An International Sisterhood

This week in history, March 2-8:

• The second anniversary of Foundation Day is observed (March 3, 2015)
• The Universal Peace Academy opens (March 4, 2013)
• Celebration to Mark the Distribution of 50,000 copies of True Father’s Autobiography in Las Vegas (March 5, 2011)
• True Mother goes on tour in Japan (March 5-13, 2012)
• Sun Jin Moon is appointed as FFWPU International President (March 6, 2015)
• Hoon Sook (Julia) Moon inaugurated as International President of WFWP (March 6, 2019)
• The Middle East Times begins publication (March 7, 1983)
• One Hundred City Speaking Tour is held in the United States (March 8, 1994)
• A power outage occurs during True Father’s speech (March 8, 2001) 

MARCH 3, 2015

Second Anniversary of Foundation Day and Cosmic Blessing Ceremony

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

True Mother led the observance of the second anniversary of Foundation Day and conducted an International Marriage Blessing at the Cheongshim Peace World Center, Gapyeong, Korea, on March 3, 2015 (January 13, H.C.). True Parents originally established Foundation Day on February 20, 2013, as the starting point for the substantial realization of Cheon Il Guk. Eight hundred new couples and 3,000 existing couples participated in the 2015 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony, which was attended by 20,000 in the Peace World Center. Approximately 20,000 couples from 194 nations participated in the ceremony via live Internet broadcast, bringing the total number of couples to 24,000. In her Foundation Day speech, True Mother told participants, “The Marriage Blessing will hold no meaning if you allow your Blessing to extend only to your family, while living in this age of True Parents. You must reveal to your neighbors, your tribe and your nation that True Parents are the true owners. That is the only way for you to go today if you want to receive the crown of glory.” In addition to the Blessing, FFWPU Publishing Committee President Young Hwi Kim and Vice President Jae Suk Lee dedicated the final volume of the Scriptures, the Cham Bumo Gyeong. This completed the Cheon Il Guk Scriptures composed of the Cheon Seong Gyeong, the Pyeong Hwa Gyeong and the Chambumo Gyeong.

MARCH 4, 2013

Universal Peace Academy Opens

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

On March 4, 2013, the first Entrance Ceremony for the Universal Peace Academy (UPA) was held in the Main Chapel of Cheongshim Graduate School of Theology at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center in Korea. Forty-three students, mainly from Korea and Japan but also from eight additional nations, participated. They were chosen as entering “cadets” through a strict selection process for the master’s level course, which includes the graduate school and a one-year pre-graduate language school for those needing to raise their competence in Korean. After the Wonmo Peace Foundation was established according to True Father’s direction, UPA was the first project set up for the education of Unificationist-born future leaders. True Mother founded and named the academy. At the entrance ceremony, she said that under the motto of “Loving Heaven, Loving Nation and Loving People,” UPA “is a school to create leaders who will build a world with freedom, peace, unification and happiness in heaven and on this earth.” She called on the cadets to regard their educational experience “not only as the light of your life but the light for the seven billion people of the earth.”

March 5, 2011

Celebration to Mark the Distribution of 50,000 copies of True Father’s Autobiography in Las Vegas

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

True Parents hosted an assembly to commemorate the successful distribution of fifty thousand copies of True Father’s autobiography As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen in Las Vegas, Nevada where they had launched a multi-faceted ministry. Since its publication in early 2009 in Korea, True Father’s autobiography had been a bestseller, and as of 2011 was in the process of being translated into 43 languages.

The program, titled a “Cosmic Assembly to Proclaim the Words of God’s Substantial Body that has Settled as the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind” continued assemblies that True Parents began in 2010. True Father expressed his concern for the 6.5 billion people of the world, especially the “more than 900 million … suffering from malnutrition even at this very moment.” He spoke of his investment in ocean industries intended “to free humankind from the suffering of hunger” and his vision for Las Vegas as a “shining city.” Referring to his autobiography, he stated, “I hope that you will open the doors of your hearts and read [it] closely. Please take my hand as I walk on this lonely course of saving humanity. Let us not only secure your eternal life and that of your family; let us also bring all of humanity to God, so that everyone may receive salvation and eternal life.”

