Homestead
We are now on the second week of the God’s Hope for America tour. Following our Desert Rider mini tour is now the Homestead mini tour. It has been a great experience of spiritual revival so far. Following True Parents’ footsteps, especially of Father’s first tour of the country in 1965, inspires us all, those on the bus and those meeting us at the Holy Grounds. As we are connecting to True Father’s original vision, we are recommitting ourselves to the fulfillment of God’s and True Parents’ Will for America.
As Seijin Shirotori of San Antonio, Texas, says: “Even though it is easy to forget, our world today exists only because of all the blood, sweat and tears that were spilled by our ancestors. Without it I don’t know where we would be today. What if the Pilgrims had decided never to come to the New World? What if George Washington had just given up at Valley Forge? What if Martin Luther King Jr. had never stood up for human rights? Someday our lives will end and we will become a part of history, but our descendants will still be alive on this earth. The choices and decisions we make today are going to create the world of tomorrow. We are making history today.”
It is inspiring to meet our community around the country, and reaching out to so many new people as well. We are excited at the idea that through this tour we can meet and connect with so many of you, brothers and sisters, and we look forward to sharing this awakening with every state in America, reigniting the original fire that True Parents started.
Dallas, Texas
“The wheels on the bus go ’round and ’round,” and on June 29 the wheels carried the tour participants to Dallas. The bus was met by more than 200 local Unificationists and Ambassadors for Peace at White Rock Lake, a reservoir built in 1911 and the location chosen by True Father for the Dallas Holy Ground. People gathered at the Holy Ground around an old elm tree, the exact spot where Father Moon prayed in 1965 on a beautiful, shady eastern slope overlooking the water. After enthusiastic songs led by Rick Joswick, Dallas Family Church pastor Rev. John Jackson opened the ceremony with a prayer.
The Dallas Holy Ground gathering and Sunday Service were attended by people of various faiths, representing America’s diversity. Apostle Linda Holliday spoke, compelling all to reimagine True Father’s hope for America. Her ministry focuses on serving the poor and marginalized, and her husband, Kene Holliday, a former cast member of TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show,” shares in her ministry and was there with her.
Marzuq Jaami, a great interfaith leader who was appointed an Ambassador for Peace by True Mother in 2001, praised the work of True Father and the Unificationists of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU). A Muslim, Marzuq is a longtime devoted disciple of W. Deen Mohammed, founder of the Al-Islam Movement in America. Marzuq is renowned in Dallas and beyond for his efforts to bring together all believers and followers of God’s books. He has attended every Hoon Dok Hwe that True Mother has called following her many appearances in Dallas. In 2006, Marzuq went to India to promote the teachings of True Father and has traveled to both Korea and the Middle East to promote interfaith healing and unity.
Also in attendance were Ester Davis, host of her own TV talk show on peace and women’s issues; Barbara Mallory Caraway, former Texas state representative; Dr. Harbans Lal, a Sikh scholar and interfaith proponent, and his wife, Amritsa, who were among the first Dallas AFPs appointed directly by Mother Moon in 2001, and Alexis Yancey, Ambassador for Peace and winner of the National Association of Black Journalists Best Public Affairs/Newsmagazines Award and a Lone Star Emmy, among other accolades.
Dr. Michael Balcomb, FFWPU USA president, gave the keynote speech to an audience at the Dallas Family Church that was overflowing into the halls. He reminded participants of the purpose of the bus tour: to remember the founding principles of this country, revive these values within our daily lives and reimagine America fulfilling its God-given destiny to serve the world.
After the service, Pastor Jimmy Clark and his team blessed all with an amazing Texas barbecue. The number of bus riders in Dallas was less than half of those at the beginning of the tour in San Francisco, but when the bus pulled out of Dallas several hours later, local people joining boosted the numbers and matched the levels from before.
