After lunch, all of the individuals launched themselves and agreed to set up a committee consisting of two representatives of each religion, so as to pick a chairman and talk about further steps towards inter-religious harmony. Two properly- recognized professors, Professor Kirti Bunchua from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and Dr. Saeng Chandrngarm from Chaing Mai University, who had been very energetic in earlier efforts to generate inter-religious dialogue in Thailand, have been keen on working with us. So as to realize profitable dialogue this time, we agreed to begin with solely a small group of involved people who we felt may turn into leaders of an interfaith movement. I felt that this conference was attainable solely on the foundation of Father’s victory within the spirit world, inflicting the breakdown of the obstacles that exist between the religions. On the bottom of Father’s worldwide foundation, I contacted numerous students who had attended a few of our movement’s worldwide conferences and had expressed their concern for religious harmony. Father’s imaginative and prescient for the Youth Seminar on the World’s Religions touched the hearts of everybody deeply. In March we issued the first “Interfaith Newsletter” so as to keep all members informed about the present actions of the Forum, as well as to broaden their data about the varied religions.
Our monthly committee meetings have helped create a detailed heartistic bond among the many committee members. Cooperating with present teams and establishments helped the IFF acquire wider recognition. We additionally helped the Dharma Center of the identical college discover knowledgeable audio system for a seminar on “Mass Communication for Morality,” by which professors from all the schools in the nation participated. Ursula McLackland is seated center. The highlight of the second Interfaith Pilgrimage was a visit to Wat Thammamongkol, a huge Hinayana Buddhist temple. We visited a Chinese temple (Mahayana Buddhist), which is very totally different from a standard Thai temple (Hinayana Buddhist). A guided tour of a Mahayana Buddhist temple in Bangkok throughout the first Interfaith Pilgrimage. Eighty-five people gathered for the pilgrimage. We have now accomplished the constitution of the IFF because the platform for our work, and 200 individuals have already signed up for membership. The response was overwhelmingly optimistic, and lots of stuffed out IFF membership types. Since then we have held seven interfaith committee meetings, because of which we founded the Interfaith Forum (IFF), with Professor Kirti as its chairman. I originally planned this challenge just for dwelling members arid affiliate members of our church and for folks in my husband’s residence church area, but when I mentioned the thought to Professor Kirti, he was so excited that he not solely agreed to guide the pilgrimage but he additionally invited students, teachers, lecturers, and members of many different religious circles to the occasion.
Professor Kirti Bunchua stands third from left. During the primary two committee conferences, we launched movies on the Religious Youth Service (RYS) and the Assembly of the World’s Religions (AWR), which left an incredible impression on the viewers. We arranged for audio system of varied faiths to talk about “Youth and Religion.” The members of the Religious Club have been grateful for our help and impressed by our members’ dedication. We are planning a larger theological convention and a social service undertaking for young volunteers of all faiths to be held later this year. He even announced the venture on his radio program! A lot of the participants had by no means even set foot in a Christian church before. When Dr. Lek Thaveetermsakul, president of the Unification Church in Thailand, explained about the Unification movement, he was asked who the Unificationists believe Rev. Moon is. The Thai people, who are 95 percent Buddhist, generally have a adverse impression of Christianity. Once I found one or two key individuals who were actually dedicated to the purpose of religious unity, our work started to progress in a short time.
I have found interfaith work to be very effective for our home church work. The pilgrimage was concluded at the headquarters of the Unification Church in Thailand. On December 19, 1987, we organized the primary Interfaith Pilgrimage. We held our first Interfaith Conference on July 4, 1987. Although we originally planned for less than 10 or 15 people, to my shock 30 people attended the convention. Our first neighborhood activity was in aiding the Religious Club of Chulalongkorn University, the most prestigious college in Thailand, with a special exhibition about religious unity. The necessity for religious harmony was so clear to every participant that everybody tried very onerous not to affront any other person. Our goal is to extend membership to 1,000 by the end of this year. Holding further workshops on-site would enhance worldwide awareness of IJAS and proceed to represent Asian voices in English-language scholarship. If the people have the opportunity to learn about the range and wonder of all of the religions, their hearts can steadily open to obtain the unifying understanding of the Principle. All of the earlier efforts toward Buddhist-Christian understanding had sadly ended in failure, abandoning resentment, suspicion, and frustration.