Northeast Region Newsletter - April 2016

Northeast Region Celebrating the 26th anniversary of True Parents’ visit to the Soviet Union To commemorate the 26th anniversary of the True Parents’ visit to the Soviet Union; members centering on the Regional President went to the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on April 8. More than twenty brothers and sisters trod the stones, on which a quarter of a century ago, walked our True Parents, who broke down the “iron curtain” and opened the possibility for the Communist Youth to hear the God’s Word. Brothers and sisters offered silent prayers, took commemorative photos and celebrated the anniversary in a family atmosphere and communication. Church activities On April 3 and 10, Regional President spoke at Sunday services in Moscow. He told that True Mother has many plans to develop Cheong Pyeong according to True Father’s vision of developing Cheong Pyeong as International village. Dr. Otsuka said that Heavenly Fortune goes in direction of True Parents’ concern. He emphasized importance of witnessing and education for the Second generation. Also we need to translate Cheon Seong Gyeong and Cham Bumo Gyeong into Russian as soon as possible. Dr. Otsuka said that True Mother wants all people celebrate True Parents’ Birthday and Holy Wedding more broad than Christmas. We need to actively take responsibility in the Movement, not just wait for direction. We need to improve ourselves in different ways, and by meeting negative people we should persuade them that Unification Movement is good. On April 9 – 11 the leaders’ meeting was held with leaders of Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia and Russia. Regional President shared strategy and key points for develop Unification Movement in the Northeast Region. Leaders discussed plans and practical points of implementation of the strategy. The Ceremony of the Pure Heart On April 2, at the Peace Embassy in Moscow the Second Generation Department held a Pure Heart Ceremony for more than a dozen of children, girls of age 12 and boys 13 years old. Regional President Dr. Otsuka congratulated participants and gave guidance for boys and girls. Through the ceremony children symbolically inherit the values, culture, and tradition of the True Parents; they expressed determination to keep the purity of love, and take over the blessed family public mission from their parents. In the Northeast Region this ceremony was held not for the first time. In such a way, we are laying the foundation for the Second-generation children to follow in the footsteps of their parents in the Unification Movement, and become better than them. The Ceremony of the Pure Heart aims to protect children from the negative influence of the secular world, free sex, and secure their future.

Russia Northwest region of Russia. Saint Petersburg A workshop on importance and value of Blessing for the candidates, blessed members and families was held on April 16. The event was attended by 15 people. On April 23, as part of the “Spring Week of Goodness”, the UPF chapter of St. Petersburg held a public cleaning program at the House of veterans. The event was attended by 10 people.

A 3-day workshop on the Divine Principle was held at the initiative of CARP. It was attended by 14 people, including 3 new guests. A week after the workshop, a new guest, a young member of CARP, together with the team went to Vyborg to a fundraising program. He was very inspired! The first Festival of small groups related to celebration of the anniversary of the True Parents’ Holy Wedding was held on Sunday, April 24. It was attended by 40 people. In St. Petersburg there are 3 active small groups of 16 people. They meet each week. They work with weekly goals, practicing the principle of building the Kingdom of Heaven in the soul, family and community.

Ural-Siberia region of Russia. Ekaterinburg At the beginning of this month, we celebrated the 70th birthday of one of senior members Mrs. Natalia Derbysheva. Her attitude and desire to help the True Parents served us a perfect example. Brothers and sisters jointly bought Natalya Petrovna a new computer as a gift. On April 8 -11, Alexander Timofeev, leader of the Ural-Siberian region of Russia, and Evgeny Skvortsov, UPF leader, visited Moscow and participated in several events. We arrived a day earlier, to share our experience in the field of the home groups. In the evening of April 8, at the Peace Embassy in Moscow, we conducted a workshop. There we talked about how one can apply the Principle of

