Posts Tagged ‘Seattle’

Core Ambassadors for Peace in Seattle Develop

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Seattle, WA – The lovely TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Club offered spectacular views of Mount Si and the Cascade Mountains on April 16, 2015. Core members of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Washington (WA) State started their meeting with item one on the agenda, a review of the Ambassadors For Peace Association Washington State (AFPAWS) activities in 2014.

Attendees at the meeting included  Mr. Ray McCready (AFP, Secretary General, AFP Washington State), Mrs. Toshiko McCash (AFP, AFPAWS Outreach Coordinator), Mrs. Yuko Faris (AFP, Assistant to AFPAWS Outreach Coordinator), Mrs. Annerose Lowe (AFP, WA State Parent’s Day Promoter, former Assistant to AFPAWS Outreach Coordinator), Mrs. Emma Herron (AFP, VP of Filipino Nurses & Health Care Prof. Assoc., Board Member for JAKCARES Foundation), Mr. Bert Caoili (AFP, Past District Governor, Lions Club District 19 B-5, Past-President, Seattle Bituin Lions Club).

Mrs. Emma Herron and Mr. Bert Caoili were both asking for someone to explain the structure or organizational chart for the AFPAWS organization, as both attendees want to be more involved, but want to better understand the process that goes into deciding what events are held and which projects are supported.

“The Ambassadors For Peace organization came inspired by the ideas of Dr. Moon, came into existence  in 1999 and was folded into the UPF in 2005.” Mr. McCready  went on to explain some of the history and reasons why the WA State AFP was set up under the American Family Coalition (AFC) of WA State.

He then continued  by explaining  the internal motivation behind all of the organizations, namely, to restore Godly values in society and reinvigorate God-centered family values  as the cornerstones of our nation.

The attendees then discussed the planned Parent’s Day event in Olympia;  the group agreed that future events should be coordinated with other community celebrations.

Attendees also discussed topics that Mr. Ricardo de Sena, President, UPF USA, had mentioned before.  Topics included the sending of UPF AFP local  members as representatives of UPF USA Districts to national or international events, such as the 3rd UPF World Summit on “Peace, Security and Human Development,” to be convened on August 27 – 31, 2015 in Seoul, Korea. 

Attendees also discussed setting up a system of subscriptions  to fund the UPF and AFP projects.

Mrs. Herron shared a worthy project she discovered. It is called the Genesis Project, which works to help rescue young women, who have been caught up in the sex trafficking industry in south King County.

Finally, attendees discussed setting up a board of directors to guide the strategy and define the goals of AFPAWS, in such a way as to harness the local AFP energy and vision and to bring substantial results. Mr. McCready will begin an effort into establishing such a Board of Directors.

AFPAWS hopes that this project can  spur other positive projects through which it can make substantial the vision and principles of the Universal Peace Federation.

Momentum Builds With Ambassadors for Peace Meetings in Seattle

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Seattle, WA – Thirty something persons gathered at the Windermere house for the May 2014 meeting of Ambassadors for Peace in Seattle. In addition to many regulars, some seasoned members who had been away (Phillipines and elsewhere) visiting family and doing outreach work.

The Reverend Theodis Gamet, guest of Mr. and Mrs. Araki, offered the invocation and grace. Attendees followed with partaking of an excellent meal, prepared by the loving hands of Ambassador for Peace (AFP) volunteers. As usual, the main dish was their northwest favorite, salmon.

After brief self-introductions by all attendees, the emcee introduced our speaker for the night, Dr. David Burgess. Dr. Burgess, who chaired the Seattle UPF and Ambassador for Peace work for eight years through 2010, including coordinating Service For Peace activities locally, spoke on the topic of Peace-making. He reported that though he had received the topic two weeks prior, it was only on his way home from work that day that he felt God gave him an answer that helped bring his topic into focus.

He began with a rhetorical question: “How does one approach effective peace-making?” His answer: “there are three elements that need to be included.” Dr. Burgess went on to cite and give examples of those three elements.  The elements include:  “be targeted”, “be strategic” and finally “be disruptive”.

Dr. Burgess gave examples from the history of the Montgomery (Alabama) Bus Boycott, which began centering on the locally, well-known Ms. Rosa Parks and featuring the involvement of the Reverend Martin Luther King, then a young church pastor only recently installed at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The bus boycott was targeted in that it had a clear and reachable target, it was strategic in that it was based in the morality of fairness for all, and it occurred in a community that would unite behind it, and disruptive in that it did not allow many to remain complacent, but forced most to take a side and demonstrate their beliefs through their actions.

Following Dr. Burgess’s remarks, the Reverend Larry Krishnek, the current UPF Northwest District Chairman, gave remarks on the relationship of that which Dr. Burgess talked about to the Universal Peace Federation’s ongoing work and projects.

WA pic 2Following Rev. Krishnek’s remarks, five persons were awarded a certificate of appointment as an Ambassador for Peace, including Ms. Emma Heron, Vice President of the Jakcares foundation, Mr. Dennis Yamasaki, Theodis Gamet, Parshu Acharya, and Mrs. MaryAnn Wigton, who has served as secretary and bookkeeper of  Ambassadors for Peace Association Washington State (AFPAWS) for 13 years.

Following the giving of the certificates to the Ambassador for Peace awardees, Mrs. Wigton remained standing and was honored for her 13 years of volunteer work for the AFPAWS.

During the Announcements section, Mr. Tito Medina spoke and requested volunteers to support the “Veteran Resource Fair” on the 21st of June, 2014.  After announcements, the attendees went out to the lakeside stairs and took a group photo.

WA pic

 

–Contributed by Ray McCready