My son Risun, who attended the ceremony in Washington, DC, had the following experience. He said to the ancestors during the ceremony, "Do not be afraid. God only wants to love you." He felt that he should say that. My son is 16 and was standing in for his father, Reinhard, who went to spirit world 13 years ago. I am very grateful for this opportunity to liberate our ancestors.

I consider myself to be very intuitive; God works through my intuition, my gut feeling; I do not have so many experiences where I see spirits. I went to San Francisco in faith and tried to unite and put my whole heart into the experience. However, we came back to Albuquerque and a few days later I got a letter from V. L. Ennis, someone I did not know. She wrote: "Recently, I have been doing research on my ancestors. I found your name on the Internet. My maiden name is X and all my ancestors came from Genoa, Italy."

I had talked to my dad before the ceremony. He never would talk much about his family, but this time he told me that his grandparents, Luigi and Maria X, came from Genoa Italy as did all his ancestors. I felt like my ancestors who had been liberated were witnessing to other ancestors and had reached down to this person who wrote that I had never known. This small experience sent a chill down my spine and affirmed the reality of the ceremony for me.

I had forgotten to include my brother who went to spirit world when he was 17 years old on the list of ancestors. Right when Joy came over to pick up my ancestors' list, my 2-year-old son picked up my brother's photograph from the table and handed it to me. So I felt like my brother wanted to remind me to include him. During the ceremony, Dae Mo-Nim's physical face kept superimposing over the face of Mrs. Kim, her medium. Richard's parents had both died by the time he was 14. He had a dream after the liberation ceremony (he had not dreamed about them for about 5 years) about his mother and father. They were sitting in a room as though listening to a lecture. His mother was no longer wearing glasses, a hearing aid or the braces she wore because of polio when she was alive. She was free.

My father died in 1965 and a rift occurred in my family separating us from his relatives. When I moved back to New Mexico I connected for the first time to my father's brother. He did lots of research back to the 17th century about our family in New Mexico and because of him, I could write down names. When I returned to Albuquerque after New York, I called him and told him about the liberation. He was so eager to hear everything about the ceremony (he is 83) and I will meet him next week to share about it in detail. During the ceremony itself, I felt deep repentance and could not stop crying. Everyday life can be such a struggle sometimes. I felt such tremendous acceptance from Daemo-nim, no judgment. I feel hope to make my daily life more joyful and hopeful now.

I went out of indebtedness, gratitude and obligation to my ancestors. Externally, going to Belvedere with 5,000 members where I had heard Father speak on so many occasions was so meaningful and precious. When we sang Grace of the Holy Garden I sometimes found myself getting lost in the words. I am German and a bit stiff, you know. At first the enthusiasm of the song leaders made me fear that I was getting brainwashed. Then I said to myself, "So what? Unite with this, get into it! Put your heart into this and stop worrying about anything!" I felt such a profound sense of community and family. When Daemo-nim spoke, I felt she really had met my ancestors, I felt freer after the meeting. I felt my ancestors there, thanking me for attending. Now I will support them in prayer as they attend the 100-day workshop.

While Tyler Hendricks prayed I saw a huge gathering in spirit world in a gray place thousands of times bigger than Belvedere. Our ancestors were gathering together for the ceremony. I experienced such an overwhelming sense of unity, of brothers and sisters coming together in love as a community strengthening itself. At the end Daemo-Nim talked about several fundamental points (Husband-Wife unity in unconditional love and obedience, overcoming arrogance and gossip, tithing, attending church, no smoking, drinking, sex, etc.) I felt that finally as a Tribal Messiah I could make a difference in the lives of my ancestors in my tribe.

