Children's Book Answers "Where Do Babies Come From?"

Many parents dread the day their children will ask, "Where do babies come from?" But now (at last) there's help.

A new book just published in 1997 called "Mommy, Daddy, Where Do Babies Come From?" is illustrated in beautiful colors by acclaimed Swedish artist Benny Andersson. This 24-page children's book tells the story of 7-year-old Jenny who asks her mom and dad at bedtime this very question. Mom and Dad proceed to tell Jenny about the "wonderful world of true love" (also the series title) discussing various types of love.

Jenny's parents explain that God gave an awesome gift to men and women called "private parts" to make babies. Various analogies easy for children to understand are used to explain the importance of saving these parts for marriage.

This children's book will not please everyone. The "Heather Has Two Mommies" crowd will be disgusted by this book's unabashed promotion of marriage and the two-parent family. Critics will also question the lack of graphic information, the failure to mention "alternative family forms" and the implicit underlying moral message.

However, most parents as well as churches and schools will find this to be a useful tool to begin to give information and guidance about issues of love and sexuality to children in elementary school.

The book can be ordered from the Center for Educational Media, P.O. Box 97, Westwood, NJ 07675 or call 1-800-221-6116, fax to 1-201-358- 9013. Retail price: $9.95 plus $2 s&h. Group discounts available.

CARP's Absolute Sex Campaign - Frozen But Not Frigid

by Robert Kittel-NYC

CARP's absolute sex campaign reached out to plant it's flag in territory to the north. We did not smash cathode-ray tubes, holler down Hollywood or protest Playboy-some of the CARP activities last year. But for the first time in a CARP-sponsored event, we had more guests than members in attendance.

January 31, 1997 was a cold, wintry night in Toronto, Canada. Despite the unshovled sidewalks, 24 students from several nearby Universities joined with an overflow crowd totaling 45, to brave the new fallen snow and ponder the meaning of a new phrase, "Absolute Sex."

The inaugural event re-opening CARP in the land of maple leaves and hockey, started with lively entertainment from an all-women's Japanese choir. They sang two songs-one in their native tongue and another in English (Top of the World). Brothers Shane and Dale Kim from Korea, then performed a classical violin and viola duet. They were followed by the Tadin brothers, Dionisije and Dimitry, who played guitars as they sang two original songs. The stage was set for an entertaining evening.

Mr. Robert Kittel, the CARP representative from the United States and a doctoral student at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, was introduced. He had been in Canada only once before. Twenty-six years ago he set a Canadian national swimming record in the 400 meter freestyle relay. Now, instead of challenging a stop watch he challenged Canadian youth to start watching out for traps; barriers that might limit their potential of a lifetime of personal fulfillment and happiness.

Posing a rhetorical question, "Do you want me to get religious on you?" Mr. Kittel said he wouldn't unless they wanted. No one responded. He then proceeded to claim the Sexual Revolution a relic of the past. Like the facade of the Communist utopia which suddenly and unexpectedly met its demise, the sexual revolution had finally run its course. He noted the rough road smoking and drinking vices are now facing as examples.

Marketing giants that spend billions of dollars in slick ads trying to lure the innocent, have been accused of targeting teens. Facts seem to bear prophetic truth. That day, the front-page story of USA Today read: "Teen Smoking and Drinking: How Ad Images Shape Habits." But it was not all smoke and beers, said USA Today, "Ads for adult vices were a big hit with teens." Surveys showed that the three most popular TV ad "icons" among impressionable young adults were: the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel and Bud Frog.

"Cigarette producers never speak of side-effects," Mr. Kittel pointed out, "That is-unless forced to by law." Teens were told smoking and drinking was "cool" and there was no down side at all. For decades people stood silently by as alcohol and nicotine maimed, mutilated and murdered young and old alike. It was a ruthless killer. Finally, even the innocent had a high price to pay. Last week New York joined sixteen other states who have filed class-action law suits against the mighty tobacco moguls. States are demanding that tobacco companies repay tax-payer money spent on medical and social service expenses connected to smoking-related illnesses.

Mr. Kittel predicted that next in line for public scrutiny was the illusive, yet ubiquitous, sex industry. It too has been a false god, glamorized for the gullible. To counter the free sex belief, CARP has coined the term "Absolute Sex." Yes, the "A" word. There are absolutes in life. Popular culture promotes moral relativity; a view of life in

which there are no universal moral standards. The problem lies when moral relativity is put into practice, it quickly gets translated into, an "I do what I want to," philosophy.

Contrasted with this hodgepodge philosophy, absolute sex promises true freedom, harmony, simplicity, and interdependence. But, Mr. Kittel pointed out, it doesn't happen automatically. People need to practice caring for others. The Golden Rule is a moral tenet found in all the sacred scriptures. It is universal wisdom of a timeless nature. Could they have all been wrong?

The Great Paradox, then, is that those who pursue joy and happiness centering on themselves, usually lose it. Happiness attained on the immediate gratification theory quickly tarnishes. On the contrary, those who care more about the well-being of others, find a lasting joy that shines forever undimmed. Examples are numerous: Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King, Jr. to name a few.

Absolute sex is not stationary. It is not simply a life of abstinence. The guiding principle of absolute sex is living for the sake of others. This can be practiced even before marriage. It begins with avoiding the misuse of our reproductive organs and this may appear restrictive. However in the end, a life based on fidelity is truly liberating and there is no collateral damage. Trust is, after all, the foundation for a successful marriage and a happy family.

The conclusion was simple. "Monogamy works!" Mr. Kittel declared. Happily married couples live longer, are better off financially, have fewer mental illnesses, have a more fulfilling sexual relationship and thus a much lower rate of suicide. We, as a society, should do everything possible to prepare young adults for marriage. The heterosexual two-parent family is, after all, the most economical and most successful model used in raising children.

