Unification Church's Sun Myung Moon officially declares Hyung Jin Moon successor

Jung Jangyeol
July 12, 2010
Deputy desk editor Jugan Chosun

The following is a translation of an article published in the July 12, 2010, edition of the major South Korean weekly news magazine Jugan Chosun. Translation by Tongil Foundation -- editor

"My inheritor is seventh son, Hyung Jin. Anybody else … would be a heretic and one who brings things to destruction."

It has been disclosed that the Unification Church's President Sun Myung Moon, 90, on June 5 composed and signed a document in his own hand making seventh son Hyung Jin (32, President, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International) his successor, and distributed this within the Unification Church.

It was learned that the Unification Church recently has experienced conflict among the children of President Moon, who is now of advanced age, over the issue of succession, and it appears that the recent document from President Moon was created to resolve such internal conflicts and make an official declaration regarding his successor.

Document placed on Internet site

The content of the document written and signed in President Moon's own hand came to be known outside the church after it was placed on the official announcements section of the Tongil Group (www.tongilgrup.org) website. The document, posted June 29 under the title "Declaration of President Moon's Special Announcement," was dated June 5 (also dated as 4th month, 23rd day of the Heavenly Calendar, referring to the Unification Church's own calendar). The online document appears to be a scanned copy of President Sun Myung Moon's writing.

The document is largely divided into two parts. There is one part that says:

"Special note: I recognize only the official memos from the World Mission Headquarters of Unification Church of Heaven and Earth and Unification Church International. Announced at Cheon Jeong Gung, Korea (referring to President Moon's place of residence in Gapyoung, Gyounggi Province)."

A second part says:

"God is the one King of Kings. There is only one set of True Parents. All families are the people who share a single lineage, and are the children of one heavenly kingdom. Moreover, the command center of cosmic peace and unity is the absolute and unique command center. Its representative and heir is Hyung Jin Moon. Anybody else [who claims such a position] would be a heretic and one who brings things to destruction. The above content is True Parents' proclamation."

The first portion contains President Moon's signature. The second portion has, instead of a signature, a mark that says "seal of Sun Myung Moon." The term "True Parents" in the second part is used within the Unification Church to refer to President Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, 66.

One reaction to this document from within the Unification Church is that it was "so rare as to be astounding." There have been cases where President Moon composed calligraphic writings in his own hand for Unification Church leaders around the world, but it came as a complete surprise that he would leave a written document using such frank expressions regarding an internal issue, it was said. Within the content of President Moon's document, the passage drawing the most attention within the Unification Church is the expression "Its representative and heir is Hyung Jin Moon."

A variety of opinions have been expressed on what exactly is meant by the terms "representative" and "heir." One Unification Church person said, "President Moon has not given any particular explanation of the terms 'representative' and 'heir,' but he likely meant that this is the successor who will carry on his work."

Another opinion in the church says that "representative" refers to religion, and "heir" refers to inheritor of wealth.

Favored by President Moon … Role of Representative

Hyung Jin is the youngest of President Moon's seven sons, and he has been in President Moon's favor for some time. He graduated from the Harvard University department of philosophy and Harvard Divinity School, and in 2008 became president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International. Since then, he has been in charge of the religious aspect. He has presided over major religious events, and in the religious aspect he has already been in the role of President Moon's representative.

Within the church, he is praised for his active work to realize President Moon's ideal of "inter-faith," which states that religions should tear down the walls between them and come together in harmony. As a student at Harvard, he delved deeply into Buddhism, going so far as to shave his head and wear the gray costume of a Buddhist priest. Even after 2008, when he came to Korea and began his religious activity, he aggressively pursued communication with Buddhist and Catholic organizations, participating in funeral rights for the Venerable Beopjeong and directly paying his respects at the funeral for Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou Hwan.

Within the Unification Church, the analysis is that President Moon has named Hyung Jin as his representative and inheritor, because Hyung Jin is the most qualified to lead the religious aspect that is the root of the Unification Church kingdom.

Focus on movements of third son, Hyun Jin

Following this move to make President Moon's successor official, the person drawing the most attention will be third son, Hyun Jin, 42. Following the deaths of first son, Hyo Jin (2008) and second son Heung Jin (1984), Hyun Jin has effectively been in the role of the oldest son. He has held major positions within the Unification Church, including Universal Peace Federation, Unification Church International and Youth Federation for World Peace, but for some reason stepped down from all positions last year.

The analysis within the Unification Church at the time was that he stepped down from all official positions following a very strict direction from President Moon. There was talk of major conflict with his father. It was learned that one matter of conflict with his father was over the operation of The Washington Times in the United States. Hyun Jin wanted the paper to become an online medium, but President Moon instructed that priority be given to the existing paper newspaper.

The most convincing analysis is that the insertion into the recent document of phrases implying a warning, such as "I recognize only the official memos from the World Mission Headquarters of Unification Church" and "Anybody else … would be a heretic and one who brings things to destruction," was done with Hyun Jin in mind. It was a strong warning to Hyun Jin not to cause further trouble, according to this analysis.

It has been learned that President Moon has told Hyun Jin to discontinue activities in Korea and focus exclusively on business activities in the United States. Hyun Jin, who is also the son-in-law of Chung Hwan Kwak, president of the Korea Professional Football League who was at one time considered the second highest ranking person in the Unification Church, is also known to be the actual owner of the Marriott Hotel in Bampo, Seoul. According to an April cover story in Forbes Asia titled "Sons Rise in a Moon Shadow," the ownership structure of the Marriott Hotel is such that companies affiliated with the U.S. Unification Church are its largest shareholders.

This means it is not affiliated with the Tongil Group of Korea, headed by fourth son Kook Jin. It has been learned, however, that Hyun Jin has resisted attempts to scale-down the scope of his activities by telling him to focus exclusively on businesses in the United States, and that he continues to carry on NGO activities inside Korea.

One other person drawing attention following the official naming of Hyung Jin as successor is fourth son Kook Jin, 41. Having returned from the United States in 2005 to take charge overall of the management of Tongil Group, Kook Jin is now chairman of the board of the Tongil Group. The Tongil Group was mired in red ink following the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, but Kook Jin won the trust of his father by turning the group around within two years after taking over.

His reaction to the recent document from President Moon is not known. Through a number of interviews, however, he has made statements appearing to acknowledge the role of his younger brother Hyung Jin. In a 2008 interview with Weekly Chosun, he was asked, "With the inauguration of your younger brother Hyung Jin in April as president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the second generation is now coming to the fore. Can we assume that the succession structure has now been arranged?"

In response, he said, "Our father has put me in charge of the businesses and my younger brother in charge of the religion. My younger brother is doing very well in his work as a pastor. He started with a small church and grew it to where it is now more than ten times the original size. It is because he has done well that he was given the position of International President. My role is to be responsible for the businesses and help my younger brother." The Tongil Group led by Kook Jin currently has 15 affiliated companies, including Il Hwa, YongPyong Resort and Segye Times. It was learned that the annual sales of Tongil Group is around 1 trillion won. 

Prayer

Hyung Jin Moon
July 11, 2010
Cheon Bok Gung, Yongsan, Seoul Korea

Main Sermon:

We're very happy all of you are here. Today, I'd like to talk with you about prayer, the practice of prayer.

First, let's look at some of the world's scriptures. We are going to look at I Thessalonians 5:17, representing Christianity -- very short, but very powerful. Let's read together:

"Pray constantly."

Beautiful. It is very real -- pray constantly, the idea of constant prayer -- every day we can have a prayerful heart. From Islam: this is from the Koran, the 7th Surahic verse [007.055],

"Call on your Lord with humility and in private."

Aju. From the Hindu tradition, these are the words of Gandhi; let's read this together:

"It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart."

Aju.

Now, we will dive into our first core scripture. This is from Matthew 6:5-6. We will begin our delving into [our topic for today] prayer. Let's read together:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Aju. As you all know, these are the famous verses and chapters in Matthew where Jesus also talks about the Beatitudes; he talks about fasting and all different portions of the spiritual life -- and he has this one section on prayer. (And this is also reflected in the gospel of Luke, where we see two mentions of this section on prayer.)

Jesus begins as he climbs the mountain, and gives a sermon to his disciples about the various aspects of spiritual life. He tells them, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. We remember from the Greek, "hypocrite" was a word that connoted somebody in the Greek theater, somebody who would perform, somebody who would act. It was an actor. So, he says, don't go pray standing in the synagogues or on the street corners -- in other words, prayer is not about performance. It is not about acting before God or getting the respect of people. That is not what prayer is about. He says, I tell you the truth: that those people who pray like that, they have received their reward in full. That means they receive their reward, which is maybe the admiration of people, but not the ear or the heart of God. So they have already received their reward in full.

When we train every day in the early wee hours of the morning, with our Hoonsa nims -- we've started bowing practice, meditation training and morning training. Then I always remind them, that we must never do our devotional training or practice in order to gain respect, admiration, or rewards from people. If we do that, that is the way to become like Satan; it is Satan's way -- becoming self-centered. When we pray and when we give devotion, we do it to give glory, return gratitude, even for repenting of our own sins. This is a very important focus, which Jesus calls us to.

In our Unification Church, we can see that really there are two major types of prayer that we do.

We do unison prayer, which is prayer in a sanctuary together or in a group. We pray in unison so that everyone can hear. We pray to have our hearts centered and become one on a particular providential focus -- maybe it could be North Korea, or it could be Chung Il Guk, the actualization of Chung Il Guk. We pray in unison prayer to become one -- as the word unison denotes: to become one, to be united in heart and mind toward a certain providential purpose.

Then there is the individual prayer, which is a time to invest in our relationship with God and True Parents.

The question then arises: How do I pray? Many people pray very constantly every day, they pray often. But when was the last time we actually looked at how we prayed, looked at and analyzed the way we prayed? When we look at the way we pray, usually we have prayers of petition: "Father, bless me in this situation. Father, help me and give me strength in this situation. Father, I need your help to do well in this situation, to overcome the situation." We have prayers of petition where we request things from God or ask God to be with us in a certain time of difficulty.

