Much of what is happening here in Seattle has come through the inspiration of one very remarkable sister Mrs. Myung Yop Keating. From September 1 she felt very strongly she had to unite with True Parents direction for a 120 day witnessing condition. She felt it was her last chance to become a true child of God. On her own she began a 120 day midnight prayer condition. Even before we heard about the Japanese sisters coming here, she had already taken the initiative to plan for the Blessing 2000 campaign, all of course with Rev. Kang's encouragement and support. From mid September we began gathering at the church for prayer every night. It was at that time that Rev. Kang appointed Mrs. Keating as the witnessing leader for Blessing 2000. For many nights now I have listened to her prayer. It is unlike anything I have ever heard before. She has truly been touched by God. Many times in the course of the day I feel God's presence when I am around her.

From that time we began to formulate a very direct approach to witnessing for the matching. We prepared fliers that begin "Are you single and thinking of marriage?" We made Matching Applications but we called them "Personal Profiles". All of these we cleared with the HSA Legal Office. (These are still being refined). We targeted young singles. Our approach was to say that the Family Federation was offering "Matching Services". We didn't invite them to an evening program, we invited them to a "Matching Orientation". There we prepared a display with pictures of the many other couples in our community who had been introduced through the Family Federation and had gone on to raise beautiful families. Some of them were present as "Matching Advisors" to assist the guests in completing their Personal Profile. The talk that is given is about 20 minutes and deals with the ideal of true love, marriage and family, the reality of the present situation and leads into matching as a much better alternative. Consequently we already had a plan in motion when the Japanese sisters arrived.

I should point out that ours are a very special group of Japanese sisters. They're the ones from the Dominican Republic who, if you recall, introduced the president to True Mother! Sad to say, many of them went through a great deal of suffering just getting into this country, some of them interrogated for hours by US Customs. Amazingly they all made it. In retrospect some substantial indemnity condition was laid there, I feel. We really wanted to welcome them warmly so we decided that they would live with a home stay family. This has not been a burden in any way. On the contrary it is nothing but a blessing to have these wonderful sisters stay with us. Those families now report a very high spirit in their homes. Some of the other families who hesitated to accept some Japanese sisters are now, I sense, somewhat envious of those who did. I can honestly say I feel no barriers between us - Koreans, Japanese and Americans. We truly feel like brothers and sisters. Last night one sister, who had to return to Japan, was overcome by emotion. She wept profusely as she embraced in turn her Korean and American sisters.

Based on this unity God is working strongly. Some of the sisters have reported powerful spiritual experiences. One sister approached a young man near the university. He was striding along confidently carrying a backpack. He was instantly taken with the idea of matching. As he knelt to complete the application, she was shocked to see Jesus crouching behind him.

On the 7th day of the Japanese sisters going out there was a big jump from 7 or 8 applications a day to 25. On the 12th day Mrs. Keating had a dream that she bought a brand new white van for $41,000 without telling her husband. When she nervously confessed to him, he said 'You can't take it back now, you've got to keep it'. She felt that the white van represented God's Providence, that there's no turning back now, the only way is to go with it. She also knew that that day the Japanese sisters would again make a big jump and get 41 applications. Sure enough when we counted up that evening there were exactly 41! For this reason she feels that God is guiding everything.

The sisters go out two by two each day. They approach people directly about our Matching Services. Most of the applications are filled out right there on the spot. As of today we have 370 applications. Our brother Howard Frisk has developed a web site matchingservice.org and has received electronic applications from as far away as Australia. At this point I feel there is no time to teach them the Divine Principle. We are going to have a colossal task on our hands very shortly processing all these applications and taking care of all these people.

I think we all know that this is happening not because of any particular external method on our part, but because of a strong spirit of unity. We feel very close to each other and very committed to fulfilling True Parents' direction. It is God and True Parents and the high spirit world that are doing all of this, not us.

The city of Seattle is the most unchurched city in the country. People here are quite sophisticated. They like the environment and Bill Gates. For this reason we have really tried to change our image. Our building, which used to be a Baptist church, we now call the "Family Center of Seattle". We are seriously thinking of removing the pews and the pulpit, and generally making a more friendly and less churchy atmosphere. Most of us, after all, did not join a church per se. We joined a movement, a family.

Sincerely,
ITPN
David Malloch,
Seattle Vice Regional Director

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