After the program, discussion groups sprang up spontaneously. Students were eager to hear an alternative message. Why? As the computer acronym GIGO reminds us, "garbage in, garbage out." Bombarded with half-truths and one-sided information young adults cannot possibly make correct choices in their lives. In fact two students, one from the University of Toronto and the other from the University of York, said that programs like this should be held on campus.

Lively conversation continued late into the night. And although snowed in, no one was snowed under.

CARP Workshop:

The following day, five guests returned to study in-depth the new concept of Absolute Sex. Mr. Kittel outlined the rise of the liberal sexual ideology. It began at the end of the 19th century with Sigmund Freud. He hypothesized that the most basic, defining human instinct was the sexual drive, latent till puberty. And to repress the sexual impulse, Freud postulated, caused mental illness.

After WWII Alfred Kinsey published false `scientific' data and took Freud's assertions one step further. Kinsey said illicit sex was common-as much as 90% of the population were having pre- or extra- marital sexual intercourse. He also sexually manipulated children, some as young as 2 months old. He timed them with a stop watch, noting how long and how often it took children to reach orgasm in a given time period. [Presently, there is a bill before the U.S. Congress to investigate the Kinsey Institute.]

The crown in the jewel of liberal sex, however, was Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine, first published in 1953. With close ties to Kinsey, Hefner made his millions selling pornography, but was all the time

promoting a social revolution-the religion of sexual, self-indulgence. Articles, editorials and humor viewed marriage and parenthood as a ball and chain. Sex without commitment, the destruction of the traditional two-parent family, as well as the legalization of illegal drugs are all propagated in the pages of Playboy.

Mr. David Scarr, a clinical social worker and family therapist working in Cobourg, Canada (an hour outside Toronto), spoke last. He gave numerous examples of the problems associated with the self-centered lifestyle. Keeping his professionalism and keeping anonymous the names of his clients, Mr. Scarr warned the students that they should take marriage and family seriously. Schools and universities focus primarily on jobs and careers. Educational institutions are, however, a dismal failure in providing character building skills and moral education-basic tools needed to build harmonious interpersonal relationships.

Following Mr. Scarr's talk, students said that they were so relieved to hear this message. "I've really been wondering," said Lu, a student from China who lived for many years in France, "what life is all about? Is it just jobs and money? Careers and promotions? Now I've really been able to see the importance of family. It really is central to the purpose of life itself."

Bright Hope For Bridgeport Hope School

by Annie Iparraguirre

Visitors are welcomed to Bridgeport by a sign declaring that this seaport city has a "Proud Past and a Bright Future." In that bright future shines Bridgeport Hope School.

Bridgeport Hope School is a private, non-sectarian, values-driven school which was founded in Sept. 1996 by a group of Unification parents and educators who share a vision that puts moral education in the center of a curriculum of excellence. The founding families of this new school are committed to providing character education, academic excellence and opportunities for students to utilize their knowledge in service to others. The program design reflects that commitment.

The academic environment is warmed by universal spiritual principles, and we actively invite God's blessing in our daily work. In order to provide good character education for our students, each day begins with a morning service at an assembly of the entire school. Morning service includes music and a short story or sermon centered on our character theme of the month. Some themes to date have been "Respect"; "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness"; "Generosity"; "Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies: Making Good Choices"; and "Integrity". The theme each month is integrated throughout the curriculum and reinforced in the relationships between teachers and students and of students with each other. The morning lesson is followed by a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and a patriotic song.

We seek to model the best of education in action. To fulfill that goal, all of our students, from the youngest to the oldest, participate in at least one community service project each month. Service projects already accomplished are: baking cookies for our neighbors, cleaning the ocean beach, collecting money for UNICEF to help children around the world, and buying and wrapping Christmas presents for a local women's and children's shelter. We have adopted a whole building of grandparents at a local nursing home. At the nursing home, we presented a play about the first Thanksgiving, joined in a Christmas songfest, and on Valentine's Day we hand-made and hand- delivered 145 valentines, one for each of our friends at the nursing home. The students really put their hearts into making the valentines and worked on them for a whole week. As our students went about cheerfully and energetically making their deliveries, the staff and residents were moved to tears.

Bridgeport Hope School is committed to academic excellence. Small classes provide opportunities for individual attention in academics. Our school is located in the historic Seaside Institute Building and is three blocks from the Long Island Sound. We have adopted a beach there which we visit often to learn about the ocean. Ocean studies and experiences will be an integral part of the curriculum as Bridgeport Hope School develops. The academic program also features Asian Culture Education by offering instruction in Chinese calligraphy and Korean language study. Physical Education receives special attention at Bridgeport Hope School. It is an opportunity to teach teamwork, the necessity and value of practicing skills and nurturing that important connection between a healthy body and a healthy mind. Weekly classes in art, music and theater arts are also offered.

Information literacy is a priority at Bridgeport Hope School. Students begin their introduction to technology with CD-I Systems designed by the Phillips Magnavox Company. This innovative system was designed for classroom instruction, and even the students in our Pre-K program enjoy its early applications. The CD-I system features interactive instructional discs including specific topics such as Life in the

Tidepool, Photosynthesis, The Solar System and Weather. There are also discs of general interest such as Compton's Encyclopedia and Tell Me Why, in which the student may choose to explore knowledge from a wide variety of topics such as magnetism, dinosaurs, colors, customs and many others.

Students as young as Pre-K age manipulate the oversized primary- colored mouse designed for young hands. Students can choose topics they would like to learn about and are then instructed with digital video footage, written text and narration. Quizzes are provided at various points throughout discs designed for use by the older students. This feature enhances the students' ability to self-check their understanding as they progress through the information.

CD-I discs play on our large classroom 27"-screen color television. The large screen display is much more appropriate for young learners and also makes classroom presentations more powerful as the whole class can participate in a lesson as well as individuals.

The primary teaching style at Bridgeport Hope School is the classic Socratic mode of teacher/student interaction, questioning and discovering knowledge, respectful discussion and cooperative learning. Students in first grade and up begin to use educational programs on personal computers as part of their integrated individualized academic program.

