Sun Jin Moon Touches the Hearts of Unificationists in Europe

Following True Mother’s visit to Vienna, Austria, Sun Jin Moon, President of FFWPU International, has spoken both in Limburg, Germany and the Royal Nation Hotel in London, England. Below is a link to her full message, as well as a brief recap of the gatherings in Germany and England.

Read the full message

Limburg, Germany

“The history of the Unification Movement in Europe and especially in Germany is remarkable and amazing.”  Sun Jin Moon made this comment in Limburg on May 14,2015 during her 50-minute speech to an audience of about 700. “Europe has always played a central role in God’s providence of restoration.”

The event in Limburg city hall began with a musical presentation from Hazel Sato and Regina Spari, accompanied by Erika Kamura, Taka Wakayama, Stefan Hutzfeld and Ntima Kwala, who set the stage for the event to come with great dedication and astonishing professionalism. Alisa Hönig and Wolf Osterheld confidently guided the audience through the program, which had been developed and prepared by many behind-the-scenes helpers and assistants. Jacques Philippe, leader of FFWPU Belgium, offered the opening prayer. This was followed by introductory remarks by Dieter Schmidt who expressed on the one hand his joy at the event, but on the other hand reflected thoughtfully: “Where will the path lead us in the next 50 years? What will our movement look like in 50 years’ time? The future lies in our hands … it is up to us as far as what we do in our nations.”

Professor Konrad Löw, who has known and valued the Unification movement since the CAUSA era a good 30 years ago, delivered the welcoming address as a representative of the ambassadors for peace. In his speech he stressed that as a practicing Catholic and lecturer in constitutional law, he has always valued True Father’s efforts toward world peace, despite all the doomsday prophecies, and has never regretted his decades of cooperation with our movement. Professor Löw was one of the many ambassadors for peace who sent a detailed letter to the responsible authorities in the Federal Republic of Germany before the Schengen entry ban against the founding couple was finally lifted.

After a musical contribution, Sun Jin Moon and her husband, In Sup Park, took to the stage and Sun Jin Moon spoke in a very committed and clear manner, sometimes in tears. This was her first official speech since her appointment as president of the world-wide Unification movement.

To the tune of ‘happy birthday’ sung enthusiastically by all the participants, the cake was cut. After a group photograph, Jacques Marion, the general secretary of UPF Europe led a resounding three-fold rendering of “Og mansei! (Victory)”

The city and regional leaders of the German movement as well as the national leaders of the neighboring countries were invited to the lunch that followed in one of the conference rooms of the city hall. It was a small group of about 33 people who met in the sun-flooded room, which made it all the more easy to connect during the lunch and afterwards. There were some very moving testimonies from various members, both old and young which touched everybody, especially Sun Jin Moon and In Sup Park. Sun Jin Moon voiced her thanks for all the words of inspiration and expressed her belief that we should understand we are all brothers and sisters of the same family and should treat each other accordingly.

Over 70 young people gathered on the evening before the event in Limburg in the seminar house of Neumühle for a question and answer session with Yeon Ah Moon, the wife of Hyo Jin Moon. She answered all the questions, mostly from the young people, honestly and openly. In doing so, she showed her deep heart and gave some insight as to the extent of the love and wisdom with which True Mother is leading our movement, but also as to the weight of that burden. Many of the young people expressed after the event that they now feel more connected with True Parents’ family.

Frankfurt, Germany

When True Mother hosted a small performance of the Little Angels on the occasion of Sun Jin Moon’s official appointment , she made the spontaneous decision to take the dance group to Europe with her, as a special gift for the European members.

In Frankfurt, Je-hun Yoo, president of the Association of Koreans in Germany, made his office available for preparation of the activities. This association, together with the Universal Peace Federation Germany were the official organizers of the two-hour event. 

Karl Christian Hausmann, president of UPF Germany, welcomed the audience and explained the purpose of the Little Angels’ visit to Germany and other European countries: the “angels of peace” came in form of a thank you for the help and support that Germany in different ways had offered the people of Korea after the Korean war. This motivation was taken up by the press and articulated in various articles. Korea could not have made a better present than the folklore presentation of the Little Angels in the Jahrhunderthalle!

London, England

The event in London on Saturday, May 16, 2015 brought in several hundred Unificationists from across the United Kingdom who gathered to further celebrate 50 years of the Unification Movement in Europe as well as hear Sun Jin Moon’s message on the future of the movement’s efforts.

Her message was preceded by various performances by talented young Unificationists as well as a video on the history of the Unification Movement in Europe. The moving performances and video truly set the tone for what would be a heartfelt speech from Sun Jin Moon, whose earnest reflections left many of those attending in tears.

Throughout her talk, as in Limburg, Sun Jin Moon put forward the importance of always being a source of positivity in the face of adversity and told the crowd that “Even when others around us are spreading negative energy, let us always be the source of positive energy that can renew our movement and restore this world. We cannot be inert or bogged down by past losses. We must move forward, take action and train ourselves to be like True Mother, living longer, faster, stronger and honorably for the sake of humankind.”

Sun Jin Moon’s message revolved around the importance of staying in touch with the roots and foundation of our movement, and involved the reading of several passages of True Father’s words to remind those in attendance of the power behind his words, vision and understanding of God’s heart.

Her message was then followed by a jovial performance from the Little Angels and the cutting of a four-layer cake to celebrate the fifty years of the movement in Europe. Following the event, Sun Jin Moon took  time to talk with and embrace people who approached her, a reflection of her words in which she expressed how much she values everyone for their commitment to the movement’s vision for world peace and unity.

“I think Sun Jin Moon is one of the most sincere people, and I really got that from her speech today,” shared Dawn Pollitt from Canterbury, England. “I was actually in tears the entire time.” This sense of sincerity was universally felt throughout the room, as Samuel Read from London said: “Sun Jin Moon’s sincere expression of her heart was the most meaningful part of the day for me.’ Read said he felt the overall message was one of encouragement and that “we’ve come this far. Fifty years in Europe is a big milestone; let’s recognise all the work that people have put in. I think True Mother and Sun Jin Moon have made clear that they are very grateful for all the effort that Unificationists have been putting in, but let’s keep going, let’s look to the future, let’s feel encouraged, let’s unite together and think about the grander vision, True Father’s vision, God’s vision.”