The Youth and Young Adult Ministry (YAYAM) hosted a “Mujogeon (Unconditionally)” music video contest where the first, second and third place winners were announced at the Peace Starts With Me Workshop on November 11 at the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS).

First place went to the University of Bridgeport who received a $1000 cash prize, second place went to the Los Angeles Community, and third place went to the Maryland Community.

Watch the winning submissions and read the contest winners’ testimonies below.

“When I first heard about the music video contest, I was hesitant to participate. I thought it was just going to be another thing to worry about in preparation for the rally. Being on the media team for Bridgeport’s youth group, I thought that I’d probably end up help filming it, so the staff got together and began brainstorming ideas. We had a few brainstorming sessions before running into the problem of not finding time to gather all the youth for the shoot. We kept pushing back the actual film date until one Sunday afternoon we finally decided to just go and shoot the music video with whoever was available. We walked to Downtown Bridgeport and roamed around trying to find interesting places to film. We danced in the view of Bridgeport’s iconic smoke stack, on colorful staircases, and took our final shots of the day on a roof top parking lot with a beautiful sunset. Trying to get the dance perfectly was not much of a concern. I think everyone’s attitude was to just go for it, have fun, and be creative in the process.” – Sungkeel Yamada, Bridgeport, CT

“In LA, there were a lot of activities happening: Campus witnessing, church mobilization, fundraising, rallies, just to name a few. When we heard that there will be a Video Contest for the Mujogeon dance, we really wanted to create a beautiful video for True Mother to capture the development of activities where CARP students were reaching out to. Despite busy schedules, and many projects happening, we managed to add this video to our schedule. There was a feeling of unity while filming this video. Japanese Missionaries who were witnessing here were happy to be involved in this music video. Before the making of this video, there was a lot of persecution for our CARP members. None the less, we still went on with the video because, no matter what, we wanted to show True Parents the spirit of Mujogeon and hope here in the LA community. It was definitely a fun time. We could not have done it without the help and outreach of all the members who pitched in.” – Masataka Asaoka, Los Angeles, CA

“When I heard about the video contest, I thought it would be a great offering to True Mother. After talking to Danny Awang, we decided to make the video together. Our vision was to show more than just one aspect of our community. We wanted to encompass the different aspects that make our community the amazing place that we love. We wanted to show the things that have contributed to our lives and to our growth as young adults and made us who we are today. We included our Maryland Boy Scout Troop 1212, which has been a huge aspect to the growth of so many young men in our community. We also wanted to bring in some first-generation because without their investment we wouldn’t even be here right now. No matter how many times we mess up, our parents will always love and support us, and we wanted to show that love in our video. So many of our parents have invested so much of their hearts and time into helping us grow into people that God can really be proud of. We also included the New Hope Youth Dance Company. My mom’s passion has been to create a dance company that could be centered on principled values. Last year, they performed for True Mother at the Peace Starts With Me Rally at Madison Square Garden. Although most of them are non-church members, they still invested their hearts into making this offering for her. I wanted to show the dancers our appreciation for their offering to True Mother last year, so we included them in our video along with the special needs dancers. In the end, we decided to create a video that would bring together young non-church members, first- second- and third-generation members coming together to make this offering from the Maryland Community.” – Gabriel David Marchitelli, Bowie, MD

To watch all the music video contest submissions, click the button below.