Cham Bumo Gyeong Translation Team Conference

Editors and translators of Cham Bumo Gyeong, the third volume of Holy Scriptures after Cheon Seong Gyeong and Pyeong Hwa Gyeong, were invited to a special meeting at East Garden on March 28, 2015. Thirty individuals gathered for a chance to meet and greet each other and reconnect with True Parents at the heart of True Parents’ mission in America. They spent the day listening to testimonies and receiving practical guidance regarding their work.  

The meeting began in the Old House at East Garden, which has been transformed into a museum. The team reflected on True Parents’ early years in America and received a heartfelt tour from Michael McDevitt, the East Garden and Belvedere property manager.  They watched a short video of True Parents’ family in the 1980s, and everyone was moved as they toured the house room by room. With the remembrance of our True Parents in heart and mind, the team walked through the lightly falling snow to the main house and began the conference.

Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, continental chair of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) North America, hosted the event, sending personal invitations. Dr. Michael Balcomb, FFWPU USA president, emceed the event. He testified that he often finds Dr. Kim studying the English Cheon Seong Gyeong and Pyeong Hwa Gyeong in his office, which is adjacent to his own.

In his address to the team, Dr. Kim expressed the importance that True Father placed on the “logos,” the word, relating how True Father could always be found with a Hoon Dok Hwe book tucked under his arm, ready for study anytime, anywhere. He also told of his appreciation for the translation team. “I heard testimonies about how they are preparing this translation project with prayer,” said Dr. Kim. “They have an incredible mindset, and so I was very impressed to hear their personal testimonies. I really praise this translation and editing team, and I  want to support them, and True Mother also wants them to do great work. I am thankful to our Heavenly Parent and True Parents and our American elder brothers and sisters. God bless you.”

Read Dr. Ki Hoon Kim’s full message

Each team member brings with them a unique set of translating or editing skills and years of experience. These qualities enrich the team’s capacity to produce a translation of True Parents’ words that captures the heart and love and truth that God desires to give to all His children. Members of the team who live too far away to attend this intimate gathering were recognized.

Under the supervision of Dr. Tyler Hendricks and David Rendel, the team is working hard to complete the English translation of Cham Bumo Gyeong before the third anniversary of True Father’s Seonghwa in August.

“Cham Bumo Gyeong is a compilation of True Father’s, True Mother’s words about their own position within God’s providence,” said Dr. Hendricks. “I’m constantly realizing the depth of True Father’s and True Mother’s words, the power of God’s word in my own life, the power of the Divine Principle to move all sectors of society in one direction, and the incredible, immense suffering True Parents have gone through, shedding blood and shedding tears and just anguish that I can’t even begin to comprehend, in order to bring these words into the world. Through this book we really all pray that these words will permeate the entire world and bring a refreshment and a transformation to the heart.”

Also in attendance, in support of the commitment and dedication of those on the team, were Dr. Michael Jenkins, chief financial officer of FFWPU USA; Dr. Thomas Walsh, chairman of Universal Peace Federation International; and Mrs. Wonju McDevitt, chief secretary for True Mother.

In her introduction to the team, Mrs. McDevitt said that True Mother is really praying for the Cham Bumo Gyeong team and for its work. She related her experiences reading Hoon Dok Hwe (study of scripture) for True Parents every day for the last 33 years, telling the story of how it all began. She conveyed True Mother’s heart and sentiment toward those who commit themselves to translating and editing True Parents’ words.

“Mother is really praying hard,” Mrs. McDevitt said. “In January we were in Hawaii. Dr. Kim was there. We read Cham Bumo Gyeong, and it was so good. We were so inspired. I cried, True Mother cried, Dr. Kim cried. We cried and we read. And True Mother was so happy, and if she were here, she would give you a special treat. I know, True Mother really appreciates people who translate or edit True Parents’ speeches for Cham Bumo Gyeong.” She went on to say, “I am so happy I am here. I can tell True Mother I was here and I gave a little testimony. True Mother will be very happy. She always says, ‘I really appreciate that the American brothers and sisters trust me and support me.’ That’s what Mother said.”

Read Wonju McDevitt’s full message

Team members related their experiences of the day as well as their experiences so far as members of the translation and editing team.  

Hee Hun Standard, a member of the translating team, translated for True Father when he held Hoon Dok Hwe at East Garden for 12 years. She said, “I really feel it is very important for America to take responsibility to spread the word in the best way, because True Father spoke in America even more than in Korea. He lived in America longer than in any other part of the world, even longer than in Korea, during his public ministry. We have incredible resources, and those words should be properly presented to the world so that those words that were translated into English can be translated into other languages in the best way.

“If we are not making it really clear and also accurate,” Mrs. Standard said, “then all the translation works will be incorrectly translated into other languages, and we will be really creating problems for other people and that will be such a sad thing for other parts of the world. So our responsibility is truly to bring our very best to take True Father’s words as seriously as True Father took them as we spread them to the world.”

In the afternoon, there was a Hoon Dok Hwe reading of excerpts from the new scripture as well as a Hoon Dok Hwe speed reading contest.  The team members concluded their day with a short walk under the newly sunny skies from East Garden’s main house to the Holy Ground where they concluded with a prayer.

The editors and translators said afterward that they had had a wonderful experience at the unexpected conference. “This invitation came as a big surprise to me,” said Dr. Frank Kaufman, senior editor of the project. “It’s the most full welcome and full investment of care to the editors that has ever been done for a project like this. Evidently Dr. Kim and his team were very serious that the editors understand what a valuable opportunity it is and what a serious responsibility it is.”