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Nieuws vervolg:

International Leadership Conference in Seoel, Korea

Van 11-15 juni 2008 vond in Seoel, Zuid Korea, een “International Leadership Conference” plaats, georganiseerd door de UPF. De conferentie werd vanuit Nederland bezocht door dr. Sofjan Siregar, dhr. Hayyanul Haq en drs. Willem Koetsier. Na de verwelkoming door voorzittter Jack Corley, UPF assistant secretary general, waren er woorden van welkom door onder andere professor Stanislaw Shushkevich, voormalig president van Belarus, die een belangrijke ondersteunende rol vervulde in de tijd dat mr. Gorbatsov de USSR veranderde naar het huidige politieke systeem.

Vervolg:

A new paradigm, centred on God

After dinner and a cultural performance of a Korean opera singer, dr. Thomas Walsh spoke about the Need for the International Leadership Conference, followed by Rev. Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak’s Chairman’s Address. In his speech he mentioned that the ILC is an essential part of the mission and work of the UPF to build “One Family under God”. In order to realise this we need a new paradigm, centred on God, unifying spirit and matter, promoting dialogue, reconciliation, living for others, harmony among religions, racial and ethnic groups as well as nations.

The need for a new vision

Thursday, June 12 contained 4 sessions: Toward a New Paradigm of Leadership and Good Governance, Creating One Family under God, The Root Cause of Conflict and Principles of Reconciliation and Peacebuilding Initiatives. In the first session important speakers from different backgrounds and nations, stressed the need for a new vision, which includes the spiritual and secular and realises the idea of “One Family under God”. It is important that the people, who believe in God, gives the example. Tony Blair’s recent initiative to create an interfaith foundation striving for peace was mentioned and very much welcomed.

“A wind of change is sweeping the world”

After a video presentation of the UPF Assembly 2007, dr. Hyun Jin Moon gave the keynote address. What follows are some key points from his speech: “A wind of change is sweeping the world. God is calling mankind to realise a world of peace. We should stop to pass on the legacy of war. In the name of religion terrible violations have taken place. We need to open our conscience in order to be guided by God, the source of peace and true human rights, and be aware that in the first place we are sons and daughters of God. We have more in common than that we are different. The family is the basic unit to learn to live for others by true love. The greatness of the U.S. is that God was included in their constitution as the base, but the U.S. need to be reminded of this important point, which is also valid for the UN.”

Seven more topics

The day continued with presentations about 7 more topics: A Vision for Peace: One Family under God (Jack Corley); Spiritual Values as a Foundation for Leadership (Ursula McLackland); Understanding the Root Cause of Conflict (Rev. Mwalagho Kililo); Principles of Restoration and Conflict Resolution (Dr. Michael Jenkins); Character Education (Jack Corley); The Blessing Movement for Marriage and Family (Dr. Thomas Walsh) and UPF and the Millennium Development Goals (Taj Hamad).

Informal get-together

After dinner a visit to a famous shopping area in Seoul was organised. This was also an occasion that participants could have informal contact with each other. A congressman from Iceland shared that he liked the lectures very much, especially the fact that in general they are based on the common values of the religions. In Iceland he had led a victorious battle in parliament to keep in schools the teaching of Christian values. The whole program had inspired him, especially our lectures about character education.

A bishop from Slovakia had experienced a lot of persecution in his country in the time of communism. For him the religious part of the conference was most important. The idea of “One Family under God”, to bring God in the public domain as a God of True Love was appealing to him.

Interreligious dialogue

A vice mayor from France is very busy with interreligious dialogue and peace building in local communities, bringing people from different nations, cultures and religious backgrounds together. The UPF conferences and the people he meets are giving him more vision, support and tools for his work. Mrs. Aicha Afifi from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco helped to translate his French words into English. She has been involved in peace negotiations and would like to assist in organising a conference with peace negotiators. Some Dutch Ambassadors for Peace are preparing a proposal for such an event.

Visit to the Peace Palace

June 13 participants departed in the early morning to the Peace Palace, which is situated outside Seoul in the mountains near Cheon Pyong Lake. Two years ago this beautiful building was officially opened. This was celebrated as well as the Day of All Things – a special day devoted to the creation. We were welcomed with coffee and cake. In the following program there were songs and speeches. Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon read a message of her husband, that was given at the opening of the Palace two years ago. Other speakers were Professor Mrs. Shin, former President of the Seychellen, Sir James R. Mansion and Mrs. Dr. Irina Shushkevich.

Korean lady professor discovers dr. Moon as a visionary

At the time Professor Shin was twenty years old, she studied at the Il Hwa university. There she was influenced by Christians who had negative idea’s about the movement of dr. Moon. However, in the past 6 years she realised that dr. Moon is a great leader, who sees things we do not yet see and who is a man who can really change the world. One should research Dr. Moon. Recently she came to understand the term True Parents. Her hope is that Dr. Moon saves many foolish people and brings God down on this earth.

