On February 7, international Unificationist leaders attended the final presentations of the Cheon Il Guk Leaders’ Assembly as well as the International Symposium and Assembly for the Launch of the Hyo Jeong Academy. The topic of national restoration and the means to achieve it, clearly reiterated by True Mother during her New Year’s speech on January 3, was the central theme of the day.

The Cheon Il Guk Leaders’ Assembly closed with presentations by representatives of True Mother’s Secretariat and of the International Headquarters of FFWPU (FFWPU IHQ). Won Ju McDevitt, True Mother’s Secretary General, spoke first, explaining that the purpose of the Secretariat is “to clearly convey the words and intentions of True Parents to Unificationist organizations in order to support True Parents’ vision.” Referencing True Mother’s New Year’s speech, Mrs. McDevitt asked the audience if they were ready to sacrifice their lives for national restoration, driving home the degree of dedication required to fulfill our worldwide Vision 2020 goals.

Young Ho Yun, Deputy Chief of Staff for FFWPU IHQ and True Mother’s Secretariat, followed, with a presentation titled, “The International Mission Peace Strategy for the Firm Establishment of Cheon Il Guk.” Mr. Yun explained that the three primary mission areas for the next three years will be grassroots witnessing or Tribal Messiahship outreach, the “creation of an environment for witnessing” through collaboration with like-minded world leaders and organizations, and raising future leaders through the development of educational opportunities and support for young Unificationists. He also announced the imminent founding of a “Student Federation for World Peace” or SFWP; and stressed the importance of teaching about hyo jeong, or the virtue of filial heart, through culture and the arts, which will be the main mission of the developing Hyo Jeong Cultural Center.

As a testament to True Parents’ vision to educate the world about God through the arts, the youth of the Hyo Jeong Global Culture and Arts Workshop came to perform songs from this year’s celebratory musical, The Dream of Hyo Jeong, at the assembly, filling the room with a radiant and inspired energy. In his introduction to these young champions of art, Mr. Yun was almost moved to tears when he shared how one of the workshop participants was determined to come and sing for True Mother despite having cancer, the surgery for which will impair her ability to sing in the future: a sorrowful, beautiful testament to the quality of filial heart likely shared by all of the young artists participating in the ongoing workshop.

The final presentation and concluding remarks of the Leaders’ Assembly were given by Sung Il Cho, Director General of the FFWPU IHQ. Director Cho clearly described the international strategy for the achievement of national restoration, synthesizing the central themes from True Mother’s recent speeches on our current responsibilities as a movement with the information reported by regional and organizational leaders over the course of the past few days.

The most striking point of Director Cho’s presentation was his clear delineation of the connections between the three mission areas of witnessing, creating environments for witnessing, and raising future leaders. He explained that investment into any one of these areas will naturally yield positive results and progress in the others. For instance, Unificationists’ successful work through Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in the Dominican Republic has created an avenue for the civic leaders of that nation to implement a curriculum for youth character development and pure love education there.

Reflecting on the last four years and the significance of the three ahead, Director Cho commented, “We can now feel and see that the objectives of True Parents are achievable….the essential point is to be vertically aligned [united in heart and mind] with True Parents, whatever we may be working on.”

The inaugural Assembly and Academic Symposium of the Hyo Jeong Academy followed the conclusion of the Cheon Il Guk Leaders’ Assembly. During the first half of the program, Yeon Ah Moon, Chair of the Hyo Jeong World Peace Foundation, gave congratulatory remarks to open the session, while Sung Bae Jin, Chairman of the Hyo Jeong Academy, gave the keynote address.

In the second half of the program, three Unification scholars gave presentations and Rev. Ryu Kyeong Seuk, President of FFWPU Korea, gave a special lecture about True Mother’s recent achievements and activities, including the selection of key strategic nations in the Unification providence, pioneering the teaching of hyo jeong, the development of the Hyo Jeong Cheonwon campus, the launch of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), and the growing celebrations of True Parents’ Birthday, Foundation Day, and the anniversary of True Father’s Seonghwa.

Dr. Andrew Wilson of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) served as the event emcee. The first presentation was given by Dr. Jin on the relationship between Unification Thought, unified sciences, and quantum mechanics. The third was given by Dr. Jin Choon Kim on the identity of True Parents as the only begotten Son and Daughter, and the second by Dr. Tyler Hendricks.

Dr. Hendricks’s presentation was titled “National Restoration: Pure Love, True Family Values and the Constitution.” Inspired by Dr. Robert Kittel’s work with UPF in Nepal, Dr. Hendricks suggested that the two central values of Cheon Il Guk as articulated in the Cheon Il Guk Constitution are abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage and that any nation or community that accepts and practices these values may already be considered part of Cheon Il Guk.

After an intense week, the international leaders will take the day off tomorrow to prepare their hearts for Foundation Day. Stay tuned for updates this week on familyfed.org, and tune into the live Foundation Day broadcast on Wednesday at 8pm EST.