A “Network of Hearts”

By
Atsushi Iwasaki, GNRC Secretary General

When Rev. Takeyasu Miyamoto, founder and president of the Arigatou Foundation, first began describing his conviction that it is the inherent duty of all people of faith to care for and protect children, those of us nearby felt in our hearts the truth and rightness of his transformative idea. After many years of working strenuously to build a better environment for the world’s children through the Arigatou Foundation, Rev. Miyamoto had both the humility to acknowledge that his efforts alone would never be sufficient and the courage to call people of all religious backgrounds to join together in the common cause of ensuring that every child gets to grow up healthy, safe and sound. He then entrusted Rev. Keishi Miyamoto, representative of the Arigatou Foundation, with the mission of visiting religious leaders around the world to request their support. With hundreds of religious leaders and grassroots workers from around the world responding to his invitation, the GNRC was inaugurated May 16-18, 2000 in Tokyo, Japan. It was one of the greatest and most humbling privileges of my life to be asked to serve as GNRC Secretary General.

From the beginning, I think everyone involved felt that the spirit of the GNRC had enormous potential, but none of us could have predicted the amazing way in which that spirit would be put into practice. The last 10 years have given rise to the most astonishing diversity of GNRC actions and events, each one made unique and precious by the passion and individuality of the planners and participants. I don’t think it is any exaggeration to say that no two GNRC events -- of the 205 major events we’ve counted -- have been the same. Events have taken place in different regions, languages, religious communities… with different themes and concerns… from small to large… unique methodologies and outcomes… but all have been animated and inspired by that one shared GNRC spirit: the conviction that every child is a gift from the Divine Presence and deserves to be treated that way. This shared conviction has brought us together across all manner of differences in marvelous ways.

As I reflect now on the enormous efforts made over the last 10 years by the GNRC coordinators and countless other volunteers and friends, I am filled with gratitude and inspiration. I have seen for myself that the GNRC is not just a network of organizations and individuals, but truly a network of hearts linked seamlessly together by a shared passion and a common dream to be a blessing to the precious children of our world. As I look back at how the GNRC spirit has worked in our “network of hearts” over the past decade, I can scarcely imagine the wonderful things we will see in the next 10 years. It is my heartfelt prayer that our compassion will grow and that we will make significant changes to build a better environment for children as we pledged to the world’s children 10 years ago.

To everyone who has been a part of this journey so far, thank you very much for allowing me the joy of being a part of your GNRC.