UPF and Tony Blair: it’s in the air now!

Sir James Mansion is a former president of the Seychellen. He spoke again about Tony Blair’s interfaith peace foundation, which has similarities with the work of UPF. He praised the vision, work and efforts of Dr. Moon. Therefore he was here based on a dream of peace.

Heaven and earth meet

Dr. Irina Shushkevich is the wife of the former President of Belarus. She feels that Heaven and Earth are meeting each other in the Peace Palace. This building is a symbol of the lifelong dedication of Dr. and Mrs. Moon, who invested all their efforts and heart in different organisations for world peace. All this deserves great congratulations

Dr. Preston Moon introduces his father

Just before lunch Dr. Hyun Jin ( Preston ) Moon introduced his father, who surprised the audience with a long talk, based on a speech that had been given recently on the tour in South America. Until 2013 this speech will be read often. What follows are some main points (unofficial notes). The Peace Palace is a home for all of us. Our hope is that all families become one, that the relation between parents and children will be re-established and that Cain and Abel will be united. The UPF represents the Abel UN and helps us to go to Heaven. Today we also celebrate the 46 Day of All Things. We offer things to God and the grace and blessings of God permeates our life in this summer time.

Jesus’ ideal fulfilled

If Jesus had been supported by John the Baptist, history afterwards would have been different and God’s Kingdom could come in that time. God wants to save us from evil. In the present time Heaven’s Providence is advancing like it should have in the time of Jesus. God wants us to establish true families – the model of True Love. Create an ideal family and leave behind good children, who are not a part of the evil world. We need the lineage from Heaven, otherwise there will be conflicts and fighting. We need to unite Cain and Abel, especially since Satan likes division and conflicts.

Words from God have many hidden levels.

Satan defiled the lineage. The International Blessing brings us back to God’s lineage. Live according to the Heavenly Law, which includes absolute sex only between husband and wife, centring on God. Another aspect is to live for the sake of others, to invest for the higher purpose and to study everyday God’s Words. The words from God have many hidden levels.

Cultural program

After the speech there was a wonderful banquet with performances of music. The Seoul HQ choir sang Amazing Grace, a girls group combined traditional Korean with modern music and an African group was dancing and singing according to African tradition, expressing a way to overcome conflict and create unity.

Peace Queen Cup

The last part of the program of this day was to visit the opening of the Peace Queen Cup. The opening started with a dynamic video presentation and remarks were given by Rev. Kwak, the mayor of Suwon city and important representatives of the official soccer organisations in Korea and Asia. Also present were soccer officials from Spain.

Soccer and fashion

In the speeches the combination of soccer and the peace dream were underscored and for this opening event a special initiative was announced: to connect soccer to fashion. After two performances of pop music and giving the Peace Dream Award to a Palestine Minister, who is involved in soccer with Palestinians and Israeli’s, a wonderful and spectacular fashion show, composed by the famous Korean designer, André Kim, and including wedding clothes, began and lasted about two hours. When we returned to the hotel, it was already late in the evening, but the organisers had not forgotten our dinner. This was presented in the bus on our way back to the hotel.

About peace building activities

The next day started with the second session about Peace building activities: the Global Peace Festival, the Bering Strait Project, the Middle East Peace Initiative and the North-South Korean Unification. In the Middle East a kind of Peace Tourism is helping to bring Palestinians and Israeli’s closer together by transforming the anger of the people into a more constructive attitude to focus on working together for the future. Co-operation with dr. Martin Luther King III as a leader of the Dream Foundation, was seen as an important step in the work for peace. Concerning the North-South Korean initiative, it was mentioned that a peace centre has been realised in Pyong Yang.

Soccer contributes to peace

After the break the program continued with a special program, connected with the Peace Dream Foundation and the Queen Peace Cup. High officials from the Korean government, soccer organisations, artists and representatives of the ILC participants gave congratulatory messages. Dr. Hyun Jin Moon was inaugurated as President of the Foundation. In his speech he spoke about the importance of sports as a tool for peace. We have to realise a vision of peace, including elements of character education, healing and peace building, sports events, stressing fair play and team work (play football, make peace) and a culture of service. Examples were given how soccer contributed to peace in Iraq and Liberia as well as the positive influence famous soccer players can have in the strive for peace.

“Dr. Moon talks long hours but does not seem despotic”

Listening to the reactions of the European participants, it became clear that in general all had good experiences and were inspired by the peace dream and the world wide initiatives. The reactions were sincere as quite a number of people mentioned that it had been difficult to listen to such a long speech of Dr. Moon, which caused a substantial change in the program. Some expressed that they felt not always at ease with the great and central role of the founder of our movement. However, as Dr. Moon always talks about God, True Love and the importance of our own responsibility, they understand he is different from strong men in history, who often were suppressing people.

Bezoek ook de website http://www.globalpeacefestival.org

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