As the principal and also as a teacher, creating this opportunity to educated our children in an environment which flows naturally from home to school by freely including God and the values we share has been a tremendously rewarding experience. Bridgeport Hope School is funded completely by tuition and donations of individuals and businesses. We invite you to support this exciting new venture by sending your donations to the address below. Tuition for the year is $3,000 for one child, $5,500 for two children attending from the same family, and $7,500 for three. Plans are now being made for our expanded program in the 1997-98 school year. Please call or write if you would like enrollment information.

Bridgeport Hope School 283 Lafayette St. Bridgeport, CT 06604 (203)576-6773

Our school will include grades K through 6 next year. If you are an experienced elementary school teacher and would like to work on this very exciting project, please send your resume to the address above or call Mrs. Iparraguirre at the school.

Boxing with Cancer: A Matter of Life and Death

by Denis Collins-Madison, WI

For many people, one of the last major battles they have in life is fighting cancer. Indeed, it is a multiple set of battles being fought simultaneously, like a three-dimensional chess game.

The most important battle is the mind vs. the body. The two essential preliminary battles are between cancer and the body, and between cancer and chemotherapy.

This year, it is expected that 1.2 million Americans will be new cancer patients, 25,300 from Wisconsin. In fact, 8 million Americans currently have cancer. And, of these, 540,000 will die this year-about 1,500 a day.

During July 1995, while attending a conference in Vienna and Prague, I managed to come down with pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis, insomnia and a very painful stomach. Upon arriving back in Madison, I finally permitted my body to collapse from all this-the health care facilities in the Czech Republic were rumored to be unappealing-and entered the hospital.

A few days later I learned that I had Stage 3 Hodgkin's disease (Stage 1 is introductory, Stage 4 is advanced placement). Nobody really knows why you get Hodgkin's disease. The leading theory is that getting Hodgkin's is simply a genetic mistake-and, for some reason, I am among the unlucky randomly selected winners, as only 1% of cancers are of the Hodgkin's variety.

This was the beginning of a new main event in my life. Every day I wake up, and go to sleep, knowing that I have cancer. It is those hours between waking up and sleeping that the main event-the mind vs. the body-is fought. Will the body defeat the cancer? If not, will the mind defeat the cancer?

For six months, I've been engaged in more than 180 of these three- dimensional battles. In the preliminary bout between the body vs. the cancer, I've had 159 victories and only 21 days of hospitalization. During two semesters of teaching, I only missed one day of class. Not bad.

Naturally, some of those 159 victories were nip and tuck, while others were, indeed, absolute victories.

More importantly, I would like to think that my mind has been victorious all 180 days, even the day before my 40th birthday when, six months into the chemotherapy treatment, I learned that the odds of the cancer winning its battle over the body had increased rather than decreased.

How are these victories of the mind, by the mind, and for the mind occurring? Such a personal confession requires a nonboxing metaphor.

Alarm clocks play an important function in life, telling you when to wake up. Cancer, or whatever disease is the final alarm clock, initiates you into an after-life. It wakes you up into a higher state of awareness and consciousness.

So when the daily alarm clock rings, wake up! Fully! Love and serve others! As John Lennon suggested, in the end the love that you leave and take is equal to the love you make. By doing so, you can continue to enjoy the ride from one stage of

existence-the life between birth and death-to another, an after-life. Or, as Winnie the Pooh reasoned, the more you share with others, the more they'll share with you.

Twenty years ago I had a vivid dream of being run over by a bus and dying. So I'm convinced that is what will kill me, not the cancer. I've convinced myself that bus will run me over when I'm 120 and very senile. Or, it could happen tomorrow.

Indeed, during the past 20 years, it's almost happened twice. You never know when it could happen, so there's no benefit in thinking about it other than trying to look both ways prior to crossing a busy street!

Practically, how can such mind victories be achieved? Loving and serving others can be done in a variety of ways. I recommend peacefully, nonviolently and publicly doing the most political act that you dare to do. There are so many injustices in this world; simply pick any one and add to its eradication. Make a scene, express your voice. People will listen.

You don't have to pick a political act from my own particular agenda, but I do want to recommend a particular political philosophy. As a general rule, do for others, particularly those in a worse-off economic, physical or mental condition, what you wish others would do for you.

For every person, that particular political act must be self- determined. Listen to the sounds of the street, in your mind and in your heart. And act! Become fully genuine. Allow your mind, through your body, and despite the cancer, to make a few more major knockout punches for the benefit of humanity.

If our bodies beat the cancer, we can talk about what we did during our physical lives. Otherwise, we can all get together and talk about it during our after-life.

For the time being, it's great being alive, deepening friendships, making new friendships, serving others, teaching students, being with family and kids, and making some bold political acts.

Denis Collins is a professor of business ethics at the UW-Madison School of Business.

An Extraordinary Advertisement

by Peter Ross-Napa, CA

On at least three occasions in recent years, the Unification Church of America has placed advertisements in newspapers throughout the country. These advertisements have presented Father's seminal speeches: True Parents And The Completed Testament Age; True Family And I; and View Of The Principle From The Providential History of Salvation. These advertisements have served to place on public record the contents of Father's providentially significant declarations. In addition, they have given the opportunity to millions of people to read for themselves what Father, Mother, or other adult members of their family have imparted to distinguished audiences throughout the world on their incomparable international tours. Save for a few who were motivated by prejudice and refused to carry one or another, these speeches were widely accepted by newspapers throughout America. To place them in papers throughout the country generally took a matter of several weeks.

At the end of November, 1996, Father asked that his speech, In Search Of The Origin Of The Universe, be similarly made available to the wider American public. By the time this edition of the UNEWS has been published and forwarded to you, this project will have been completed. But one may wonder why it took so long to get this project done? Three months seems like a long time doesn't it? The primary reason for the extended delay had to do with the unique nature of this particular speech. Also relevant are two additional factors: the challenge of correctly translating Father's words and the extemporaneous nature of the speech.