I experienced my father, who died about 15 years ago, gathering up my ancestors and helping them get lined up and ready for everything. He was very busy and focused. After the ceremony, my family along with several New Mexican members was able to attend the celebration dinner with Daemo-nim. Belvedere is a very special and precious place to me, and to sit in the dining room of the Main House, where I have experienced so much, with Daemo-nim and my beloved elders and brothers and sisters, was deeply moving. Two of our members are widows whose blessed husbands died, one exactly one year ago. I felt their husbands were present at that time. Finally, I have felt that the terrible racism in the history of New Mexico is something I must help resolve. Many of our NM members who attended the liberation ceremony have roots that go back nearly 400 years. I felt that the liberation ceremony was an answer to my prayer; only such a unique and special ceremony can help resolve the historical resentments and violence that have occurred among the Indian, Spanish and Anglo people who have peopled this state and who are our ancestors.

When we left Belvedere late at night after having dinner with Daemo-nim, I saw what looked like lights flickering in one of the tent pavilions where no lights had been set up. I watched as the lights moved and seemed to follow us. Finally the lights disappeared. I felt like they might have been my ancestors, although today some members told me these were probably angels.

We especially went because our 9-year-old Jonathan has down's syndrome. He enthusiastically clapped and seemed to try to catch something in the air. I do not know what he was seeing. Daemo-nim explained to us afterwards that we needed to take him to Chung-Pyung for a much longer period of time. My mother's side of my lineage was always very close to me, but my father's side, his parents were very distant and cold. I could never feel anything from them. Then I thought I have to do 100 days prayer condition now. They cannot change unless I take responsibility on the earth for them. Now I am beginning to feel closer to them and can go deeper in prayer. I had expected some spiritual experience, but I feel my everyday life and feeling towards seven generations on my Father's side is the real point, to overcome the coldness through prayer.

My most powerful experience was during the prayer. Something far beyond my realm took over my body, and I began to cry intensely with my jaw getting tight. That was my sign that my ancestors had arrived. Next day my body felt tingly as I flew home in the airplane. I thought of Daemo-nim's words that our ancestors are even in our bone marrow, in our blood.

My aunt in Holland did our entire genealogy because the Catholic Church kept all the records. She traced our family back to the time of Christopher Columbus (1492). At first I did not feel like going; then I felt I just had to go. I did not know so much about Daemo-nim, but I felt something so very positive coming from her. The whole experience reaffirmed my position in God's family.

After the ceremony in Oakland, we were driving back to the house where we were staying and got a flat tire. It just so happened that the gas station we pulled into to get our car fixed was owned by Koreans. We felt a flurry of spiritual activity; the owner's wife showered our kids with gifts and they gave us food. When Janis went out on the street nearby people started coming up to her and talking to her, and she could witness to them.

My wife felt so much love from Dae Mo Nim, and from True Parents through Dae Mo Nim. Especially when Dae Mo Nim told us she looked for each one of our ancestors, not leaving out even one, my wife cried because of the love she felt from her. When Dae Mo Nim told us our ancestors would come to our right side, Yoko felt they were there. My wife felt that they understood our suffering and repented together with us. They are now ready to work together with us.

During unison prayer, I saw a couple dressed in peasants clothing standing to my right. They were poor, hard-working people. The woman wore a babushka (scarf) around her head. My ancestors came from Poland and Western Russia. I felt these were Jewish ancestors from my Father's lineage. They were persecuted by the Catholic Church and forced to live in their own separate part of town, called ghettos. The night we returned home I had a very clear dream in which I saw a list of names. One of the names was highlighted. I understood this was one of my ancestors. Then I heard a very clear voice say, "I want to go to jail instead of Father." I knew that my ancestor understood True Parent's suffering.

All of the members of our family have said that their spirit has been lighter since the ceremony. It id hard to explain in fords but our feeling is different. More free in speaking to God in prayer than before. My wife says it's easier to pray, as if a barrier has been removed from talking to God in prayer. My daughter has always had a skin problem (related to the problem many Japanese people have called atopy), that has cleared up since Chicago. When I asked our 7-year-old daughter if she had any experience from Dae Mo Nim's workshop, she said, "I feel nicer inside!"

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