These are very important prayers because everybody has many moments in their life when they need strength beyond their own capacity. But, imagine if you looked at your relationship with your spouse -- many of you are probably blessed -- and the only type of conversation you had with your spouse was "help me; give me strength; do that for me; bless me; help me out" -- if that was the only type of conversation you were having with your spouse, you could literally be sitting right next to your spouse and be as distant from your spouse as Korea is from New York. You would be that distant in heart and mind if you only had a relationship at the level of "do this; do that for me." In that type relationship there would be no love, no intimacy, no connection of the hearts, no romance in the sense that we are completely one in our heart and mind. The connection of heart, emotion, intellect and will -- there would be none of that. It would be simply asking the other for help.

You know, when we visit families, we always suggest to them a practice that we do personally. We share with them the practice of doing your children's days. That is, whether it is their birthday or not -- that doesn't matter -- every week, spend one-on-one time with one of your children. Do it once a week, every week, without fail. Every child. For example, my first child would have it this week. On Wednesday, we would do his day, and it would be his day to go out with Dad and Mom -- his day to go out to dinner and have ramen, or whatever. He likes pizza. It would be just his day when we focus on him. We don't talk about the other children, don't compare him to the other children -- "Hey, why can't you study as hard as your sister?" -- none of that.

Focus on him. Focus on that child, the one-on-one time; that is essential. Then the next week will be the second son, and the next week will be a daughter. Then we suggest to the families we visit, after you have done your children's days, the next day you should do is your mommy/daddy day. You need time as blessed central spouses to come together once again, to connect heart and heart, mind and mind. When we were in America, we used to put the kids to sleep -- put them in the mini-van and drive them around to put them asleep. And as they would fall asleep, then we would have time. I would have time to talk with my wife; we could share; we could reminisce on how beautiful the kids are, how blessed we are, things like that. We could connect once again. Now of course because of the gas prices, we don't do that so often. But, you know we have other times: tea ceremony time -- times we have just for investing in this relationship, in the spousal relationship.

And that is the same with God. Jesus tells us. What does he say in that passage that we just read? "Go into your room and shut the door" -- nobody else with you. Go into your room; don't stand on the street corners and in the synagogues. Go into your room and shut the door. Close the door on your worries and your connection to the outside world. Shut them out; and just pay attention to God. Give Him your full attention. Make one-on-one time with God is what Jesus is saying!

Now, how many of us in our normal life make one-on-one time with God? Usually we are praying in the spur of the moment, in the motion of life: "Father, I need help now. Father, I have a big need! Father, I need help! I need your blessing! Father, I need your help; my child is about to take a big test. He needs to get into the college of his choice! Father, I need …" We often pray this way. But how often do we go into our room, shut the door and pray? God needs one-on-one time. In fact, it is the other way around, we need one-on-one time with God.

In the modern world, so many people believe God is the cosmic vending machine. Like in the movie The Secret: you put a little quarter in, do your repetitions, and kick the machine a couple of times, then you get whatever you want -- the universe will give it to you. Well, let me tell you something, brothers and sisters: the purpose of creation is not so that we can get all our wishes and desires and personal interests fulfilled. That is not the reason why God created us; He is definitely not the personal vending machine, the cosmic vending machine.

God created us -- and we know this because we are Unificationists and we have the Principle -- He created us so that we would know Him, bring joy to Him, and be in a loving relationship with Him. He created us so that we could give and receive the most powerful force, the essence of everything in the universe, which is the essence of God: true love. This was the purpose. And for this purpose, Jesus advises us saying, "I want you to go into your room and pray. I want you to close your door -- nobody else with you, not even your wife or your children. No relationship is greater than your relationship with me. I want you to give me one-on-one time." And that is what Jesus is showing us today.

Let's move to the next verse, Matthew 6:7:

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

Aju. "OK, Jesus. All right. You told me to go into my room. I'm in my room. You told me to close the door. I closed the door. Now what? What am I supposed to do now? How long am I supposed to pray? What kind of words am I supposed to use?"

Well, Jesus answers these questions. He says don't worry about the length of the prayer. Don't worry! Even pagans, people who don't believe in God, even people who don't believe in God at all pray long prayers; they pray in beautiful words. What Jesus is telling us is don't be concerned with making long prayers. Don't get stressed out: "Oh, I have to pray from Chapter 1 of Principle all the way to the end!" You don't have to pray like that. Neither the length of the prayer nor the loquacious, beautiful, poetic words that we use matter.

When I was very young I knew this minister in America, an American minister. He could pray the most incredible prayers. You also may know somebody like this in your vicinity. Boy, when he started praying, everybody cried! Everybody felt the sorrow of God's heart. Boy, he prayed like he was writing Shakespeare! Incredible prayers -- poetic! Amazing! What happened to him? He could pray long prayers and do the whole providential picture in one prayer in a beautiful poem. He ended up divorcing his wife, breaking his Blessing, running off with another woman! Oh, Lord!

God is not interested in the length of our prayers only. He is not interested in how beautifully they are created. He wants to see what kind of character of heart we are praying to Him with. So Jesus reminds us here that even the pagans babble on, they talk and talk and pray and pray. They do that for hours. But that's not the point -- don't be like them.

And he ends by saying: "because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." This is something we often forget. God already knows what we need. God already knows everything about our life. He sees every breath we take; He hears every word we utter. He knows everything about us. Nothing is hidden from Him. Nothing. Our thoughts, every thought, He can see. He knows everything even before we ask Him. "God help me! I need help! My child needs help! My business needs help! Whatever needs help!" God already knows. That doesn't mean, of course, He is saying those things are unimportant. He's just saying, "I know about it already. Let's not spend all day on it. I know about the concerns."

"So, I'm in my room, Jesus. I'm in my room. I shut the door. OK, You comforted my heart by telling me I don't have to pray too long, I don't have to pray with beautiful poetic words. And You know what I'm going to ask You about. So, what am I supposed to pray about now?!" That would be the question.

Jesus goes on: Matthew 6:9, very famous, especially in Europe. All of you know it, maybe in different languages, but all of you know it. Let us read together:

"This then is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'"

Aju.

We have no doubt heard this prayer millions of times; in fact, we may have even memorized it. Many of you from a Catholic background or an Anglican background have memorized this prayer. You recited it with your rosaries. You know it. But when we see this prayer, what we have to realize is that Jesus is giving us a way to pray. We usually just recite it -- we just repeat it. He also mentioned this in the gospel of Luke. It is different in the way he mentioned it, but the order is the same. The words are not the same. Trust me, he didn't get the Lord's Prayer wrong; he is just showing the order. Jesus is showing that there are five real points in prayer -- five different steps in prayer. He is not saying just memorize it and recite it before me. He's saying there are five steps!

The first step is, "Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Declare God's greatness. God first. God is great. God is the creator of all things, almighty, all knowing. Declare God's holiness, His goodness, first.

Second, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Not my kingdom; not my will. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done is what Jesus asked us to focus on.

The third step is then, "Give us today our daily bread." Our daily bread simply meant things we are worried about during the day, things that we have a big preoccupation with. At the time (2000 years ago), because of the impoverished nature of the situation at the time, daily bread was the main concern. Today in modern times, it may be different: What school am I going to get into? What job am I going to have? How am I going to buy that house? How am I going to get that car? How am I going to get my retirement plan? It may be all of these kinds of things. That is the third stage.

The fourth, "Forgive us of our sins," because every day, whether we acknowledge it or not, or know it or not, we commit sin (individual sin). We slip up. We curse somebody. We hate somebody. We are jealous of somebody. Those are all sins. We make little lies. When I was a baby kid, I used to steal candy from the candy store. That is sin. That is stealing. Right? We have sins. Jesus reminds us: ask for forgiveness. And also, learn to forgive.

Fifth, "Lead us not into evil or temptation, but deliver us." Bring us into your salvific glory, not into the evil, not into the mud. Bring us out of that and into salvation, into the glory. That is what Jesus is saying.

I want to go back to the first stage, God is great, this declaration. Look at the way you pray. When we pray, do we start by giving glory to God? Or do we usually pray: "God I need your help today? God, I'm about to go in and give a presentation, I need your blessing today." Jesus is saying God is not going to listen to that. We are in a relationship with God not on our terms. The Creator of the Universe has given us a blessing, the chance to be in a relationship with Him. That is a blessing. And thus we are in that relationship on His terms, not on our terms. So the first thing is declaring that God is great. "God, You are great! You are holy, and You are good!"

Why is this so important? Think about your normal day-to-day life where you are in battle with different struggles, different situations, peer pressure, corporate pressure, all sorts of things. In light of all those things, we can get focused on something that is bothering us, right in front of us. We can focus, hyper-focus, on the issue at hand. Maybe my child is really not doing so well. I can focus on that issue and the more I focus on it, the bigger it seems. We forget the perspective, and we get pulled into the problem. We get confused, thinking that we are never going to overcome this. My child is never going to turn around, never going to get better! We hyper-focus. And in doing so, we forget that this problem is nothing for the Creator of the Universe. We forget that almighty God, God is much bigger than the small little confusion or problem we have before us.

So the first thing Jesus says, when you pray, don't forget, you start prayer with declaring, remembering, God is great. "God, You are good. God, what I'm dealing with now is nothing. Nothing. Because You are all things and You can easily help me overcome this when You want, on Your timeline when You give the OK."

In the pressing circumstances of life, we have a tendency as human beings to focus on the problems at hand, which lead us to fear the future and which also lead us to forget the past. We forget that God has been good to us for our whole life. We forget that when we were younger, he saved our daughter when she was just a little baby; He saved her. We forget that when we were in a car accident, and we were in a coma, He saved us, brought us back to consciousness. We forget that when we had this big situation in our business or in the work that we were doing, and almost everything failed, the one person whom we absolutely needed, He sent!

