Foundation Day & Tribal Messiah Awards Ceremony
The fourth anniversary celebration of Foundation Day took place on February 9 at the Main Hall of the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center. Consistent with events of the past week, the main themes of the day were national restoration and Tribal Messiahship.
True Mother gave a brief address to the international membership of Family Federation in attendance at Cheongpyeong and those tuning in via live Internet broadcast about our current mission as Unificationists. She began by emphasizing the springlike hopefulness of the moment and encouraged all of us to take initiative to expand True Parents’ work, rather than wait for directions about what to do. True Mother also briefly mentioned some of the new projects and plans that have begun to move forward, before calling on all to testify boldly and proudly to True Parents and their unique ability to solve the world’s problems.
“The brevity of True Mothers’ message made it all the more poignant,” said Mi Young Eaton of the FFWPU USA National Ministry Team. “I could understand for the first time the connection between Foundation Day (in Korean culture, the day when a new nation begins), Tribal Messiahship, and national restoration. Separately, these three things are a Unificationist holy day, practice of faith, and providential goal, respectively. Together, they represent and enable God and True Parents’ vision to create one human family under God—to achieve real, meaningful, lasting peace for all humankind.”
In addition to True Mother’s address, the Foundation Day celebration featured performances by a Korean quartet that sang lovely arrangements of “You Raise Me Up” and “Arirang.” The Little Angels also performed a unique compilation of a few of their famous Korean folk and drum dances.
The regional and continental directors offered extraordinary gifts that in some way represented their respective spheres of responsibility.
Heavenly Tribal Messiah Awards Ceremony
On the evening prior to Foundation Day, couples and families who had completed the goal of conducting the Marriage Blessing Ceremony for 430 couples heard congratulatory remarks on their achievements. Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, FFWPU North America Continental Director, was among the speakers at the event, and shared with them a testimony about Tribal Messiahship from True Mother’s trip to America in December.
“The last time that True Mother was in the United States, in December, I went to East Garden to give a report to True Mother. [FFWPU International Headquarters] Director-General [Sung Il] Cho and I went upstairs and greeted True Mother with a kyeongbae [bow], and I saw a different smile on True Mother’s face. It was a smile with a very deep meaning. She told me that at last America through two Blessed Central Families had fulfilled the direction of giving the Marriage Blessing to 430 couples, so that smile was very different from her other beautiful smiles. This is True Mother’s heart, what she has been waiting for: Tribal Messiahship. Once again, I was awakened by her smile to think and care about Tribal Messiahship activities. I will never forget True Mother’s smile on that morning.”
-Dr. Ki Hoon Kim
The two American couples who completed the task of blessing 430 couples were Joseph and Sun Willet of Kentucky and Dennis and Mayuri Hoffman of South Dakota. In a moving ceremony on Foundation Day, the two couples were honored along with 29 others for their hard work as Tribal Messiahs and their dedication to True Parents. During a formal awards ceremony with True Mother, they received as gifts a copy of the Chambumo Gyeong, a lovely handbag, and a certificate of achievement.
“Dear Cheon Il Guk family, I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed seeing and hearing the live event. My young daughter was very impressed by the Little Angels and the drum presentation. I look forward to hearing more on what True Mother and family plans how to unite Korea and bring a God centered world. Also I am happy that the science conferences are starting up again. Aju!”
“I’m truly grateful to True Parents. They encourage us to do more with this wonderful precious gift. Our victory is True Parents’ victory. Many blessed family can finish bringing 430 couples to the Blessing. True Parents’ expectation from America is very, very big.”
– Sun Willett
“Today’s fourth anniversary with True Mother was really exciting. True Mother gave us her incredible words of inspiration. We’re looking forward to this year with great open expectation. True Mother has really led the way through setting up the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), and the other organizations that can help support our work as Tribal Messiahs. It’s a tremendous opportunity for all of us to connect to some of these activities that can educate people on all different levels of society.”
-Richard Buessing
“When I attended the Foundation Day special ceremony, I could feel so much hope for the future because True Parents have established enough foundation for everything for us. Also, True Mother’s very clear picture to accomplish and realize Cheon Il Guk shows great example for us.”
-Hiroshi Inose
Formal events commemorating True Parents’ Birthday and Foundation Day in 2017 came to a close following a celebratory luncheon. The World Mission Peace Strategy meetings will begin Feb. 11 in Yongpyong. For more information, please contact your national or local directors of Youth, Blessing and Family, and Evangelism.
Happy Foundation Day, and God Bless!
