Hundreds of people chanting "Keep the Peace, Stop the Violence" marched through downtown Halifax on Sunday to protest a recent series of violent deaths in the city.
The demonstration attracted a wide cross-section of the community and several police officials and politicians, including Mayor Mike Savage, police Chief Jean-Michel Blais and Nova Scotia Justice Minister Diana Whalen.
The event followed Saturday's discovery of the body of 20-year-old Daverico Downey in the nearby community of North Preston.
There were three shooting deaths in the Halifax area over the span of seven days. Downey's death was the third violent fatality within the last week in the Halifax area.
"A reason why a lot of these crimes continue to happen is we have a no snitch policy and everyone being silent -- we've got to do our part and start to speak out and stand up. We want to make a statement that we are not going to stand for this violence that is happening in our city."
- Organizer Quentrel Provo -
Their message was to Stop the Violence and spread the love. Demonstrators hope Sunday’s rally will bring change.
To me the outcome of violence is unfortunate and terrible. I really want to live in a peaceful world. To do that, I think we have to participate in peaceful movement.
An international journalist forum of began in Seoul, for a seven-day run to discuss issues relating to how journalism can contribute to peace, and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
Nearly 80 journalists from 60 countries are attending the Journalist Forum for World Peace (JFWP), including those from major news outlets in Canada, France, Sweden, Russia, China, Japan.
"Although our genders, skin colors and ideologies may differ, we have one thing in common. We are professional journalists who discover the truth with cool heads but warm hearts, and we strive to promote freedom and peace."
- Jung Kyu-sung, JAK president -
The Journalism Association of Korea (JAK) is hosting the annual event under the theme "Denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and the Role of Journalism for World Peace."
After the division of South and North Korea in 1945, people thought it would not last long, but it has been 70 years since then.
Our ancestors the fought and bled for independence.
However the Korean Peninsula is the only divided country in the world.
I am an South Korean citizen and I live in South Korea now.
I don't want to write "South" before "Korean" when I write my Nationality.
This is a very, very sad circumstance for this country.
I don't want the Korean Peninsula to be another war by power.
The two Koreas have to overcome the current state of division and proceed with the goal of peaceful reunification.
I wish many people in Korea pay attention to peaceful reunification and cessation war.
Let's combine our effortsfor world peace and peace of the Korean Peninsula.
Let's pledge to establish the international law for peace
▲ click here to read explanatory book
The HWPL International Law Peace Committee, consisting of 20 highly respected international law experts, has publicly presented the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War in the Coex Auditorium, Seoul, South Korea on March 14.
'The Proclamation Ceremony of the Declaration on the Cessation of War and Achievement of World Peace' was witnessed by more that 1,000 senior government officials, legal experts, civic leaders, the academia and other stakeholders from across all continents.
▲ click here to watch full video of the ceremony
The proclamation ceremony will serve not only as a platform to proclaim such a Declaration to the public but also to initiate its development process into an enforceable International Law, bringing forth a world without wars.
Your support for the Declaration (of Peace and Cessation of War) will be the core power to establish the international law for peace in this world.
▲ click here to Sign your Support for Peace and Cessation of War
The difference between war and peace is like a piece of paper. If we all united with one heart and mind wouldn't world peace and cessation of war be possible?
Women, Youth and Interfaith Dialogue a Huge Success at the UN!
HWPL successfully held the “Global Peace Leadership: Women, Youth and Interfaith Dialogue” at the United Nations in New York City which highlighted the effect of war and conflict on women and youth as well as what needs to be done to solve these conflicts.
Princess Maria Amor served as one of the speakers during the meet. She was officially appointed as the Publicity Global Ambassador for HWPL and IWPG.
She said,"I would like to compliment tireless efforts of Chairman Man Hee Lee and Chairperson Nam Hee Kim for advancing global peace. As we know, it is not easy to reform the world but they don’t simply give up. What an amazing duo!"