This current speech proved difficult for us to place in papers due to translation problems. Those of us who have heard Father's public sermons have been spiritually transformed by the re-creative power of his profound teachings. This, despite the fact, that most of us remain ignorant of Korean. We have had to rely on a contemporaneous explanation from a very hard working "translator" to convey what he believes or understands Father to have just said. Father's own frustration with this process is apparent in his repeated appeals for us to study Korean and in his occasional congenial admonishments of the "translator" when Father knows he just messed up! We nevertheless owe a great appreciation to the efforts of our Korean elder brothers in this regard. But while Father himself has become very proficient in English, we have not been able to understand his Korean. Moreover, we have never even heard a direct translation of Father's public sermons from a native American translator. Korean and Japanese members have been privileged to hear Father speak in their native languages. In South America, brothers and sisters have heard Father through the extraordinary translation abilities of Brazil's, Alejandro De Souza. Alejandro is not only fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, but also Korean!

For me, the most memorable moment in the history of Father's public appearances in America occurred less than a year ago. The occasion was the Washington Times Foundation Inaugural Banquet on the evening of April 16, 1996. Before a live audience comprised of Congressional leaders, religious leaders, diplomats, scholars and academics, In Jin Nim simultaneously translated for Father as he delivered the Founder's Address. The evening's proceedings were aired live by C-Span to millions of viewers around the country. The sight and sound of In Jin Nim's simultaneous translation of Father's speech was a rare and profound experience for me sitting in that banquet hall. The large close circuit screens in the hall enabled me to also see and hear what the television audience was experiencing of this remarkable Father- daughter team. They, and everyone in attendance in that vast banquet hall, could hear In Jin Nim's impeccable English translation and her clear articulation of Father's words.

Unificationsts are familiar with Father's unique rhetorical style and the order in which Father presents his ideas and thoughts in public sermons. Neither his style nor his order of presentation were covered in my Homiletics class at the Unification Theological Seminary! Perhaps one day soon a seminarian will devote his/her Master's thesis to a more detailed analysis of Father's preferred pattern for delivering his ideas and insights. Until then, I offer a few personal observations. First, Father presents profound truth as pure, raw, and unrefined gold. Second, Father educates and instructs with reference to daily occurrences and real experiences. His analogies and metaphors thus have universal appeal to the diverse international audiences to whom he is accustomed to speak. Third, Father does not follow a simple order moving from introduction, to main content, to conclusion that many of us learned from our English teachers of how we should write an essay or tell a story. Fourth, Father does not suffer from inhibitions deriving from self-consciousness. Moreover, he is entirely free from any type of impurity that might restrict him from discussing in vivid detail topics that might otherwise intimidate, either consciously or unconsciously, other public speakers. And so to the nature of the speech at hand.

At the consummation of God's providence, it is interesting to note that only two groups of people demonstrate a boldness to speak about sexual matters: comedians and opportunists! One recent definition of comedy I came across defined comedy as being "a distortion of reality." People laugh at jokes about sex because the debasement and ridiculing of sex relieves them of foibles, fears, anxieties, and disappointments engendered in a post-modern permissive society. The opportunists exploit sex for commercial gain-comedians, songsters, film makers, advertisers, pornographers, the fashion industry, etc.- because sex sells. Previously Calvin Klein presented Brooke Shields saying "nothing comes between me and my Calvins." The premier fashion house has since proceeded to use images bordering on child pornography to sell its fashions. And Joe Camel still looks like he belongs inside a jock strap.

Religion, the moral guide and conscience for society remains ambivalent about sex. The recent papal instruction that divorced Catholics who remarry should not engage in sex with their new spouse is an example. Controversies continue within many of the other established Christian denominations on questions such as whether gay and lesbian couples should be married in church or whether gay and lesbians should be ordained. But Father is the only religious leader who is not shy to confront society with the cause of its current spiritual and social debility nor to prescribe the solution.

The responsibility of placing Father's speech in newspapers around the country fell to Reverend Joong Hyun Pak. The project team Reverend Pak assembled was comprised of the State Leaders (or their representative when most of them went to Korea), the Public Affairs, Financial, and Publications Offices at HQ, together with Baker and Smith in Washington, DC. Under difficult circumstances, Baker and Smith provided professional representation in negotiations with the papers and other related matters in the most commendable way. While the task seemed at first to be routine, soon it became clear that this time around things would be different.

When presented with the content of this speech, the reaction of 50 papers around the country was a clear and unequivocal decision to publish. These included: The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, The Courier Journal (KY), The Providence Journal (RI), The Oregonian, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Washington Times, The New York

Observer, Times Picayune (LA), Minneapolis Star & Tribune, Topeka Capital Journal, The Denver Post, Omaha World Herald, Cincinnati Inquirer, Des Moines Register, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Anchorage Daily News, Detroit Free Press, Burlington Free Press, Boston Herald, New Haven Register, Salt Lake Tribune, Indianapolis Star, among others.

However, there were at least another 50 who refused to carry it. Some felt metaphors were too strong and politically incorrect. Some considered certain language too strong for the delicate ears of their readers. In such cases, some copy editors were prepared to cut and snip and do a few "replace all" edits. And then some! The most egregious of all were those papers who refused point blank to carry it at all. When reviewing some of the "other stuff" they had apparently no trouble printing and even promoting in their papers, the contradiction was glaring enough to expose any presumed high- mindedness on their part.

Many people today might well share Ira Gershwin's observation about the print media. He wrote: "the more I read the papers, the less I comprehend." Following in the wake of their erstwhile colleagues on television, many editors and reporters have yielded their eminent profession to the crass concerns of the entertainment industry. But there is worse. With lame claims to a journalism of old, advocacy journalism in its myriad forms, exalts the reporter's/editor's/publisher's own value-system and beliefs and then contrives to superimpose it upon the reader. In the intolerance and folly that ensues, censorship, the arch-enemy of a free press, runs buck naked around the editorial department.

