30 May2015

Peace Road 2015 World Launching Ceremony

True Father’s 1,000 Day Memorial Ceremony was marked by numerous momentous events in Las Vegas, including the Peace Road 2015 World Launching Ceremony held at 2 p.m. on May 30, 2015, at the newly opened International Peace Education Center.  Prior to the commencement ceremony, bicyclists and national representatives dressed in team jerseys said goodbye to the True Parents and True Family, who were cheering and waving Peace Road flags through their open car windows as they drove off.

The Peace Road 2015 World Launching Ceremony is a global project with the vision of unifying Korea and creating world peace.  It began in 2013 to honor True Father’s legacy and inherit and develop his ideas of peace. Its foundation lies mainly in the World Peace Highway project, which True Parents officially suggested in 1981 in Seoul, Korea, and at the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Foundation Assembly in New York in 2005.

About 500 persons gathered at the 2015 World Launching Ceremony, including FFWPU regional presidents, special emissaries and national leaders. the Peace Road team unveiled the globe in front of the IPEC to reveal the Peace Road symbol attached and then held collected signatures for world peace. Greeting messages were given by Dr. Man Ho Kim, Director General for FFWPU International and Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Continental Chairman of FFWPU North America.

Excitement filled the air with the congratulatory remarks given by University of Bridgeport President Neil Salonen and a prayer by Imam Haitham Bundakji, Chair of the Islamic Center of Orange County, California, and the unveiling of the Peace Road’s sign on the IPEC Globe. With Dr. Kim and FFWPU USA President Dr. Michael Balcomb leading the way, the crowd gathered in the 100+ degree weather to cheer on the 20 bike riders at the starting line. Both sides of the road were packed with cheering supporters as the first riders of the 2015 Peace Road bike tour made their way from IPEC to the Cheong Hwa Gung, the local Church center, where they offered flowers for the 1,000 day memorial commemoration of True Father’s Seonghwa and then to the Aria Hotel and to the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada” sign at the Las Vegas city limits. Riders yelled out the slogan for the ride, “Connecting the World through Peace,” to bystanders.

Launching ceremonies were held in Santiago, Chile, and the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa on the same day.

This is just the beginning; stay tuned as more stops are added to the route, bringing us one step closer to uniting as one world under God.

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    Dear Gloria Frothingham-Goldstein,

    Thank you for your comment. The bike riders rode just in Vegas while, on the same day, in other parts of the world, other bike riders also did a ride for peace in their city. No one is riding from Las Vegas to other parts of the world unless they want to.

    Thank you for your comment. I hope this clarifies things.

    Thank you

    Reply

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