Dallas Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with the God’s Hope for America page on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City offers a quaint city center. Upon arriving, the group took a stroll along a charming canal that was lined with restaurants and parks and handed out bookmarks and postcards to families passing by. One young couple accepted their invitation to join the tour participants for dinner. They had just started a 40-day spiritual condition and were highly inspired by the tour’s vision. Rev. Jun Orikasa of Oklahoma gave them directions to the local Holy Ground, should they ever want to pray there. That young couple is following the trip on Facebook, and became our reminder of how many people are open and waiting to meet God with us. Let us pray for this young couple to find new life and for America to hear the call of God and return to its divine mission.
On the morning of June 30, the tour stopped at the Oklahoma Holy Ground early in a small park facing the Oklahoma State Capitol. Local pastor Reverend Orikasa and his eldest daughter joined the bus for the Homestead mini-tour.
Oklahoma City Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with the God’s Hope for America page on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
Kansas City, Kansas
The bus stopped briefly at the Tall Grass Prairie National Park in Kansas and then arrived at the Kansas City Holy Ground, where travelers were greeted by the Kansas City Family Church. As it turned out, a tornado was making its way in their direction just north of them, but even with that frightening prospect, everything went on as planned and no one made to pack up and leave as the winds increased.
A group of 70 people gathered on a windy hillside by the two trees that marked the site of the Holy Ground. After prayer and song, there was a potluck dinner complete with entertainment from the Kansas City Church band with local Pastor Peeter Saarna on lead vocals. Peeter had been a member of the first Unificationist band, Sunburst, and has spent a great deal of his spare time teaching music to the children of his congregation.
The strong winds, which brought huge, bulbous clouds into the backdrop, signaled the pending storm, turning the sky to orange and pink and then an ominous gray. The drive to the next location was met with a lightning-filled sky and the hope of catching a tornado on camera.
For some on the bus tour, Kansas City would be the last stop, and everyone shares a testimony before they leave, providing a unique experience for the bus riders to learn how every person has received a message from God through their fellow passengers. One such person was 21-year-old Katherine Lincoln from Nebraska:
“I am a 21-year-old second-generation Unificationist from Nebraska. I came here to represent my dad and Nebraska, understand my faith and really find the core of my faith. I’ve had many realizations, connected what I have learned on Generation Peace Academy (GPA) to what I’m experiencing now.
Inspired by Crescentia DeGoede’s testimony to find answers in prayer and Shinyoung Simonds’ words to ‘love True Parents as if nothing stood in your way,’ I made plans for the Fourth of July with not only church friends but school friends too. I see on Facebook a couple of friends from high school finding Jesus, understanding love and acceptance and their value from God. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence; I really think it’s time to make God’s presence a reality in America.
“I realized, after getting off the bus tour, that I hadn’t taken full advantage of this time for my faith, but God worked through my offering of simply being on the tour. I extended my stay on the tour one more day so that I could recommit to my faith throughout that day. ‘Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,’ True Father said something like that.
“He also said: ‘Think: Your life is only one spark of a dream, and the dream will end someday for you. But that moment will be the moment of your victory, and it will last you forever. Someday we all will assemble in the Kingdom of Heaven, like this, just as we are seated close together in this room. Then we will talk about the things we have done here on earth. The one who has the most to talk about will enjoy himself most then. Monotonous, colorless, unexciting dreams are nothing to talk about, but either good or bad dreams are. So live! Live an exciting dream! Live!’”
Kansas City Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with the God’s Hope for America page on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
St. Louis, Missouri
On the afternoon of the 12th stop, the tour participants had another auspicious meeting in Kingdom City over lunch when they picked up Benjamin, who was hitchhiking to St. Louis to see his son. Upon arriving near his home, he could have gone home but instead came along to the St. Louis Holy Ground, amazed to learn it had always been close to him and he didn’t know it.
Meet one of the oldest Unificationists in St. Louis, Erlice Wrice, who has lived in St. Louis for the past 45 years serving as an elder sister to the community.
