Chairman Man Hee Lee and Archbishop Antonio Lesdema

Finding a good friend in our lives is difficult. But, whenever one makes a true friend, their friendship lasts forever. On the road of achieving peace, Chairman Man Hee Lee also created great friendship with those who have like-minded as him. One notable friendship is the one with Archbishop Antonio Lesdema.

They met when Chairman Man Hee Lee visited Philippines for the peace movement. Although I do not know the complete story how they met, I am still fascinated by the action of the Archbishop to meet the Chairman. And together, they were able to start the first step to achieve a miracle in Mindanao. It is true, when light meet light, there is victory. We need more like-minded people, who are willing to devote their lives for peace. This is not only for their generation, but also for the future generation. We cannot procrastinate our efforts to achieve peace and leave it to our next generation. It must be our generation, who are capable of communication than any other generations in the past, to achieve world peace. And people like Chairman Man Hee Lee and Archbishop Antonio Lesema are already influencing their community and also the world.

Their friendship was rejoined when the Archbishop visited South Korea to participate in the WARP Summit. I think I saw his interview about the WARP Summit, and his reactions were positive. WARP Summit created a network of peace advocates, who are willing to dedicate themselves to achieve peace. Something more fascinating is that all these people came from a difference background. This ranges from social status, religion, ethnicity, and occupation. They all came to South Korea for one purpose: to achieve world peace.

The friendship of the Chairman and the Archbishop is also amazing. It shows how the support for peace is able to transcend all other differences. The two leaders definitely come from a different background, but their love peace is what brought them to join in a continuous friendship. A friendship under peace. 

HWPL 2nd Anniversary for Peace by TV5 News

What happened in Mindanao still astonishes me, because the movement towards peace did not just end with a simple agreement. The two different communities now work together to create a community, where harmony exists. Both sides returned their weapons along with the statue of peace. I hope that more statues of peace would be built throughout the world to open a new chapter of our history: an era of peace.

Another step taken in Mindanao towards Peace

Last year, the conflict in an island that took away the lives of many people was resolved by Mr. Man Hee Lee's effort to bring the two leaders together. The leaders of each community agreed to stop the war and signed an agreement to start peace in the island. Recently, there has been another movement in Mindanao, which the Moro Islamic Liberation Front returned the weapons as a gesture of peace. This is the fruit of the peace agreement that started last year.

"The decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front is a big step towards achieving the desired lasting peace in Mindanao."

We hope that the peace process would continue to last and increase to serve as a role-model to the world. This is an amazing and inspiring action by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which shows their promise to create peace in Mindanao. This is a step towards a world of peace.

The Miracle in Mindanao

As Mr. Man Hee Lee, the chairman of HWPL, spreads his message of peace, the people of the global community are starting to respond to his message in their own ways. Although they may not be able to travel around the world like Mr. Lee to spread the message of peace, they are changing the community that they live.

It is hard for one small stream to change a lake, however, if a lake, which holds the source to the water, it is able to change all the streams and rivers that it supports with water. As the world is starting to recognize the need for peace, especially after the WARP Summit, people are taking charge in changing their communities.

For the case of people in Mindanao, after the agreement between the two religious communities, the people in this community hosted peace walk and also built the peace monument. We hope to see more communities in the world following the example of the community in Mindanao.

News Links
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2015/03/21/1436015/korean-peace-group-erect-peace-monument-maguindanao

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2015/05/26/maguindanao-unveils-peace-monument-courtesy-of-korean-peace-advocates/

http://www.maguindanao.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=354:peace-monument-unveiled-in-maguindanao&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=78

2015 Peace Walk (2nd Anniversary of Peace Walk)

Second Anniversary of Peace Walk

Over 200,000 young adults around the world joined in the annual walk for peace. This peace walk started two years, in hopes to raise more awareness in the world regarding its peace. In every war, youths were sacrificed as soldiers, even thought they received no benefit from the war that they sacrificed their lives for. Under the leadership of Chairman Man Hee Lee, the youths gathered to express their support for peace. They did not only gather for a cause that would benefit their future, but also for the welfare of the future generation. Year after year, the youths gathered in Seoul and also around the world to participate in the peace walk. Every year, their numbers grew. This obviously shows that everyone hopes for peace.

On the other hand, Chairman Lee visited Mindanao at the same day. Mindanao was a special island for the Chairman. The 40 years conflict between two religions was resolved after the visit of the Chairman last year. He showed the leaders of both religions that conflict and war is not the answer and it does not benefit anyone. This successful resolution of the Chairman brought the attention of the world on the practical method of the Chairman, in regards to peace.