Korea Pilgrimage: GPA Connects with True Mother
Photos courtesy of GPA
“This experience taught us why she is called Mother Moon and truly a mother to everyone she meets,” shared a GPA participant. “Whenever I want to give a gift to my mother, she always returns more to me than I can give her. In the same way, we wanted to give joy to Mother Moon and express our gratitude to her, yet she ended up giving us so much through her words, smile, and laughter.”
Generation Peace Academy (GPA) participants deeply connected with True Mother at a recent intimate meeting at Cheongpyeong during their pilgrimage in Korea. The exchange was an opportunity for young Unificationists to share gifts with True Mother and detail all they had accomplished during the GPA program this past year.
“She asked about what we had done in the year and how we had grown,” shared a participant. “The environment was so bright and loving.”
True Mother applauded all of their hard work and effort before sharing words of guidance and encouragement with the group. She then treated them to a nice lunch at Heaven G Burger.
While in Korea, GPA took part in the various festivities led by True Mother — including the grand opening of the Cheon Won Gung and 2023 Hyojeong Cosmic Blessing Festival — and ventured to special destinations on their pilgrimage despite some rainy weather.
“[With] the gloomy color in the sky, it was the perfect chance to go back to True Mother’s words: ‘I have grown to accept rain at such times with gratitude, as a gift,’” said a participant. “[Our] gift was being able to set off for ... our pilgrimage.”
The group first visited the Paju Wonjeon, the burial grounds of the True Family, 36 Blessed Couples, and members who offered great devotion to True Parents. “Everyone was deeply invested in connecting to the hearts of the True Family and felt overwhelming gratitude for the sacrifices they had to pay,” shared a participant, as they laid flowers on each memorial.
“I had a very beautiful and emotional experience [at the] True Family graves,” said Maja, a first-year GPA participant. “Going there and greeting True Family members, I felt so connected to each of them.”
“I’m no longer a stranger but a part of their family,” she continued. “I felt like visiting my own grandparents and cousins. [In] the end, I determined [for] myself to not take my life for granted and [to] live my life for them.”
Participants also headed to the Demilitarized Zone — a buffer between North and South Korea created during a mutual Armistice Agreement in 1953 where both nations agreed not to occupy the area militarily.
“Seeing the land across from us that once used to be united with the South, it brought us to think of the families that were divided apart, never to see each other again until one day the country would be brought together once again,” shared a participant.
In Seoul, the group visited the War Memorial of Korea. The museum displays the history of the Korean War and how the 38th parallel separation of North and South Korea took place.
“We were all in awe of getting to have even just a small taste of the foundation that this country stands upon and what True Parents had to go through during their lifetime,” shared a participant, as the group observed an array of intricate sculptures, artifacts, and life-sized remodeled cannons and tanks.
“[We are] filled with so much new perspective on what [our] movement is built [upon],” said a participant. “This has been a really beautiful experience.”
You can learn more about GPA’s pilgrimage in Korea here.