The St. Louis Holy Ground is at the Norman K. Probstein Community Golf Course. Local Unificationists and local pastor Bjorn Ottoson met the bus there. One of the eldest members of the St. Louis community, Erlice Wrice, 75, spoke of the end of the hippie era when she began to learn and live the Unificationist faith herself. She and one of the people who introduced her to Unificationism, Barb, 76, have lived in St. Louis for the past 45 years, serving as the elder sisters to their community.
After this stop, the bus crossed the Mississippi River.
St. Louis Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with the God’s Hope for America page on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
Paducah, Kentucky
Wednesday, July 2, held three Holy Ground stops for those on the bus. It would turn out to be a wearying day but worth every mile.
The Holy Ground in Paducah, Kentucky, is located in a small neighborhood park 10 minutes away from Metropolis, Illinois, home to the comic book hero Superman. Road trippers got up early to take photos with the oversized Man of Steel and then made their way to the Paducah Holy Ground, located in Noble Park and marked by a splendid tall tree overgrown with ivy. As has become tradition, everyone shouted out their name to heaven and earth to let the cosmos know, “We were here.”
Pastor Norm Presley, cousin to Elvis Presley, spoke about the state of Kentucky, mentioning that Jefferson Davies and Abraham Lincoln were born here, which True Father must have known in making this stop on his original tour. Local Unificationist Michael Dickerson offered a prayer and Jacob Simms read from True Father’s speech “God’s Hope for America,” in which True Father remarks that the American money has printed on it, “In God We Trust,” meaning that America was founded for God and that Americans are stewards of God’s nation.
Echoing this quest, Rev. John Jackson shared the parable of sowing seeds; the seeds are the word of God and the ground is the heart of humankind. “God expects that seed to be multiplied a hundredfold,” he said, “and this is the mission of the tour. Not just reviving ourselves, but reviving this nation for the sake of the world.”
Paducah Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with theGod’s Hope for Americapage on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
Memphis, Tennessee
The Memphis Holy Ground is located at the Brooks Museum of Art. There, a cedar tree situated between two double-trunk magnolia trees marks the Holy Ground. Thirty Unificationists joined the gathering from throughout Tennessee.
Pastor Gary Abrahams of the Memphis Family Church and Pastor Tyrone Davis of the Prospect Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Memphis welcomed the road trippers to their humble but strong congregation and sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” The group of 60 people had lunch at the Greater Hope Baptist Church and watched a video of True Father’s 1976 speech at Yankee Stadium. Pastor Gary then shared the history of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis. The Memphis Church of God in Christ was like the holy temple for those who followed Dr. King. He gave the “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech there the night before he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel, not a badge of honor this city wants to claim.
Memphis Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with theGod’s Hope for Americapage on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
Little Rock, Arkansas
It rained beautiful sun showers with fabulous skies on the way to Little Rock. When the sky cleared, the sun shone down on the beauty of Arkansas. This day brought the bus from dry desert sands to hilly landscapes frothing with trees and grass and a great deal of moisture. It also brought with it the much-dreaded mosquito.
The bus pulled into MacArthur Park for a bit of Arkansas sightseeing. Bruce Higgins met the group and gave the historical significance of the 1839 MacArthur Museum, named in honor of General Douglas MacArthur, who was born in Little Rock. MacArthur was a five-star U.S. Army general whose actions in the Korean War helped free True Father from Heungnam Prison. True Father also stopped here to visit during his original tour, as the Korean War Memorial is located here.
Annie Abrahams, a national leader for civil rights, addressed the crowd as well. She spoke of this country’s history and how much America has had to overcome, as well as what the nation was going through when True Father first came here in 1965. She thanked him for his service to a nation that did not always treat the messengers of God with respect, listing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as an example.
At the Holy Ground gathering, the prayer was filled with tears of sorrow and regret. With the sunset came a renewed determination to save this nation for the purpose of helping God to save the world.
Little Rock Photo Gallery on Facebook. As with theGod’s Hope for Americapage on Facebook, you can tag your friends in pictures and share the posts to help spread the word online as the bus spreads the word on the road!
Join us when you can—on the bus or at an event near you. For more information, visit GodsHopeForAmerica.org.