FFWPU Europe and the Middle East: Edy Iversen Martin-Prével's Testimony: Remembering 11th September 2001

(Lower Manhattan, New York City) The explosion following the plane impact into the South Tower (WTC 2), from a roof along Church with Murray or Warren Streets; to the left are Millennium Hilton Downtown and 1 Liberty Plaza, to the right is 7 WTC

American peace activist looks back on efforts towards world peace initiated by Father and Mother Moon in the aftermath of 11th September 2001 terror

by Edy Iversen Martin-Prével

It has been 23 years since the horrible terrorist attacks that took place in New York and Washington DC. I had just buried my husband in Florida and moved to DC to become a public relations director for a non-profit there. I will never forget seeing on television the planes slamming into the World Trade Center and then the violent attack on the Pentagon as well.

Immediately after hearing about the attacks, Father Moon, concerned about a possible World War III, asked the American Freedom Coalition members to organize conferences in all 50 states with religious leaders from all faiths, and political leaders as well, and to get them to pray and work for peace. We organized several conferences in Washington DC, of which I was a part.

My twin sister Betsy and several pastors were some of the first Edy Iversen Martin-Prével responders to Ground Zero in New York, where they saw firsthand the consequences of this tragedy and ministered to the victims that survived.

At that time, I knew I had to do something desperate and went to the Capitol every day to speak to the legislators to try and bring them to a major conference for World Peace. Despite the incredible danger, I prayed tearfully for the protection of our country, placing my hand every day on the Capitol Building. I took a directory of all the legislators and prayed for each one for forty days.

I stood in the freezing cold and besieged God in front of the White House for the protection of our President, hoping somehow, we could bring him to one of our events as well. No matter how hard we

tried, we could not reach him. He was being blocked from meeting with us. It was an incredible disappointment.

Father Moon predicted if we went into war with Iraq, there would be worldwide religious repercussions and tried desperately to bring Muslim, Christian, and Jewish leaders together with the leading politicians to stop this. Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, we were not successful, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, today, you can see the remnants of 11th September, 23 years later, and conflicts are still going strong: terrorism, war, and hatred between religions that supposedly teach love, forgiveness and peace.

Living in Europe and being so close to Russia From interreligious prayer march in New York soon and the Middle East, war is an everyday reality after the 11th September 2001 attacks. Interfaith that affects us even in France. Also, so many Prayer Breakfast and Day of Prayer and Healing of our dear brothers and sisters who work for march in Harlem, New York, September 23, 2001 peace in these countries are affected as well, and their children are being forced to fight against their will in wars against neighboring countries. It is an utter heartbreak.

As a longtime peacemaker, I can only hang my head in shame, that as of today we have still been unsuccessful to bring this world together and to help others to realize we should be truly “One family under God”. If the debacle of Covid could not wake us up, what will it take for the world to realize the value of each human being’s life?

Today, I ask for a special prayer for all those killed and affected by 11th September, and prayers for continued peace in this world. I will never stop believing in the ideals we have worked our entire lives to accomplish. Also, I pray the world will see the reality of the vision of Father and Mother Moon and their extraordinary efforts as peacemakers to bring the enemies of the world together.

Father and Mother Moon honouring peace actvists after the 11th September 2001 attacks. Photo from event in New York 19th-22nd October 2001

I am blessed to be a part of that, despite not fully accomplishing our goal yet. Still, I know, even tired, and old as I am, we cannot give up believing and trying to love and bring this world together. This is my hope, and God’s desperate heart to heal this world.

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Motherly God

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Peace message highlights one family of Media humankind under God Generating Sympathy For A sp eech Mother Moon gave at a special p lenary o f Peace Summit 2023, Terrorists an in ternational peace conference with dignitaries from around the September 6, 2024 world, held at the Lotte Hotel, Seoul, South Korea from 2 nd to 6 th May 2023. Broadcast Standards In Respect ed leaders from Korea and overseas, I warm ly welcome yo u. Japan Grossly Violated Today we are speaking ab o u t peace - peace in o ur world. Th ro ug h o u t September 4, 2024

hu man history p eople have soug ht to real ize a wor ld of peace, yet we

.. have always exp erien ced wa r an d conflict. How and when w ill peace com e to hum ankind? Original ly, the Creator’s intention was to be o u r Pa rent . Th e invis ib le Creat or creat ed a m an and a wo m an in th e image of God as ou r fi rst ancest ors. God gave t hem t ime to matu re and wa ited fo r Search. the day w h en they would perfect their characters. Neverth e less, t h e man and w oman w h o w e re to have been o ur first ancestors fai led to uphold God’s divine com m andment, an d t h e ir descenda nts are t he fa llen h u m an race o f the p rese n t d ay.

Over th e course of h istory, the Categories pu rsuit of g ood ness h as led to the birth of religions tha t refl ect t he reg ion in whi ch they originat ed. Ri ghteous i ndividuals w ho were ,,…,,… … ; … ,,…,…J … ,,…,… … ,,…,…J … ,,…,..,..

