The Words of the Balcomb Family
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The Words of the Balcomb Family |
Tokyo, Japan - On February 28, 2009, the UPF Global Peace Tour began in Japan with an International Leadership Conference, service projects, and a main program.
Rev. Walter Fauntroy, who served for 20 years as a member of the US Congress, spoke to the International Leadership Conference delegates about the “Obama Administration and Prospects for US-Japan Relationships.” He spoke of the rise of the Obama era in history and shared his hopes for expanding the vision of One Family under God during the Obama administration, bringing together people of every race religion, nationality, and culture. Fauntroy spoke of the need to develop ethics of love for one’s neighbor and even love for one’s enemy.
Conference sessions considered themes such as “Peace-building in the Asia Pacific Region and the Role of Japan” and “The World in Crisis and the Direction of Japan.”
Professor Masahisa Hayashi of Waseda University spoke about the vision of the Universal Peace Federation and its emphasis not only on interfaith cooperation and international cooperation, but also on interdisciplinary research among scholars from all academic fields with an aim to solving critical global problems.
Former Congressman Michio Ochi spoke of going to a Christian Church during his childhood and encountering Christianity. It was an overwhelming experience of "culture shock," he said, to hear them teaching about "loving your enemy." A vision that came to him at that time of a world of love and harmony. This vision has guided him throughout his life and he sees this same vision manifest in the work of UPF and the GPF.
Dr. Hyun Jin Moon shared with the delegates his vision, rooted in his father’s teaching and life work, for the Global Peace Festival and its tri-fold platform of building interfaith cooperation, God-centered families, and a global culture of service. He underscored his father’s emphasis that God’s providence has worked through all the great religions and founders of the great religions. He challenged faith leaders to go beyond doctrinal differences and embrace the universal values, principles, and aspirations that are shared among people of all faiths and cultures, and to rise up as the major peace leaders the world needs today. He spoke about the United Nations’ noble ideas and its limitations in terms of bringing about effective solutions to global problems. He described the potential of the Global Peace Festival, as a coalition of partners and faith-based organizations, to bring about substantial change in diverse contexts. To illustrate this, he described developments of the Global Peace Festival in 2008.
Looking ahead in 2009 he pointed to plans for the Global Peace Convention in the Philippines and peace-building efforts on the Philippine island of Mindanao. He spoke of the festival in Indonesia on May 9, adding that hundreds of thousands of youth were responding to the vision and the ideal for a global culture of service.
“The Universal Peace Federation and Global Peace Festival are not merely bringing an idealistic vision but building a movement that is bringing substantial change, in collaboration with many NGOs, faith-based organizations, and governments. The vision of One Family under God is becoming a living reality. If Japan can embrace this vision, it can stand on a world platform as a leader not only in terms of financial power, but moral, spiritual power to change the world.”.
The main program took place on March 1 at the Saitama Super Arena, where 20,000 gathered to celebrate the vision of one family under God. Rev. Walter Fauntroy inspired the audience when he spoke of the convergence of the vision of US civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon. He added that a new generation was arising 40 years after the assassination of Dr. King in 1968, and he referred to this as a “Joshua generation” that overcomes the challenges they face and moves humanity into a new promised land. He spoke about the Obama campaign and the spirit of “yes we can.” Fauntroy called people to apply the “yes we can” spirit to solve problems in Darfur, the Middle East, the Korean peninsula, and east Asia. He said that “yes we can” applies to ending “the barbarism of war, the decadence of racism, and the scourge of poverty” if we center on the vision of One Family under God.
Dr. Moon called for a moral and spiritual awakening rooted in the vision of one family under God.