You see, when we get focused on the present difficulty, we can forget about God's goodness in the past. We can start fearing the future. What God is saying to us is: don't forget. Jesus is saying, don't forget. Begin by saying, "God is good, He is great." Begin by not dwelling on the present circumstances. Remember how great He has been; remember how good He has been to you. If God has been good to you, let's give him a big round of applause! (applause) Because I am alive! I am alive! We are alive! He is good! Right? It is very important. It is very important; we are alive. Whenever we do meditation prayer, we always return to "I am alive." "Thank you," giving glory; "I am alive! I am alive!" remembering that we were given life.

Second, Your kingdom: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Not, "my kingdom come, my will be done." Not, "God help me build my kingdom, my fortune; God help me do everything that I wish to do; God help me live my life as I will it." No. If we are praying like that, that is why our prayers are not answered -- we are not praying to God; we are not in a relationship on His terms!

We are not equals in our relationship with God. Jesus reminds us: it is about God's kingdom. It is about His will that we must surrender our kingdom and our will to. This is very hard for us to do, very hard. We want God to help me. We want The Secret to be true. "Make The Secret true! Please, God, be the cosmic vending machine! Secret, be true!" Oh, but that is not the true relationship with God, nor can it ever bring us true happiness.

We usually pray to God, "God, I hope my meeting goes well, my business expands, my wealth is blessed, my lineage is blessed, my children go to great schools." If you are Korean or Asian, I know the parents are praying this: "Good schools! All A's to not shame the family!" Pray! Pray! For my kingdom! For my will! My children! My will! My kingdom! That is not how we are actually supposed to pray. It should be God first. It is not to say those things are unimportant. Concern for our family, concern for our livelihood, concern for success are important. We work, and are responsible; diligent in everything we do. Yet, it is not about my kingdom in the end. "God, it is about Your kingdom. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

And so, Jesus brings us then to the third point, which is: then pray about what you need. Don't start off praying about what you need. First remember, put your needs in context; remember, God is great. Put your sufferings and difficulties in context! Remember that God is the Creator of time and space, the Creator of the universe, the planets, the suns, and the stars -- and then see your problems in light of that. Remember to make it your purpose to live for God's kingdom, for God's will, and then -- at the third stage -- pray for what you need. God loves you. Pray for what you need. He already knows what you need, but if it soothes your heart, share with him what you need.

The fourth stage: Jesus then talks about forgiveness. As we mentioned, asking for forgiveness is so important in prayer life.

And fifth: "Lead us not into temptation, but lead us into salvation." That means every aspect of your life! Church is not just one category; it is not categorical. It is not just one part of your intellect, not just one part of your mentality; it is not just one part of emotion. God is not only one category in your life alongside other categories in your life. God is the center around which all the categories revolve. Jesus is saying that of all the categories, God is at the center of it all -- leading us away from evil and into the salvation of God, the glory of God, the goodness of God. Whether it be our marriage, our blessing, our blessed children, our community, our work, our spiritual training -- in all these things: "God, lead us! Don't let us be led into temptation by any one of these things. But let all of these things lead to salvation. Let all these things lead to the greater glory of Your kingdom." This is how Jesus tells us to pray.

One brother asked me, "Why do you pray in True Parents' name when you give the prayer blessing at the end of the service? We are supposed to pray in our names! I thought we are supposed to pray in the central blessed family's name!"

Yes. But one thing about praying in our names is that we can become confused. We remember that we used to pray in Jesus' name. True Parents were praying in the Lord's name, in Jesus' name. And then True Parents used to pray in True Parents' name. We used to all pray in True Parents' name. Then, we were told by Father to report, and in our report we could pray in our own names. But here we can mess things up. We can start thinking: Oh, because we used to pray in Jesus' name, and he was the Lord, the Messiah; and because we prayed in True Parents' names, and they are the Lord of the Second Advent; now I can pray in my name -- I am just as great as they are! I am just as much a Messiah as they are!

Remember, when we offer prayer and report to heaven, we are really praying and reporting our situation to heaven. It is almost like when you end in your name, or your family's name, you are signing your prayer with a spiritual pen. I sign my name; I pray in my name. It is like in Korea, we have the big seal; we use the seal to stamp our names. When we offer our report to heaven, we are praying, not saying that we are True Parents, not saying that we are the messiah, but that we are reporting to heaven, to True Parents. We are signing our names, our family's name, to the report that is being sent. When I pray in private and when I train together with the Hoonsa nims, then we pray in our own names, because in those situations we are reporting to heaven. We are signing our names on the prayer, so to speak.

When we look at our tradition, we see that True Parents teach us that in these reports we of course can ask God about the things that bother us in our normal daily life. But True Parents teach us that first we must give glory to God. First we give glory to God, just like Jesus said. If we compare True Parents' prayer and Jesus' prayer, there are many points of similarity. We offer glory to God; we remember who is great; we remember who is bigger than any situation; we thank them. And True Parents specifically say, comfort God's heart. It is a very important part of our tradition: comforting God -- comforting Him, understanding the His pain; and then, of course, putting His kingdom before ours. This is central in True Parents' prayers.

Jesus said that at the third stage, we can pray for our own individual needs; but True Parents take it one step further and say before we do that, we want to pray for God. We want to uplift God. It is His kingdom before our kingdom, His will before ours. And we want to be world global citizens: as [Father's] book says, we want to be segye een. We want to pray for the world, we want to pray for the nation, we want to pray for our tribes and our society, we want to pray for other families. Then we pray for our family; then we pray for our children. And finally we pray for our needs. This is not saying that our needs are the lowest, but this is the way we offer prayer to God. This is the way we acknowledge that there are things greater than our own individual worries and desires.

As the True Parents say, pray for God, pray for Jesus and the saints. Pray for the world like a saint, pray for the nations like a patriot, for the family like the filial son, and finally address your wants and desires.

True Parents teach us to go one step beyond, to understand that we are always connected -- not only to God who is unseen, but also to the seen world, to the visible world, our world -- and to make the commitment to move forward.

I want to end with True Parents' words. Let's read it together and we will end. This is from the seventh volume of the speeches of True Parents. Let's read together:

"By praying for God's sake, you can know God's heart through history. Next you should pray for Jesus, then the multitudes of saints in Christendom who have fought for the great will of the dispensation following the footsteps of all the prophets and saints who walked the path of faith since the fall of Adam and Eve. You should pray in tears, 'Please allow me to become an offering to cleanse all their sorrows.' After you have finished that prayer, you may pray for your beloved children, and lastly for yourself. This is the order according to heavenly law."

Aju!

Father here is not saying that our prayers should all be equal in length. Remember, the length is not the important thing. At different times in your life, you may actually end up praying about the nation more than other sections of the prayer. You may pray for forgiveness more than other sections of the prayer. But this is the way that prayer can move, if we are to move God's heart: we need to pray with His perspective, to pray with His heart. This is what captures God's attention.

True Father Prayer:

Glory be unto the Holy True Father, Liberator of God's Heart, King of Kings,
Returning Christ, and full inheritor of God's True Love!
We bow before your sacrifice for us!

For our trespasses you suffered and died, descending into Hell seven times to indemnify our sin from the individual to the cosmic level. We bow before you in utmost gratitude and give you glory! Aju!

True Mother Prayer

Glory be unto the Holy True Mother, Perfected Eve, and mover of the Holy Spirit! Blessed is your sacred womb from which we are born again of the Holy Spirit.

Pray for us, your children, and permit us to come closer to God and our Holy True Father, now and when we ascend to the spirit world, Aju!

Final Prayer:

Brothers and sisters, let's all rise and now end in our final prayer. Let's all raise our hands and pray.

Dearest most beloved Heavenly Father, You are great. Father, You are good. You are inconceivably profound. Father, You created the skies, and the heavens and the earth. Father, you created the planets and the stars. You created time and space. Father, we want to acknowledge Your greatness, because anything on this small planet Earth, in this small nation of Korea, in this small sanctuary, in the small minds of ours -- any problem in our minds -- is not that big.

Father, let us always keep it in perspective, for You are amazing. You are always with us, and You know what we need. Father, we want to give You glory. We want to elevate and praise Your name -- lift it up on high today as we begin our prayer. Father, we want to set the record straight: it is not my kingdom and my will. It is Your kingdom and Your will first. Father, we pray that You may use us for Your kingdom and will, that You may use our families for Your kingdom and will, that You may use our talents for Your kingdom and will, that You may use our learning for Your kingdom and will, our careers for Your kingdom and will, our material blessing for Your kingdom and will. We pray that You may use our spiritual practice for Your kingdom and will! Father, in all things, it is Your kingdom before my kingdom.

Father, we thank You so much because You allow us into this love relationship with You, a relationship where we don't have to be the great warrior in every circumstance, where we can rely on You, where we can remember Your goodness, how You saved us through so many situations in our past.

Father, we thank You so much. Father, we also pray for the world, that it may return back to You. Father, we pray for all the nations; particularly, all the brothers and sisters here who have joined us from Europe -- Father, we pray for every one of their nations this day! Bless those nations, Father! Bless them for Your kingdom and Your will. And Father, we pray that You may bless the societies in those nations, the tribes, the families; and, Father, that You may use us in our individual lives so that we can make Your kingdom shine.

Father, we thank You so much because today we meditate and we focus our attention on prayer; not on the worries of this present life but on the eternality of Your goodness.

We thank You so much, Father, and we want to offer all our love and devotion to You. We also want to ask You to forgive us if we have done things that are wrong. Father, we pray that You may forgive us so that we may learn also to practice forgiveness toward people who have wronged us -- to not hold grudges and to not hold that kind of anger and resentment in our hearts, to let it go; for, Father, you have forgiven us.

Father, lead us in all our pathways. Lead us in all our categories of life to be centered on the salvation that You provide. We thank You so much, and we offer all these things in our own names with a thankful and everlasting love. We pray these things in the names of the central blessed families and the great name of our beloved True Parents; we pray. Aju!

Notes:

Matthew, chapter 6

1: "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2: "Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

3: But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4: so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5: "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

6: But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7: "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8: Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9: Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.

10: Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

11: Give us this day our daily bread;

12: And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;

13: And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

14: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you;

15: but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16: "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

17: But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

18: that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal,

20: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22: "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light;

23: but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

25: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26: Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27: And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?

