True Mother Inaugurates the Cranes Club

Christmas, a celebration of Jesus’s birth, is also a time to be reborn, ourselves, among family, community and friends, looking forward to a new year and renewed determination. In Las Vegas this weekend, True Mother’s presence reminds us that there are many kinds of rebirth, emotional and spiritual rebirth being the most sought after. In her leadership since True Father’s ascension, True Mother has given us many ways to be reborn. She has made available the Universal Peace Academy, a chance for young people to delve deeper into the core of our teachings. She provided a wider scope of vision on the Cheon Seong Gyeong and developed the new Holy Scriptures. She brought attention to the education of youth through the Aloha Workshops in Hawaii. She has actively created initiatives such as these and put them into action. Through True Mother’s wonderful example, we can see that rebirth is possible.

The Cranes Club, True Mother’s latest initiative, brings attention to an age group that is often overlooked among Unificationists. By creating this organization, True Mother re-frames the time of our lives when we focus on professional development as a way to serve humanity. It’s True Mother’s desire to see them grow in leadership for the world, and live by True Father’s motto to live for the sake of others.

The inaugural Cranes Club Conference is currently being held at South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, between December 19 and 21. Cranes Club is a new organization that provides a supportive network of young Unificationist professionals who aspire to contribute their expertise towards the successful establishment of Cheon Il Guk.

In a presentation to the attendees, Dr. Man Ho Kim, the secretary general of FFWPU International, explained, “True Mother really wants to nurture new leadership. She wants to take care of you, so that you can take care of many people in the world.” True Mother specifically requested that young Unificationists professionals, especially business owners, attend the conference. Young businessmen and women from around the globe, including Korea, Japan, North America and Europe, responded and are in attendance of the Cranes Club conference this weekend.

With great anticipation to see True Mother and discuss how they could contribute to her vision, the Cranes Club attendees made a great effort to overcome language and culture barriers, contributing to a cooperative and cohesive environment. This sense of unity is exactly what this international gathering needs to make great strides toward becoming a significant impact on the world.

The Cranes Club opened with a dinner on Friday night, followed by presentations on Saturday morning, focusing on the significance of True Mother as a mother all humankind and her vision for the future of the Unification movement. The emcee, Matthew Jones, described the contents of the presentations and discussions. “We heard three lectures covering broad topics, followed by round-table discussions about the strengths, opportunities and issues we see in our lives of faith. The way I see it, we want to connect the Cranes Club initiative to what’s happening in the movement, and we to be a part of the building of Cranes Club. We had the opportunity to think about how we can contribute, what we need, what would we like to see more of, and what we have available to us.”

True Mother spoke at the Cranes Club conference on Saturday afternoon. Before she arrived, attendees were curious about what she would have to say. “There has never been a gathering like this before, for young professionals,” said Lena Yasutake a teacher from Bridgeport, “so I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be here, because I can see that there is so much potential here.”

Before True Mother’s speech, every participant was able to introduce themselves to her. She was so warm and happy to see the young businessmen and women in the room, as she joked about how she is a young person, too. She greeted them by telling them how much she missed them, and that she invited them because she wanted to see their healthy and beautiful faces. She also gently reminded them about the significance of True Parents, and the thousands of years of prayer and suffering for them to be born as Unificationists. She told them that their lineage is like pure water, the realm of True Parent’s love. She also encouraged them to be the kind of people who their parents can be proud of, and to be ancestors of very reputable families, by working to bring the people of this earth back to God.

This amazing opportunity to meet with True Mother and devote time to speaking with and listening to her is a refreshing, reviving moment for the young men and women of the Cranes Club. It is a chance to be reminded of our blessings and our responsibilities as Unificationists, and see the potential of young people with a vision, united all around the world under True Mother’s guidance.

This weekend, as we celebrate Christmas with True Parents in Las Vegas, we reconnect as one family and cherish this time with True Mother. She will speak to us yet again tomorrow, Sunday, December 21, at 10:00 AM (PT) for the Christmas Sunday Service. If you can’t make it to Las Vegas for the celebration, tune in to the live broadcast. The full video of the Sunday Service will also be available online after the service. You can receive additional live photo updates of this weekend’s events and festivities on our Facebook page. The full transcript and video of True Mother’s speeches will be available soon.