Despite the initial challenge of dealing with as many papers who refused to carry it as those who did, this project has been completed and successfully so.

There were 3 important messages imparted to those who took the time to read this speech:

1. Reverend Moon teaches that America must rebuild a marriage culture and that our nation can be renewed only through vibrant and faithful marriages.

2. Absolute sex refers to purity before marriage and fidelity in marriage centered upon the love of God. Moving beyond the historical and contemporary ambivalence about sex, within the context of blessed marriage sex should be a sacred union of the couple with God.

3. The Reverend and Mrs. Moon have been called by God to promote world peace through the establishment of blessed marriages. The Blessing ceremony on November 29, 1997, is a public affirmation by millions of couples throughout the world that the blessed family is the building block for a moral, peaceful, and virtuous society.

In several papers, reporters called to do brief follow-up stories about this extraordinary nationwide undertaking. One of their primary questions was why was this speech published now? Our answer was that throughout his life-long ministry, Reverend Moon has consistently taught that the family is the most sacred institution created by God. In prayer, Reverend Moon was inspired to undertake this advertising campaign trusting that the American people were ready to receive his message, particularly as the crisis of family breakdown is so overwhelming. The division between those advocating a marriage culture and those advocating a free-sex culture will become more pronounced. The consequences of both to society will become more and more apparent. Reverend Moon is affirming a clear and unequivocal standard of true love in marriage that can serve as a reference point for all people of conscience.

Reporters naturally wondered why Father wanted to publicize this speech throughout America. We reminded them of how Father has devoted a significant part of his life teaching and speaking in America. Despite his most bitter experiences here, Father continues to love America because it was founded by people seeking freedom of religion and because it has come to represent the great democratic ideal embracing a mosaic of the world's cultures and faith traditions. He understands America's influence in the world and its capacity to do great good. Father was therefore moved to make these fresh insights widely available to the American people through the Unification Church.

Questions were asked about how much money went into this campaign. Reporters were informed that the ads were paid for by the Unification Churches throughout America. To put the nationwide cost of some $750,000 into perspective we reminded them and other inquirers that every day millions of dollars are spent on retail ads that all too often use illusory sexual images to sell products for profit, like Calvin Klein ads. Here, on the other hand, was a Church investing in the dissemination of a profound religious message on the true nature of human sexuality and for a fraction of the costs due to the fact that the local churches could often benefit from the newspaper's church/non-profit rate.

We were asked what is unique about Father's message and why this was referred to as "A Special Message for the Age." Our response was that alone, any one contemporary religion of the post-modern era does not have sufficient resources to contend with and to respond to the assault of the past thirty years on the integrity and vibrancy of the marriage union. No nation is unscathed or otherwise immune from these problems. Father's unique, common sense, profound, and universal teachings are important contributions to society in order to contend with the challenge of family breakdown. We re-iterated that Father believes that God is calling people of all creeds, races, and nationalities to work together and to renew the healthy loving institution of faithful marriage. God, the source of true love, is alive today and loves each and every one of us. His love is most clearly realized in the family. Loving families provide the context for the first experiences of life and are the school of love for our children. On the eve of the new millennium, God is reaching out and reminding us of His covenant of love. It is His love that is the mortar to build the bridge to the next century and our families are the girders and beams. We pointed out that a careful and repeated reading of this speech will be illuminating to all Americans. We also took care to remind inquirers that, as stated in the prefatory remarks, this profound address was first given as an extemporaneous message and so it retains an informality of expression.

Points of Interest:

* In Minneapolis, a local talk radio hostess devoted her air-time to a review of the speech. Our church minister and other senior members of our community participated in the conversation. Additional and free promotion was also received on a local Christian radio program!

* In Alaska, a middle-aged woman who had encountered the Church years ago, read the speech and has since resumed her study of the DP. * In Georgia, a couple who read the speech came and attended the True Family Values Ministry Conference and have since received the Blessing (see report).

* In Colorado, a rival newspaper to the one that published the speech assigned its religion editor to interview the acting Church minister. After attending Sunday service, she wrote a fair and gracious published account of both.

* In South Dakota, the speech was published in the preeminent Native-American newspaper. This paper is circulated nationwide and is read by all tribal chieftains. It also has overseas subscribers in various countries, including Japan and China.

* In Vermont, two professors called: one to re-affirm the annual visit by our local Church minister to his class; the second to institute the same practice.

* In Ohio, the newspaper elected to re-publish Father's speech in its sister paper free of charge.

* In Idaho, the major paper refused to carry the ad. Our brother, Tim Comey, has embarked upon a well-supported public campaign to protest the censorship of Father's message (see report).

All The Best Friends

by Christine Ladolcetta-Irvington, AL

Dream Team? It was a team like you never dreamed of-not ever! We were all on it-Jamal-who's the greatest baseball player I know, and Jumin and Michael, two of my best friends.

Josh DeGeer is on the team, too; he's a good friend not in the church, and his house is the all-time best place to go for the day. His mom's going to be Team Mom. Then there's Cecil, who's a good guy and Coach Cec's son. I like him a lot, but he got sick on the "Good Go" when my dad took us out fishing, and since fishing is my most favorite sport of all, it puts a space between us because he doesn't want to go out again.

The only one of my real friends not on the team is Matt. He decided to play tennis this spring. We all miss him; he's that nice kind of person.

Oh-my name is Doca. Yeah, I know it's unusual, but a lot of us kids have unusual names. Mine comes from my dad's name-Dominick-and my mom's name-Catherine. Dow in know and cu in cuz. You get the way to say it? Doca. I like it.

We were all in our first year in the Majors in 1996, and it was the greatest possible team, too, because Derrick was on it and Joseph Schumacher, the two best second-year players in the league.

