Famicon 2017: We Promise
Contributed by Shinyoung Chang and Mi Young Eaton
Famicon 2017 closed on a note of hope and excitement! After hearing moving testimonies and engaging in an honest question-and-answer session with Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Dr. Michael Balcomb, Mari Curry, Miilhan Stephens and our three ministry directors, Crescentia DeGoede, Demian Dunkley and Naokimi Ushiroda, we closed what has been the most enjoyable national leader’s conference with this promise:
“We promise, all of us, FFWPU, ACLC, UPF, WFWP, and CARP, will work together to fulfill the 430 Heavenly Tribal Messiah goals and to take proud ownership of the Hyojeong East Garden Museum of True Parents’ life and work in America.”
Many listened attentively as Dr. Balcomb and asked us to imagine returning to Famicon in 2020 to celebrate the achievement of our Vision 2020 goals.
“I want you to imagine for a moment that I am here giving the 2020 Year in Review. The first thing I can say for the 2020 Year in Review is that it is a review of victory. We heard earlier about what we thought about serving America first—how we can improve on that and modify it so that America is the first in giving, America is the first in loving, and America is the first in serving. Would you like to do that together?”
Dr. Kim followed, delivering a farewell address to conclude the conference. His comments were highly personal as he shared that his main takeaway from this year’s Famicon was a spirit of renewed hope and humility.
“I am learning every day that your life of faith doesn’t stop as you get older. I’ve been a church leader for 30 years, 40 years; I felt I knew the Divine Principle well, that I knew True Parents well—but no. As I go deeper in my relationship first with True Father and now with True Mother, it’s really made me humble. Learning, growing. I now have more confidence than last year for my family, for our American Unification family and our North American activities. Yes, more than ever, I have confidence centering on True Mother here and True Father in spirit.
“We need to open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, learning, growing. Think about it. I’ve studied True Parents, but still, I realize I don’t know them clearly enough. This is my challenge every day. That makes me humble. Whenever you see others, open your eyes, open your ears, open your heart as a parent. God’s love is parental love. Love one another. How can we bring unity? If we don’t understand others, we can’t bring unity in our community.”
As we now prepare to return to our families and communities all around the nation, we were left with this closing call to action from Dr. Balcomb:
“We might look back from 2020 and ask ourselves, how did we do it? How did we get to this magnificent result that we have committed to? How did it come about?…This, right here and right now, is where it all starts. The victories of 2020 start in this room right now. Over the last three days, we have heard testimonies from people who are already bringing victory as Tribal Messiahs: pioneers like Mark and Edna Abernathy, and Joe and Sun Willett, and Dennis and Mayuri Hoffman, and our sister Claudette Kambara, and many others. I think we have come to realize we are not at zero. The work and effort of all years is coming to fruition right now. This year at Famicon is where it all starts.”
Thank you to our readers for joining in this Famicon journey and experience from afar. In the days ahead, more resources, photos, and footage from the conference sessions will be made available at famicon.com.