Poverty Bay, New Zealand - UPF-New Zealand held a book launch of the Founder’s autobiography on August 26 at the home marae (Maori community centre) in Poverty Bay, East Coast, of an active Ambassador for Peace, Tiopira Rauna. Mr. Rauna took the initiative to organize the special Maori ceremony at the historic Rongopai Marae. The marae is famous as one of the centers of a Maori indigenous religion, Ringatu (the upraised hand), founded in the 1860s by Te Kooti Rikirangi Te Turuki.
Oceania Regional Director, Dr. Dong Woo Kim and Mrs. Kim along with Rev. Geoffrey Prentice (Secretary General of UPF-New Zealand) and Mrs. Mitsuko Nakao flew from Auckland for the special spirit-filled ritual, which was held to mobilize the ancestors of East Coast Maori to join in the peacemaking work of Father Sun Myung Moon and UPF.
Sir Peter Tapsell, honorary president of UPF-New Zealand and former Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, spoke about the value of Father Moon’s life story as affirming success through faith despite overwhelming obstacles, the importance of the family as the cornerstone of society, and the quest for peace as a noble ideal that everyone, including Maori, should aspire to.
Sir Peter was interviewed for the 6:00 Maori News, Te Karere, which is broadcast nationwide in our officially bilingual country.