Church Growth Preached at Whistle-Stop Tour across Eurasian Land Mass

Rev. Eiji Tokuno briefs East Bloc leaders on True Father’s Nigerian visit at a meeting on Sept. 2, 2011.

Evangelization from the Black Sea to the China Sea has been the goal of Rev. Eiji Tokuno, regional president of the Unification Church, who recently traveled throughout Eurasia to update all local churches on True Parents’ work and to challenge members to witness with pride and confidence. International Day of Peace programs aimed at promoting cooperation among different organizations were launched in Russia, Georgia, Moldova and Latvia.

On August 30, 2011, Rev. Tokuno came to Russia where he called for a leaders’ meeting. He wanted national leaders and Russian regional leaders to re-focus on the main task of witnessing, and approach the coming year with a united mind. On September 1st, he visited the construction site of the new training center near Moscow, offered prayers and fixed the goal to achieve the project by 2013.

On September 2, 2011, leaders gathered from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia and from all regions of Russia. Rev. Tokuno opened the meeting with a report on True Parents’ activities, particularly the recent meeting in Nigeria. He testified about True Father’s heart regarding the UCI-related problems, and about the new hope rising in Mongolia through the membership. The afternoon was dedicated to reports from the regional HQ and from national leaders. In the evening, Rev. Tokuno provided guidance on the “Content of good leadership.”

The Ukrainian Church completed its seventh 21-day seminar this year on Sept. 25, 2011.

Special Lecture by Tongil Foundation Public Affairs Director, Rev. Chung Jin Hwa

The afternoon was dedicated to Rev. Chung Jin Hwa, Public Affairs Director of the Tongil Foundation in Korea, who gave two important presentations. The first, “The Period of Great Changes in History,” demonstrated through both the world’s events and our movement’s activities that we live at a time of important transition where we must unite with and ride on the wave of Heavenly Fortune. The second, “The Recent Providence Centering on True Parents,” described the recent, significant, providential events in Korea and the United States, including True Parents’ Tour, explained the meaning of the Las Vegas providence, and challenged all leaders to be seriously involved in their mission at this crucial time. After Moscow, Rev. Chung went on to give this series of lectures in Russia’s Ural Region, then Belarus and Latvia.

Peace Ambassadors’ Meeting with Rev. Tokuno

On September 3, 2011, the morning session was dedicated to Peace Ambassadors – in the presence of all leaders. About 30 Moscow Peace Ambassadors attended the meeting. They heard various reports on the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) activities worldwide and in Eurasia. Rev. Tokuno again shared about

True Parents’ Tour and their vision for Peace Ambassadors: that they should keep faithful marriages and live their physical lives as preparation to live in oneness with God in the spirit world.

Moscovite Church at Sunday service, Sept. 4, 2011.

Moscow Sunday Service with National Leaders by Rev. Tokuno

On Sunday September 4, 2011, Rev. Tokuno gave the Sunday Service in front of all the Moscow members, again sharing about True Parents’ Tour and challenging members to make a new commitment to witnessing. The leaders meeting’s closing session on Sunday afternoon allowed for questions and answers. Rev. Tokuno concluded with a call to revive witnessing activities and to keep a mind of dedication to True Parents and the Providence until the end. The final dinner gave the opportunity for leaders to share their reflections and determination.

A good-governance roundtable was held in Novosibirsk to celebrate the UN’s International Day of Peace.

Rev. Tokuno’s Visit to the Ural Region of Russia

On September 5 and 6, 2011, Rev. Tokuno visited two cities in the Ural region of Russia, Ekaterinburg and Ufa. On September 5, 50 members from Ekaterinburg gathered to hear Rev. Tokuno’s speech on True Parents activities, their heart and concern about the division caused by the UCI issue, and the need for all blessed families to get involved in witnessing.

The next morning, though a weekday and with only a short time before his flight to Ufa, a few Peace Ambassadors gathered at the UPF office to hear reports on True Parents’ activities.

On September 6, Rev. Tokuno met with 30 members at the Church center in Ufa. He also shared about True Parents’ activities and challenged members to catch a new spirit of witnessing.

On Sept. 18, 2011 Rev. Tokuno lectured at a special workshop for Mongolian spouses living in Korea.

Mongolia: Special Workshop for Mongolian Abel-Side Wives in Korea

On September 18 and 19, 2011, the “Second Special Workshop for Mongolian Abel Side Wives in Korea” was held at the Central workshop site in Guri, Korea. The participants were 31 Mongolian wives who are now staying in Korea and five from Japan.