28: And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;

29: yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30: But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?

31: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?'

32: For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

34: "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day. 

Hyung Jin Moon's talk about the two-day workshop - Update from Brits abroad at Chung Pyung

Simon Cooper
July 8, 2010

Here is a picture from Father's event this morning, a brief personal account, and notes from Hyung Jin Moon's talk a couple of hours ago:

Classic build up: lights went on at 3.45 am (not sure why), had a nice naked wash and shave with a few others in the men's toilets, in the sink. Sat on a coach for 45 minutes, then it moved, went up the hill to the palace/museum. The time was 6 am ish, the 'Convention to proclaim the word that firmly establishes the True Parents' was due to start at 10 am. Thankfully at the top of the mountain there was some breeze and the clouds were mercifully in front of the sun for some of the time.

Father was full of his usual poise and shared both deeply and humorously. He shared how he had just dyed his hair and how he always does before these occasions. I heard he had been up to 3.30 am talking to his close disciples. As the sun grew stronger and I went to find the shade of a tree and take my jacket off in order to sweat less, I reminded myself that Father at 90 years old, had been standing at the podium for more than an hour in his suit.

After we had no buses so we (8000 people) had to walk down the mountain. Our calf muscles felt the gradient. And I was glad I had followed the advice of others and had not brought one of the boys with me. Not sure they would have handled the schedule and not sure how I would have managed carrying one of them down on my back….

Here are my notes from Hyung Jin Moon's message to us this afternoon at the start of a 2 day Original Divine Principle seminar that father asked us all to join after the event today:

"True Father said today we should go back to our roots. Our unification movement tradition has a very short history of only 50 years and in that short time it has spread across the whole world, and of course as a result we have many limitations as well.

We want to go back to the core of True Parents revelation and the essence of the Divine Principle.

When I was in Brazil recently we read Father's autobiography in our morning study and we were discussing about our faith and our fate.

Our fate is connected to the path that we take. There are a series of decisions that we make that determine our future.

If you look back at your life you can see this reality.

WE MUST KNOW where we are heading. There is a biblical verse in Proverbs where king Solomon was looking out of a window and saw a young man walking on a path, and he could see that young man's future. On one side of the path there was a very decadent town with a big red light district, towards which the young man was heading.

King Solomon compared him to a cow that is heading to the abattoir.

However the young man did not see that future as he was thinking about something else, about happy thoughts of a very beautiful woman who had invited him to the town. So the young man was having a very sweet dream, but king Solomon had seen many men walking down this path and knew what fate he would have; that he would become trapped by this town of decadence.

(This is somewhere in Proverbs apparently… no reference was given… but William Haines helped me find it, he uses it in his lecture on the Human Fall. See Proverbs 7)

We can see from this that the path we are taking is always connected to our future. And when there is the opportunity to look down on that path with objectivity we can see where it will lead.

The reason I am telling you this story is that this young man did not realize that this choice he was making would effect his life so significantly. There are many choices that come up in our life: these are essentially the paths that we chose to take in our life.

We have to always ask ourselves what is the path I am taking and where is it leading to. Brothers and sisters, we are seeking the eternal path. We are not seeking the transient or temporary path.

That is the path of seeking True Parents, which is eternal. That is our bright and eternal future.

We are not to center one generation or another. We have an eternal center which is True Parents. If you look at Christianity, there have been many saints and church leaders, but they have always focused on Jesus' eternal love, rather than their own significance.

If we forget that we will find ourselves going on the wrong path with out noticing it…

We will always be True Parents children….

… After my elder brother passed away [Young Jin Moon] I started to doubt whether God existed, and with that kind of mind I started studying religion, and then I started training…

When I go before True Parents I do not go as an adult, regardless of however many responsibilities and positions he has bestowed on me. When I go into the room, Father does not see an international president, but he sees his youngest son, and that is when I feel the greatest freedom and love. I don't feel the need to have to prove anything to them and this is the most precious quality time for me.

We should get rid of thoughts we have that put us in the context of some official position when we are in front of True Parents. Of course it is important to be mature in our actions and in our words, but as Jesus said in order to go to the Kingdom of Heaven we need the heart of a child.

Through this important proclamation today there are a lot of expectations….

It is because of this 120 day workshop which has just been completed that a war could be prevented between the North and South Korea. Even the sinking of the naval ship did not bring about war. Because these leaders who went through the 120 day workshop and united with True Parents and continued through out the 120 days faithfully an important condition could be set by True Parents.

(From UK: Constance Rennie and Haesul Fagcang attended the workshop.)

We do not know what conditions are being set by this 2 day workshop that we are starting now on Father's request, we do not know how big a condition can be made by even the offering of a pigeon.

If we can think like that we will go down one path, if we look cynically and with disinterest we will go down another path. How we take this short workshop is a decision we will make.

That young man thought he was going to be with the beautiful woman for just one night and he did not realize how that one night would have a big effect on his life course… for us this one night, and two days workshop will also involve us making a decision that will effect our path and our future. Let has have that kind of awareness and heart.

Let us look into our hearts and either have king Solomon's perspective, or the blissfully unaware perspective of the young man who was oblivious to the choices that he was making regarding his future.

Let us go on a path of seeking True Parents in our life."

Notes:

The Books of Proverbs, chapter 7

1: My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;

2: keep my commandments and live,
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;

3: bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

4: Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call insight your intimate friend;

5: to preserve you from the loose woman,
from the adventuress with her smooth words.

6: For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,

7: and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man without sense,

8: passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house

9: in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.

10: And lo, a woman meets him,
dressed as a harlot, wily of heart.

11: She is loud and wayward,
her feet do not stay at home;

12: now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.

13: She seizes him and kisses him,
and with impudent face she says to him:

14: "I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;

15: so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

16: I have decked my couch with coverings,
colored spreads of Egyptian linen;

17: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.

18: Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.

19: For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;

20: he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home."

21: With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.

22: All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast

23: till an arrow pierces its entrails;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24: And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

25: Let not your heart turn aside to her ways,
do not stray into her paths;

26: for many a victim has she laid low;
yea, all her slain are a mighty host.

27: Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death. 

Report about trip to Brazil

Hyung Jin Moon
July 4, 2010
Cheon Bok Gung, Yongsan, Seoul Korea

Welcoming Remarks:
Yeon-ah nim:

Good afternoon, brothers and sisters! Welcome to the Headquarters of the Unification Church! It is really good to see you all. Yesterday the 120-days "True Parents Workshop" has ended. As True Parents gave us the textbooks of their words, let us all inherit their true words and their true love to all humanity. Aju!

Hyung-jin nim:

Good afternoon, brothers and sisters! Let us manifest the Principle first: Give and Receive Action -- Four Position Foundation -- May I inherit the True Love of God! Aju!

Today's Cheon Seong Gyeong is 331. Father speaks:

"God's Love is stronger than the sun. When the sun rises in the morning, the buds of the plants turn towards the sun. Likewise God's Love is the source of life, the source of our original mind and the core source of ideal elements."

Brothers and sisters, these are such powerful words. We are reminded that God's Love is like the sun. Everything grows and leans and reaches for that warmth and light.

We were in Brazil recently and we are so inspired and thankful for our incredible brothers and sisters in Brazil. They are really amazing brothers and sisters of faith. Through many different circumstances we are all leaning towards the light, the truth and the sun. I want to give a big round of encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Brazil who probably are joining us via internet. (Applause) We love you brothers and sisters!

Video testimony: A 2nd Gen Couple Hwang Jin-nam and Hwang Hye-kyeong

Sincerity??

Husband: A second generation child faces a different set of challenges compared to the first generation members. Our life of faith begins by following the footsteps of our parents and therefore our personal conviction may be weaker than that of our seniors, such as 6,000 couples.

We started going to church because True Father had matched and blessed our parents. Therefore, at some point we all have to begin seeking our identity in faith. I did not know this in my twenties. After I turned thirty, I started to come to appreciate True Father and the truth of Divine Principle, after receiving the Blessing and starting to have children.

Also, I remember how in 2002 I discovered the book "A Bald Head and a Strawberry." It struck me that even the International President Hyung-jin Moon, being a True Child, was not born already enlightened but has to walk step-by-step toward understanding True Father.

Wife: In the United States, he (husband) had an IT-related job in San-Francisco near the Twin Peaks. I remember how he used to offer devotions at the Holy Ground (Twin Peaks) set by True Father. One of the things he used to pray about was to keep the perspective that these IT skills he was working on during that time, in the future would be offered to support the work of a True Child, no matter which True Child it may be.

When we returned to Korea, he had a hard time to find a job and our family fell on hard times financially. Although our children were still young and I didn't feel well physically, I decided it was time for me to start looking for work. I wanted to support my husband because he had worked hard for ten years supporting the family and now it was my turn. I thought this would be a temporary arrangement, but it lasted for three years. Husband Actually, I had a feeling that the trial period would not be short. I am grateful and had no regrets about it. I felt my wife had to go through this three-year course.

Wife: So, I stepped out of the boundary of the family and began to make my way in the larger society. They say that if one wants to go fast, one should go alone. However, going alone is no guarantee for success. I for one want to go far and going together is much better.

Wife: There were lots of ups and downs as I tried to find an application for my skills in Korea. Finally, I started working as a language instructor at Sun Moon University. I looked at our Japanese, Thai, and Filipina sisters and sympathized with their difficulties.

When I had followed my husband to America, I didn't know the language and had no acquaintances there. In that sense, I could understand the language and cultural difficulties facing international couples in Korea. Looking at the faces of Japanese sisters attending the language program, and knowing that they are coming from very challenging life situations, I knew how little emotional space they had for effective learning.

In just 40 days, real life would begin in a Korean family, where they would be expected to serve the husband and parents-in-law, yet not being able to communicate in their language. So I found an interpreter and started to explain the importance of Korean language to these sisters. I would tell them that, as it was in my case, at some point they may also face a long and dark tunnel with no end in sight. However, there is definitely a new bright world at the end of the tunnel.

