On June 16, inspired by a recent ministry leaders meeting at the Clifton Family Church, three young Unificationists spontaneously gathered to promote True Mother’s upcoming message, “Peace Starts with Me,” all over New York City.

On a warm Friday afternoon, local youth pastor Yasutaka Ozawa, Ocean Church member Naria McGee, and Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) member Atsuki Imamura met at Port Authority Bus Terminal, picked up flyers and postcards for “Peace Starts with Me” at FFWPU National Headquarters, and made their way to the streets of New York. Determined to bring as much attention to the July 15 event as possible, the three Unificationists strategically taped flyers inside various businesses near Madison Square Garden.

As they began their promotional initiative, the team was surprised to find that speaking to businesses about posting flyers for “Peace Starts with Me” was easier than they had expected. “It’s actually pretty easy to go out and just ask about posting a flyer—definitely easier than fundraising,” said Naria.

Although not every business allowed the colorful flyers for the Madison Square Garden event to be posted, the young Unificationists still found opportunities to promote the event. “Even if the manager says ‘No,’ you can still give them a card and personally invite them to the event. They also allowed us to put a pile of postcards on the counter for customers to take,” Yasutaka said.

It was not long until the team ran out of flyers for the event. Returning to the National Headquarters for FFWPU USA once more, the team retrieved even more flyers to post all over one of the busiest parts of Manhattan–7th and 8th avenues.

After this productive day of spreading the word about True Mother’s upcoming message, the three Unificationists were encouraged by how there are so many opportunities to promote “Peace Starts with Me” in their daily lives: “It’s nice to promote together with friends and other members, but even if you’re alone you can keep some flyers or cards in your bag or car for when you go out on errands,” said Atsuki. He continued, “Most places have a public or community bulletin and you can just stick the flyer right up. Especially at local grocery stores.”

Here are some ideas and resources to get started on your own promotion initiatives:

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