Jamaica: Mother Moon’s First Visit

By UPF-Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
August 4, 2006

We were happily surprised to find Jamaica on the list of Mother’s 180 World Peace tour.  It would be the first time that Mother Moon would come to our land.

Whether Father and Mother Moon go to a big or small country, the preparations to receive them with success are still the same. Everything has to be in place. Since our  numbers are small we had to exert ourselves with much more zeal and dedication. 

Thanks to our Heavenly Father, there is a certain level of unity among our families, but it was hard to bring the minds of the many nationalities involved into oneness.

In a preliminary meeting, nothing much could be decided because of so many different opinions on every level. When we secured a venue, more certainty came into play. Then the date for Mother’s coming was changed from August 14 to August 3.

We drew up a beautiful invitation letter and formed an invitation committee consisting of our most prominent Ambassadors for Peace. Sir Howard Cooke, our recently retired Governor General, became the patron of this committee. A flyer featured a beautiful color photo of True Mother.

We prepared invitation letters for senators, members of parliament, the speaker of the House, ministers of government, members of the opposition party, ambassadors, consuls, newspaper editors, personnel at radio stations, principals of high schools, heads of major religious bodies, and our personal contacts over the years. Most of these letters were hand delivered, with the assistance of some of our Ambassadors for Peace. We turned out letters by the hundreds, and one woman sat at the computer all day long. When it became difficult, she told herself it was worth it if one more person learned about Mother’s visit.

Tons of other preparations had to be done. In the end, everything came together and somehow worked out. It was a battle against the odds all the way. A week before Mother was due, the company which we had contacted do the stage, light and sound, suddenly decided not to do it because someone else put the money on their table first. The “Reggae Sun Splash” was being held the same week, and we were told that every company’s stages, screens and projectors were contracted for this International event. But God did not abandon us, and we were able to secure all the needed items and had a most significant event.

True Mother, Sun Jin Nim, In Sup Nim and Jeong Jin Nim arrived in Kingston, Jamaica mid-morning, flying in from the Dominican Republic. They were welcomed by Rev. Park, Rev. Oshika, Rev. Michael Irwin, Rev. Salmon, Rev. McGarrell from Guyana, and Rev. Remy Taupier from St. Lucia. Many Ambassadors for Peace brought nice cars to pick up True Mother’s entourage.

 August 1 was the celebration of “Emancipation [from slavery] Day” and August 6, “Independence Day.” True Mother’s program was scheduled between these two celebrations of independence and freedom for the nation and its people.

We set up the hall with 450 chairs in theatre style. As the program proceeded, scores of people just kept flowing in and the hotel staff continually added more chairs.

True Mother entered to an enthusiastic standing ovation and communicated her message with the same consistent level of heart and excellence that she shows day after day. In her prayer of blessing for marriage, True Mother said that a crowd of 700 had gathered in Jamaica. Everyone stayed to the conclusion, listening attentively and appreciatively. Following the main event, there was a standing buffet meal. True Father had a clear view of the entire event over the Internet and was very pleased .

In 1995, True Parents’ daughter In Jin Nim and her husband Jin Sung Nim had come to Jamaica when the True Family was making a tour of Latin American and Caribbean nations. This time Mother “discovered” Jamaica. While riding from the airport Mother attentively looked around and seemed to notice so many things, which she spoke of the following morning.

In Sup Nim, who collected lots of information about Jamaica on the Internet, spoke highly about the famous spicy “jerk chicken,” and Mother asked if they could have some of it for dinner along with other typical dishes, voting out the Japanese food that had been planned for the menu.

There is definitely some affinity here for music lovers. Sun Jin Nim and her husband In Sup Nim obtained the music and lyrics of Bob Marley's song "One Love" the evening before and spent hours during the night practicing it. They surprised us all when they sang it during the victory celebration and earned lots of applause and calls for encores.

On the way to the airport, In Sup Nim predicted that True Mother would definitely return to Jamaica.

We appreciate the loving support of everyone who helped us during this historic period.