You were born because God loves you. But if you cannot communicate this to your husband and parents-in-law, the bright future you are destined for may never come about. To our five children, we love you. You are our treasure

Dear Brothers and Sisters, We love you!

Hyung-jin nim:

This time, when we visited Brazil, we had such an incredible experience. We were able to feel the pulse of the members' hearts, and it was such an inspiring visit. It had been about thirteen long years since I had been to Brazil, but True Parents had been there last in 2005. Because of the incredible grace and love that they poured out to Brazilian members, they have an amazing type of Shim Jung --heartistic nature. We were overwhelmed by the incredible brothers and sisters there. We were able to participate in a variety of things that we usually do when we go on overseas-family visits: morning meditation, Qigong training, devotional offering of bows, and also Hoon Dok Hae. What we are going to see now is one part of one day of Hoon Dok Hae, where some really wonderful occurrences happened. Let's watch this video as if we are there with our brothers and sisters in Brazil.

Hyung-jin nim's video:

We had a long morning today. I am very far from perfecting myself; I am far from perfect. You know it is constant training. I believe constant training and practice is very important.

I am reminded of the story in Psalms, in the Bible, of King Solomon [actually The Books of Proverbs, chapter 7]. He was known as the wisest man. In one story he is sitting in the window, and he is looking down on the street, and he sees a young man walking down the street. And he knows that the young man is going to go on the other side. That's a bad neighborhood, not a good neighborhood; like a red light district. King Solomon is sitting in the window, and as he looks down, he can see the pathway that this young man is walking. He knows this young man is in big trouble.

But the young man cannot see from Solomon's view. And the young man is really happy. He thinks he is going to meet the love of his life, somebody who loves him so much, one of the most beautiful women in the city. She called him to come to her. So the young man is singing songs as he is going. But Solomon is looking, "Oh, this is not the right path."

So the young man goes and he sees the woman. She comes out and she sings songs to him, and she says, "I have been waiting just for you. I have been waiting my whole life just for you." And the young man is thinking "Oh, me?" and then big trouble! King Solomon could see the future of that pathway. So the young man thought, "Oh, I am just going to have one very beautiful, romantic night." It would be just one event, "one incredible event, and then I can get back to normal."

But wisdom sees the pathway. That event, the young man meeting that girl, is not just one event. It is a pathway he is choosing. That one night he will fall in love with her and the next night he will want to see her again, and again and again and again. In other words it becomes a pathway that the young man is going to take.

So our destiny always lies on our pathway, whichever pathway we take. Life is not only about certain events and decisions, because once we walk on a path, the path has power.

We don't know, but we can be pulled even further on this path. That's why True Parents always try to make sure we stay on the path, the path going towards True Parents. It's a path with no destination; it is a path chasing, following True Parents. Even if we make Cheon Il Guk, still following True Parents does not stop at Cheon Il Guk. It's endless, it's the eternal path.

Like I mentioned yesterday, we are not perfect in following that path; we are like little children trying to step in Big Daddy's footprints. Little babies sometimes try to step in their parents' footsteps but they are too small and they fall down or lose balance. But if we fall down, trying to follow the path, then we can go another way and give up. Then before we know it, True Father is gone and we have too much to catch up. The best way, even though we are babies, even if we lose balance and fall down, is to get up and come back.

There is a great story about a man on a bridge. It has no handholds, and it is over a huge chasm, with a drop of thousands of feet. This is a tiny bridge. So the man asks his master, "Why do you tell me to do this, and later tell me not to do it?" and "Why do you tell me to go to Brazil and then not to go to Brazil? Why do you tell me the opposite way?" The master said, "When you go too much to the left, I say go right. When you go too much to the right, I say go left." So I save you, and you can get across the bridge. That is a difference in the perspective between Solomon and the young man.

I know this recent situation with the Brazilian brothers and sisters had many difficulties. But I do not worry, because we have True Parents. Actually I am also very thankful. I spent a lot of time with Mauricio and Valdir in Korea. They showed and expressed their penitent hearts and are now dedicating their lives again to True Parents, just quickly. Even though we sometimes fall down like children, we can quickly come back.

I always believe that difficulties make us stronger. Always God can turn around something that was like a storm. He can turn it around and the next day there is a beautiful sunrise. So we have the sunrise; we have the sun and the moon. That's all we have to follow. You shouldn't follow me; you shouldn't follow anyone except True Parents. Our eternal path is a path with destination -- no permanent destination, but it is a path of continually following True Parents. That's why I love it.

I don't like things that just finish. Personally in my life, that's why I like training so much, because there is no end. You can always make yourself better. You can always find some not so good point and then try to overcome and improve to get closer to perfection. That is what we should always be moving towards. Of course we are not True Parents; we are the children who are trying to follow. But still, that's the beauty of the little child, they can constantly try to follow Big Daddy's footsteps.

Okay, brothers and sisters: don't lose hope. Storms are impermanent. They always pass.

But eternity and True Parents do not pass. That is what we all must follow.

Thank you.

Hyung-jin nim's words after the video:

I would like to share a couple of pictures that we took while we were in Brazil.

This is Simao -- he is the president of our church in Brazil. He is such an incredible gentleman. He is actually a lawyer and was elected by the brothers and sisters in Brazil to take on the leadership role. We are so happy that such an incredible leader can guide the church in Brazil. His wife is from Iran, she is actually from a Muslim family, but she joined the movement and was matched to a Brazilian man, Simao. They are an incredible couple. She speaks wonderful Korean.

When I saw this couple it struck me again how amazing it is that these two people from totally different cultures, totally different places of the world, and because of their faith, because of True Parents, they have come together to create this incredible family, and then become the president of the Brazilian church. We are proud of them! It was so inspiring to meet them.

(Next photo) This is in the morning time, at 2:30 in the morning. We were training early just like with the Hoonsa nims. This was the first time that I was able to do this with the brothers and sisters in Brazil. We did the Unification Qigong and the meditation training, the bowing training -- all that good training! We had a wonderful time with the brothers and sisters during the morning training.

Brothers and sisters have been participating in a bowing practice for months now. They continue to pray and bow, particularly for North and South Korea. Isn't that incredible? In Brazil they are giving devotion and bows and setting conditions everyday for the unification of North and South Korea. It's absolutely amazing!

When we saw that, we were able to feel again the incredible miracle that True Parents have done throughout their life time. They started in the small impoverished land of North Korea. North Korea had the economic strength of Nigeria at that time. Absolutely impoverished, but through the blessing of God, they were able to go out into the world to make millions of believers. Hundreds of thousands of people, who now face this nation, give devotions and prayers, so that this holy land, the fatherland, can be united and not be divided. This is such an incredible testament to the fact that our True Parents are truly the Messiah and the Lord of the Second Advent. Let's give it up for God and True Parents! (Applause)

(Next photo) Here we are doing Hoon Dok Hae. Because it is nice and bright and early everybody is trying to go to the spirit world, and falling asleep. So what we do is having everybody read one line. As you all may know, Father's autobiography book has now been published in Portuguese. The Brazilian members were very excited because they hadn't read through it yet and this was a chance to do Hoon Dok Hae together and for everybody to read, and also to not fall asleep. We had an excellent time together with the brothers and sisters. (We also do that when we visit Japan.) This experience was a real treasure.

Before we do Hoon Dok Hae we always have a couple of testimonies from the grassroots; these are brothers and sisters that live the good fight of faith every day, declaring True Parents and sacrificing all their energy for True Parents.

(Next photo) This is a brother from Japan. He is a missionary there (in Brazil). It's important to hear, once in a while, the stories of the brothers and sisters that are around you. During the busyness of our work we usually don't get to hear those stories. So, we always take time to listen to the testimonies, the personal stories of how people met True Parents, of how they were saved by True Parents, of how they were blessed by True Parents and how they continue to live their lives with True Parents.

(Next photo) This is in the main sanctuary on Sunday. We were able to do Worship service at the Brazil church. They told me that they had been watching the English service here (in Korea) for the last two years and they had learned a lot of the songs that the 'Two Rivers Choir' were singing. So when we were there they were singing some of the greatest hits for us! They lifted up God and True Parents and it was absolutely incredible. The choir offered some beautiful songs of praise as well, entering into the presence of God with praise and thanksgiving, with gratitude and heart. We can see True Parents' picture above them. They were really singing and thanking True Parents for their blessing, for their marriage, for the health of their children, etc. It was just an incredible atmosphere of faith. We were so grateful to be able to lead the service there.

(Next photo)We were able to share some words with the brothers and sisters in Brazil. Many of them came from the countryside. Many were not only from Sao Paulo but from different parts of Brazil. They came and were able to spend some time in service and glorify God and True Parents. When you talk about True Parents in Brazil the members start applauding, they start hollering -- it's such a beautiful expression. They still can feel the warmth of True Parents, when they were there physically.

(Next photo) Here we have the offering of the Unification mark, the Medallion, to the Continental Director, Rev. [Dong Mo] Shin, Rev. Heung-tae Kim and also to Simao the President of Brazil. It was so moving because when Simon received the Medallion, he was in tears. He shared tears of gratitude and thanks. He is such an incredible individual with so much talent, and also a deep and warm heart of love towards True Parents. We were so inspired.

After that we were able to choose by lottery which family we would visit.

(Next photo) This is a picture after the service. We took pictures of everybody -- of individuals, pictures with their families and afterwards we took a big picture with everybody in it. I didn't know that, but every member in Brazil knows the 'saranghaeyo' that we do in Korea (forming a heart with your hands). It was wonderful to see that we are truly one Unification family.

(Next photo) This is at night. We were able to visit Valdir Alves dos Santos' family. We had such a fantastic, inspirational time there. What a beautiful family! They have such a deep heart and love for God and True Parents and I was so impressed by their children.

(Next photo) This is William. He is 16 years old, good in soccer and working hard at school. His father said, "Whenever we go visit families, we always have three things that we state in front of everybody. Three wonderful things about each other in front of everybody that we say, we vocalize it, not just keep it in our hearts. We give the blessing." And his father, talking about William, stated, "I am so grateful that William accepts and believes in True Parents and serves them as the Messiah. I am so proud of him that he does that." It was so amazing to see this humble young man; he has an incredible bright future in front of him, very smart, very athletic, but also such a wonderful individual. We are so pleased and blessed to be able to meet him.

