The Words of the Schanker Family

'Women Are True Peacemakers,' Say Moon-Family Women; 50 State Mother-Daughter Tour Recognizes 'Women of Destiny' Calls America to Fulfill Global Peace

Phillip Schanker
May 22, 2007

To: POLITICAL EDITORS
Contact: Rev. Phillip Schanker of the Universal Peace Federation

NEW YORK, May 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A renowned spiritual leader and global peace activist began an unprecedented 50-State tour of the USA with three of her children last night...from three different corners of the country. Dr. Hak Ja Moon, wife of Korean evangelist Reverend Sun Myung Moon, was hosted by hundreds of women peacemakers at New York City's Manhattan Center. After a rousing introduction by the Moons' third son, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, she addressed two thousand clergy, activists and diplomats and honored 86 community leaders as "Ambassadors for Peace."

Meanwhile, daughter-in-law Jun Sook Kwak Moon spoke to a similarly diverse crowd in Honolulu's Ala Moana Hotel. Another daughter-in-law, Yeon Ah Choi Moon, was welcomed at Eagle River Missionary Baptist Church in Anchorage, Alaska. The tour's theme is "America's Destiny: One Family Under God." While Dr. Moon and her son travel westward, visiting twelve major cities across the US, the daughters will move eastward, each visiting 19 states in 19 days. The party will then travel to an estimated 120 nations by the end of August.

The tour highlights the vital role that women play as peacemakers in families and communities, and their leadership role in society as a whole. It proclaims a new era of peacemaking in which "Women of Destiny" can foster hope, harmony and healing in their families and communities. Thousands of such women are participating in host committees for the 50 events, with many more expected to attend.

Dr. Hak Ja Moon founded the Women's Federation for Peace in 1992. The NGO has established schools, medical and service projects in the developing world, supported women's issues at the UN and sponsored "Bridge of Peace" programs to reconcile women from traditional enemy nations and diverse races. See www.wfwp.org or www.wfwp.us. In addition to her active role in ministry with her husband and career as an international speaker, Dr. Moon is the mother of fourteen children and grandmother of twenty-five. Both daughters speaking on this tour, mothers of fourteen children between them, are active in ministry, accomplished scholars and hold advanced degrees in theology. Ms. Kwak-Moon is also a Julliard-trained pianist. They encourage an active leadership role for women in peacemaking.

An equally important theme of the tour is America's role in furthering the peace and prosperity of all nations, not by power or might, but by renewing its values, building ideal families, and genuinely living for others. The keynote message is: "The Pacific Rim Era in Light of God's Will: The US and the Future Direction of the UN and the World."

The tour's primary sponsor, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), was founded by Rev and Mrs. Moon as a global alliance of individuals and organizations dedicated to building a world of peace, harmony and co- prosperity. The UPF is guided by a vision of humanity as one global family of God, living in accordance with universal principles enshrined in the teachings of the world's great faiths. More than 100,000 religious, civic, diplomatic and media leaders have been appointed as UPF "Ambassadors for Peace" to work beyond racial and religious boundaries for peace through reconciliation.

More than 100 community leaders, peace activists and service leaders were appointed as Ambassadors for Peace at last night's three events. Hundreds more are expected to join this network of international peacemakers as the tour visits all 50 states.

This is the seventh UPF "Peace Tour." The first, in 2005, brought Rev. and Mrs. Moon to 120 nations in as many days. Since then, hundreds of Christian and interfaith clergy have delivered the UPF peace messages in 20,000 venues in 180 nations. Three generations of the Moon family have taken a leading role in delivering this message, embodying the UPF principle that the family is the cornerstone of world peace.

Major UPF projects include: strengthening the UN's peacemaking capacity through an inter-religious "peace council" as a working body; establishment of such councils in areas of historic conflict; inter-religious peace initiatives in the Middle East, South Asia, and the Korean Peninsula; a joint initiative for a bridge-tunnel across the Bering Strait to complete an international highway, linking the world as a single community; and programs for family renewal, disaster relief, and peace through sports and culture. See www.upf.org.

"What greater gift can we give to humanity than peace and unconditional acceptance of one another? But how difficult it is, and how much we struggle to achieve it. But Rev. & Mrs. Moon have put themselves in a vulnerable place to show us all that it is possible to embrace those who are different than us."
Margaret Burmaster
Dir. of Regulatory Reform
NY Dep't. of Health (Ret.)
Amb. for Peace
"Sun Myung Moon is an exceptional man of superlative value. How many people with his charisma, generosity, commitments, and sense of purpose and urgency do we find in the world today?"
Sir James Mancham
Founding President, Seychelles
Amb. For Peace
"Dr. Martin Luther King said greatness comes from a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. Dr. Hak Ja Moon truly has a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love."
Hon. Donzella James
former Senator
Georgia State Senate
Amb. For Peace

For further information visit: www.reverendsunmyungmoon.org

SOURCE Universal Peace Federation

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