The Regional President Rev. Tokuno conducted the whole program for two days. Lectures were given by World Mission Headquarters Senior Director Mr. Song Il Cho and Mrs. Erikawa, President of the Korean Unification Church Culture and Families. The National Leader of Mongolia, Rev. Chang Woon Lee, also gave guidance on how to attend True Parents.

The main guideline was to understand True Parents’ heart of daily life and develop our faith centering True Parents. Also, an overview of True Parents’ recent activity was presented to link it with the present situation of the Mongolian Unification Church.

Participants could share with each other about their situations during the workshop. At the end, eight participants were selected to attend hoondokhwe [scripture reading] with True Parents at Cheon Jeong Gung the next morning.

In Hong Kong a 21-day witnessing condition included outreach to highly educated Filipino expatriates.

Hong Kong: 21-Day Witnessing Campaign and Sunday Philippines Gathering

This year’s fourth witnessing campaign started in Hong Kong from September 18 to October 8, 2011. Our main witnessing places are the Hong Kong Polytechnics University, Statue Square and World Wide Plaza right in the heart of the city. We invited guests for Sunday gatherings at the educational center according to three categories: Filipino gatherings on Sundays, Educating Chinese-speaking guests, and Seong Hwa Service and gathering.

A two-day Chinese Divine Principle workshop was held on October 1 and 2, 2011. The first day of lectures was given by Mr. Chow, the second day by Mr. Lai. Besides the workshop in Chinese, we also had a one-day English Divine Principle workshop two times on October 1, 2011 and 5, 2011 in which lectures were given by Mr. Poon.

Sunday Philippines Gathering

Every Sunday many Filipinos are gathering at Statue Square (Central). Most of them are employed as domestic servants in Hong Kong. Recently in the Philippines, even university graduates are having difficulty finding jobs. Through our conversations with Filipinos, we realized that almost all of them have a high educational background. We are hoping that in the future they can become Blessing candidates. It is a very good starting point for witnessing.

How do you spell “heartistic” in Russian? Do this!

Blessed Families Meeting in Kiev

At the end of August we held an all-Ukrainian Blessed Families Meeting with missionary Rev. Chung, with some guidance from our elder brothers. From all over Ukraine representatives of 39 blessed families attended this meeting. There were over 50 participants.

Some families shared the struggles they underwent, and how they overcame them, how their faith was developing and how they could keep faith and the blessed family tradition. This was followed by Rev. Chung’s guidance. As some participants observed, “we discovered that the root of our problems is that we lack an understanding of what love actually is. We need to find this root of true love and practice it in relation with everyone around us.” Due to such meetings the all-Ukrainian Unification family is growing closer and closer together in heart, and is gradually gaining a new insight and changing its lifestyle.

Witnessing Activity

The goal is to fill the heart of Ukrainians with God’s word, and the church is moving forward to achieve it. On September 25, 2011, we finished the 7th 21-day Divine Principle workshop this year. Three people attended the whole workshop, one person only the first half and the other three attended the second half. As a result, three people joined the one-year educational program called NWET (New World Education Team).

Universal Peace Federation Activity

We continue giving Divine Principle lecture presentations to Ambassadors for Peace. On

September 20, 2011, we gathered together our Peace Ambassadors, and they listened to the Introduction to the Principle of Restoration. All participants expressed their desire to gain a deeper understanding of the Principle. Such meetings are held monthly and are attended by up to 15 people.

The role of NGOs in peace making was the theme of a UPF conference in Moscow on Sept. 17, 2011.

Moscow: International Day of Peace Commemorative Meeting

A meeting on “The role of NGOs in preserving peace and developing cooperation within society in Russia” was held as part of the International Day of Peace program in Moscow, on September 17, 2011. The program was aimed at promoting cooperation among different organizations in creating a culture of peace.

In his speech, Mr. Jacques Marion, chairman of the UPF-Eurasia emphasized that the world is on the way towards interdependence with a God-centered culture. He also emphasized that modern democracy was originally based on a God-centered worldview, and therefore that, creating an interreligious advisory council within the United Nations, as proposed by Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 2000, is now a matter of utmost importance.

Moscow: “An Hour of Running” Project

As part of the International Day of Peace the Universal Peace Federation organized the project “An Hour of Running” on September 18, 2011. The main goals of this project are: to promote the ideas of the International Day of Peace, to propagate a healthy and moral life style, family values and cooperation. UPF intends to develop this project all over the country. Similar projects were organized in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Rostov on the Don, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Nizhnyvartovsk and other cities. Each city had its own way of organizing the project even though everybody was united centered on one goal.

Unificationists in Yekaterinburg, a large city in the Ural mountains, observed the Day of Peace with a fundraiser for orphans.

