Encouragement to Wongu Peace Cup Team U.S.A

In Jin Moon
October 13, 2010

On the day after the Wongu Peace Cup games were held in South Korea, Rev. In Jin Moon took Team USA to a Korean dinner. Before leaving, she spoke to them about how wonderful their spirit was throughout the competitions. She also emphasized the importance of not giving up, and that with every loss you are one step closer to winning the gold medal.

I will try to make this brief and heartfelt because, as the President and CEO of the Unification Church in America, I was truly inspired by all of you. Just watching you pass by, you looked so professional and so high-spirited, and your beautiful smiles lit up the whole stage. We saw a lot of players go by, but quite a few of them had never met True Parents and don't know True Parents because they're not members of the movement. Some of them are professional players; some of them are semiprofessionals. But because they didn't recognize who they were passing by, those of us in the True Family could sense what our True Parents were feeling -- that these people didn't realize how special this occasion was.

But when we saw the American team passing by -- you are not professionals and might not be semiprofessionals, although quite a few of you are really good -- the spirit that you brought as you walked by was something indelibly marked and experienced in the True Family, and I know True Parents felt it, too. So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making the effort to come all this way.

I realize that the Wongu Sports Festival has been going on for some time. It's been a festival to promote peace and harmony and at the same time a means for the teams to have a great time and experience on the field. But I was thinking, instead of having professional and semiprofessional people coming together for this sports festival, how wonderful it would be if I could bring a group of Second Generation and get them inspired about being passionate about a certain sport they might want to participate in during the year after. How wonderful it would be if our Second Generation could develop into semiprofessionals and professionals that can represent America in the best way!

My whole philosophy as the senior pastor is not just internal excellence but external excellence, too. I know that many of you were seriously slaughtered on the field, but I was so moved by your spirit because this is my philosophy, which applies to anything you do in life, whether you're fundraising, or witnessing, or you're going to get straight As or you're going for that particular career. Life is difficult and always gives you a set of obstacles to work through, but every time I get a no, I tell myself, "You're one step closer to a yes."

So every time you lose a game, you're one step closer to winning a game. If we can have the kind of philosophy that carries us through whatever we do in life and we can apply it in whatever area we happen to find ourselves in, sooner or later we are going to get that yes. Sooner or later you are going to get that gold medal, and sooner or later you are going to be representing your country at the sports festival, like the Wongu Sports Festival that you participated in, and come back home with a gold.

That's where I would like to see us headed in terms of playing next year or the year after. Hopefully this experience will motivate you to come back and want to participate next year. If it happens to be in the fall, let's maybe get together in the summer to train ourselves so we can be better prepared.

If we can develop not just the educational component in terms of academics and our theological understanding of who we are but also incorporate the sports aspect and the fine arts aspect into the whole program that we're developing, I feel that we can create what Harvard University calls a well-rounded person. Everybody who goes to Harvard at the bare minimum is a valedictorian or salutatorian and straight-A student. That's the bare minimum. But on top of that, what Harvard looks for are future leaders.

Harvard's administrators know there are certain components that make a person a leader. Leaders have to be able to work well in groups, and they have to be motivated: They have to know how to set goals and overcome short-term failures but still be motivated to accomplish their end goal. That's why, sure, Harvard wants straight-A students, but it also wants people who are sensitive as well as smart, people who are artistically inclined, like classical pianists, like my kids are, so that they are sensitive to feelings. At the same time, Harvard wants kids who are also athletically gifted.

As a mother, as a senior pastor, and as somebody who wants the Second Generation to shine, I want you to be great in all different aspects of life because you will be the future leaders -- not just for our movement but for our world. The Sports Festival is a chance for us to grow and have a great time but at the same time understand the importance of a good attitude toward the game. Even though you might not have won, just as Kester (team USA player) explained that he himself was so motivated by the spirit of his team, that's the important thing.

What's important is coming onto the field with a great attitude, with a respectful attitude -- toward your teammates, your opponents, and the game -- and coming off of the field with that same spirit that, regardless of whether you won or lost, you participated in something special with your team, representing your country. That's why, whether you win or lose, it is a great honor to experience playing the game, as any sports fanatic knows, I myself being one.

I want to thank you for being out there, for being courageous. Clara (women's volleyball team) was telling me she played volleyball against Russia and northeast Europe. Russian women, all being six feet and above, are very, very good players. But just in hearing her tell me about her experience I could tell that regardless of what happened on the court, the spirit was high. She takes it as a great experience -- just the fact that we can come as a family to this country of Korea and not only experience the thrill of playing the game and losing and winning, but also have a chance to revisit where we all come from. None of us would exist had it not been for our True Parents.

So the fact that you can visit where Father's ministry started here in Seoul and hear a little bit about what my younger brother has been engaged in is really a chance for you to connect to your roots and feel one with where you come from and who you are.

I expect only great things from all of you. Hopefully your stomachs were satisfied. If you did not have enough, please let me know. There is plenty more food. I need to be on my way and take my leave, but as your senior pastor I am so proud to have such a wonderful team, and the first blessed children's team of the sports festival. I am incredibly, incredibly proud of all of you. Thank you.