Currently, many WARP(World Alliance of Religions’ Peace) offices are being established and are actively operating around the world. WARP offices began as a continuation of the signing of the Peace Agreement by the religious leaders at the WARP Summit in September 2014 in South Korea.
Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL and Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim of IWPG invited religious leaders from around the world to the WARP Summit.
Out of all participants, about 1,000 religious leaders attended the Summit and signed the peace agreement. After returning to their home countries, these religious leaders have been making their best efforts to carry out the promise they had made at the summit by establishing and operating WARP Offices in their respective countries with the help of HWPL officers.
HWPL not only hosts interfaith dialogues for religious leaders through the HWPL WARP Office meetings, but also campaigns to enact an international law for the cessation of wars.
Chairman Man Hee Lee, a Korean war veteran, experienced the atrocities of war and witnessed the deaths of his fellow soldiers in the battlefields. Since then, he has been dedicating his entire life to bring world peace. His dedication resulted in HWPL’s unparalleled peace activities that are now regarded as effective solutions to world peace and cessation of wars.
If we can abolish the International law that allows for the declaration of war, then in reality peace can arise. This is an amazing method to achieve world peace! Thinking of a strategy that no other peacemaker has thought of, we support Man Hee Lee, leader of peace.
▲ Click ; Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War
▲ Click ; Sign your Support
Sign Your support for the Declaration (of Peace and Cessation of War) will be the core power to establish the international law for peace in this world.
Religious leaders find common ground in scriptures despite differences. To this monthly gathering, 8 religious members from the Hindu, Jain, and Christian faiths used their religious texts as a background to talk about “Animals.”
This supports the quote made by Mr. Yongmin Shin, U.S. East Coast Director, “In the WARP Office, each religious leader talks about a certain topic, not through their own opinion, but rather through their respective religious text.”
He further added, “Every religion emphasizes peace. Our goal is to emphasize the common ground, not differences, so that we can build a peaceful community.”
God and Jesus is love, light, life, and the word
If we are born of God’s seed (Lk 8:11; 1 Pt 1:23), we become love, light, life, and the word. A lack of love, light, life, and the word is evidence that a person has not been born of God’s seed.
Today the world religions is full of conflict. God and Jesus have given us a new command to love and forgive others. Can’t ecclesiastical authority be purchased with money? Aren’t lies reigning as king? The minds and hearts of the people of Christianity have been made formless and dark by the flood of commentaries and the teachings of men. The world of Christianity has been transformed into the deepest night where truth and the light of God’s word do not exist.
Stop doing the activity that caused the religious conflict!
Should enemies creating more enemies? If we bite and fight each other, we will all be destroyed (Gal 5:15).
All Christians in the world must stand according to the commands of Jesus who loves us. Let us love, forgive, and bless one another.
I think we enter the path of the word, unite, and live in harmony together forever.
In conjunction to the WARP Offices, current and former heads of state, chief justices and politicians are working diligently to create an international legal instrument for peace and the cessation of war that root from religious conflict.
▲ Full Video of The Ceremony of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War
Last week on March 14, HWPL held its Proclamation Ceremony of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War and presented the ten articles of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War with the members of the HWPL International Law Peace Committee, chief justices of the Supreme Court, and ministers of justice from 16 nations in Seoul, South Korea.
Dilshan Aloka Sri Wijegunasekera, a prominent Sri Lankan journalist, has just mounted another level of success in his life as he has been given the appointment as the Publicity Ambassador for HWPL, a Seoul-based international peace organisation in association with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI).
Mr. Wijegunasekera got this new appointment at the peace network dialogue co-hosted by the HWPL and Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI) on 10 April in Colombo, and he was given the certificate by Hannah Roh, a Special Representative of International Women's Peace Group (IWPG).
Being appointed as an HWPL Publicity Ambassador, Mr. Wijegunasekera pledged to cooperate in the peace movements in the local communities.
HWPL is an international peace organisation officially registered in the Seoul Metropolitan City under the regulation of non-profit organisation specified in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and transcends differences in culture, belief and region to engage leaders and youth in sustainable and comprehensive solutions for peace. It has around one-hundred-seventy branches of itself in all around the world.
