Sports as Fuel for Dreams

Hyun Jin Moon
June 14, 2008

Excerpted from Hyun-jin nim's speech at his inauguration as chairman of the Peace Dream Foundation and the Sun Moon Peace Football Foundation on June 14

Thank you all for your warm welcome. I'm sincerely grateful for your participation in today's event. It is my distinct honor to be hem today as president of both the Peace Dream Foundation and the Sun Moon Peace Football Foundation.

As you know very well, the Sun Moon Peace Football Foundation has organized numerous football tournaments, such as the Peace Cup and the Peace Queen Cup, to raise awareness and raise funds in order to promote a new concept a new vision, that football can be a tool in generating peace and harmony all around the world.

We have also worked together with UN NGOs and charities to hold the Peace Star Cup, which is a football league comprised of celebrities using their talents and their influence to create a culture of service and peace. By their example, the world can see the possibilities for peace as these leading figures in society go beyond the comfort of their own experience and contribute to realizing the greater dream of world peace.

Furthermore, this vision is also represented in Peace Korea, which serves to bring unity between Korean groups living in Japan...

The Sun Moon Peace Football Foundation has one overriding purpose in convening these football tournaments. That purpose is to realize the vision of peace. In addition to the projects already mentioned, there have been other football tournaments around the world that support youth in underdeveloped countries and educate them about sportsmanship, altruism, teamwork, fair play, character-building through gracious winning and losing -- but mostly how to build peace centered upon a peace dream.

This is a global movement centered upon social responsibility through sports supported by the profits made through all the cup events. When understood in this way, the Peace Cup and Peace Queen Cup can be recognized as truly significant international events...

Before taking on this position as the new president of the foundation, I have actively worked to establish an international culture of service by establishing a UN-recognized service organization called Service for Peace and now am embarked on launching the Global Peace Festival which will be a global festival to honor the vision of global peace. In particular I have done my best to raise international leaders who can lead in the twenty-first century, recognizing that experiential learning through challenge and experiences and actual service work is the key to building peace.

I will lead the Peace Dream Foundation forward with all my commitment and my energy. We will expand to include culture and the arts in addition to sports. We plan to build a soccer field overlapping the borders of Israel and Palestine. Isn't that amazing? And we will build a football academy for the children in both areas. This project will help bring peace in the Middle East through a project called Play Football, Make Peace. Both Israelis and Palestinians consider this a very significant and hopeful project and anticipate making great strides toward the realization of peace in their region by tapping and harmonizing the energy of their youth.

Starting in 2008, the Peace Queen Cup will award a prize to people who have contributed to world peace through sports and have worked with the vision of the peace dream...

There am more projects and programs for realizing peace within the Peace Dream Foundation with the profits from Peace Star Cup we are able to support the $9 million campaign for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees by holding the Peace Dream Cup for children living in refugee camps in Liberia and in Bangladesh.

As you know we are opening the 2008 Peace Queen Cup this afternoon. I sincerely hope that you will continue to show your support for the Sun Moon Peace Football Foundation and sincerely ask you for your encouragement, and your work, to achieve the vision of our new organization. May we continue to receive God's blessing upon our work. In this way we can be assured of a bright future and great success.

And being a son of the greatest football fan I know, who happens to be the Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon -- who had the vision of bringing football and the vision of peace together -- I ask that we work together to accomplish that as yet unaccomplished dream of world peace during our lifetimes. Thank you very much.