started to think, 'How can I help them?'
I have a few account books. 'Use this for the proper reason' is written in front of the white envelope that has 20,000,000,000 won in it. All the things I did are written in the account books I have. I have 44 account books for 44 different countries. Like my mother said before, 'think the whole world as your big family and you can work for that huge family', I am living and working for my big family.
In 1996 I visited China again to try to open a road to North Korea.
It was almost impossible for the Chinese to approve of us WonBuddhists using them as a bridge to the North. So I thought. I decided to help the Chinese government and the Korean kindreds before I tried to help North Koreans. In the very nick of time, the deputy mayor of Hun-chun, Young-suk Park, asked me to help build the Kyungshin so School. I volunteered to support the building of a school for the handicapped.
In August, 1998 Hun-chun school for the handicapped opened. The handicapped who were almost uncapable of understanding words featured a dance they'd prepared for a month.
I didn't know the power of education was this strong. The opening ceremony was a festival of emotion. Not only the students but also the teachers and parents preformed. Forgetting the hardships over the three years, even I was dancing in the crowd.
Cambodians call Sonsubert 'Mr. Clean'. He isn't married and is living with his old parents and 50 or more refugees. His room looked as if it was a room of an ascetic. He seemed more of a merciful saint who's carrying Cambodia's pain on his back rather than a Vice Speaker.
The opening ceremony of the hospital was held in August 18, 1999. The fund raised for this hospital added up to 5,000,000,000won. 'Mahabodhi Mother Park Chung-soo Karuna Benevolence Hospital' is the first and only antigovernment agency that was built with the help of a foreigner in that district.
In January 19, 1999, I visited Pyungyang by passing China. The visit was made by the invitation from 'Chosun Asia Pacific committee'. 7 other people participated with me. This was the chance for me to see the real situation in North Korea.
North Korea was in great despair in 1995, the year of the flood and damage due to the cold weather after that. I couldn't sleep. So I got up, and went to the Red Cross to donate money. North Koreans escape North Korea just to live, simply to avoid starving to death. More and more people are trying to escape, and more and more dead bodies are lying on the riverside. How can we, as same Koreans, ignore this and live happily?
In April 4~7th, Reverend Park Chung-Soo heard about the serious and severe problem of the women in North Korea while staying in Peking to participate in the Pyungyang International Concert. She started to raise funds for the 200,000 North Korean women. A total of 53,723,510 won was collected. The goods are scheduled to be sent to the North Korea Chosun Women's Committee during July.