▲ Full Video of The Ceremony of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War
HWPL peace movements has been actively working for the implementation of the international law and for the interfaith harmony in religions that actually are effective enough to approach the cessation of any kinds of violence.
We exclaim against all wars taking place around the world. I wish many people in the world pay attention to '525hifive'.
I think the outcome of war is unfortunate and terrible. For whom is this war, wherein a child loses his or her parents and parents lose their child?
With the world at war, love of mother was our weapon. If we all united with one heart and mind, peace will come to the world.
Mothers around the world are worried about their children's everything. Let's walk together on May 25 if you want to your children is safe.
I have realized the importance of life as a mother of a child. If we join our forces through the signing for peace and having a peace summit, peace will surely be achieved.
Let us pass on peace to the coming generations.
In May 2013, HWPL declared the Declaration of World Peace and held a peace walk at the same location with over 30,000 youths from 130 countries.
And in May 2014, over 100,000 youths around the world have gathered for the 1st anniversary of the Declaration of World Peace.
There are wars taking place right at this moment. I hope the peace walk spreads farther so the world becomes a peaceful place without war, one day sooner.
Jesus shed his blood on the cross for us, sinners, to forgive our sins and allow us to reunite with God. And it has been about 2,000 years since Jesus bore the cross. But if this is true, there should be no more sin in people. Because sin was forgiven, people should have reunited with God.
However, there has been no reunification and sin has not disappeared. Sin has become worse. There are endless conflicts and wars between nations, peoples, and religions in this generation. From the 6,000 years of God’s history, the world is at its worst and at risk of imminent destruction due to the development of advanced weapons of destruction.
Is this truly a world that has received forgiveness, a world without sin? Both religion and the rest of the world are in the most corrupt era of all time.
At such a time, we are calling out to all mankind to repent. God is trying to end this wicked era. Thus, we can stop God’s hand of discipline only if we repent. The only solution is repentance from humanity.International laws on the cessation of war and achievement of world peace must be enacted, and all religion must repent and become one under God.
God must reign over the world, for this is the only way for us to survive. People in society, politics, and religion must humble themselves and everyone must follow the Word of God. True refuge lies only in the Word and in God.
Since 80% of wars in the world are religiously motivated, interfaith harmony is the necessary factor in the achievement of world peace and in order to unite all religions religious leaders need to compare and contrast each scripture.
[Officially proclaimed at 5.25 Peace Walk at the Peace Gate, the Declaration of World Peace is HWPL’s vision for sustainable peace]
The first message to achieve world peace through uniting religions started at the WARP Summit in South Korea in September 2014.
At present, HWPL is holding approximately 142 WARP Offices in 70 countries every month, promoting true interfaith and peace between the religions.
Moreover, on the 14th of March, HWPL held a Proclamation Ceremony of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War in Seoul, South Korea, attracting attentions from Politicians, Legal experts and media globally.
On March 31st, 2016 HWPL(Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) hosted WARP(the World Alliance of Religions for Peace) Office event at Bronte Hotel.
JanitaHargoven showed confidence in achieving peace through contrasting and comparing religious scripture saying, “We have come to understand that they religions are one and the same through the HWPL WARP Office.”
ParadaKudyakwenzara added that, “We all love peace and I think it is possible to bring religions together by contrasting scripture as we shared with my colleagues.”
He continued in saying that it was his first time to see an organization like HWPL all diverse religions together.
With the recent terrorist attacks remind all of us the urgency of peaceand religious harmony, it is imperative that all religious leaders take part in this work to cease all wars and achieve the ultimate goal of humanity, world peace.
On their 22nd world peace tour, Mr, Man Hee Lee, Chairman of HWPL and Ms. Nam Hee Kim, Chairwoman of IWPG visited Albania to meet international heads of states, religious leaders, media, and youth to speak on the urgency of a united global commitment for HWPL’s two initiatives : an International Convention on the Renunciation and Cessation of War and International Armed Conflicts and an alliance of religions through its WARP Peace Offices.
