Taking Her Message to the Heartland

James Gavin
January 11, 2009

Rev. In Jin Moon continued her national tour of American FFWPU communities by visiting the members in Minneapolis, the center of the FFWPU Heartland District, which includes the states of Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, on the weekend of January 10-11.

Rev. Moon met with high-school and college students from the district on Saturday evening, January 10, at which time she not only shared her heart, but listened to each and every student about his or her hopes and dreams. Kensei Tsubata, one of the students shared that he was “inspired by the intimate and sincere sharing of Rev. Moon and her open heart to hear from the youth.” He said that he is “so energized by her heart to use young peoples’ talent and passions to build peace with the happiness and internal true love in their own selves and their families.” Another student who attended this meeting commented, “This evening was an enriching and motivating experience with many grateful thoughts,” adding, “Rev. Moon has a very caring, soothing, calming but effective way of communicating herself to others. The motherly love she feels radiates from her in her words and actions. When she says that anyone in the room can become great in whatever they do, it’s inspirational to see she actually believes it and inspires us to believe it, too.”

During the evening program with the youth, Rev. Moon showed two DVDs to the audience. The first featured the artistic activities in which her children are engaged, as well as creative opportunities Rev. Moon is giving to Unificationist youth in Japan through organizing Youth Concerts for World Peace. Rev. Moon has raised scholarship funds and trained young Japanese musicians to the level at which they could perform for Embassy Road in Japan. The second DVD was a promotional video about the Manhattan Center, a multimedia production facility located in the heart of New York City. Rev. Moon was appointed CEO of the Manhattan Center in April 2008. Under her leadership during the last eight months, the Manhattan Center has greatly increased revenue and decreased expenses despite the recession.

Besides being a great mom, philanthropist and businesswoman, according to one of the students, “Rev. Moon [gives me the impression] that she acts out of a heart of sincerity; that she is real, honest and true!” James Henry, one of the students who had the opportunity to share about his hopes and aspirations for the future, said, “It was great to share with people who know what we can do.”

At 5:00 AM the next morning, Rev. Moon met with Heartland District families in the Main Ballroom of the Minneapolis Gateway Hotel to do Hoon Dok Hwe, which is Korean for “a gathering to meet and read scripture together.” First, Benroy Shimotani, one of the local youth, read one of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s speeches titled, Providential View of the Pacific Rim Era in Light of God's Will: The United States and the Future Direction of the United Nations and the World. After the reading, Rev. In Jin Moon spoke to the brothers and sisters about encouraging children to develop their passions and strive for excellence. She also explained her father’s teaching of absolute sex or absolute sexual ethics, which she said could be translated from the original Korean better as absolute fidelity. It means to be completely faithful to your spouse. After Rev. Moon’s visit, Eri Pehling, a Japanese-American church member and long-time Minnesota resident, commented, “I am filled with hope and joy that we are building the Kingdom of Heaven. [Rev. In Jin Moon] is showing the way and I am so proud of being part of this movement.”

Speaking to the teenagers in attendance, Rev. Moon reassured them that adolescence is something that everyone goes through, encouraging them to talk about what they are going through to their parents. She also asked parents to listen to their children, support them and help them get through their difficulties. She spoke about the challenges children and teenagers face as visual temptations are thrown at them on the internet. She also spoke about the value of sexual abstinence before marriage. She cautioned sisters to avoid tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, as it can directly affect the eggs women are born with, essentially harming unborn children. She asked brothers why they would want to destroy their bodies just to fit in or just to be cool. Rev. Moon expressed that the coolest thing to be is yourself. When everyone else is trying to fit in, the cool thing is to be unique. Eugene Curtin, one of the parents in the community, observed, “[Rev. Moon’s] admonition to [teenagers] to stand apart from the crowd by maintaining their sexual purity, and to ‘be cool by being yourself’ is exactly the right message.”

During the Sunday service, held at 8:00 AM in the same venue as the early-morning gathering, Rev. Moon spoke to the 250 people who had gathered from all over the Heartland District. At the beginning of her sermon, Rev. Moon expressed that she had been thinking about how to best express God’s love and her parents’ love for members, which she feels so strongly. In her sermon, Rev. Moon referred to herself as a member of the second-generation, implying that her father’s generation is the first-generation of Unificationists. The general distinction between first- and second-generation Unificationists is that first-generation are not born into a Unificationist family, whereas second-generation are. As she has done throughout her tour, Rev. Moon thanked the first-generation for their dedication and commitment to the ideals of Unificationism, laying a foundation for the second-generation to become established in society. Mark Lincoln from Nebraska testified: “She spoke conversationally, matter-of-factly, not as a preacher from a pulpit. It was a weekend of healing for my wife and I.”

She talked about the value of Eastern tradition, with its vertical emphasis on how good it is to bow to your elders out of love and respect and how good it is to respect your older siblings and love and care for your younger siblings. She talked of the value of horizontal relationships from Western tradition: camaraderie, friendship, and having fun with your children. Toby Jessen, one of the young people who heard Rev. Moon speak, commented, “I liked when she said that westerners bring a lot of communication and the ability to have more horizontalness in relationships. I liked this, because I am like that in many ways.” Toby’s mother, Margaret Jessen, said that “[Rev. Moon’s] warmth of heart was so life-giving and [her] insights so clear and deep.” In response to Rev. Moon having brought three of her five children to Minneapolis with her, Mrs. Jessen remarked, “Sharing [her] family with us makes us feel like we are a small part of [her] family as well.”

It is evident that hearts were touched and minds impressed as a result of Rev. Moon’s visit in the following anonymous written reflections: “She was very wonderful -- warm and so happy,”

“Her voice is soft, soothing like a Holy Spirit,”

“She is real. No pretense. Supporting, not judging,”

“Very much appreciated the guidance on raising children,”

“I think the main point of her sermon was her respect for elder members that sacrificed a lot. She is really trying to say to younger members that the elder members did valuable things that they need to build on in a professional way,”

“I’m really grateful to her and her family for coming out to the Midwest for us and for truly reaching out to us. She was extremely committed and she truly cared about what she was doing and about us,” “The evening program was an eye-opener. It really got me to think about the things I’m doing.”