Creation and the Principle of Restoration within our home groups. Eugeny shared his experience of working in a group. In the morning of April 9, Alexander Timofeev went to Malakhovka and held a seminar there. During one month, on Saturdays, we have been conducting CARP workshops at our new office. We were researching the Divine Principle themes: the principle of creation, the human fall, eschatology, the Purpose of the Messiah. Each workshop was attended by 2 to 5 people. On April 23, we carried out a service project at the territory of the city cemetery. Many prominent figures of Ekaterinburg are buried there, including the famous Ural writer Pavel Bazhov. Cleaning up in such an unusual place was organized at the initiative of a group of women led by Natalia Petrovna Derbysheva. She came with this idea to the local administration and found support there. Due to bad weather, there were not so many people who could come; however, the day was a success. The channel “Union” broadcasted a report about the event. Volga region of Russia. Ulianovsk In Ulyanovsk, we continue our campaign of witnessing. Although over the past month there were fewer new guests, nevertheless, we are happy to report that several guests have completed a 2-day level study on the Divine Principle. We are actively inviting guests to our country house, and many of them have visited us for lectures and other events. We have bought a ping pong table and now hold table tennis tournaments with prizes. We have established a tradition to invite guests to table tennis after Sunday service and meet the blessed families of Ulyanovsk. We stay in touch with the “Strong Spirit” organization for people with disabilities. We also enjoy friendly relationship with the Mormon Church, and from time to time organize a common meeting with them. Two high school girls started coming to us, and we met with their parents. We do not give them lectures yet; they come to play tennis, basketball, and keyboard music. We are trying to create a special atmosphere so that later it would be easier for them to attend lectures on the Divine Principle. We also had a picnic for guests and a volleyball game “The Ball of Unity.” We celebrated the True Parents’ Holy Marriage Anniversary together with our guests; we gave them a brief explanation and showed some videos.

Ukraine The 10-day Divine Principle workshop On April 4-12, 2016 we started the 10-day Divine Principle workshop for 4 new attendees. After the workshop, they shared that while studying the Divine Principle they found many answers to their questions. The All-Ukrainian members’ meeting On April 13-15, we held the All-Ukrainian members’ meeting in Kyiv. Over 60 people attended the meeting. The main topics were: The true goodness, true understanding of the Divine Principle. The 3rd Year of the National Messiah of Ukraine Ascension On April 14, we held an event related to the 3rd Anniversary of the Ascension of the National Messiah of Ukraine, Chung Su Won. Over 100 members attended the meeting. Our elder members shared their personal experiences they had with Chung Su Won.

Leaders’ meeting The meeting for the witnessing center leaders was held in Kyiv on April 16-18. It was attended by 18 people. We discussed the way to invest more in God’s providence and bring better results. The leaders went back to their mission cities with a new determination.

The JeongSeong Marathon On April 17, we held the 2nd JeongSeong Marathon. On that day we finished our special 120-day condition. The marathon was a special condition to unite all members together. Over 70 members participated, including adults and the 2nd generation children. This time the Marathon included 4 kinds of distances, depending of the age and gender of the participants: 400 m, 1200 m, 5 km, 10 km. Winners in each category received Diplomas. In the evening, all participants enjoyed delicious BBQ.

Kazakhstan Educational clubs True Mother now especially emphasizes the importance of tribal messiahship. With the purpose to find new ways of witnessing, we launched educational clubs. Our goal is to convey Divine Principle by public language. This month we studied life of Muhammed Ali, Jackie Chan, Pele. Usually students willingly attend such events. They like the friendly atmosphere. Still we feel that we must improve the quality of our programs. Sunday Service Every week we meet at Sunday services. It’s the time when we make offerings and purify our life of faith by listening to God’s Word. And it is the time to share with each other. Clean up projects Once a week we conduct a clean-up project under the slogan “Clean city – pure mind”. We choose a certain territory to clean and invite guests to join us in this simple activity. Sometimes it is not easy, but it makes us happy. We feel that we are bringing some benefit to the community.