March 5-13, 2012

True Mother’s Japan Tour

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), True Mother delivered an address, “The Role of Women in the Age after the Coming of Heaven and the Mission of the Women’s Federation,” in a multi-city tour of Japan from March 5 to 13. In addition to her public speeches, True Mother led Hoon Dok Hwe each day and reported to True Father, who viewed each event from locations in Korea. On departure, True Father told her, “I pray that God will be with you so that a flower garden will come into bloom where the True Mother goes.” He also told True Mother to take his wallet, containing all of his ID cards with her, so that members would feel his presence. True Mother distributed donations from his wallet at three locations. After returning to Korea, True Mother said: “The faith of the Japanese members is so beautiful. There are so many difficulties internally and externally in Japan, but when I see the members firmly holding their faith and doing the best they can on the front line, I want to do what I can for them. I wish I could have done more for them.”

March 6, 2015

Sun Jin Moon Appointed FFWPU International President

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

On March 6, 2015, at the Cheon Il Guk Leaders’ Assembly, True Mother appointed Sun Jin Moon as FFWPU international president and her husband, In Sup Park, as FFWPU vice president. True Mother stated: “More than anybody else they represent the True Family, and they have selflessly followed True Parents’ tradition, showing you the example. Together with you, they will move us toward the fulfillment of Vision 2020 and they will build, together with you, the eternal Kingdom of Cheon Il Guk.” She expressed hope that leaders “will help them wholeheartedly.”

March 6, 2019

Hoon Sook (Julia) Moon inaugurated as International President of WFWP

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

Hoon Sook (Julia) Moon was appointed International President of Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) by True Mother on February 5, 2019, and formally inaugurated on March 6. She succeeded Professor Yeon Ah Moon who served as the third president of WFWP International since 2014 and who was appointed to head the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Korea.

President Moon was for many years the prima ballerina of the Universal Ballet Company in Korea and on retirement took on a management role as director of UBC, leading the company for nearly twenty years. In her inaugural address, she stated, “I dedicated my entire life to ballet with the philosophy: Make the world beautiful through heavenly arts. Now, together with all WFWP members, I have received the opportunity to go beyond the stage, to serve the world and to practice true love on a wider and more substantial scale.”

March 7, 1983

Middle East Times Begins Publication

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

True Father first shared his vision of the importance of creating a newspaper for the Middle East at an international leaders’ conference at his sixtieth birthday observance in 1980. He did so for two major reasons. First, Unificationist missionaries were specifically forbidden from pursuing traditional missionary activities in predominantly Islamic nations. Second, local publications were of generally poor quality both in production standards and, more importantly, editorial standards. In fact, Middle East media contributed to divisions within the region by being highly partisan, controlled either directly or indirectly by government or religious interests. The Middle East Times, founded at the end of 1982, published its first edition on March 7, 1983. Its vision was to promote a regional view of the Middle East, taking a position of reconciliation between different sides. Published out of Cyprus, the weekly paper utilized the talents and experience of Unificationist missionaries in the region. By 1985, it circulated in 12 countries. By 1991, it circulated in 18 countries with a readership of 50,000 every week. It also played a significant providential role in connecting the Grand Muftis of Syria and Yemen as well as other Middle East leaders to True Parents.

March 8, 1994

One Hundred City Speaking Tour in the United States

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

A 100-city speaking tour in the United States was conducted from March 8 to April 27, 1994. In this tour, which had the theme “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age,” True Mother went to ten Ivy League universities, starting from Harvard University, and several of the True Children gave speeches at other universities. True Mother emphasized in her speech, “Adam and Eve were supposed to perfect their true love, and, as true parents, they were supposed to form a perfected family characterized by true love and true lineage.” (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

March 8, 2001

Power Outage in Minneapolis

One of the more bizarre occurrences during any of True Father’s public speaking engagements happened in Minneapolis during his 2001 “We Will Stand in Oneness” tour with the American Clergy Leadership Conference. True Father was speaking at the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, which was filled to capacity with close to 1,000 people. Archbishop George Augustus Stallings had given a rousing introduction in which he stated that True Father has “a triple A rating from clergy who know him,” being “Anointed, Appointed, and Approved by God.” The atmosphere, as one report put it, was “electric.” Then, with some twenty minutes to go in True Father’s speech, a transformer blew, plunging the whole neighborhood into darkness. The microphones went out and no one could see anything. According to a report, “At first there was silence and then a young girl’s scream. Some of the audience fled into the night. There was confusion and even despair, until an usher shone his flashlight on the stage.” True Father was heard to say, “Please don’t leave.” Bishop Stallings also went out into the audience, saying: “Be at peace. God is in control.” As more flashlights surfaced and candles were lit, the stage was bright in the warm glow of candlelight. Large candelabras were placed behind the podium. True Father completed his message.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of March 2-8.