(Next photo) This is their daughter Refael; such a wonderful family. This is where the mother is praising her daughter, and the daughter also then returns three wonderful things about her mom. And this family was just such a delight to be with. We had such an incredible time.

The little baby is Vitor. He loves his daddy. He's the baby at the house, so I know what that is like. He was up since 5:00 o'clock, so he's very tired. He's such a good kid. His daddy really gives him a lot of attention. It is really beautiful to see their family.

After this, we had a wonderful time at dinner. They invited us out onto their patio on the street. Many people in Korea who fast, after they fast, they crave doenjang jigae or kimchi. But for me I was craving pizza because I am from New York, and so we ate pizza a lot. So I wanted to eat some pizza but, as you know, after you fast you cannot eat pizza. You have to eat gruel and water rice for like two weeks. So this was the first time after my fast that I had pizza. It was a nice blessing! And it was excellent; very nice pizza, Brazilian pizza, for the first time.

I had a wonderful time sharing meal with them, sharing communion, giving grace.

(Another Photo): This is where we offer them a picture. When we do the True Parent's prayer at the end, with the picture of True Parents, we discover them with our spiritual eyes. We have this little beautiful frame and inside has a beautiful picture. At the back, it has Korean prayers of gratitude, etc. And we're so happy that they really love it, that they really enjoyed receiving that picture of True Parents. And then of course afterwards, we signed a couple of books for them, including Father's autobiography.

(Next Photo): A couple of families were there, some of the other families that are related to them were with us. It was just really amazing. Here's a photo where they all said, "We want to send the picture to all the brothers and sisters in Korea. We want to send a big shout of "Saranghaeyo to all of you in Korea." This is for you; this picture is for you brothers and sisters from the disciples' family. So we thanked them, we thanked the Dos Santos family because they were really truly a great inspiration when we were able to visit the center. It was such a blessing.

Also, I was able to talk to brothers and sisters about the Korean situation, about the tension of the North and the South. Father asked us to do the 120-days spiritual condition, prayer devotion, and many of you I see are participating in that. And of course we saw many miracles during that time, really setting the condition before Heaven so that this nation did not enter into a full scale war. We believe that we were setting the condition to be able to protect the nation spiritually.

Also, I was able to share with them the reality of the 2013 when True Parents talk about the "Substantiation of Cheon Il Guk" age that is coming. I received a wonderful article from Peter; about a British scholar who went through each century and saw throughout the centuries, that within the teens (so that would be from the 10's to the 20's within that period of time) big shifts come that set the tone for the century. For instance, 1517 was the Martin Luther event; 1815 was the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon; the 30-Years War also began within that generation of teens in the previous century; also in 1914, of course, was the beginning of World War I. So in every generation, during the second decade when the century reaches its teens, comes an incredible situation that sets the tone for that generation. And this scholar was actually predicting that in 2014, he believes there will be something that will set the tone for the century.

I believe -- I believe that it is in 2013, and that something will happen between the North and the South -- the North and the South peninsula, where a new aspect, a new relationship towards that will set the tone for the century. As you know, in this very critical time, the only person who has a connection to the North, who is still in communication with the North, is our True Parents. It is the Unification Church; nobody else has a connection to North Korea at this time.

It is during this time that God is opening up doors. I believe that in 2013 there will be incredible things happening. I was reminded by our friend that in China, there is now a new generation that is coming out -- they have learned about Communism, about Mao Tse-tung's ideology, but do not necessarily have strong belief in it. With the new developments in the economic market, more freedom, more economic surplus and growth, China is now in a situation where it is actually learning and searching for faith.

As you know, the Chinese Christian Church is the fastest growing Christian church worldwide, with over 70 million members already and growing. That is because when people come out of Communism, come out of that kind of ideology, there is this great void and vacuum that occurs. And only something that is powerful, like a faith, which can give them a new sense of identity and a purpose, can fill that vacuum. And that is the same thing that I predict about North Korea. That is because of True Parents. When we have this new relationship with the North, and once they come in contact with the real modern world, they feel that vacuum and loss of identity, then the people there will be searching for faith.

And if they are truly searching for faith, with their strong patriotism and pride in their country, would they choose a faith from a far off land, or would they be inspired by the faith that was started in Cheonggu, North Korea that spread to the world to become a world religion within the founder's lifetime? That shows that the Holy land of Holy lands is the unity of Korea, that here the Jerusalem of all Jerusalems must be united. If you think about it, what kind of faith would they choose? They would be inspired by this incredible story, by this incredible history and reality; and through that, I believe, our brothers and sisters in North Korea will come to know True Parents, will come to know a new identity that is even more powerful than just the nationalistic identity. A new identity that centers on faith, a new purpose and a new mission that seeks to love and change the world starting from the Holy land.

So when we think about True Father's vision of Cheon Il Guk, and how the world-level Cheon Il Guk will come, I really do believe that something miraculous will happen that God is already preparing, and that God is moving in that direction. When I shared this with brothers and sisters in Brazil, I was so moved because they were so inspired. They are all the way on the other side of the world, but still they have the heart of concern and love and prayers that they pray every day for the unity of North Korea and South Korea.

This is maybe not amazing for people who are not from Korea, but if you are Korean, there is nobody who has made this kind of impact in the world. And that is the real testament of our True Parents' being who they really are; beings who we say they really are: the Messiah, the Returning Lord and the True Parents of Heaven and Earth. When I shared this to brothers and sisters in Brazil, they were so overjoyed. I was so impressed and so thankful that they are also with us on the path of unification.

Brothers and sisters, our prayers go out to the brothers and sisters in Brazil. They had some situation that was very painful, but because of the difficulty we all become stronger. We all become one. And so the brothers and sisters in Brazil came to find an opportunity to center upon True Parents and to then start a new history, moving towards the substantiation of Cheon Il Guk. Let us give it up one more time for our brothers and sisters in Brazil. We are so grateful for all of you in Brazil. We are so grateful for you all.

True Father Prayer:

Glory be unto the Holy True Father, Liberator of God's Heart, King of Kings,
Returning Christ, and full inheritor of God's True Love!
We bow before your sacrifice for us!

For our trespasses you suffered and died, descending into Hell seven times to indemnify our sin from the individual to the cosmic level. We bow before you in utmost gratitude and give you glory! Aju!

True Mother Prayer

Glory be unto the Holy True Mother, Perfected Eve, and mover of the Holy Spirit! Blessed is your sacred womb from which we are born again of the Holy Spirit.

Pray for us, your children, and permit us to come closer to God and our Holy True Father, now and when we ascend to the spirit world, Aju!

Prayer:

Dear Most Beloved Heavenly Parent,

We thank You so much because Your love is exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can think or say. And we thank You so much because we saw Your grace this day. Father, we saw You make a miracle out of a dark storm. And Father, we saw You turn around what brought pain into something that can bring glory. You have the ability to do the amazing, because You are God. We love You and we search after You. We seek You through Your son and Your daughter, True Parents who are our eternal True Parents. We thank You so much that You have sent them to be in our lives to give us life, love, and lineage that we can be connected to You directly. We thank You so much and we want to always approach You with praise and thanksgiving, with humility and service. Father, we pray that we can empty ourselves.

Father, work through us as Your instruments of peace in this world. We thank You so much Lord because we come before You and we know that it is because of Your grace that we are still standing here today, Your grace that we have come this far, and Your grace that we can look towards the future and see a brighter day. We thank You so much because we know You are walking with us every step of the way. We follow the footsteps of our True Parents. Even though we stumble and fall as Your children, Father we get up and we search for them again. We follow after them again. That is our destiny and that is our path.

Father we thank You so much for leading us. And we pray these things with a grateful heart, and in particular, for the hearts of the Brazilian brothers and sisters. We pray for them, bless them this day. Bless them Father. Thank You so much. We pray for all the brothers and sisters that are joining us here today, and all over the world, through the internet; we pray that Your blessing and abundance may continue to be with our brothers and sisters. Also, that we may become one and truly unite the Holy Land, spreading unity, spreading unification towards the rest of this world, setting the new tone for the century. Father, we know You can do all things, for with man they are impossible, but with You all things are possible. We pray all these things in our names, as central blessed families, and in the name of our True Parents, Aju!

Notes:

The Books of Proverbs, chapter 7

1: My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;

2: keep my commandments and live,
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;

3: bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

4: Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call insight your intimate friend;

5: to preserve you from the loose woman,
from the adventuress with her smooth words.

6: For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,

7: and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man without sense,

8: passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house

9: in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.

10: And lo, a woman meets him,
dressed as a harlot, wily of heart.

11: She is loud and wayward,
her feet do not stay at home;

12: now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.

13: She seizes him and kisses him,
and with impudent face she says to him:

14: "I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;

15: so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

16: I have decked my couch with coverings,
colored spreads of Egyptian linen;

17: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.

18: Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.

19: For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;

20: he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home."

21: With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.

22: All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast

23: till an arrow pierces its entrails;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24: And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

25: Let not your heart turn aside to her ways,
do not stray into her paths;

26: for many a victim has she laid low;
yea, all her slain are a mighty host.

27: Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.  

Our Decisions Determine Our Destiny

Hyung Jin Moon
July 3, 2010

The graduation ceremony for the Special Education Session for World Leaders Organized by True Parents (the 120-day workshop) was held on July 3 at Cheon Bok Gung. This is the main content of Hyung-jin nim's speech on that occasion.

Good morning everyone.

Brothers and sisters, you've worked very hard. Thank you for completing the 120- day (127-day!) workshop.

As you know, Father is in Yeosu. On July 1, Father held Hoon Dok Hae for twenty-three and a half hours. This is a world record! He really pushed himself to his limits.

