Social Welfare Projects
The ultimate goal of religion lies in the complete salvation of all humankind. The goal of the Unification Church is to realize the Kingdom of Heaven on earth where God's purpose of creation is fulfilled. Reverend Moon has done his utmost for the improvement of all aspects of society through cultural, educational and social welfare activities. Having devoted his life to world peace and the salvation of humankind, he established the International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF) in 1979 to provide aid to calamity-stricken nations and peoples. Relief work has included the building of a farm in an underdeveloped region of Africa, through the reclamation of wasteland.
The establishment of local community adult-education programs has instilled a desire for learning amongst those who had not been able to obtain an education, and provided opportunities for housewives and the elderly to develop interests and use their leisure time well. Recently, Reverend Moon also set up a volunteer service group, the Aewon ("Garden of Love") Bank.
He has therefore made considerable effort to realize a one-family community centered on God's true love, through activities spanning every aspect of society.
International Relief Friendship Foundation
The International Relief Friendship Foundation was set up in 1979 to aid calamity-stricken nations and peoples. It has provided less developed countries with food, medicine, clothes and other types of aid. With its headquarters in the United States, IRFF has branches in nations such as Britain, Canada, Japan, Germany and France. IRFF is also working in the fields of emergency rescue, orphanage management, medical service, technological education and water resource management.
Agricultural and Educational Projects in Africa
Reverend Moon has extended his warm helping hand to Africa, a land which had previously been dominated and exploited by stronger powers. He is launching various relief efforts there in the fields of religion, culture, economics, technology and education. Reverend Moon instructed missionaries in Zaire to cultivate some wasteland and set up a farm and church center which could serve as a hub of relief activities. He also established a vocational school (L'+cole Cooperative Professionelle) which has both three year general, and four year specialized, courses covering such subjects as agriculture, thermatology, industrial technology and business management.
In Zambia, agricultural technology has been made available to the people through a sausage factory, experimental farm, and a ranch, amongst other ventures. In the field of education, and looking to the future of Africa, an elementary and middle school, plus a language institute, have been established. A hospital built with IRFF support provides medical care for the people. This movement of love centered on a farm, church mission and relief activities, has been expanding in nations such as Senegal, C te d'Ivoire, Liberia and the Central African Republic.
International Medical Service Corps
This medical service corps, launched in 1971, has offered its medical services every summer to the people who live in a Korean village which has no doctor. In addition to domestic activities, the medical corps has more recently been participating in a mobile medical service in Asia, supported by IRFF.
The medical service corps has had good results, pooling the efforts of some 520 doctors, nurses and assistants to help 21,000 patients between 1971, the first year of its activity, and 1983. Since 1984, a cooperative medical service effort between IRFF and the Japanese Medical Academy for Peace was undertaken in areas of Asia under the supervision of Ishin hospital in Tokyo. This service in Asia, which included the Philippines and Thailand's shanty towns, saw its 24th year of activity in 1994, helping some 42,000 patients.
Community Schools (Adult-Education Centers)
Korea has many educational institutions. However, there are many who have lost opportunities for study for personal or economic reasons, and despite the fact that they may have an ardent desire for education through their life in society, there is no education system currently in place to deal with this problem. Local community schools were launched in 1984 for the purpose of serving their communities and fostering an educational atmosphere. The establishment of the community school network is based on the recognition that communities are bound together by a common destiny. These schools will also play an important role in the unification and prosperity of Korea through converting antagonism and conflict within the social stratum to reconciliation and solidarity. Presently, there are about eighty community schools, each having an average of twenty students per class, and between fifteen and twenty teaching staff consisting mainly of university students, company employees and professors, all offering their services for free. Community colleges for housewives and senior citizens were established. These schools, through permitting the development of interests and leisure activities, are the leading lights of their communities.
Aewon Bank ("Garden of Love" Bank)
This organization, launched March 25, 1994, was given official approval by the city of Seoul on April 12 of the same year. Aewon bank is not a place for the deposit of money, but where true love and charity, namely, whatever can be offered for the sake of our poor neighbors, are given. Thus, we can offer hope, encouragement and joy to people's lives through this "love-sharing bank."
It is becoming an effective movement for the spiritual re-armament of society with the ideology of Love Heaven, Love Humankind, Love Your Country, and creating a movement for national unity based on the ideology of "true parent, true teacher, and true owner." It works to inspire the spirit of the Olympics and of the Olympic volunteers in citizens so that they participate in volunteer service for international and domestic cultural and sports events, and in social service work for the development of the society and the nation. Activities include management of a canteen serving free food for the poor, support for Koreans living overseas and in the North and community support work for small income earners, the handicapped, children taking care of families in place of parents, and others.
Statement of Purpose
Today, the reality of the world is tragic. A cloud of sin has cloaked humankind, egoism has cut off one person from another, and hedonism has engulfed the nation. These have led to a tragic internal human emptiness an emptiness that pervades humanity.
True love will make people into true human beings, enabling them to see others as their second-selves. As true love deepens, the relationship between a person and his society, nation, world and even the universe becomes inseparable. The rich are not those who have amassed a vast fortune, but those who store up true love in their heart for the sake of others. Therefore, it is not wealth which we should be most proud of, but true love.
Above all, true love is parental love, which constantly strives to give more, expecting nothing in return. A society becomes very sick when true love dries up. The sickness in our society has resulted from the false notion that it is detrimental to give out. Hence, the true love of true parents is the proper remedy for this sick world. The society and nation where we live should be one family where we share our joys and sorrows together.
Many, having worked in the voluntary organizations of the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympic Games, want to connect with Reverend Sun Myung Moon's teaching of true love, thereby committing their hearts of true love, through this organization named the Aewon Bank, to making a clean and beautiful society in which to sacrifice, serve and live together.
A bank is where money is deposited. The Aewon Bank is where we deposit our love, service, and charity, however they may be expressed, for the sake of others, so that charity and true love will bring hope, courage and joy to the lives of our neighbors.
Even a suit of used clothes is a wonderful gift to anybody in need. We have established the Aewon Bank in the belief that when we pile up true love little by little in this world, until the point where the world is filled with the blossom of true love, then we will be able to heal our stricken society and finally realize the unification of the homeland. Now that we firmly believe this work is mandated by the heavenly will, we will commit our lives to this work.
Finally, we ask all of you to participate.
- The promoters of AEWON BANK
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