In advance of the 40th anniversary of the Mission Center in Colombia, which will be held in March, 60 people participated in the 2nd Pep Rally for Followers on November 19 last year. Toward this seasonable time, the mission center is mainly focusing on nurturing future successors of the path through organizing sleepover programs for children, establishing a karate dojo, re-forming its fife and drum band, and teaching gagaku (Japanese court music) in addition to continuing to offer its longstanding Japanese language classes. After the mission center invited not only Yoboku but also any follower interested in the path, the participants included many young people in their teens and twenties. This pep rally, as with the first one held last July, was designed to nurture the 170 Yoboku in Colombia.
The theme of the pep rally was “Know the Origin and Start from the Origin.” The participants watched a movie called “Daily Lives in Colombia” in Spanish. After that, they had discussion sessions in groups. Then, they exchanged their opinions about the future mission in Colombia and reflected upon the day of origin of the path in Colombia. Rev. Naotaro Shimizu, head of the mission center, told the participants: “We should build on the foundation that our predecessors laid over the past 40 years. We should devote ourselves to nurturing human resources and enhancing the readiness of our mission in order to take one further step forward through learning the teachings.”