The thing is that somehow Coach Cecil got all of us in the draft that year. We all wanted to be together; we always had wanted to all be together; it had never happened before and it seemed completely impossible. But, as my mom's friend, Miss Mercy, always says, "God willing!" Well, He must have been, because there we were.

My mom has told me very year I've played, since the first one, "Doca, you just pray that Heavenly Father puts you where He wants you. He'll put you where you'll grow the most." This year she added a lot more: "You know, you probably won't all be together; it's not going to be the way you guys want it simply because you are all the best. Whom will you play against, anyway? And for Heaven's sake, who will make up the All-Star Team if you are all stacked up on the same team to begin with?"

This is purely a mother's logic. My mother's anyway. Michael's mom always manages to get Michael where we wants to be. Somehow Jumin always gets on a good team and plays a good position and Jamal's dad has always been his coach, which is a pretty good guarantee, especially if you can play like Jamal. It's the same with Little Cecil. He plays on his dad's team. Josh is somewhere in between. His mom is always in there fighting for him. Especially last year, during All-Stars. The coach (our parents told us later) was not really fair. He had a grudge against some of the parents and so he played some of us for the bare minimum time in the All-Star season. I was one of those guys who sat out all but one inning in each of three games and I thought it was me-that I was no good, really, as a player. But why did Mikie sit it out and Cecil? Josh's mom almost hit that coach. Finally, last month (eight months after my only season in four of play All- Stars), my mom explained that it wasn't me. That I was good enough; my coach hadn't been fair. I put on my All-Star jersey and wore it to school for the first time. I really had deserved it. I didn't know grownups acted like my coach. But why didn't my mom tell me before? She's like that "Let Heavenly Father put you where He wants you, Doc. Keep your heart and mind open for God's plan, Doc." "Look, Mom, can't you talk to somebody and get me on the same team

with Michael or Jumin or Josh?" I asked as registration time came around. I don't mind telling you, I was kind of desperate. My mom really meant it-that we should just be quiet and let God do what He wanted with me. I know my mom's sincere, but she's not the one who's playing. It's me! And I always seem to get stuck on the outside of the most exciting stuff.

But not this year! It looks like God has a plan for His own I.O.E. Dream Team, and dream it may be, but we are the Braves at last!

***

"Hey, Doca's mama, I got 'em; I got all of 'em!" Cecil's broad-cheeked face shone in the dim light of the cold, smelly shrimp-processing plant. His bright grin flashed and he shook his head in wonder. "We drafted last night and I don't know how, but I got them all. And Jamal. And Josh DeGeer. We even got Champ Kirk."

He had to shout over the mechanical clack-clacking of a myriad machines-all running a hundred miles an hour, putting out peeled and IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) shrimp. That's what I.O.E. does down here in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. I shook my head in amazement. I shouted back as loudly as I could, "That's incredible, Cec, how did you do it?"

Coach Cecil pointed toward a door and I followed him gratefully, out of the din, into a brightly lit office. It was still cold and the smell of shrimp and bleach was only slightly less strong. He spun on his heel and I was treated to his happiest smile. Only baseball makes him look that way.

"Well, there were a couple of new coaches and I guess they just didn't know our boys. Isn't it great?"

"Gosh, Cec, the boys are going to be so excited; is it for sure? Can I tell Doca?" My question was sincere. I knew that once Doca heard, he'd be making plans of every sort. "Are you really sure it's for certain?" I found that I couldn't help but ask again. It would hurt a lot if the boys knew and something major changed later on.

"It's a done deal, Cath. We drafted and it came out just like we hoped it would." Cecil's dark face was still as amazed as I could imagine it was on the night of the draft. I could see that he knew it was too good to be true, too. A Dream Team-just like the one with Michael Jordan for the Olympics. "Well, gotta go tell everybody else. See ya!"

I stood in the hallway, musing about the possibilities for Team Mom. I'd undertaken that mammoth job two years before and secretly hoped Cec wouldn't ask me again.

"Hey, Karl, I got 'em." I could hear Cec way down the hall in the sales office.

Standing in the dimly lighted hall at I.O.E. that Friday afternoon, I watched as Coach Cecil spread the joyful news, first to Michael's dad and then to Jumin's dad, Jens.

"Well, Heavenly Father..." I glanced around, realizing I was whispering out loud, "It seems like a mighty strong team. Do you think it's a bit heavy on best players?"

In my heart I rejoiced for Doca, who truly had never before had a place on such a team. But something worrisome buzzed in my mind. This was exactly the kind of power team I had wondered about year after year. "Why is that team so top-heavy with great players?" I'd finally asked some parents, "Don't you think it would be better if each team

had some of the best players instead of one team having so many? Wouldn't that make the season more exciting for all the kids? Do you think they'd learn more if they were spread around a bit?" Nobody thought so. They were so determined to be a part of a winning team that no other aspect of the game mattered.

***

"Hey, Mom, what's the matter? You don't look happy." Doca was standing over me as I sat at my sewing machine, thinking my own thoughts. I realized I must be wearing my "lost in the inside" face. It happened whenever I had a problem I couldn't solve. He was right, I wasn't happy, but how could I explain that I was questioning God about the way He had stacked the Braves.

"Well, Doca, I just keep wondering about your perfect team."

"Oh! The Dream Team?" He grinned. It was a wolfish look. "Yeah, we're gonna clean up. Well, guess I'll go to bed. 'Night, Mom." His hug was tight and confident-he squeezed a little too tight in his enthusiasm. "The Braves are gonna go all the way to Regionals. That's what Coach Cecil says."

I watched my eleven-year-old co-conspirator flick his eight-year-old sister's head as he strolled off to bed. For once, she didn't retaliate. She was asleep.

"Are you sure about this, Heavenly Father?" I asked for the twentieth time. As I got up to wake Pinky and put her to bed, I couldn't help but wonder what God had up His sleeve.