I arrived in Korea from Brazil at six PM on that day. Father had already spoken for thirteen hours. People told me that Father was pushing himself too much; it would be nice if Shin-joon nim could telephone True Father, they said. Instead, I called Father myself. Father said many things; he said, "Eog mansei!" So I thought that after thirteen hours and my phone conversation, Father would finish Hoon Dok Hae. But the next day when I was doing my Jeong Seong and Hoon Dok Hae there was no news in the early morning. When I asked, they said Father was still speaking [from the day before]. As you know, Father feels great impatience, and his burden is on the global level. We cannot imagine how heavy a burden that is....

True Father then went out to sea at around seven o'clock in the morning and caught a very large fish, 97 centimeters long, the largest this year. And on that day! [Applause] So we could see the blessing of Heaven upon True Parents....

Through this workshop we were able to bring together our devotion and effort and had an opportunity to prepare for 2013 by inheriting True Parents' teachings, which they wanted us to do, by making a proper plan by which to begin our future work.

Our choices lead us toward our destiny

When I think about this task, I recall something I shared with the members in Brazil this time. It is from a story about King Solomon who is known as "Solomon the Wise." He is looking from his window at the street below and sees a young man walking along the street. He has seen many men walk this way before. A lady is waiting for the young man. From Solomon's point of view the young man doesn't know where he's going. He compares him to a cow bound for slaughter but who knows nothing of its fate.

The young man's viewpoint is different. He sees his prospective encounter with a woman as an experience with a lover for whom he has waited all his life.

It is clear to Solomon that the young man is walking along a path to his death. She has lain in wait for him. She persuades him with her seductive talk, and he is taken in by this. Watching this unfold, King Solomon understands the reality. In choosing a certain path, the young man is determining his destiny. Depending on the path we take, our destination will be different.

Solomon knew that this was not just a one-off event. He could see this young man was choosing his path of life. It would not be just one day; he would go back the next day, and the next. And this would become his path. Even though the young man could not see it, King Solomon could see this person's future, his destiny.

In light of this, what is the path we are following, and what will our destiny be, therefore? Our destiny and our path are inseparable. This is important. We may think we are concluding a one hundred and twenty day period, but if we think like that, we are no different from the foolish young man in the story. This is not just a workshop; it's not just an event. As you went through the training and spiritual practice of this workshop, you were determining a path. You are deciding the path you are going to follow. It's not a one-day event. It's not a hundred and twenty days; this workshop determines the path we will take to eternal life.

A special path

Ordinary people are not following this path, and its purpose, its destination, is different from an ordinary person's. Ours is truly a path without an end. All paths but ours have an end; the leader's path never finishes.

Why is this? We are following the path True Parents have blazed. It has no end. Even if we fully realize Cheon Il Guk, we still need True Parents. Aju! It is not as if we will just arrive in Cheon Il Guk and no longer need True Parents. Our path is an eternal one. Even though we will pass on to the heavenly world, we must still follow True Parents.

Therefore, our path at this time is in pursuit of eternal elements. The elements of earthly life, such as material wealth and fame, are not eternal. We must not pursue such things. Ours is a path on which we are focusing on eternal matters. Do you see the eternal reality of the universe? The origin, creator of the universe is God. God's essence is true love. True Parents are God's eternal second selves.

Our path is to seek these things, and there is no end. It's not as if we will reach the point where we become True Parents. Of course, within our family we must stand as parents who are true, but that is quite different from being the True Parents. The True Children are also completely different from True Parents. There is an overall difference. We cannot become the True Parents. True Parents are the only second self of the eternal God. Could we give them a round of applause! [Applause]

[Hyung-jin nim tells the story of how, as a young boy he would go to Gloucester, a town on the east coast of the United States in the early 1980s. After fishing, Father and the members would walk on the beach. Hyung-jin nim relates his memory of trying to step in Father's footprints in the sand.]

Seeing Father was like seeing God

We were small and we kept falling over. We were unable to properly follow in Father's footsteps. Father's stride was so big, but we were so small. When we fell down, we got back up and kept going. For those who were watching this, it would have looked funny and cute. On the other hand, for us, whether we could do it or not was a serious matter. If we concentrated, we could do it.

I've thought a lot about this. Our life of faith is the same. We cannot become True Parents. Only one person can be the king of kings. No one else can become the king of kings.

There is no "next" True Parents. This is the eternal era of True Parents. Our responsibility is to eternally elevate True Parents, to eternally testify to them, and to become people who help bring to eternal life, through True Parents, those that have died.

We cannot follow perfectly in those footsteps. By that, I mean we cannot become the True Parents. But we can make effort to follow that path, even if we never complete it, even if we fall down, like children, because we are the children.

Relationship with True Father

I am very grateful for having a very good relationship with my father. It was not always like that, because Father has been working so hard for God's will all his life. He was away from home a lot. Those from the second generation know what I mean [about parents being absent due to mission work].

Because there were many of us, he didn't have time to spend with each child individually. So when I was a child, I had no relationship with Father. Of course, I would greet Father and Mother and kiss them on the cheek; on that level, yes. But we were never able to have special conversations with each other; it was a somewhat formal relationship. We knew that True Parents loved us a lot, but we were not able to share our affection for each other.

After Young-jin hyung went to the spirit world, and I began to study religion, I asked Father questions about religion, about the Unification Church, about his thinking -- many things. I wrote a lot about these things in my book A Bald Head and a Strawberry.

From that point, gradually I was blessed with a deepening relationship and sharing of heart with Father. I feel that no matter how great the work we do is, no matter how great a victory we bring, we are always True Parents' children. In my relationship with True Parents, I truly feel liberated and set free when I am their child, rather than when I stand in front of Father as an adult with a sense of having important responsibilities. Feeling I am True Parents' child is not something I feel ashamed of. Think of your heart in relation to your own parents when you were a child.

When I had my first and second children, two sons, my wife and I were very young. I'd shaved my head and every morning I was doing martial arts training. My children saw me doing that a lot. These little children started to ask if they could have their heads shaved -- well, not shaved, but their hair cut very short. I have some pictures of that time. Because I was doing martial arts, they would make paper swords or spears and come out and pretend they were training with me. I remember how cute they were.

Children want to be like their parents in every way, even though they are very small. They still try to follow their parents and be like them; they have that beautiful heart. As we grow into adulthood, however, we come to feel a great need to save face, look dignified in front of others, and preserve that dignity. We lose the innocent heart of a child that loves its parents, sees only its parents.

In the Bible, it is recorded that Jesus said that we must become like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. We know this. Father also likes this passage very much.

In my relationship with Father, I've truly found the greatest joy when I am able to relate to him as a child to his parent. I know very well that I cannot replace Father and I acknowledge that fact, because I will always be a child to True Parents, a baby, even. In this father–son relationship, I can feel extraordinary love.

When I enter the room, does Father think, "Oh! The international president has returned."? He doesn't think like that. "The church leader has come." I may hold a position but that is not what he thinks about when he sees me. No, he thinks, "Oh my boy is here!" That's it, really. That's the most beautiful thing.

As you become an adult, you may think, "I'm not a baby. I'm an adult -- I'm a father; I have a grandson. What are you saying?" We may think like that, but if we live like that, our lives of faith will be painful. If we live with this mind-set, we cannot be happy in relation to True Parents.

I am speaking from personal experience. We must remember we are True Parents' children. If we put anything else around that, it will just become an obstacle, inhibiting our relationship with them.

We should shield ourselves from praise

During these hundred and twenty days, you offered Jeong Seong, you studied many materials and you undertook hard training from the early hours of the morning. Even so, brothers and sisters, if you offered those up to True Parents, you must now forget about them, forget about all the effort you've made in the workshop.

You should not think, "Oh, I got up every morning and offered Jeong Seong in front of True Parents." You should get rid of that kind of thinking. If you continue to think like that, it means you did not offer it to True Parents completely. You have to let it go. You have to forget about it. I know you've been told how hard you've worked but I want tell you to throw those words of praise away. If they come in one ear, let them quickly flow out the other.

There is a saying that one should respond to persecution and praise in the same way. When persecution comes, we set ourselves so that it cannot penetrate our hearts. You don't allow negativity, temptation or evil to enter you. In the same way that you shield yourself from persecution, you should shield yourself from praise. If you allow praise to penetrate you and you welcome it, you become attached to it and don't let go of it. As you receive praise and eat it up, coming to like the sweet taste, you turn into the devil.

That's why, when we are praised, we should shield ourselves from it just as we do with persecution, temptation and sin. You should not draw it down into yourself but push it up to Heaven. Rather than receiving it, think instead, "I did not work so hard for a hundred and twenty days; it's True Parents who have worked hard for so long." Return that praise to Heaven! [Applause] This is the difference between the path that Satan takes and True Parents' path.

It is right for me to say thank you for your hard work, brothers and sisters, but whenever someone thanks you for your hard work, you have to hate that praise. Transfer that praise to Heaven. Then your devotion and investment will not be in vain. If you can do that, you can return joy to True Parents as a little child does to his parents.

It's very important to have such a pure and unblemished heart. As we come to a close, we cannot send you back to the mission field and just tell you that you did a good job. Our lives are being offered. We must always think that any success we have belongs to True Parents. It's important to have that heart, like a young child.

On this final day, I want you to remember that your choices and decisions are deciding the path you are going to take. In that light, we choose our path from today, the eternal path. That path is the one on which we seek God and True Parents. If we follow that path, we will not only return joy to True Parents, but after we reach the beautiful world of Cheon II Guk, we will meet again and we will be able to completely rediscover True Parents and follow them again as their beautiful children. I believe this!

I would like to thank you as we conclude this one hundred and twenty day workshop. Let's give a big round of applause to God and True Parents. 

Reflection About The Special Tour Of The FFWPU International President, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon (June 26 - 28, 2010, Brazil)

Neudir Simão Ferabolli
July 2, 2010

When we started to make the invitation letter for Pres. Hyung Jin Moon to come to Brazil, we didn't have the assurance that he will change his schedule and will attend to our request. We already had explained to him that in Brazil, on Saturday, June 26, there will be the general assembly of members at 9:00 am.

