On October 25, the Overseas Department Seminar—intended for church head ministers and mission station heads as well as their spouses and others from overseas—was held at the Tenri University Furusato Assembly Hall, drawing a total of 77 participants from 18 countries and regions in the world.
This seminar has been held on a yearly basis around the time for the Autumn Grand Service when many followers from overseas return to Jiba. This year, Honbu-jun’in Tomozo Hirano gave a lecture entitled: “Truth of Origin: Offering Salvation through Teaching the Origin.” He began his lecture by sharing his youthful experiences of becoming less and less confident in his faith as he studied the teachings more and more. He then said that the teaching of the Truth of Origin suddenly settled in his mind as he was explaining the Divine Model of Oyasama in the Foundress’ Sanctuary to a person he had brought back to Jiba. He went on to say: “If you only study the teachings without feeling Oyasama’s parental heart, you won’t be able to understand the essential parts of the teachings. I would like you to learn the teachings aiming to build a strong connection with the everliving Oyasama.”
He then emphasized the significance of carrying out salvation work in the pre-anniversary season and concluded his lecture by saying, “Let us work together to make progress towards the 130th Anniversary of Oyasama.”