The Words of the German Family
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The Words of the German Family |
When I saw the video of our world president, Hyung Jin Moon speaking to Taiwanese members I felt blown away by his message. For years I feel I've been battling through a spiritual fog looking for a way to spread the Good News -- the Messiah has returned. I feel we have tried, with limited success, to open up avenues to make it easy for people to come to know the returning Lord but sometimes it seems I forgot which hat I was wearing and my message became blurred trying to remember which avenue I was on and which message I was trying to present. Halleluiah! Not any more! The fog has cleared!
So what changed? Our president's message was very clear… go and tell the world the Good News that the Lord has come. Tell the world WHO the Lord is and don't hide your light under a bush! That's what changed! A fundamentalist, like myself, needs to be able to say that black is black and white is white and if I can't do that I feel I am being dishonest with myself so inevitably I found myself in a pea soup. Well… how to get out of the soup?
I shared my feelings with local members and came to the conclusion we need to be very clear if we are to find the power to move a nation. Thus began an effort to say plainly what our message is. Our leaflet (shown) is part of that effort and after presenting it to our local members I was pleased to get a very positive response. We produced 5,000 but they were soon used up as we witnessed on the streets and door-to-door and even simply leafleted houses. I started to feel the urge to spread the leaflet around Wales and so emerged a plan to go door-to-door visiting cities and towns around Wales. Our manpower is not so great so my wife, Catherine, and I decided on a 21 city/town tour delivering leaflets to each place chosen. We decided to head to North Wales, camp out and visit the towns in a given area to deliver our leaflets. A few days before leaving two brothers, Peter and Terry offered to come with us. I was grateful for this because it meant we could cover a wider area more quickly. I mentioned this at the Sunday service then two of our 2nd generation offered to come with us but there was only room for 4 in the car. Catherine and I decided instead to go to west Wales and Peter and Terry could go north with Shane and Elliot our two 2nd. Gen brothers. Suddenly, it was as if the hills caught fire as 4 of our 2nd gen. sisters offered to leaflet a town in South Wales, two of the boys delivered 500 leaflets in a town near Cardiff and Marina, our 83 year old member started leafleting and witnessing door-to-door in Newport.
In her words: "When we set a target to deliver 360 leaflets in 21 towns in Wales, I started to go door to door along the road where I live. Soon, I was quite far down but by then my legs were getting very weak and I thought, if I don't go back home soon, I will be stranded and unable to get back! I thought that maybe my offering should be to visit people living in my close neighborhood, give them a card and talk to them about True Parents. It meant giving less leaflets but I could invest my heart just as much and make my personal offering (without so much walking). So, the young and healthy second generation, Elliot and Shane, came to Newport. They went up and down the hills and delivered nearly 500 leaflets to fulfill the target number and I started visiting people. I want people to receive the picture of True Parents and treat it with reverence and respect. I visited neighbors, friends and family members. Then, I went to the doctor's surgery, the optician's, the charity shop, the Spar, the greengrocer's and other local shops, asking them if they would accept a precious picture and message that I would like to give them. I told them not to throw it away but to read it and to treat it with respect because these were great people with a very precious message. They all said yes! Each person I asked was open and wanted to receive the card I offered them. The lady running the charity shop actually put it on display on the counter. To be honest, I was surprised that these people, whom I have known by sight for nearly 50 years, were so open to this.
Although it was hard to start at first, I feel so honored and proud to be able to make this small offering for True Parents at this time. I remember my father always telling me that the returning Christ would come in more than 1,000 years after Jesus but not more than 2,000. When he spoke about the last days, I remember feeling terrified and thinking how I hoped I was not alive at this time. My father awaited the return of Christ, but he passed away before ever meeting True Parents. At 83 years old, I cannot do much, but I pray that the efforts and heart of all our brothers and sisters all over the world desperately trying to reach out to others can be greatly blessed at this time.
Others caught the spirit and started delivering leaflets in their areas taking responsibility to call on at least 360 homes each. By now we were really buzzing. We ordered another 10,000 leaflets and after printing some extra local information details on the contact space we continued the campaign.
During a visit to the local museum where I looked at the history of Wales I noticed one section on the spread of early Christianity and was amazed to see c500 AD a group of Christian pilgrims had made a similar journey as ours spreading the Christian message round Wales. Of course, they didn't have cars so their journey took a bit longer. But I wondered if already, the spirit was moving as we seemed to be following a similar path.
Here are a couple of testimonies from Shane and Elliot -- two 2nd gens who were inspired with the campaign…
Going to North Wales with my brothers (Peter, Terry and Shane) was an amazing experience. I had many fantastic experiences as this was only my second time of leafleting. Everything went according to schedule due to Pastor Ron's good planning and forethought. We brothers were blessed with really sunny weather, which is very unusual for Wales, which added to the witnessing trip.
Some experiences that I encountered included meeting a spiritual man called Alan, which made me, realize many things about myself and God such as how important it is that the Messiah is on the earth. I also tried to deepen my relationship with God which still needs a lot of work but never the less, it is a start. I found that the trip helped improve skills which are needed to succeed in life such as being able to talk to people and communicate. This will help me as STF next year comes ever closer. To conclude, this trip was a breath of revitalization for the Welsh community and for me, personally.
AWSOME!!!!!!!!! And a great way to hang out with my brothers. Now we all have great memories from beautiful North Wales. We visited many areas but one that sticks in my head, the place where 'Ell' and I went on our first cable car (that scared us BOTH half to death) and experienced the most beautiful view that can only be rivaled by the top of Snowdon "in my book" is Llandudno! -- not only is it beautiful but it's also a great shopping area (for all u shopping enthusiasts out there) with 4 star hotels lining the shore, but it also has a pier/fun fair with speed boat rides and if you follow the signs as I may have mentioned before -- CABLE CARS!!!! (you will feel your intestines churning on the way up but enjoy the ride on the way down) and when you reach the top amazingly beautiful view but with all 4 star hotels on the shore line -- put it this way, Mary and Joseph would definitely have found a place at an inn, LOL, But we traded our four 4 star hotel for a 4 star campsite at the foot of Snowdon it may have been beautiful but what stuck in my mind was the temperature at night -- freezing cold at the FOOT of Mt. Snowdon let alone at the peak. Still, Terry went for an early morning jog around the camp while Pete and I preferred a 15 min drive with the heaters on leaving 'Ell' still asleep in the tent surprisingly, it should have been the other way around -- I should have still been sleeping after having noisy neighbors such as: another tent, owls, sheep and a certain person with a chain saw in his throat, if you know what I mean. Now for the leafleting part: This part of the trip was a really good exercise and a good condition -- a couple of weird experiences though and travel from place to place was a great way to see different land marks in each area we visited but all in all for a good cause.
Well done both!
Last Saturday, 17th April we completed our leafleting tour of Wales -- we covered 22 cities and towns in all and having delivered almost 15,000 leaflets including our local activities reaching at least 20,000 people… if we count 1 or 2 people in each home. And this is just the start!
The response has been modest. One lady in West Wales asked if we could set up a church in her town and told us of an empty church we could rent. Another man, closer to home was so moved he asked us to pass on his best wishes to Rev. and Mrs. Moon. An elderly man from North Wales (92) phoned and praised God that a new revival was beginning and… one lady phoned to ask if we could push the leaflet further into her letter box… and then there are requests for more info. A modest start, yes -- but it is a start! Perhaps the most significant is that we members are feeling a revival spirit within ourselves. In twenty years in Wales there has hardly been one person out spreading the message and yet, within a few weeks all our regular members have told more than 20,000 people through our leaflet. If that isn't the start of a revival then I don't know what is!