Korea: Day 1
“Today, the reason why we long for our hometown is because that is the place where our parents, who are closer to us than anyone else, our brothers and sisters, and our closest relatives are living, always guiding us, welcoming us warmly and giving joy to us.”
- Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Is this a feeling that you’ve experienced before? Yearning for home without even realizing it? Well, I think this is natural because whether old or young, we all are a child in the end, desiring to simply rest in the bosom of our parents whom we can meet in our homeland.
So you may ask, even though, as participants, we wouldn’t be going home until next month, why are we talking about the homeland?
It is because we received this blessing and opportunity to visit our homeland of Korea for the next two weeks! This country gave birth to this movement of striving to create one family under God: Join us to explore all the exciting things we’ll be doing here!
Rising bright and early at 4:00 am on May 2nd, GPA and HUSA members headed towards LAX to board a double-decker plane that headed towards Incheon, Korea. After spending 13 hours up in the sky we arrived!
For many, it was their first time stepping foot in this new country. Still, this sensation of being in the original homeland brought peace and a sense of security in their hearts, especially when we arrived in CheonPyeong.
CheonPyeong Spiritual Training Center is meant to be for people all across the globe to gather to “cleanse of the dirt of the world and arouse the original heart in us.” It’s also where True Parents have been setting spiritual conditions for this foundation to be laid.
The first building was constructed in 1971, within just eight days! If you visit, the land is filled with various attractions and buildings such as the Cheon Shim Won (prayer hall), cafeteria hall with a capacity for hundreds of people, international building, and even a department store, convenience store, and clothing store!
But one of the most beautiful and awe-worthy aspects of this center is the beautiful creation of God that surrounds it: the never-ending green hills and huge CheonPyeong lake that flows through it, as well as the flowers and trees with various significances.
Fun fact! From a dream that Daemo Nim had, the Kingdom of Heaven was covered in azalea flowers, so this whole place is decorated with pink and purple hues, creating breathtaking scenery.
In the morning, we received orientation and life guidance from CheonPyeong lecturer Rev. KookGyeong Lim. Although the word “Hyojeong” is used constantly in this movement, he explained the very clear meaning: the impulsive emotion to love our parents, true love. From the meaning of the different trees around CheonPyeong to the significance of the CheonBo workshop (for us to be born anew as Cheon Il Guk citizens), he went through it all!
Afterward, we received Cheon Bo Providence and Chanyang lectures from Dr. In Sung Moon, the Center's Director of the Education department. He used concepts such as optical illusion and the amazing resonance experiment to illustrate the connection between frequency, energy, and resonance to Chanyang. For those who have never attended one of these sessions, its meaning is to “praise God,” and it’s a religious activity where you hit your body to release evil spirits that reside within.
I wish you all were in the lecture hall sitting with us because the way the two lecturers engaged all of us made us sit on the edge of our seats, the room filled with constant laughter and claps. You can tell that they spend a lot of time with youth and are passionate about what they teach.
After having traditional Korean food at the cafeteria for lunch, our youth counselor of GPA, Aunt Nadya Kamiyama, gave a lecture on
“Teaching the value of god’s lineage.” She expressed to us the heart of hope that we can have, that everybody can receive salvation in their lives, and also the importance of lineage because without it, there can be no love or life.
Following this lecture, we received a testimony for the importance of the blessing from Marcus VonEuw, a new staff member for the Cheon Il Guk missionary program. Being part of the movement since the 1980s, he revived the Marriage Blessing in 1989 in Korea directly from True Parents. His story was awe inspiring, displaying through example that God guides no matter what and we have to simply trust in His hands behind all works.
After dinner, we all gathered at the lecture hall to do Chanyang. With rows of people lined up in white shirts and black sweats, we sang along to the holy song “Grace of the Holy Garden,” all desperate to release the evil spirits within our bodies by creating frequency through clapping.
We ended the day with a team meeting with our new training groups, separated into those joining either the captaining, Cheon Il Guk missionary, Heavenly USA, or the transition group.
This is only the beginning of our journey here in the homeland of Korea. Still, the rest of our stay here will continue to be showered with exciting events, hope-filled activities, and inspiring trips to dig deeper into our roots, so stay tuned for more!
Rie Horii
Korea Blogger, Generation Peace Academy
