Dear Family,

Father's desire is for harmony among Christians, Moslems, Jews and all the world religions. To practically enhance this on May 21 through May 25th the International Peace Sports Festival will have a world class Olympics. This is open for participants from age 16 -23. The world renowned Pele of soccer fame is on the host committee. Athletes have registered from all over the world. (For example, world class track and field athletes from Africa are registered, the national championship basketball team from Indonesia is also coming to compete for the gold medal. )

We would like to request your assistance to secure more athletes to participate. If they register before April 20th (This Sunday). They will be fully sponsored on all costs in Korea and $500 of their $680 airfare will be covered. (The rest we are raising locally or through the participants church or family.)

We are looking for athletes in the following category:

These athletes should be champions in their local areas and ready for stiff competition. Olympic style medals will be given. This will be a great addition to an up and coming athletes experience and background.

They will also do sightseeing and plan to have a special rally for peace at the 38th parallel.

If you have any candidates, don't hesitate. Register immediately online at the www.familyfed.org website or www.IPSFestival.org (From there you can connect with the links that will give you more in-depth literature and information.) At this point however, it is realistic to pursue this only if clergy, women's leaders or educators or sports figures that you have a personal relationship with can be approached. They will immediately know if they have such a candidate. If so, register them immediately so that they make the deadline for registration and then we will sort out the details that follow.

Please report any candidates you have to your regional headquarters and your Regional director and / or your Vice Regional Director. They will are set up and ready to help process your athlete for this once in a lifetime experience.

Thanks for your faithfulness and unchanging support for God and True Parents at this historic time.

Sincerely,

Rev. Michael Jenkins
Co-Chairman
Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace and Unification USA Chapter

Below Is A Fact Sheet From Mrs. Carol Pobanz and IPSF Coordinator

The Interreligious Peace Sports Festival is a new initiative in the area of sport that True Parents has recently advanced. These games are scheduled to take place near Seoul, Korea on May 21-25, 2003 as part of the World Culture and Sports Festival. Young athletes between the ages of 16-23, from all continents, are needed to participate in this event. They will gather in the spirit of cooperation to compete as representatives of their religions.

It is helpful to read a little about the History or Prehistory of the Olympics. Some very condensed information can be found at http://www.fhw.gr/projects/olympics/revival/ then look under REVIVAL.

In recent time we have been presenting the theme "Breaking Down the Walls", which refers to breaking down the religious, racial and cultural barriers that divide us and keep us from relating to one another as the children of our parent God. One purpose of this sports festival is to show a working paradigm to help facilitate this objective.

It is not, however, enough to simply break down the walls we must also recreate our culture. We must recreate the popular culture including its social patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions and all products of human work and thought by creating a "culture of peace". We must create an pure, moral environment for our youth to grow in

a.. Youth are passionate about sports

b.. Sport is a vehicle for character development. Through sports young people can learn mind/body unity, discipline, excellence, integrity, cooperation, self-sacrifice and team work.

c.. The worldwide appeal of sport is being used in this initiative as a powerful and unique catalyst for cultural change

Doesn't competition set up a condition for fights to happen? Recreating the notion of competition.

A popular notion of competition is a sort of "war"..the God-centered notion of competition is more of a "peace builder", that is, the athlete strives for excellence, he strives to draw out the excellence in his team and through the competition he even strives to bring out the excellence of his opponent.

Why would a young person be interested in competing in the IPSF?

a.. Young athletes are so excited to compete in there sport on any level.school to school, regional competitions, state-wide competitions, national level and international competition. Few youth ever actually get a chance to compete on an international level in front of a large international audience.

b.. It's a unique and exciting opportunity to visit another country

c.. Exciting to meet and make friends with new people from different countries, races and religions. Live together as one community

d.. Young people can feel good to help make a change in society. Rather than talk about an ideal of peace they can live the ideal. Return home with a sense of empowerment "We youth can make a difference"

· Travel opportunity

· Take part in the pageantry of the opening ceremony of the inauguration of the

· Interreligious Peace Sports Festival

· Sightseeing and tours (possibly to the DMZ for a peace ceremony)

· Attendance to the Peace Blessing

· Martial Arts Demonstrations

· Cultural Entertainment

· Miss University Pageant

· Gain International Recognition

· Medals will be give for 1st, 2nd ,3rd place in all events

· All participants will receive recognition for participation in the IPSF

· All participants will receive appointment and certificates as Young Ambassadors of Peace

· Recognition can be helpful in obtaining some scholarships as well as being valuable additions to college applications

· Athletes to be accepted need to be at least 16 years but no older then 23.

· Participants are expected to represent their religion on and off the field.

· Individuals can apply directly for their events.

· A complete Team will need to apply with the Team application and soon after have individuals on the team send in applications.

· We will in some cases accept a whole team to represent their religion (for instance St. Christian's High School Men's Volleyball team) but in other cases we will build an All Star team based on representatives selected from global candidates coming from the same religion.

· If possible please apply on line from our website: www.IPSFestival.org This is the best way. Otherwise call the IPSF office to request an application by fax or mail. You can also downloaded the application from our website

· Application does not automatically guarantee qualification. We will accept most applicants but we do not need to have duplicate teams from the same religions.

· There is no change to apply or register for participation.

· We will need many Christian athletes but we also have a really great need of Jewish, Muslim and Hindu athletes.

· Applications must be in by April 15

· The IPSF will host athletes in Korea, covering costs for room, board and local event related travel.

· IPSF will not cover travel to the Games (travel to the Games must be covered by athletes or their sponsors).

Schedule Information: (Arrivals on May 19 -most departures May 27th or 28th)

Arrivals from the USA and Canada will be on May 19. We will give the athletes time to prepare in Korea before the actual competition. We will offer an orientation program to introduce all the athletes to Korea, share the purpose of these Games and the larger World Culture and Sports Festival and offer a variety of entertainment and cultural programs.

The Games will mainly begin May 22 and most finals will be on May 24th. We will have an opening and closing ceremony that will include martial arts exhibitions and variety of performances. There will be some time for celebration and reflection before departures

On May 26 (and possibly May 27th) we will offer additional sightseeing and a service project for those that want to stay.

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