On Wednesday, July 11, UPF-NL held a special meeting to honour nearly 60 new UPF Ambassadors for Peace (AfP) in the main meeting room of Goudestein, a beautiful 18th century country house that serves as the Town Hall for Maarssen, a small town in the province of Utrecht. The new AfPs included members of the Haddekik Runners who participate in the Roparun, Maarssen Wethouder Jaap Verkroost and Henk and Ann Baal, a couple from Diemen.

Some weeks before, Mrs. Elfi Verstraeten, UPF-NL Public Relations, had read in the local paper of the activities of the Haddekik Runners who take part in the annual Roparun -Rotterdam (RO) to Paris (PA) RUN. The Roparun is the longest non-stop relay race in the world: it's not only a unique running event but also has a unique goal: "Aiming to add life to the days that remain, when no more days can be added to life". Through attracting sponsors, the Roparun Foundation supports people with terminal cancer.

The Roparun started as a one-off event in 1992, the 13 teams raising 100,000 guilders (50,000 euros); and from that initial success the Roparun now attracts more than 200 teams, with more than 4,500 participants, and the May 2007 run raised 3,736.160 euros, bringing the total 15 year figure to some 21 million euros. There could be said to be two competitions: to finish the race first and to raise the most money through sponsors.

Mrs. Verstraeten contacted the gemeente (town council), spoke with the Sport and Recreation Wethouder (alderman) Jaap Verkroost, and told him that UPF would like to recognize the efforts of the Haddekik Runners by awarding them with Ambassador for Peace certificates. Together with Haddekik Runners voorzitter (Chairman) Alex Corlijn they arranged the meeting in Goudestein.

MC Bert Janssen began the meeting just before 15.00 and Eleanor Flowers, accompanied by Christopher Davies on guitar, sang the inspirational "If You Believe" from the film "Prince of Egypt". The fabulous, high ceiled, main room, reminiscent of Holland's "Golden Age", now used very much for weddings, had wonderf ul acoustics even though it was filled with some 60 people.

Wethouder (Alderman) Jaap Verkroost spoke about the Haddekik Runners, explaining that, in addition to those who took part in the Roparun, there were many others who helped behind the scenes. He enthused that it was a creative way of encouraging people to give, it had a good purpose, it created a good atmosphere in the group and was excellent in bringing people to do something together. He concluded that "we in the Maarssen Gemeente are proud of this group and are so very happy to have you here".

Drs. Wim Koetsier, Secretary General of the Universal Peace Federation in the Netherlands (UPF-NL), joked that the name Goudestein reminded him of his having grown up near the city of Gouda. Explaining about the origins of UPF and the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), he said that after World War Two there was a great longing for peace and that in addition to the creation of the United Nations, there was the desire of the victors to help the defeated enemy countries. If we could live for others, we could overcome conflict; but within us there are various types of individualistic desires. Going beyond the individual, these same individualistic desires were seen in conflicts between larger groups.

One of the most high profile conflicts was that in Israel and Palestine. UPF tried to help with the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI), listening to both sides, with the heart of a parent hoping to bring calm to fighting children, in contrast with the US and Europe who tended to take sides. UPF also encouraged sport, for example in the program Play Soccer, Make Peace; also in the recent Inter-religious Peace Sports Festival, in particular amateur sport, where players felt participation was more important than who won. The basic background philosophy was "living for the sake of others".

Much of the news in the national media was "negative", focusing on conflicts; many felt they just didn't want to see it. Local media tended to be more positive, also promoting groups such as The Raddedik Runners. UPF felt the same and one of the reasons for giving these AfP certificates was to recognize goodness. They could be given to a president of a country as well as to someone active on the local level, each person had particular talents, the core motive was "I do from my heart to help others". The purpose of this meeting was to celebrate activities and accomplishments together and to make society more spiritual and social.

100 years ago there had been much poverty in Europe, even in the early 1930s, Germany's economic situation became so catastrophic that the price of an egg jumped from 0.8 marks to 80,000,000 marks! Life was more stable in Europe now, but there were still huge problems in many other places. In 2000, the United Nations had launched the Millennium Development Goals and UPF was supporting this initiative. The carmaker Henry Ford understood that if you helped others you would also bring benefit to yourself. He paid his workers well and gave them good working conditions and they remained loyal to him and bought Ford cars! In this way mass production and cheaper cars became possible. Ultimately, it was all a question of mentality. He was glad to be present at this meeting and hoped it would inspire others to do more, even to helping with the fulfillment of the MDGs.

The Wethouder then presented certificates to more than 30 members of the Haddekik Runners. Since it was a working day, many could not attend and a further 26 certificates would be given out by the Chairman, Alex Colijn, at a Runners meeting on Saturday. As one of the Runners returned to his seat, he was heard to celebrate "eindelijk, een diploma!" (finally, a diploma).

Wim Koetsier returned to the podium, spoke of the ways in which Wethouder Verkroost served others and awarded him an AfP certificate, suggesting he might go on to become mayor. Mr. Koetsier also drew attention to a number of Youth AfPs who were helping with the meeting, they had a number of projects in Utrecht, as part of Youth Service Initiative.

He then introduced Henk and Ann Baal, a couple from Diemen who had traveled with him from Amsterdam. Their son had met a young AfP Stefan van Winden and had testified to him about his parents' service to others and how he felt that qualified them to be AfPs. Ann Baal explained how, as a Christian in Surinam, with a Moslem mosque on one side of her house and a Jewish synagogue on the other, she grew up with respect for others and the many cultures in her country. She and her husband had been together for 40 years. Henk mentioned that he was from a different Christian denomination to his wife and that he had Hindu and Moslem friends, "we are all children of the same creator". Ann’s main activity was with Stichting Tai-ati.

Haddekik Runners voorzitter (Chairman) Alex Corlijn came to the podium to express his appreciation for the event. He explained how the 26 people who couldn't attend would receive their certificates on Saturday, and expressed his gratitude to Mrs. Elfi Verstraeten, inviting her to a special Runners reunion later in the year.

Mrs. Verstraeten later reported that Wethouder Verkroost said that UPF would be welcome to hold further events in Goudestein and that when Mr. Colijn visited her a few days later he told her that when she first contacted him he had felt it was a joke, but on reading the AfP certificate wording he had been very impressed and realized it was serious and a great honour to receive such recognition.

59 certificates were awarded: 56 certificates for the Runners, one for the wethouder and two to Mr. and Mrs. Baal.