Greetings by Rev. Miki Abe
Marriage is not only two people coming together, but it is where two families come together; two tribes come together; and in the case of international marriages, two countries come together.
The True Parents have conducted numerous international blessing and wedding ceremonies while promoting the thought of “realizing a peaceful and ideal world through building ideal families.” The reason: because the realization of a peaceful world begins with the family—the backbone of society.
These “cross-cultural marriage blessings” look to overcome the wall between nations, races, ethnicities, religions, and denominations, etc, so all people can become one. If cross-cultural marriage blessings span several generations, I am sure the division and hostility between nations, ethnicities, and races will surely cease, and all of humanity would be able to become one and build a peaceful world.
Families composed of people of different nationalities, religions, cultures, and races will become “multi-cultured families.” Even if two people sharing the same nationality took part in a blessing marriage, their ancestors may have had hostile relations, or may have come from different countries in the past. Therefore, in essence, all marriages can be considered as “cross-cultural marriage blessings.”
However, it is never an easy thing for men and women, having been raised in different environments, to build families and live in harmony. Mutual understanding and respect, as well as living for the other, require a lot of effort.
On this occasion, the International Family Department has set up this home page for sharing information together with and between the international families, as well as, posting speeches and providential messages given by True Parents. I hope happiness to all families, and that this site can help all of us towards realizing “one human family under God.”
Rev. Miki Abe
Director
Family Education Division
Greetings by Rev. Satoshi Iida
Greetings!
Hello International Families,
True Parents have been promoting the international marriage blessing to realize one human family under Heavenly Parent. As a result, many international families, who have transcended national borders and cultures, were born. More than 2,000 foreigners have come to Japan from over 100 countries.
How to share information with all of those who came from abroad has been a big issue for us. I am sure whoever has tried to master a foreign language has experienced the difficulties of understanding information in that language. Needless to say, there is a big gap between one’s native language and the foreign one. Some of you have attained the level of daily conversation in Japanese. However, in order to understand information accurately, especially God’s words and church terminology, a considerable amount of Japanese is required. Therefore, many of you may not understand the information shared by local churches and you may find it hard to grasp the whole picture, even though your spouse may explain things to you. Under this situation, I think you have made effort to supplement your understanding of God’s Will by obtaining information from outside sources, including your native countries. However, information originating from Japan has remained poorly understood, which has been an inconvenience to foreigners, who are living and promoting God’s Will in Japan.
Recently, True Mother proclaimed the Heavenly Parent’s Holy Community and new 7-year course. On the occasion of launching this new era, we have made a portal site for international families living in Japan to share information and overcome the problem of language so we can unite in heart. This site is called International Blessed Family Japan, and it is intended for English speakers, but information will also be posted in Japanese for the convenience of your spouses. With constant feedback, it is my hope that we can provide necessary information, as well as, desired content from international families, so that the site may gradually develop.
Rev. Satoshi Iida
Director of the International Family Department