Poetry club Once in 2 months our senior member Mrs. Larisa Li together with active people organize a poetry club meeting. The club members study the works of the Russian poets. This club is attended by those who admire the Russian poetry. It’s our investment to support the Russian culture. Evening programs for students On Wednesdays, we hold evening programs for students. It’s the time for internal guidance. If they have some problems or struggles we are trying to help them out by giving advice on how to solve the situation and stick to a healthy lifestyle. Family meetings on Fridays Friday evenings, we convene meetings with our family members. We cook and eat together, play games, and pray. It helps us to know each other better and unite.

Latvia CARP: a workshop for youth and students A CARP workshop for university students was held at the Peace Embassy, on April 2. Recently, positive students started joining our Movement in Latvia. The activity of CARP is aimed at educating providential leaders that can understand and practice the Divine Principle teaching. Therefore, now we give the DP lectures to students through researching the Divine Principle book together. After discussing the theory of the Divine Principle we share about our lifestyle with the attendees of the seminar. This time, 5 students came to the lectures on the principle of restoration. They got quite interested and spoke out their ideas on how to practice the theory in their life. CARP cannot develop without education in the Divine Principle. Latvia CARP membership is not numerous yet but we are making progress step by step. Learning Korean to inherit the Shimjeong Culture About two years ago we started having Korean lessons. After Sunday service and lunch, twice a month, we attend Korean lessons. Usually Mrs. Seerae Lee, Korean, the wife of our National Leader, teaches Korean language to the members. They have mastered not only the general conversation but also learned the meaning of our Family Pledge and the Cheon Il Guk Anthem. The purpose of our studies is to inherit the Shimjeong culture by understanding Korean. The majority of us desire to catch True Parents’ words directly, without translating. In Latvia, more and more members are gradually mastering Korean. Creating environment: Cleaning Day In Latvia, annually, one April Saturday is dedicated to public cleaning and improving environment. Recently True Mother emphasized the importance of creating a good environment for the future generations and witnessing as tribal messiahs. So, on Sunday, April 24, we took up the general clean up activity at our HQ, right after Sunday service and lunch. Thus we prepared our premises for the new guests to come. We washed the windows and tidied up the places that we usually don’t touch. Despite snowing and raining outside, Latvian members worked very hard and with enthusiasm. Blessed mothers and sisters willingly assisted their husbands and brothers. Finally, the atmosphere became much brighter. It was a good opportunity for us to prove our integrity while cleaning the Peace Embassy.

Lithuania Spring has come to Lithuania with Cherry Blossoms at the place of Mr. Chiune Sugiura memorial in Vilnius.

Martial Arts Club activity “Oriental Sports and Culture Festival” In Kaunas city, at the Vytautas Magnus University, on April 20, the masters of Won Hwa Do, Jaloslav, Aistis, and Aurimas, showed a performance of martial arts followed by a lecture at the University exhibition hall. In this city, there functions a home group team. Students were interested in the different kinds of Principled ideas of martial arts. These ideas are based on give-and-take action and True Father’s vision. 56th Anniversary of True Parents’ Holy Wedding On April 24, at Sunday Service, we celebrated the 56th Anniversary of True Parents’ Holy Wedding. Our blessed families enjoyed an entertainment. We played games, such as Unity Ball which True Parents introduced to us as a new kind of sports for the Unification family. We expressed our gratitude to our True Parents on the occasion of the Anniversary, and our new determination to fulfill the mission of Heavenly tribal messiahship in Lithuania.

Estonia On April 22 there was a celebration of 56th anniversary of True Parents’ Holy Wedding. In Estonia members gathered in Peace Embassy for celebration. They watched a nice video about True Parents’ wedding and congratulatory song, etc. Eight adults and six Second generation children took part in celebration. Among them was one guest who is learning Korean and attends Divine Principle lectures.

Georgia On April 10th, we visited the school of children with disabilities located in Tbilisi. The project was sponsored by Latvian brother who also participated together with his three children. We spent time with the children, played with them and presented gifts. School teachers were very grateful for the time we spent with their students. One our guest took part in this event. He was moved and inspired and made a determination to help in the future children with special needs.