August 8th, 2002 marked a momentous day for Korea. Peacemakers gathered from throughout the nation for and rallied together 12,000 strong to declare the beginning of Service for Peace and to celebrate what they hope will become the culture of their nation, the culture of living for the sake of others. Korea was the final rally after a five-country Service for Peace World 2002: Mongolia, Japan, United States, Philippines, and Korea.

The night before was stormy with the dark sky howling, the rain pouring and the river flooding. Similar to Mongolia and the Philippines, the forecast told of similar weather for the day of the rally. However, just as miraculously as in Mongolia and Philippines, on the rally day, the sky showed a brilliant blue, the sun brightly beamed a soft light, and the weather could not have been more perfect. As 1:45 PM came around the Fencing Gymnasium was already bustling with excitement and the arena soon was filled with people. At 2:00 the MCs greeted the eager crowd and the program opened with a prelude to the main program.

The program opened with readings from spirit world presented eloquently and passionately, a message of peace which seemed to calm the atmosphere in the arena. As the prelude progressed, the crowd continued to come into what was quickly becoming a packed gymnasium. The opening entertainment began with a powerful traditional Korean performance. The kweng-kwari chimed as it led the drumming team. In the crowd you could see flags waving to the rhythm as the traditional sounds rang through the hearts of both the young and the old. The second act brought on stage a sign language performance team.

As this song brought two worlds together -- that of the hearing and that of those who don't. It opened our eyes to our similarity, to the fact that we as humanity share a common language of the heart. The music got the crowd to begin waving their flags and moving their bodies to the beat and their mouths to the words. Some even began moving their hands in sync with the sign language and the faces of the audience glowed with interest, their hearts, perhaps warmed with compassion. The emcees led the audience to learn how to sign "I love you" as the final entertainment group entered the stage. As the final entertainment act was a choir made of children with disabilities. The choir sang as the audience clapped and cheered. The prelude set the tone for the rally which would be a combination of powerful and passionate, dream and conviction building, moving and heart-warming.

A powerful video announced the start of the Main Program: Service for Peace World Tour 2002 Korea -- True Love in Action. The message was simple and was carried through in each part of the main program. "Family has to be the foundation of peace and unity. And the core of this family is nothing less than love. Love is expressed through living for the sake of others and therefore True Love in Action is this service. To begin peacemaking, to even speak of unifying the divided Korean family, a culture of love, a culture of service must be established in this land of Korea. Building a culture of Service will be the focus of the efforts of Service for Peace through the first stage of peacemaking." For Korea, peace and unity are two things longed for and more timely than ever. From World Cup Korea has seen the potential of an Asia Peace and World Peace and its nation remains to this day a divided nation.

The Welcoming Remarks built up a powerful atmosphere of determination to create Korea into a nation that leads the world to peace by becoming a nation that lives for the sake of others. From the video to the testimony a clear vision of the Korea Service for Peace was presented through a display of both projects and the transformational experience of both the volunteers and the beneficiaries. Over 1000 participants of the rally had taken part in a Service for Peace project before the rally. 600 handicapped youth and volunteers had created sisterhood ties earlier and took a few moments to pin a dandelion pin onto their newly found family member. They were applauded as the emcees encouraged all 10,000 in the audience to become peacemakers. One such peacemaker entered the stage and shared his own experiences with the audience. Though a handicapped man, he found his way to serve society through his Anti-AIDS Korea Federation. This path of living for the sake of others was his way of liberation as he struggled with his handicap and as he helped his greater family, this opened his path to impacted society in ways he never imagined. His message was to congratulate and to encourage all who came to the rally and to show their works can lead to only greater things. The participants were now fully ready to receive the main speaker of the rally.

The Fencing Gymnasium rang with a large roar of excitement as Hyun Jin Moon stepped out onto stage. "Are you ready to be peacemakers?" Hyun Jin Moon asked and the audience waved their flags and responded with a mighty " YES!!!" The audience was ready to create a revolution in the land of Korea and the energy swelled as Hyun Jin Moon began delivering his message. To create peace, he would explain, we cannot simply move the minds of men, we need to move the hearts of men. What will move the hearts of men is nothing but True Love. True Love made the Christians and Muslims in Philippines come together. True Love brought government and the local people come together in Mongolia.

Then Hyun Jin Moon had Koreans from two traditionally antagonistic regions, Kyongsando and Chollado, embrace. He then had a Unificationist and a Christian embrace. We are all one family under God, he spoke. But we must believe and experience transformation first within our hearts. Passion and Conviction are the key to driving a dream to become a reality. Several times he called on the audience for response to feel the passion and energy of those gathered there. Not only did Hyun Jin Moon speak from the podium to an audience, he stepped down from the stage and began to speak to the audience, warmly and closely, not as cold strangers but as family.

As he walked around the arena he looked into the eyes of the audience, the grandparents and the children, the students and the leaders, the audience tentatively listened. Though his one hour had passed the crowd roared as they cheered to have Hyun Jin Moon continue. He passionately shared how this path of Service for Peace was his own path toward liberation from what could have become bitterness and resentment. He spoke of his own story of transformation when he saw humanity as his family. Hyun Jin Moon left the crowd with a challenge, "Are you willing to carry this message of Service for Peace to all the corners of this nation of Korea? Are you willing to be the owners of Service for Peace?" With the fire of belief and conviction in their hearts, the audience stood to affirm they will take on the challenge and work to change their nation.

The night ended with a celebration through music and dance of this new culture of service that was going to take root in this land of Korea. The entertainment had the audience singing, screaming, dancing, and clapping. To top the celebration Service for Peace's own ambassadors made their debut - the 4-girl band "Colors of Love." The coming together of East and West, of Korea and Japan, and of Black and White, this band represents the vision of Service for Peace, of the possibilities of a unified world. As C.O.L. had the crowd dancing and moving to the English and Korean selection they performed. An Chi Hwan came to treat the crowd. The atmosphere heated with a soft atmosphere of Peace and with the excitement of creating this world into our vision.

As the video announced the entrance of Axe 6, the youth already began crowding near the stage screaming. The finale was Axe 6 and the guest speaker himself, Hyun Jin Moon. Their songs stirred the energy in the Arena as the crowd awaited the grand finale. The audience wildly shook their neon-colored bands in the darkened arena... and with flashes of fireworks and bands of light Hyun Jin Moon made his entrance. The participants packed near the stage and the peacemakers all stood on their feet as they screamed to the songs. The songs one by one filled the room with more and more energy and excitement as Hyun Jin Moon continued to ask the crowd, "Are you ready to be owners of Service for Peace?"

Hyun Jin Moon thrilled the crowd with songs the sung of family, of love, of breaking through this culture of selfishness, and of becoming bold and daring carriers of this vision. Both the young and old had their hands in the air, dancing to the rhythm of the powerful messages. Smoke filled the arena and the bands of light continued to flash to create a night to remember. They ended the night with heart-filled songs that emanated Hyun Jin Moon's passion and desire to see the day world peace is realized.

Three mighty cheers closed the night as the audience made their determination to start the seeds of change when they return to their homes, their families, their towns, their schools, their cities. Mansei! Mansei! Mansei!

As the rally begins to dissipate, the echoes of the 12,000 voices still continue. The crowd scatters throughout the nation, and as they return home, they will each do what they can to create the change in themselves and in the world around them. They will remember today and build their foundations toward next year when they pledge to together will all those who they were able to touch with this vision.

In 2003, Korea will gather together not with 12,000 but with 100,000! The highlight still remains the message of Hyun Jin Moon. True Love will set us free. True Love will create our World of Peace. Service for Peace! True Love in Action!

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