Hak Ja Han
November 22, 2018
Keynote address at the 2018 Africa Summit Opening Ceremony
Cape Town, South Africa International Convention Center
Beloved guests from home and abroad, in particular, the high-level dignitaries from thirtytwo nations, ladies and gentlemen:
Today, I have thought deeply on how we can achieve true peace. Just in this nation and on this continent, many righteous people have worked for a world of freedom and peace. In particular, at this time when a hundred years have passed since the birth of the great Nelson Mandela, we are all thinking about how to realize his endeavors.
Today, the problems are occurring throughout the world. Large nations and small nations wish for peace. However, the walls of race, religion, ideology and culture -- these numerous walls and borders -- continue to increase. Do you think that we as human beings can find the answers and conclusion to this? We must clearly know who the owner of this universe is, God our Creator! He is our Heavenly Parent. The Creator had a dream. Thus, he created all things in the universe and then created Adam and Eve who could become the first ancestors of humankind.
He gave them the responsibility to go through the growth period. Responsibility… Adam and Eve should have matured from within the position of absolutely unity with God. However, they were unable to do so and created the world of people today with their many problems.
The Creator is an omniscient and omnipotent being. From start to finish God is the same. He is a being that absolutely cannot fail. The problem is that in accordance with the principles of creation, he gave people responsibilities. Therefore, Heaven had no choice but to lead the difficult and tough history of the providence of restoration through indemnity. How difficult must it have been? It took indemnity through a long four thousand years for Jesus Christ, whom God could call "My son" to be born. God's only son… God's had created a man and a woman. Then, the person who gave birth to God's only son and the surrounding people should have helped Jesus meet God's only daughter. However, they did not fulfill that responsibility.
Jesus came after four thousand years to be the True Parent of humankind. Yet the people who sent the Messiah Jesus Christ to the cross believe they will receive salvation through the blood of the cross. How wrong is this? We have seen through history the indemnity paid by the people who sent the True Father to the cross. When Jesus died, he said he would come again. He said he would return and hold the marriage supper of the Lamb. He was saying he would become the parent of humankind. In that case, Heaven had to prepare a nation for the birth of God's only daughter who had gone unfound during Jesus' time.
Thus, in 1943 in Korea, God's only daughter, True Mother, was born as the mother of the universe and humankind who can liberate all the people of today. I am sure everyone here today has a family. No matter how great a man is, he cannot have a child without a woman. This means that the birth of life begins with the woman. However, the history of civilization and of Christianity until today has progressed oriented around males. When we look at our present state, which has progressed, oriented around males, something is lacking; it is not balanced. Only through the True Family does humankind have a future. Thus, in 1960, True Parents manifested through the Holy Wedding. For humankind, this was an event full of hope. However, Christians did not know about this incredible miraculous event. Through the manifestation of the True Parents, many African countries gained liberation from colonial regimes. After Jesus went the way of the cross, Christianity began with the resurrection by the Holy Spirit through the work of the Apostles. In the beginning, they went through severe persecution.
Christian society's shortcomings
Christianity became active after official recognition in Rome in 313 ad. It spread from Italy throughout Europe until it arrived in England. Then, centered on England and the surrounding nations Christianity spread to the world.
Even these people did not know Jesus' essence. How could they carry the teachings of Jesus to "Love your neighbor as yourself" yet due to differences in skin color and differences in race begin the slave trade? They were selfish and thought only of the benefit of their own countries as they took everything away from the colonies. In the end, instead of becoming a civilization that spread Christianity, they became a civilization that plundered. Through this Europe may have flourished externally, however, internally, mentally and spiritually they became perverse. Thus, around WWII, communism began to dominate and spread throughout the world.
Even without an environmental foundation, because we are the True Parents, we had no choice but to save the world through America, which represented the democratic world. Therefore, in 1975, we went to America and educated the people saying, "America is sick and I have come as the doctor. The families in America are on fire and I have come as the firefighter."
Heaven had blessed America so it could create a foundation for the original returning Messiah. This was for the sake of the world. However, America had forgotten its responsibilities. The destruction of the family, corruption of youth through a degenerate culture, drug problems… Communism was just around the corner, yet no leader could protect America. At this time, as the True Parents, we established the Washington Times as a conservative paper. Consequently, all the nations in danger communist regimes taking them over received protection through the Washington Times. One example of this is Nicaragua.
The world was gradually heading toward a state of unpredictable instability. However, Christianity was asleep. In this situation, starting from the bottom, through blood, sweat and tears, we sent many young missionaries throughout the world. Many missionaries are here on this continent, too. Especially, here at an event hosted by UPF, is Kathy Rigney who is responsible for this continent. She came to Africa as a missionary in 1975. Since then she has been working hard for this continent.
We call people who know True Parents' ideology "shikgu" [family members]. They emulate True Parents and ceaselessly put into practice the true love of living for others' sake and are Heavenly Parent's children. There have been other great people on this continent too, in particular, Nelson Mandela! I know how much he wished for freedom and how much he loved peace. The problem is that throughout the world, people have pursued world peace through human strength and efforts, yet the conclusion is still far away. Humankind must know the cause. The owner of this universe is the Creator, God. Separated from God, the Heavenly Parent, there is no answer.
Therefore, Heavenly Parent had no choice but to wait for the birth of True Parents, as victorious humans, during the long six-thousand-year providence. This is because fallen humankind cannot go directly into God's presence. The family tree is different. Thus, through receiving the blessing from True Parents, you must be in the position of having fulfilled your responsibilities, in order to become Heavenly Parent's true children. When we look at the seven billion people of the world, I have worked hard to create an environment in various spheres so people can quickly learn about Heaven's providence. Amongst those, the core is the blessing. We have dreamed of one human family centered on God. Yet we did not know the way to make this happen.
There are over two hundred nations in the world. Small nations and large nations both have put the interests of their own nation first. The UN, established seventy years ago, has made effort to fulfill that role; however, we are unable to become one. We are unable to unite as one voice.
The course ahead
What must we do? The answer is simple. We must transcend race; we must transcend religion and we must know that God, our Creator, the Heavenly Parent is our parent and that the ones who will help us to stand in our Heavenly Parent's presence are the True Parents. This is why the Family Federation finds the blessing important. Nations who have been enemies have united with one heart through the children of these nations and through the blessing. The true family movement is the only shortcut to a world of peace and in particular the basic unit for realizing the kingdom of heaven on earth. The only way to becoming a child that Heavenly Parent can embrace is through the receiving the blessing. Through this blessing and through the true family movement, you yourself will become tribal messiahs and can liberate your ancestors.
Therefore, today your ancestors who wish to go the path of the blessing through you have filled this hall to the brim. Today's gathering is not a common one, ladies and gentlemen. I pray that you bear in mind that this is a miraculous day in history, in which we realize Heavenly Parent's dream and humankind's wish. There can be no completion through ignorance. You must learn. Clinging to the past cannot bring a hopeful future. What will you do? Will you create an Africa that is the light and the lamp in front of the world as a nation and a continent that has received the blessing and has been reborn through True Parents? In the Bible is a passage stating, the "first will be last, and the last first." Know that you who have received the blessing are in this position. I pray that you become people who understand the truths of history and the providence properly and go forward together with God's only daughter, True Mother.