***

The phone was ringing as we burst through the door. "Somebody get it, will you?" I hollered, my hands crowded with a bag of groceries and the odds and ends of gear the kids had left behind.

"Mom, it's Coach Cecil!" Doca shoved the phone under my two free fingers and pushed the dog out of the way to get to the fridge. "Tell him I want to be catcher, okay, Mom?"

"Hey, Cec, what's up?" With a thud and a thump, I dumped my armload on the kitchen table and tried to get a better grip on the receiver. Too late. It bounced off Shadow, our reddish-brown hound, who yelped and banged into Nani, our six-year-old, who inadvertently slipped sideways, slamming the fridge door on Doca's hand, smashing not only his finger but spilling the glass of grape jelly with pink pigs on it. "Oh no," I moaned, "not again."

"Look, Cath, something's come up."

"Okay, Cec; you sound unhappy." My intuition jiggled as I sponged the jelly off the floor. The Dream Team's doomed. The thought was so clear.

"There are gonna be two new coaches; they want to redraft."

"Oh." Well, Heavenly Father, what's this, I thought. Was I right? A team like that's just not fair, eh?

"So, when's the draft?" I asked. When will the axe fall, is what I was thinking. I didn't feel smug-more like resigned and sorry. Here's where Doca gets cut; my heart hurt. Rats! I should have kept my mouth shut. He's going to be so disappointed. In my heart I knew that Cecil would try to get all the boys again, but it just wasn't going to happen. That kind of luck again? He'd have to sacrifice some boys to

get the really good ones he needed to make the team win. Well, I thought, Doca's a good player. All-Stars last year. He's a good catcher. Always a good hitter and not bad on second base either.

"Yeah," a cynical voice whispered in my head, "but he's not flashy and he's not a coach's son." I shook my head to get rid of the thought.

"Well, Cec, just do the best you can; it'll work out. Yes, I'll tell Doca. Okay, good night."

"Tell me what, Mom?" Doca peered at me over his PBJ on wheat-his upper lip white with milk.

"Oh, well, Cecil says he has to redraft. Some new coaches want a chance to pick their own teams. Guess we better go back to letting Heavenly Father do His job?" I looked at Doca and hoped that I didn't show my pity, my regret, my faithlessness. The shock of that realization hit me hard. My faithlessness? Not in God, but in my son's ability.

"Oh. It's OK, Mom, don't worry. Coach Cecil will get us back. I just know it." He grinned, showing me his brown and purple teeth, and disappeared into the living room.

***

He was right; Coach Cecil did get them back. Every one of them. And the Team won the championship at the park level for Major League. They were after all the Dream Team Braves.

Doca played a few good innings as catcher during the season, but mostly he played left field and didn't get a lot of the action. He also sat out from one to three innings a game so one of the other minor hot shots could play. Josh played second base every game, and when Little Cecil wasn't pitching, he was catching. Left field was better than the bench.

"Mama?" Doca turned to look at me in the car as we left the park after his last game. It was ten o'clock; he was tired, hungry, and I could see, by his downcast face, he was disappointed despite the championship win and the Dr. Pepper he'd had after the game.

"Hmmmm?" I glanced to my left and pulled into the stream of traffic heading down the ballpark's rutted dirt road. The lights were still on. A few teams were still playing.

"This has been a funny season, don't you think?"

"What do you mean, Doc?" Feeling his eyes on my face, I began to burn with curiosity. Sometimes this pint-sized bat swinger had some great thoughts.

"Well, you know, the Braves were really great. We had the best of all the players on our team." Doca hesitated and began to chuckle softly. "But this was the most boring season I ever had in my life. Winning wasn't that big a deal. And we didn't really play all that much better than the other teams; I mean, we made lots of errors every game. Every game was samo, samo."

When we were safely on the blacktop, I looked at my son. He was shaking his head slowly from side and side and picking at his scuffed, black glove. I had expected to see sorrow that the season was over, but what I saw were tears. "Doca, are you crying?" My voice choked with astonishment. "What on

earth's the matter? I mean, you won the championship! You even made a good catch in left field tonight and it helped your team win the game."

Doca looked up and flashed me a rueful grin. "Yep, not bad for a once- in-a-season chance." Suddenly, he was laughing so hard that the tears flew across the space between us and I felt them turning cold on my arm. "Oh, Mom, you get it, don't you? The Dream Team was so good it wasn't any fun. No challenge. Even when I got to play it was a lot like sitting on the bench."

"But what if you had been catching every game instead of out in the field-wouldn't that have been exciting?" My grownup's nature got the better of me as I recklessly brought up what I thought was a sore point for Doca. Was this sour grapes?

"That's just it, Mom. It would have been busier, but not really challenging. We just had too much of the talent."

It was a good thing we were waiting at a red light because I just stared at Doca as he sat nonchalantly in the front seat next to me. He had started whistling after this last statement of astounding truth and seemed to have forgotten I was even there.

"Hey, Mom, go, will you? Light's green. People are honking at us."

As we started off, Doca looked at me, grinned like a wolf, and with sublime innocence asked, "I wonder if Michael Jordan ever feels like this?"

I didn't say anything to Doca, but I couldn't help wondering to myself-Does Michael Jordan listen to God? I suppressed the chuckle rising in my throat and answered us both: "Looking at the way he plays baseball, maybe he does."

A Mother's Impression of Sending a Child to School in Korea

by Christine Martinez

My youngest son and I had the blessing of being able to go to Korea for Christmas and True God's Day. Even though it put a strain on our financial situation, not to mention on my new employment situation, I felt I needed to be reassured that all Jerry was telling me was true about the environment in Korea. I was very reassured and actually reborn spiritually through my visit. My son has actually led a very sheltered life. He has never been allowed to spend the night at another child's home. He has only been left with my own mother perhaps three or four times overnight in his life. So I was concerned that he might have trouble adjusting to being away from his family. Surprisingly (though when I came to know the environment it was no longer a surprise), he adjusted very well to the separation; he did struggle with the change in diet, culture and study habits, as perhaps each western student has.

