Heavenly Top Gun Kick-off Workshop – February 19~22, 2024
By Bogdan Mammer
Admittedly, I haven’t seen any of the Top Gun movies. It is not that I never had the chance. It is not that I don’t like action movies. I enjoy the occasional action flick, and sometimes Yoshiko agrees to watch one with me. It just hasn’t clicked yet between the Top Gun movies and me.
This lack of movie experience made me somewhat unprepared, and I joined the Heavenly Top Gun workshop from Feb 19 to 22. Four hundred fifty brothers and sisters aged 18 to 25 attended. Some recently finished their undergraduate degree in theology at Sun Moon University; others came as freshly blessed couples.
Tomorrow, 128 of them leave for their 1–2-year missions in North America, Africa, and Europe (unfortunately, no Middle East this time). By joining the program, about 280 youth and young adults from Latin America concluded their 21-day pilgrimage.
The focus: Spirit, Truth, and Stories
At the core of the experience was a resurgence of faith. The workshop was short. It featured three elements.
Spirit: Daily night prayers from 10 pm to 1 am: Stepping into the presence of God and resonating with Heaven’s Heart.
Truth: Lectures on what God wants us to tell the world today. God is our Heavenly Parent. Mother God was hidden from history. The lives and journeys of Jesus, True Father and True Mother. Now is the golden time to get it right—as pure flowing water born through True Parents.
Stories: The life journeys and testimonies of those who went on their missions in 1975 and elder second-generation missionaries. Listen to Mrs. Theresia Kittle’s Testimony here:
The Background of ‘Top Gun’ in our Movement
There is a persistent misunderstanding that True Parents named the first international missionaries in 1975 ‘Top Gun’. On August 20, 1985, True Father was released from Danbury Prison. The first Top Gun movie, however, only came out in 1986. Around that time, True Father gathered well-educated brothers and sisters, saying he wanted to send them to the ‘jungle.’ The ‘jungle’ they ended up in was Washington, DC.
(Read Dr Bo-hi Pak’s account of the first Top Gun here.)
And yes, True Father loved the Top Gun movie. In 2022, Tom Cruise returned as Pete Mitchel.
‘Top Gun’ has an elitist touch that I dislike. However, there is much to learn from the historic Top Gun program. It trained fighter pilots during the Vietnam War and is an excellent example of deliberate practice, ‘a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic.’ Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool discuss it in their best-selling book Peak as an example.
‘Top Mission’: Heart and Relationships
In 2013, True Mother re-started training for younger leaders and later youth under ‘Top Gun,’ ‘Global Top Gun,’ and ‘Global Top Gun Youth.’ The excellence she emphasizes is primarily one of relationship and heart. At the 2013 workshop, True Mother (Sep 23, 2013) said:
“I also like Joshua and Caleb. They were both descendants of noble families. They were loyal to Heaven for over eighty years. Caleb, from his perspective, lacked nothing. Yet, he united with Joshua. Instead of bragging about himself, he elevated Joshua first. This restored the Cain–Abel relationship and formed the foundation that enabled the Messiah to come to earth amidst the Israelites.
I have been thinking a lot about our leaders recently, and I feel that a culture by which leaders can love and brag about each other hasn’t been established. We must be able to love and care for each other more than any other external groups because we are True Parents’ children. We must be completely different. However, we are weak in this respect. I pondered on the cause.
I want to create new environments through you from now on. Do not seek only to get higher positions, but try to live for each other’s sake, nurture each other, and be proud of each other. If you can do that, everyone can grow. On the other hand, no development awaits an individual or a group that is self- or group-centered and thinks of itself as being well-off and the best. You must understand this.”
(read the full speech here)
The 2024 workshop concluded today (Feb 22, 2024) with a meeting with True Mother. At the end of her talk, she said the young people present shouldn’t just leave for their respective countries yet. They should spend the afternoon playing yute (a traditional Korean game), strengthening their bonds of heart. They go out not only for Heavenly and True Parents but also for each other and all second-generation members worldwide.
Participants, in their own words
Gregor, Germany
My name is Gregor, and I am a brother from Germany. It’s my first time in Korea. My lovely spouse and I came to attend the Special Missionary Blessing and the Top Gun seminar. My wife is from Venezuela, and after True Mother called out for people to take over an overseas mission, we felt appointed by God for this mission in the home country of my wife, Isabel.
The Blessing was wonderful, and we really felt True Mother’s heart. It was a rare opportunity to be so close to her cause only 70 couples were attending the blessing.
To receive proper guidance, we participated in the Heavenly Top Gun Workshop with all those starting a mission in an overseas country. This is incredibly refreshing and inspiring cause we have the chance to meet all kinds of unique and exciting people in a similar situation as we are with the desire to fulfill Heavenly Parents’ dream worldwide.
My wife and I are really happy and grateful to have this unique opportunity, and we want to take the love and blessing to the people of our mission country.
Daniel and Heayun, Switzerland
“First, we are profoundly grateful to our True Parents for the transformative journey we experienced during the 21-Day HJ Heavenly South America Youth Pilgrimage in Cheon Pyong.
It was the first time in Cheon Pyong for both of us, so we were very excited. Immersed in historically significant sites of our movement, alongside fellow groups like UPA and Top Gun, a full schedule with Changyang every day, the Great Works, and fervent prayers at the Cheon Shim Won during Vigil Prayer, we were able to experience so much, and more from the Place our True Parents build for us.
But before the Seminar, we dedicated a 40-day prayer condition and Fundraising to channel God’s heart to connect with True Mother.
Throughout the seminar, we focused on Cheonshim Won to enrich our spiritual connection and deepen our commitment to aligning our hearts with True Mother, forging a deeper connection with her and our faith.
We received so much and can’t express our gratitude enough to the Staff, the different Lectures, the Leaders who shared their wisdom with us, and our Heavenly and True Parents.
We return home inspired, rejuvenated, and eternally grateful.