December 9th, News 24, Albania’s first and top rated 24-hour news channel, invited the two chairpersons to its studio to cover an exclusive and in-depth interview on their peace initiatives.
[Chairman Man Hee Lee Interview] A HWPL have been doing the work of peace with definite solutions that will put an end to all wars around the world and leave a legacy of world peace to our future generations. Having the enactment of the International Convention on the Renunciation and Cessation of War and International Armed Conflicts and networking to build a strong alliance of religions are the two main solutions to bring about peace.
To accomplish such initiatives, HWPL invited and appointed experts in international law as the HWPL International Law Peace Committee at the 1st Annual Commemoration of World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit.
Recently, we presented the revised draft of the Convention in London, UK.
Religious leaders around the world are actively undertaking the interfaith peace dialogue based on scriptures through the WARP Office meetings. While in their pursuit, many religious leaders are deepening their understanding and learning through comparing and contrasting the texts respectively.
80% of on-going wars can be linked to religious conflicts, only when the scriptures are unified can religions be united as one and extinguish these conflicts. Then, we can truly say that we have built an alliance of religions.
[Chairman Nam Hee Kim Interview]
A One of the practical solutions to world peace that Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL presented was to have the enactment of the International Convention on Renunciation and Cessation of War and International Armed Conflicts. For this, all members of IWPG based on regional offices in worldwide are actively collaborating to build peace network with NGOs in pursuit of peace.
Once the Convention is implemented, IWPG members in each state will stand and speak out to urge current heads of state to abide by the provisions of the Convention and actively support and put to practice its provisions for their people and nation.
During the May 25th Peace walk, Chairman Lee proclaimed the Declaration of World Peace in front of 30,000 youths at peace plaza of the Republic of Korea.
[Chairman Man Hee Lee Interview]
A I have been meeting with current and former presidents, chief justices of the Supreme Court, religious leaders and leaders of NGOs to present definite solutions to establish world peace.
Then, I shared this with media to inform people of all nations what we pledged during our meetings. If media and journalists frequently cover such good news, peace will prevail sooner. To all journalists and reporters in the world, I kindly ask you to do your best and carry out your responsibility to report news on peace work frequently and accurately. Let us become the messengers of peace, transcending all nationalities, ethnicities, and religions.
▲ Click to the full Chairman Man Hee Lee Interview
Spring! How beautiful is the Spring! How wonderful is the Spring! How majestic is the Spring! How fantastic is the Spring! How tantalizing is the Spring! How glorious is the Spring! How melodious is the
- Alex Fischer -
Spring Spring Spring is almost here Spring Spring Spring is the time to cheer But when the rain comes everyone won't be glum Spring Spring Spring is almost here
- taylor hurttgam -
Its spring its spring Oh I just can’t wait To find fruits on the vases And flowers on my plate I want to hear the warm sun And feel the robin singing Watch the scent of the flowers And smell the butterflies flying Its spring its spring I’m so full of glee For the people will bloom And the flowers will be happy
- Arvie Calimlim -
Now other's land-Can spring come to the deprived field?
Showering colors on all my body
To the place ,blue heaven and green field sticking(meeting,touching each other) together.
I walking along the parting hair-like paddy field road
as walking in the dreaming.
.....
This soft earth like a fatty breast.
I want to tread on enough even up to painful(or cold) and to sweat.
Like a children to the river
Oh! my spirit,rushing without counting and limit!
Please answerme,what are you searching? where are you heading?,
I am too much scornful!
With smell of greens on all my body.
through the alleies harmonized with blue smile and blue grief.
Walking a day limping. Cheerfulness of Spring seems takes me.
But now- Deprived of field and Spring might be deprived also.
- Sang Wha Lee -
This is my hometown, Yeosu in South Korea.
I feel I'm really home now.
When I'm homesick I wanna to see photo of hometown.