I have struggled for days about writing this article, asking myself what would other parents want to know; what are they concerned about? Ben moaned a lot about food. So I wanted to set the record straight for those parents with children moaning as Ben did. There are three Japanese sisters and several elder Korean sisters preparing very nutritious meals for the children. They make every effort to have fresh fruit available for two meals a day. They try cooking western foods, fried chicken, hamburgers, tuna fish and egg salad sandwiches; the children have western-type cold cereal, milk and juice available for breakfast. The dinners served while I was in Korea were beef stew, beef curry, bulgogi, fried chicken and steak, to mention a few. There was of course always rice, kimchi and kim (seaweed) available at each meal. No, they did not have pizza or macaroni and cheese, which perhaps explains why the children miss those meals, but it is Korea, and they have all the traditional fast food restaurants (McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc.) if the children wish.

The children actually have an idyllic life; someone prepares their meals, washes their clothes, cleans their dorms; their only chores are an occasional hand at dish-washing, separating and folding laundry, and keeping their bed and study area tidy. Ben had a lot more chores in the States. They are free to focus their energy on schoolwork. I was in Korea during school break so no studying occurred while I was there.

If you worried that your child was lonely or missed you on Christmas, rest assured that I would be surprised if they were unhappy. I come from a large family and thought I had seen Christmas trees laden with gifts, but that was nothing compared to the plethora under the Christmas tree in the Tamayo's room this year. The children had so many goodies, gifts and blessings, more than I could personally have ever given my son had he been at home. We spent days making cookies, Christmas caroling, shopping, gift wrapping, going to the amusement park, watching Christmas videos, listening to Christmas music, sharing stories, doing each other's hair (girls), playing hallway football (boys), making pi, atas, having sleep-overs. We went to a beautiful buffet at a fancy hotel on True God's Day and had a big Christmas party with other western members in the dorm cafeteria on Christmas Day.

The children attended a two-day workshop given by various western members in Korea. The speakers were excellent and spoke directly to the children. It was the best two-day workshop I have attended in many years. The children also spent many hard hours preparing for their own lecture contest. I don't have the words to express my impression of the lecture contest. The children conveyed such depth of understanding of God and Divine Principle that it is beyond words how many internal points they made their own.

I do not regret sending my son to Korea, although I miss him terribly. My heart aches every day that I cannot see him or hear his voice. I am grieved to know I will miss these months of his life. The changing of his voice, the jump in his height, the process of his becoming a man. I can't bring these experiences back-they will be lost to me forever, to the box of memories in my mind which treasures all the moments of my children's life. But all this heartache is worth the blessing he is receiving in Korea. I never appreciated what a blessing it truly was; my worries were more about how I could afford this or how each of us would cope with the separation. I never truly realized how great the blessing would be. I am grateful I was able to go and I am grateful to True Parents for starting this incredible program.

A Mother's Grief Turns To Joy

by Barbara Pavey

Many years ago, in the year of 1944 when World War II was still going on, Father was in Japan. He had been going to school and working there for several years. Now the time had come to return to Korea.

Wartime is dangerous, because there is lots of fighting and bombing going on. You never know when you might run into a battle or get hit by an exploding bomb. In spite of all the dangers, God wanted Father to return to Korea at this time. Father loved God the most, so he was willing to follow His directions, even if it meant his life was in danger.

During the time Father was living in Japan, his mother, who loved him dearly, used to think about him day and night. She was always wondering what he was doing and when he would return home to Korea. Father loved his mother very, very much. So when it was time to return home, the first thing he did was send a message to her to tell her when his ship would be arriving and exactly where it would arrive in Korea.

His mother was overjoyed when she received his letter. At last her beloved son was coming home! She had been praying for his return for so long, she could hardly believe the time had finally come.

Suddenly, however, a few days after receiving his letter, his mother's smiles turned to tears. She received a terrible message! It said that the ship Father was on had been bombed by an American B-29 plane and had sunk. She was completely heart broken, and all she could think of doing was going to the port where the ship should have come in. Perhaps there were survivors.

She ran out the door, out the gate, and down the road. She ran for miles and miles through the countryside of Korea. She never thought about herself. She didn't notice that she was hungry and thirsty. She didn't notice that she had forgotten to put on her shoes. She didn't notice the pain as she ran over the rocks, or when she landed on a sharp stick. She ran barefooted all the way to the port!

All she could think about was that her son had sunk with the bombed ship. What were the chances he could have survived? He was probably dead! For a mother who loved her son so much, this was the worst possible thought. She was frantic with worry.

Mothers do love their children more than their own lives, and she really showed this kind of true heart.

Finally, she arrived at the port, panting and holding her side. She waited for news. She asked everyone she could find whether they had heard anything. No one had any answers.

Then, she got a big surprise! Somehow she learned that Father wasn't on the ship that had sunk, after all. Because Father is so important to helping God fulfill His Will, somehow, with God's protection, Father had changed ships at the last moment. Therefore, Father arrived safely at the port in Korea on a later ship.

When his mother saw him coming down the gang plank, she was the happiest mother in the whole world at that moment. You can just imagine how excited she was to see her son walking off that ship, alive and well! She jumped and cried for joy. This really moved Father's heart to see how much his mother loved him, and as he hugged her tenderly, he cried with her.

It wasn't until about a week later, after she had calmed down from the excitement of seeing her son safely home, that his mother noticed that she had hurt her foot on a big splinter. It was sore and infected. But she didn't care. She still smiled and sang all day long. That day Father learned a lesson he could never forget: that the love of a mother or father is truly the greatest love of all. He could never forget how she ran bare footed all those miles because she thought he had been killed.

Father loved his mother so much, and yet he loved God even more. That is why he was able to travel during dangerous war times. Just as Jesus had taught his disciples to love God first with all their heart, Father always did that. Therefore, God protected Father even in war days to bring him safely home.