AP 07/19 2356 Another Look: Bayou-Moon By GARRY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer BAYOU LA

AP 07/19 2356 Another Look: Bayou-Moon

   By GARRY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer

   BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (AP) -- South Korean evangelist Sun Myung
Moon's  quiet  visits  to  this  coastal Alabama fishing town are
reminders that his Unification Church  put  down  roots  here  in
not-so-quiet fashion about 10 years ago.

   The  arrival  of the Moonies, as followers of the faith became
known, touched off protests and a petition drive to keep them out
of the clannish bayou.

   But much has changed in a decade.

   The Moon followers remain, although they number only about  50
among church.

   Claiming religious discrimination in Bayou La Batre, the local
Unification  Church  members  successfully sued the city 10 years
ago to block a rezoning attempt that would have  jeopardized  use
of  the  722  acres  owned  by  two  church-related  seafood  and
shipbuilding firms.

   The Moonies have become  "good  neighbors,"  said  Mayor  J.F.
"Jiggs" Nelson.

   Part  of  the initial fear was that Unification Church members
would proselytize their  children  about  Moon's  beliefs,  local
people recalled.    The  Rev.    Thomas  J.  Sheppard,  a  United
Methodist minister, said he hadn't noticed any religious outreach
program by Moon followers.

   Still, he considers Bayou La Batre the "Southern headquarters"
for the Unification Church. "I've seen them  bringing  18  or  19
busloads of people here for meetings," Sheppard said.

   "In the communities in which they live, I believe they want to
be accepted.    They  make  pretty  good neighbors," the minister
added.

   The bayou  has  about  1,300  registered  voters,  and  Moon's
followers have not sought elective office.

   Police Capt.    Curtis  R.  Roensch praised Moon followers for
organizing a community watch program that has reduced the  number
of  burglaries  and  a boat registration program that has made it
easier to keep up with crews and boat equipment.

   There have been other changes  in  this  201-year-old  fishing
town,  once  a  haven for Cajun settlers, now a sort of religious
and ethnic gumbo.

   The small numbers of  Unification  Church  members  have  been
obscured  by about 800 Indochinese refugees who began arriving in
1978 to take seafood  processing  jobs  and  work  aboard  shrimp
boats.

   Bayou  La  Batre  now has seven businesses run by Indochinese,
including a pool hall and Saigon, a restaurant.

   "In a little while they'll own  this  country,"  grumbled  Jim
Odom,  a  customer  at Donna's Grocery Store in nearby Irvington.
Odom, a state prison system employee, said he fought in Korea and
acknowledged his prejudice against Asians.

   But many locals praised  the  hard  work  of  the  Vietnamese,
Cambodians, Laotians  and  Thais.  The mayor said his big problem
is teaching the Indochinese refugees to drive on the  right  side
of the road.

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