FFWPU USA Reflections on 2017 Sunhak Peace Prize
Shinyoung Chang is the Editorial Director for the FFWPU USA National Ministry Team. This is her third opportunity to attend True Parents in Korea for the Foundation Day events. She and two other members of the FFWPU USA delegation to Korea share their reflections on the 2017 Sunhak Peace Prize:
Watching the ceremony for the 2017 Sunhak Peace Prize, it occurred to me that True Mother was lifting these two individuals up so she could show to the Unification families people in the world who are doing exactly what True Father wants us to do: go out into the world with courage and change it for the better.
Today I was lucky enough to witness this beautiful short ceremony. It was very professionally done, from the emcees all the way to the videos that were created to tribute the incredible work that these laureates have done throughout their entire lives. Without any money, they took a step forward and they kept moving forward to achieve their goals. Just decades later, their efforts touched millions of people. That’s just incredible.
We tend to fail to recognize that there are people out there in the world who’ve already been called by God to help people. We need to meet these people. They can inspire us, and we can inspire them. The wonderful thing I realized today was because these people have been living the life that True Parents want us, as Blessed families, to live, True Father’s message of peace resonated so much with them that when they were recognized by the Sunhak Peace Prize committee, they humbly accepted the honor and completely understood what it meant. Their lives already resonated with True Father’s message.
I don’t think our Unification families know the extent to which the standard of the Sunhak Peace Prize is built. Not only does it honor these people, it honors True Parents because we’re honoring these people. The stage, the professional emcees, the professional singers and performers, the short films paying respectful and artistic tribute to their life’s work–all of it expressed how much we are thankful to those living so courageously right now.
In the afternoon, we got to hear from two laureates. Because we could see the tribute in the morning and the extent to which these two people’s lives have reached out into the world, their presentations in the afternoon were attentively listened to. Their areas of work are so relevant and show how one person can change the whole world.
That’s the Sunhak Peace Prize foundation, in case you’ve been thinking it’s just another event or just for show. No. This is definitely not what it is. It was really inspiring. It made me feel small. It made me feel selfish. It made me feel uncourageous. It made me realize that the way I’m living my life is nothing compared to these people. They exemplified exactly how True Father lived out his life. I wish that they had got the chance to meet True Father. I wish they had; it would’ve meant so much. Even without meeting him, they could feel his heart. When I looked at these people, I thought, Wow. Against all adversary, even against the threat of death, even against the threat of imprisonment, so many threats to the work that they wanted to do–even their own bodies were their threat–even against all those things, they courageously kept going. I just felt so small, so incredibly tiny, and I felt, “Wow, here I am living my little tiny life. I haven’t done anything for this world, and I’ve known True Parents my whole life.” I felt completely useless, completely pointless. And I don’t want to feel this way anymore. If these two people can do such amazing things, I can too.
I was really happy that I came to Korea as part of the National Ministry Team, and I was able to witness this firsthand. It was really cool.
It was really amazing and very moving to see Dr. Strada and Dr. Yacoobi, what they accomplished. It made me think a lot about what one person can accomplish; we can have such a huge impact. I began reflecting on my life. I’m still young, so I really want to pray and figure out what is my calling, what I can do to make a greater impact on the world and to have confidence. It was really inspiring for me, and I thought that if every person could think about the world like the Sunhak laureates do, we could really move something.
–No Ra Waldmann
I felt the whole production was incredibly uplifting and inspiring. What really touched me was the emphasis on refugees, especially in terms of women and children, education and medical assistance, and reaching out to those who are most vulnerable and most in need. The testimonies and the videos shared about the two recipients were very inspiring. What also touched me were the songs and the dances that were chosen for this moment and this event: showing pictures of refugees, students, and young people in the background. As a woman, I think that touched me the most. I was so moved to see how music and arts could display such heart. I’m very excited, and I hope to apply this to CARP as well and see how we can bring students to develop themselves so that they can one day become Sunhak Peace Prize laureates.
One of the points that Dr. Gino Strada made was that there are some days when he wants to retire, when he wants to stop, when he’s tired. That’s something that I found myself relating to so much. This is a very human condition: we all want to be comfortable, to sit back and to enjoy life, but there are moments that make it all worth it. Helping others is ultimately what it’s all about and it was so great to see all of the winners proclaim that—that helping others is what life is all about.
–Teresa Rischl