Yekaterinburg: Charity Program and Peace Lesson

The Ural UPF received invitation from the Sverdlovsk regional college of culture to organize a meeting related to the UN International Day of Peace (IDP). Having decided to join the IDP celebration, students and teachers set about preparing a charitable performance- and game program for orphans.

Brochure distributed for Thai-speakers.

Nizhniy Novgorod: Commemorative Conference for the International Day of Peace

A conference organized by the Universal Peace Federation took place in Nizhniy Novgorod on

September 18, 2011, on the theme: “The role of NGOs in preserving peace and developing cooperation within Russian society.” The conference was organized as part of the International Day of Peace; featured the message of UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon. Leaders of inter-regional and city-level NGOs, scholars, representatives of religions as well as municipal leaders and representatives of youth organizations participated.

Discussion group of local students gets opinions about peace-making efforts in Novosibirsk.

Novosibirsk: “Importance of Good Governance and Millennium Development Goals”

According to the results of the General census of the population of 2010, Novosibirsk is the third city in population in Russia. It hopes to encourage population growth by creating an atmosphere of peace and observance of human rights.

To celebrate the UN International Day of Peace, UPF Novosibirsk chapter together with the grassroots organization “ZITO” and the resource center “Active city” of the Zheleznodorozhny District, held a round table on “The importance of good governance and Millennium Development Goals on the modern stage

of society development.”

Georgian members celebrated International Day of Peace with the slogan: “It is We who create Peace.”

Georgia: “It’s We Who Create Peace!”

“Peace of Mind – Peace in Families – Peace on our Planet” – were slogans at the peace rally called “It’s We Who Create Peace!” related to the International Day of Peace that took place in the city park in Mushtaid in Tbilisi, Georgia. The event was initiated by the Universal Peace Federation in partnership with NGO, “Georgia supports refugees,” and the intercultural Relations Foundation’s “Future Stars”; it was sponsored by the UN office in Georgia and the director of the city park, Mushtaid.

The program was broadcast by three TV channels: Rustavi-2, Maestro, and Peak. About 200 children of displaced and poor families and their parents; in addition, trainers and pupils of the Federation Kekushin Karate Seibukai participated in the celebration.

Day of Peace in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, included a seminar on lessons of Rev. Moon’s autobiography. Moldova: International Day of Peace Commemorative Seminar

On the occasion of the International day of Peace, the Universal Peace Federation of Moldova, joined by the International Association for Education, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and the Youth- and Students’ Association CARP, organized several public presentations, conferences and seminars to promote and stimulate social awareness about the need for peace.

On September 17, 2011, the UPF Moldova Chapter organized a special seminar in Chisinau on the theme of “As a Peace loving Global Citizen, Rev. Moon Sun Myung; UPF Founder’s life.” The seminar was attended by 24 participants. It was an opportunity for them to learn from the UPF founders’ life the hard- path of the peacemaker, who wins the hearts of his foe by making him his closest friend and who builds bridges among nations and faiths.

Participants gained more confidence to testify about the founder’s life and to get involved in the book distribution of Dr. Moon’s autobiography within their circle of friends, colleagues, communities and organizations. All of them shared during the break discussions their renewed confidence to speak more openly and confidently whenever asked about their work as Peace Ambassadors and about the UPF founders’ life and teaching

On September 15 and 21, 2011, UPF volunteers held presentations about the role of youth in peace building efforts at the Pedagogical State University “Ion Creanga”, at the Construction College and the Theoretical Lyceum Pro-Success. All together these public presentations were attended by over 450 students from 15 to 20 years old. Many students got inspiration to volunteer and strive to learn more by serving their community and country.

Sept. 25, 2011 saw Latvian members, martial artists, and representatives of Falun Dafa, celebrating the International Day of Peace.

Latvia: International Day of Peace Celebration

The Celebration of the UN International Day of Peace was held at the Peace Embassy of the UPF Latvian chapter on September 25, 2011. Among the participants were Ambassadors for Peace of Latvia, representatives of the Latvian Center of Humane Pedagogics, a teacher of the Wushu martial arts school of Latvia and representatives from the center Falun Dafa.

The Chairperson of the UPF Latvian chapter, Mr. Leon Bojars, gave a welcoming speech. A presentation followed about the education of young people as future peacemakers and about the summer leadership program that took place in Latvia and was attended by youth from Western Europe, Canada and the United States. Roman Vlasenko, director of the Wushu martial arts school, shared his vision about the need for world peace and emphasized the importance of educating the young generation through sports and universal values.

Contributed by staff of the Eurasian Headquarters of the Unification Church and revised by Doug Burton and Ariana Moon.