Chambumo Gyeong - 390. assembly in Moscow
Russia hosts media representatives From April 9 to 13, 1990, True Parents hosted an assembly in Moscow, as they had proclaimed they would, on the heels of the Washington Monument Rally. Forty-one current and former heads of state and more than 600 guests, including media officials, politicians and scholars from 60 nations, gathered at the International Trade Center in Moscow to attend the combined 11th World Media Conference, 3rd Conference of the Summit Council for World Peace and 9lh Conference of the Association for the Unity of Latin America (AULA). 6 What the citizens of the Soviet Union need most is God. Since atheism has destroyed their value as individual persons, now they must understand God. This is the unfolding of God's plan. Since I know that the heart of God yearns for these citizens to be informed, I have treated them with a heart greater than my heart for my father, mother, brothers and sisters.
This situation is akin to that of a prodigal son who ran away and then returned home after 73 years. I fulfilled the role of the parent who welcomed the prodigal son, clothed him, placed a ring on his finger and fed him. (202-049, 1990/05/01) 7 I proclaimed that we would hold a rally in Moscow, and therefore I have been preparing to visit there. This is why, before visiting the Soviet Union, I launched the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, the World Media Association, Minority Alliance International and the Summit Council for World Peace. When visiting Moscow, I will lead a delegation of 50 former heads of state and prime ministers. It means that if I extend my hand, the General Secretary of the Communist Party will not be able to refuse my handshake. Entering the country accompanied by several thousand of our European frontline church members, we will be able to hold a rally in Moscow. I am preparing for this event. (114-149, 1981/10/18) 8 Following Gorbachevs announcement of glasnost and perestroika, the conferences held in April 1990 by the World Media Association and the Summit Council for World Peace were the first events that outsiders held in Moscow. Representatives from the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the KGB, Novosti Press Agency and others attended the event.
A senior aide to Gorbachev told me that he was aware that I had worked tremendously hard over the past 40 years despite great persecution. He said that he could return to the Soviet Union, translate the Divine Principle into simple language and distribute 30 million copies to young people through the Communist Party. If he did that, he said he could gather more young people than the Unification Church had witnessed to in the past 40 years. (201-180, 1990/04/01) 9 I did not go to the Soviet Union to praise it or to glorify the policies of glasnost and perestroika. I declared, "The Soviet Union will perish unless it knows about God." God and the entire spirit world were closely observing what was going on. What would become of me if I praised the Soviet Union? I had to say, "Listen to me! Serve Heaven!" That was the only way the spirit world could say, "Okay!" (201-231, 1990/04/22) 10 According to the Novosti Press Agency, the conference in Moscow was ten times more successful than they initially predicted. We set a record unprecedented in Soviet history. Furthermore, members of the Soviet KGB, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Novosti Press Agency, as well as the heads of various agencies expressed their amazement over this event. They wondered, how did they accomplish this? They thought the Communist Party was the best, but this was a wake-up call for them. From this perspective, they recognized that I am a person who deserves great respect. Officials of the Novosti Press Agency invited me as a VIP, gave me gifts and expressed how grateful they were. Thus, I held the Soviet Union in my hands. We could see the fruit born of the indemnity conditions we had established. (201-245, 1990/04/28) 11 I met the members of the Communist Party and melted their hearts. The whole world recognizes this. The democratic world also needs to be saved by my hands. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union must be saved as well. In order to succeed in this daring venture, we have to save these people, who are in the position of prodigal children, with the heart of a parent. It is the same with Kim Il-sung. In 1987, Gorbachev and Kim II-sung planned to assassinate me. They were my enemy among enemies. Even while that attempt on my life was still under investigation, I visited Moscow and North Korea in broad daylight. In the United States, the FBI and CIA were shocked and beseeched me not to go. However, as a religious leader, I have a responsibility. I had to go and turn the key that would lead to the salvation of their people. (248-311, 1993/10/03) 12 Following the victorious conference held in Moscow from April 9 to 13, 1990, we hosted rallies to welcome True Parents all over the nation of Korea. The Moscow meeting may have been a victory, but what is its relevance to the Korean people? The victory of the Moscow assembly is neither my victory as an individual nor a victory for the Unification Church. This assembly brought victory to Korea, victory to Asia, and victory to the world. However great a global victory it may be, it did not begin at the global level and then trickle down. It began at the individual level and rose up to the global level. Although the history that has unfolded since then may be considered tremendously great, this history began on the individual level.
What kind of person am I, the person who initiated the Moscow events? God leads the providence, and His Will is to unite the free world, the democratic world, into one. God's Will is for North and South Korea to become one. God's Will is for religions, which are filled with schisms, to become one. |