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V. Tiahrt: Address to Interreligious Leadership Conference 2017
Written by Vicki Tiahrt, Co-Founder, American Prayer Initiative, USA
Friday, November 10, 2017
Address to Interreligious Leadership Conference 2017
Seoul, Korea, November 10 to 14, 2017
Greetings from America. Thank you for having this important conference in a very strategic country, a country so important that the president of the United States has just been here. The Korean situation is so volatile that the whole world is watching. The timing of the conference is providential. I am honored to be here.
Tonight I come to this opening program of the Interreligious Leadership Conference to represent women of faith in America, so I represent daughters, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and a smaller group—wives of members of the United States Congress along with my dear Samia Burton, from Indiana. Samia’s husband is here tonight, Rep. Dan Burton, and another congressman, Rep. John Doolittle, is here. These men served in the U.S. Congress with my husband, Rep. Todd Tiahrt, who is back in the States and sends his greetings.
Tonight, we are women who have traveled many miles, because we care about peace. We care about our families and the world they live in. We, women, know things are not the way they should be; our world is broken, and too often so are our families and our homes. We, women, have been tried, tested and rocked by the evil in our world, in our lands and even in our own country—at concerts, bike paths and even churches.
But we, women, know that our faith is a firm foundation. Holy Scripture and even history prove that evil will not endure. Evil will be overcome by prayer, by perseverance and by doing good.
Jesus overcame the world. He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus taught us to pray, to love and to forgive, to bring good news to the poor, bind up the broken, and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. How timely in Korea are those ancient words. He told us to speak to mountains and they would be removed. Jesus said that even a grain of faith like a mustard seed could work miracles. Here, tonight in Korea, we have that seed of faith.
So at this conference, women of the world believe and unite. We say with faith in God and one voice: evil will not prevail. We unite for victory and we will pray, work and live for peace.
To go to the Interreligious Leadership Conference Schedule 2017, click here.