We knew that Pres. Hyung Jin Moon was very busy and involved with the 120 days seminar for leader which was on going in Korea at that time. On the other hand, also we didn't want to give any kind of preoccupation to the True Family, considering that already the daughter of True Parents, Rev. In Jin Moon came to Brazil in the beginning of the month of June. However, thinking of all the members and central blessed families, our hearts asked that we need to make that invitation letter for Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and once Rev. Shin suggested that we invite the International President, I didn't hesitate and immediately we invited him.

To our surprise, the following day we received a confirmation that the couple Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim would be with us on Saturday, June 26 and will stay in Brazil until June 29. His staff already had told us that they usually stay at the church headquarters. I almost couldn't believe because it's truly a blessing and much care and love from our True Parents. Quickly we disseminated the news and worked with a good heart, preparing the headquarters, the temple and the members for their coming.

On June 26, from outside the airport, Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim were received by a group of leaders and members with flowers and applause. Immediately, we went to the headquarters and even already it was past noon, upon knowing that the members were gathered together at the 5th floor, immediately Hyung Jin Nim wanted to meet the members and aside from greeting them, he shared some words. The reception of the members was so warm and the members could truly feel, from the very beginning that Rev. Hyung Jin Moon has many treasures of love and truth to share.

Already on his first meal, we could see that he almost did not eat and was talking all the time. I could say even that he was giving more a sermon in meal time. Rev. Shin called up some leaders and asked to call others in order to have a chance to be near to him. Hyung Jin Nim gave attention and listened to everybody with much love.

On Sunday (June 27), our activity started at 3:00 am with a session of meditation and exercises centering to the symbol of the Unification church. The session finished with 40 bows (normally are 120 bows). Then, at 5:00 am, the Hoon Dok Hae started with a pledge and the testimonies of two people, followed by the reading of the autobiography book of True Father, one sentence for every member in order not to sleep, according to Hyung Jin Nim.

Finishing the Hoon Dok Hae, all ate breakfast and everyone was preparing for the Sunday Service.

At 9:00 am the temple was full packed. His words were healing and comforting the hearts of the members. They are like a light in the horizon of great understanding with all the many doubts, especially in relation to True Love, salvation and sin. Because I was the one translating, I felt so anxious to catch all those precious words and passed them to the members.

At the end of the sermon, Hyung Jin Nim called to come up on stage the Continental Leader, Rev. Shin, the Adam National Messiah, Rev. Kim and the National Leader, Pres. Simão and had given each one a gift, a necklace with the church symbol. Followed immediately by the cutting of the cake.

One blessed family was so much blessed. Through lottery they were picked up for Hyung Jin Nim's couple to visit in the afternoon. With great pleasure and untiring heart, Hyung Jin Nim greeted and took pictures with all members which were present during the Sunday Service.

In the afternoon, with the members of the board and staff, Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim visited the family of Sr. Waldir dos Santos, in Pirituba. In the visit, he explained the tactics that he adopted in his visits of families, or in other words, he asked that every member of the family, starting with the father, say three virtues of the other members of the family. Following to that, he explained how to take care and love their own children. Reserving one day a week of the month to dedicate to one child, at least in a period of time. He further said that they have a family meeting at the end of the day, where every member of the family shares his experiences and where each one expresses his plans of activities and solicit that other members of the family pray that the planned activities will be successful. Furthermore he said that even he asked his children to pray that the visit to Brazil will be successful.

On Monday, June 28, all started once again at 3:00 am with the meditation and exercises, centered on the Unificationist symbol. Then came the Hoon Dok Hae with the testimonies. Having the opportunity of the presence of the two Brazilian elders, who were the former members of the Supreme Council, Rev. Shin asked them to make a public apology before all the members present at that time. The two elders shared about their visit in Korea and assumed a part of the blame of the rebellion that took place last May 30 and 31st.

Once again, Pres. Hyung Jin Moon gave some words and ended with a story that everybody could ponder upon, somehow giving his answer to the happenings. It was an indirect answer but a very clear one if one will deeply analyze the story being told by him. After breakfast, Dr. Thomas Walsh, the UPF current President and the International Secretary of UPF, Dr. Taj Hamad explained some recent activities of UPF connected to the desire and vision of our True Parents.

After their presentation, Rev. Shin presented a video where True Parents passed the responsibility to Pres. Hyung Jin Moon as the head of our worldwide movement and passed the legacy of the textbooks. And around 10:30 am, Pres. Hyung Jin Moon gave his final message of the day which lasted almost three hours of talk. These words were mostly philosophical with deep and clear contents about the existence of God, as a premise of moral values and as a premise of social order.

In my translation, I felt difficulties to follow the profound explanations and points that Pres. Hyung Jin Moon wanted to emphasize. Several times he commented on the situation in North Korea and how much it is ready to accept the True Parents.

His religious, philosophical and social political views had charmed all members and leaders. He expressed his deep concern about the faith of the blessed families. According to him it should be based on the roots who are our True Parents.

His love and loyalty to True Parents are apparent in every word and attitude he expressed. Can be said, that he truly walks on the path of his father.

After that final message of the day, we went to an Indian Restaurant exactly at the time that the soccer game competition between Brazil and Chile had started, the traffic was heavy. But Pres. Hyung Jin Nim was never bothered a single moment and in the restaurant we could watch the soccer game and Brazil won over Chile by three points.

Back to the headquarters, before leaving for the airport, Pres. Hyung Jin Nim had autographed 40 autobiography of True Father in Portuguese and Spanish version and had exhibited the banner with the symbol of the Unification Church and in the banner, it says: "Unification Church will follow the Eternal True Parents".

Then they went to the airport.

We had received the member of the True Family and our hearts were filled with deep gratitude for the love being received. He hasn't asked any question, nor accused, nor give indemnity. There was only love, a kind of love that is so united with the True Parents, creating greater hope and more determination, life is too short not to be grateful.

The True Parents are responsible for the divine eternal salvation, for myself and for all humanity. No one ever did much for the sake of God in just a short span of time.

As he explained, our mission is to honor and glorify our True Parents. This cannot be done just by words. The actions of Hyung Jin Nim, the image that he reflects of True Parents is a reliable evidence, or in other words, the living image is truer than the truth.

I am eternally grateful, as I am empowered by this True Love, from this inexhaustible source, and that's our True Parents of humankind.

With the blessings of God!!!

Neudir Simão Ferabolli
National Leader, FFWPU, Brazil 

Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim in Brazil, my reflection

Maria Dolor Barbosa das Graças
June 29, 2010

Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

I just want to share with you all my reflection of Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim stay in Brazil (June 26 - 28, 2010). They just left for the airport a while ago.

Hyung Jin Nim responded to all the confusion that arose in our worldwide church. He said that there are three main responsibilities that we need to fulfill on earth and he said these same words to the world leaders in one of the previous meetings he had with them:

Our first responsibility is to glorify our True Parents. Our second responsibility is to glorify our True Parents. Our third responsibility is to glorify our True Parents.

True love, he said, is beyond what we think of it. It is not just being nice or good and to help someone, but it is to even die many times for someone, to offer our life for someone, it's a very high kind of love. So that means that if we love our True Parents, and they are in danger, then our responsibility is to defend our True Parents. We need to be defenders of our True Parents to really show that we truly love them deep from our hearts. This is real TRUE LOVE!

True Love means saying what is wrong and be clear with it, not tolerate, nor compromise. Hate the sin but not the sinner. Because just one instant of tolerance will determine the next step and will determine our destiny.

Our goal is Cheon Il Guk, so we need to be clear what is right and wrong. God can't be mixed with evil, God is just goodness. That's why Hyung Jin Nim said that we need to stand strong for God and our True Parents because God is with our True Parents. So True Parents' words are God's words and we need to obey them and have absolute obedience, absolute love and absolute faith.

That's why he said, he's not worried of what's going on but this doesn't mean that we need not to act. He said that we definitely do what is needed to be done, to fulfill our five percent portion of responsibility. He said that True Parents have already laid a solid foundation on earth and are already victorious and will be victorious.

Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim are the true incarnation of the heavenly love of God. There is nothing in them that is not right, I feel. Just so pure, so humble, so caring, so lovable, so principled, so honest, so delicate, so gracious. I think everything good that one can imagine is in them! As if they are like spirit, floating, so light and bright! Just the feeling is heaven!

With much love,

Dolor 

The Three Levels of Filial Piety

Hyung Jin Moon
June 27, 2010
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Tongilgyo means Unification Church. Tongil means "becoming one" and gyo means "teaching." But the Chinese Character for gyo is made up of the character for "filial piety" right next to the one for "father" So when filial piety and father come together, that's gyo. Serving the father, the parents, is what we are all about. Confucius says, "There are three types of filial piety." (Remember Confucius is also one of our saints.) He said, "The first type of filial piety is taking care of your parents."

That's very important when they are old and sick. We love our parents. They take care of us, so then we take care of them when they are sick or hurt. This is a very good type; but it's only level one.

The level-two type of filial piety is not just taking care of our elderly parents, but watching ourselves, our actions, our words and our thoughts. We must not shame our parents.

The third type of filial piety in a son or daughter is the greatest. That type of son or daughter doesn't just take care, doesn't just not cause the parents to feel ashamed, but glorifies the parents, lifts up the name of the parents. Jesus was like that. He glorified his Father. In the same way, as Unificationists, let's reach the number-three level. Our job is not to only take care of True Parents or cause them not to feel ashamed, but to glorify them. This is our task. [Applause]

How do you do that? How do you glorify them? How do you inherit their true love? Don't be ashamed of your faith. Share your faith. Save the people who are dying in spirit. Let them come to God. Let them meet True Parents. The greatest type of love, remember, is the love of one who sacrifices over and over to save spiritually dying children.

When you go out and share the Divine Principle and True Parents, when you share your faith and witness, testify, you are not going to just make a Unification Church member. We must go with the heart of True Parents, who can see the spirit of that person, which is dying. We must want to save that soul. That's the parental heart.

Witnessing and sharing your faith, being proud of your faith -- this is true love in action. This is trying to restore to spiritual life somebody who is spiritually dying. If we do this, we glorify True Parents, because those people are waiting finally to meet their lord of lords and the True Parents that they have always yearned for.