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emerged from every corner of Send us a message t he glob e and pursued their m ission. First Name * Last Name

Despite t h is, when we observe t he pro ble m s of t h e world today, we fi nd t hat con fl icts Email * • and disputes between rel ig ions, wars based on Email Address

ideological d iffe rences, and n ume rou s countries pursuing t h eir own in t erests, make the word “ peace” feel d istant , thou gh it is close. Is there Your Message * really any hope for us i n the present time? The issue is that we cannot re ly o n a h u m an-centric approach. Although all religions move in the d irect ion o f goodness, t hey have not been able to fi n d t he right answ er.

W h at I wou ld like to say is this: Wou ld the Crea t or o f the universe, as our Parent, simply wat ch qu ietly as the children suffer? I cannot describe t he Submit entirety of Heaven’s providence in t he short t i me I have to speak, but what God wait ed and waited so long to see w as for cen tra l people to emerge from am ong fallen humanity, a m an and a woman w ho could atten d God as the ir Pa rent. In other words, God has been waiting for t he bi rth of the True Parents who can save everyone in the fallen world. The result of Heaven’s work was t hat t hese True Parents were born to the Korea n people.

Ou r Heav enly Parent’s d ream is t o s ha re life in t he kingdom of heaven on earth together with good sons and daughters who have received True Parents’ Blessing . However, t he path t o achieve t h is has n ot been easy. Yet , through t he Korean people and t he Ko rean Pen insu la, somethi ng like a miracle occurred, and we cou ld see the complet ion o f the h eavenly p rovidence and t he culmina t ion of human h istory.

To put it ano t her way, through t he True Parents, t h e drea m of our Heavenly Pa rent who has wa ite d 6,000 years and the desire of al l hu m ankind can final ly b e actua lized. […]

Ma ny faiths have created temples w h ere t h ey ca n attend God . However, they have not u nderst ood t he f undamental n a t ure of the Creator. Heaven’s ci rcumst ances in relation t o the Korean Peninsula after six thousand yea rs… I know t he re are m any relig ious leaders present tod ay. To save humank ind, God carried out the providence of salvat ion, and this is clearly in evidence in t he O ld Test ament. Through the people of Israel, Heaven sent t he Savio r, whom God cou ld ca ll “My Son”, who wou ld atone for t he w rongs committed by fallen hum ankind.

However, the Son alone is not enough. In accordance with the principles of creation, God created a man and a woman. The o nly begotten Son was u n able to complete that t ask. The people of Israel, the Jewish leaders, and Mary who gave b irth to hi m , did not recogn ize the Messiah. In the end he went to the cross. Before he d ied, Jesus promised to ret urn. Two thousand yea rs h ave passed since Christian h istory began with th e d isciples of Jesus ant icipating his return. However, does Christian ity underst a nd the essence of Heaven’s providence? Yet a miraculous even t has occurred on t he Ko rean Pen insu la through the True Parents [ ..].

Today, ou r pla net suffers immensely due t o ignorance. Due to the lack of rainfall resulting from cl imat e change, one third of the population of the nation of Somalia, located southeast of the Sahara Desert , have b een d isplaced as migrant refugees and are hoping for aid from t he rest of the world. How is it that this b eautifu l Earth, which God crea t ed for Somalia. Public domain image. h u m ankind, has suffered such Cropped c h anges? Al l of you gathered here today are righteous people that Heaven has blessed . We cannot merely stand quietly on t he side-lines. The sole path to ou r resolving t hese issues and safeguarding our fu ture is attend ing Heavenly Pa rent as our center and working together.

I gratefu lly receive the kind hea rts o f the distingu ished participants here who have congratulated me o n my 80th birthday. Although it is a small offe ring, I wish to donate $800,000 for the sake of the world. [App lause]

We al l need to celebrat e t hat we are living in this m iraculou s time, attending our Heavenly Parent. This is somet hing t o t ake pride in. I pray that we wi ll all j o in h ands togeth er in th is historic and p rovidentia l flow o f b lessing, and that we wil l realize the dream of peace for all people and one family of hu m ankind under our Heavenly Parent.

Mother Moon spoke without manuscrip t in Korean with simultaneous transla t ion into several languages. This is the official version o f the English translation, corrected and published by t he Internatio n al HQ of the Family Federation 8 th May. Abbreviated version.

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More related to peace message: The Meaning of History from Viewpoint of God

Also related to peace message: God as Our Heavenly Parent (Father and Mother)

And more related to peace message: In-Depth Look at the Fatherly and Motherly God

Yet more related to peace message: History of God: From Yahweh to Father to Parent

Still more related to peace message: Teachings Make Great Strides in New Version

Even more related to peace message: Essence of God

And yet more related to peace message: God and Human Beings

And still more related to peace message: In a Nutshell

Even more related to the peace message: Brief about the Teachings

Also related to peace message: Unification Principles

Also related to peace message: Exposition of the Divine Principle

Also related to peace message: Peace Messages

Also related to peace message: Cheon Seang Gyeong

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