A READERS’ MEETING HELD IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
STUDY OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL PEACE BY FAITH MOVEMENT
In Australia, a Seicho-No-Ie Readers Meeting (English) was held at the Vibe North Sydney Hotel in Sydney on July 19. The number of attendees was 10, including 4 newcomers—7 Japanese, 2 Chinese and 1 Australian.
This was the second Readers’ Meeting since propagation activities in Australia through the dispatch of an Ordained Minister/Assistant Minister resumed in January of this year. The objective of the Meeting included (1) spreading the fundamentals and joy of faith, and (2) activation of Readers’ Meetings and (3) development of leaders. Rev. Akiko Minamoto (Assistant Minister, Asia, Europe and Oceania Section, International Department) was dispatched from the International Headquarters as a lecturer.
The themes of Rev. Minamoto’s three lectures were “Sundial Way of Life,” “Man Is a Child of God and Eternally Invincible,” and “Spread Joy to Family, Society and the World.” In her closing lecture, she gave advice on the kind of activities that can be conducted by a small group, based on her own propagation experiences in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. She also showed PC images of Readers’ Meetings held in Europe and other parts of the world and stressed the significance and objective of the International Peace by Faith Movement.
In Australia, from several years ago, followers would gather on their own and have a Reading Circle, with no lecturers present to guide. This time, Rev. Minamoto contacted the leaders there beforehand and discussed the content of the Meeting through E-mail, taking the current circumstances there in consideration and prepared the hand-out material and so forth and provided guidance.
A first-time Australian male attendee commented, “I attended at my wife’s suggestion. I was able to understand the Seicho-No-Ie teaching and philosophy. I would like to continue to study this truth from now on.” A Chinese female attendee commented, “This is a very interesting teaching. I would like to study more not only at Readers’ Meetings but also through the Seicho-No-Ie Website.”
Rev. Minamoto remarked, “I tried to communicate in English with newcomers—a couple who did not understand Japanese—and convey the teachings. They were happy about it. I felt confident that mutual understanding, trust and harmony in the family will be the key to Seicho-No-Ie’s taking root for expansion in Australia.”