In this interview, Bo Hi Pak describes the Celebration of Life tour as a revolutionary concept in the world of evangelism-combining truth with the joy of music and dance. He reports proudly of reaching many young and non-Christian people, and talks about its positive impact on participating Unification Church members and on his own family.

This Sun Myung Moon Christian Crusade, Celebration of Life, is a revolutionary concept in the world of evangelism because this is a new form of evangelism. We are bringing a free expression of joy in music and dance. We are introducing a 21st century-style formula for evangelism. This has revolutionized the world of evangelism. We are very glad that the Unification Church is doing it. We are spearheading it, we are making headway. We are becoming pioneers and champions of a new form of evangelism that will be effective in reaching out to people, particularly non-Christian people. We will reach many, many young people, non-Christian people. Evangelism in the past was tailor-made to evangelize among Christians. This is the way we can attract many non-Christians, many nonbelievers. We come to them in a beautiful way, in a most impressive and favorable way, to introduce them to God and Christ.

Second, we are revolutionizing the teaching of the Divine Principle. In order to be able to cope with the mass media, great numbers of people and audiences of thousands, we should have a new form of presentation of the Principle. We must make the presentation of the Principle simple, fantastic, and heart-warming. That is the formula I wanted to come up with; I wanted to pioneer it. And even though I do not feel my task is complete, I do know it is working, I know the direction now. We can work harder and harder, and we can perfect it. I think it would be a powerful message for the public, for a mass convention or assembly. In other words, we are elevating it from the classroom-type presentation to mass evangelism. We are now capable of presenting it on this scale, and it becomes so powerful, because none dare compete with the truth of the Divine Principle, once we find the formula and tailor it for the public.

In this particular crusade I have picked out the three key points representative of our movement. These three points are: Jesus did not come to die; Christ is coming not on the clouds of heaven but as the son of man in the flesh; and the original sin was a misuse of love.

Two things are primarily happening among our family members. First of all, by inviting people to the Celebration of Life, they are positively identified as people who can command respect and admiration for our movement. People want to be known by this wonderful group. We are becoming the target of envy. In many cases, our family members were like the underdog. There were many unkind things said about them, and they did not have many prospects for successful and winning days. They had to fight through many persecutions. These have been the local situations in our movement.

And now the Celebration of Life brings a different attitude. We are in a commanding position. We are so positive. Even those people who came to oppose us came and said nothing. They became completely neutralized, and in some cases they changed their minds. We are so confident, so good, so refreshing, so honest, so sincere, how could they say anything about it? We are giving new confidence, new hope, new dimensions to the world. So they see how good we can be. They feel very happy to be part of this Celebration of Life Crusade and to become pioneers together for God and Christ.

Second, they truly feel close to God and Christ, because through this presentation of the Principle, even our family members have never before experienced such joy and a realization of conversion, the truth coming into your whole being, centering on God and Christ. It brings a real heart-to-heart relationship.

This has been a really rewarding experience personally. I have wanted to do this for a long time. This is the kind of thing I have been dreaming about. It is a dream which has become a reality, so I have a tremendous personal satisfaction. Through this I have come to know God and Christ in a deeper sense. I have been the one most blessed and rewarded by being part of the Celebration of Life, because I am the one that has been most uplifted. I have experienced God's kingdom and His loving heart, and so I have become closer to God. This is really a tremendous uplift on the personal side.

My family also feels the same way. By doing this, my family is becoming more happy and united. My wife is enjoying the tour, and we can share much joy together. My son will soon graduate from high school, and he would like to join. So our whole family is centered around the Celebration of Life and the work of God. I cannot think of any other way that we could better do the work of God and experience together harmony and happiness in the family.

I think our future is simply great. I have great expectations. However, things will happen in a far greater and far more intense degree than anybody can envision at this time. This world may change. The world in which we live truly needs a great realization of the presence of God, because everything, all aspects of human life are running toward a deadlock. We need a new dimension. Otherwise, the survival and the very existence of human culture are in question.

Where can we find the solutions to today's conflicts? We have tried everything, and we cannot find any ultimate solution. So the solution has to be a spiritual one, because the fundamental core of the universe is God, and God is spirit. God is the subject of the universe. No matter what we might do, the solution must come from the subject point of view, from God and from the spiritual world.

We are doing precisely that. We are not talking about the problems of the world. We are presenting the solution. We are working not on an analysis of the problem but on the cure to the problem. That is the fundamental principle of our work. About the future, only God knows. The sky is the limit. This whole world is waiting to be saved. We need help from God and from God's power, and from a spiritual awakening and enlightenment. We are providing the answer to the world.

The Celebration of Life is one segment of a great movement that will ignite millions of people and give them a fresh outlook on life. That is what we are doing. I really feel good about it. I have waited a long time for the Celebration of Life. The Sun Myung Moon Christian Crusade is going to be the greatest crusade ever launched. It is going to be a pioneer. Only history can tell what magnitude it will have. But I think this crusade will remain until the kingdom of heaven comes on earth to the full extent.

We will soon move on to other parts of the world-Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Africa, etc.

Initially, American settlers started from the New England area and pioneered the virgin land of the West. We are doing the same way. We are like the Mayflower of heaven landing on Plymouth Rock in New England. We have tribulations and hard work to do, but that is nothing. We are pioneers, we have to take all these things. We are on untouched land. A whole new horizon is waiting to be cultivated spiritually.

God has spoken through all the ages, through many prophets, like Moses and Elijah and John the Baptist and through Jesus Christ, His Son. I think the living God is speaking to us, and I believe that Reverend Moon is the instrument of God. Through him God is speaking the most wonderful revelation concerning God's modern-day dispensation. Therefore, through him many messages are coming; the meaning of the symbols and parables of the Bible are becoming clear.

We tell people what we believe is a way of life truly centered on God and Christ. In this way we believe that true happiness and joy can be derived. Young people respond to it very well, because they can see the spirit of dedication to God and Christ in joy. We can communicate that joy to young people. Furthermore, they are very much intrigued and impressed by the love and the new expression of God and Christ. They hear the meaning of the Bible and the words of Jesus becoming relevant to their own life. They see our bubbling enthusiasm.

We have gathered members of our movement who have the highest professional skills in putting this program together. They really communicate their tremendous spirit of joy in God and Christ. This is what they are radiating. It becomes contagious. We have sessions of studying the Bible, and furthermore, we even raise the funds to support our program. It is therefore a really strenuous schedule for our young people.

They are very happy to be part of something very unique, and I am very proud of their spirit. I really feel proud to be able to do this wonderful work for God and Christ. I think it is one of the greatest things that I have ever witnessed. These young people, once they are motivated, can do things that are impossible otherwise.

Our movement, the Unification Church, is the fast-growing mother organization. The Sun Myung Moon Christian Crusade is the outreach arm of the Unification Church International. We have so many members around the world and are the fastest growing faith in our modern day. Young people have been moving away from organized churches. But our movement attracts mostly young people. I think this is really a wonderful thing.

We have missions in 40 different countries, and in three years we will go to 120 different nations. In America thousands of young people are coming to the realization of God and Christ and are centering their lives on God. This is really wonderful.

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