The Words of the Hernandez Family
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The Words of the Hernandez Family |
Dear Family,
Brothers and Sisters,
Below is a thorough, but very inspirational report from Rev Jenkins about In Jin Nim's recent visit to Ohio. We are working here in Dallas to receive her well -- heartistically and practically -- and know that you are also preparing your hearts. I hope that all of you can make the time to be a vital part of her visit to the Texas District #9 this February 21-22 in Dallas at the Dallas Family Church Center. In Jin Nim's coming to see you! She's coming to hear you! She's coming to meet you face to face.
Saturday evening Feb 21 from approximately 6:30pm, In Jin Nim will begin with a meeting of all our District's high school and college-aged youth from the mid-teens. There a great description by Rev Jenkins below my letter of that youth time in Ohio's visit.
Early Sunday morning we'll have HDH at a local hotel where In Jin Nim and her family are staying the night over.
Later on Sunday morning (10:30 am) we'll have a District Sunday Service with In Jin Nim as our featured speaker at the Dallas Center. After her service we'll have a brief 40 minutes presentation of the best music and arts some of our district youth have to offer - a kind of Best of the Best Show. (Please understand, this is not like skit night performances, but must be a honed and well performed exhibit not more than 5 minutes per person. Please contact Hero/Sylvia Hernandez to submit a YouTube or mp3 file clip of your performance.
Finally we'll break for lunch for about an hour- there are many fast food places within 3-5 minutes drive from the church (McD's, BK, Taco Bell, Sonic, KFC, Whataburger) You can pack a lunch of course, as well.
After lunch, we'll reassemble in the Sanctuary starting from approx 1-1:30 and going to 4:30-5 pm to meet In Jin Nim's and her family. We ask for all our family to respect the fact that some of our brothers and sisters will have come from longer distances than others and need to get back on the road to destinations like Denver (13-14 hours drive from DFW) or Albuquerque (9-10 hours drive). Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and Oklahoma members should greet In Jin Nim before the Texas Family, with the DFW area families being last. True Parents' photographer, Ken Owens, will probably be traveling with In Jin Nim and take your photo with her.
If you know a Dallas Family, call and see if they have room to accommodate you. (Be patient. This being Valentines week, many folks are preoccupied.) Within a 10 minute walk from the church there is a Red Roof Inn: 1550 Empire Central Dr., Dallas, TX - (214) 638-5151. We'll also have sleeping bag space upstairs in the church, but please call Esther Vazquez, our District Secretary (214-859-0663) to let her know how many will require space. (You'll need to bring your own sleeping bag. Also, be prepared for no access to showers in the building.)
Two airports serve our area but please make arrival and departure times sufficient that those who volunteer to pick you up are not missing any of the main portions of the programs. The airport codes are DFW (Dallas-FtWorth Airport) about 20 minutes from the center and DAL (Dallas Love Field) less than 10 minutes from the center. The HQ Center address is always in my email signature.
To properly receive and accommodate In Jin Nim's visit with her family and the National team of Dr and Mrs. Kim, Rev. and Mrs. Jenkins, and other staff, and cover the costs of our meeting halls, transportation, etc, we must raise an adequate fund and share this responsibility across our district. I know that many of you just faithfully gave to support the 90th Birthday celebration of our True Parents and am sincerely grateful to have brothers and sisters such as you. Never the less, I need to ask each family to please help by offering at least $200 per family and $100 per individual. I ask those youth that are employed and earning money to also pitch in by making your offering so that you may own this event as yours, too - not just your parents'. You can bring it with you or mail it to the HQ address in the email signature, with the memo "IJN visit".
Finally, let's keep praying for the protection of and sincerest unity with True Family, represented in America by our FFWPU Chairperson, In Jin Nim.
Looking forward to a new beginning with each and all of you.
Gratefully,
Mark
REV JENKINS' REPORT ON OHIO BELOW
On February 7-8 our national team traveled with In Jin Nim to Ohio - her eleventh district weekend experience of 1st and 2nd generation. One more district to go and In Jin Nim has met every family and every generation in America -- one on one! The Ohio trip was the first district visit after the Coronation for the Authority and Liberation of God, the King of Kings. On the foundation of the immense joy that True Parents expressed over the success the Coronation of God and the Blessing which was organized and offered under In Jin Nim's leadership on January 31st, a completely new and immense wave of spiritual power and fortune is sweeping across America. We could see it in Ohio as teenagers and college students, some younger, some older, and all generations were able to directly meet In Jin Nim. Many shared with such joy and excitement that they never dreamed they would ever be able to have such a "personal moment" with a member of True Family.
On each visit In Jin Nim is meeting families personally and individually, taking pictures with them, taking time with them, but most importantly, showing True Parents' love to all. On Saturday night we gathered at the Ohio Family Church with 180 2nd generation, and one by one, as done in other districts, the young people got on stage and had an experience that they never expected. They were able to greet and share their vision and passion for their lives with In Jin Nim and her family directly.
Some shared that they always heard their parents' testimony about True Parents, and how one personal experience with True Parents would be something the older generation could always refer to as a warm, loving family feeling directly with True Parents. Some of the 2nd generation shared that they were always hoping for this kind of heart-to-heart experience with True Family and now it is actually happening.
One of the young people asked, can I get a hug? Naturally this started a landslide of requests. You could feel that not only is In Jin Nim the chairperson, spiritual leader and pastor for the American movement but she is also guiding America with a mother's heart. Time and time again one of the young people would ask for a hug. They'd come off of the stage and get a big hug from In Jin Nim and they could feel the power of True Parent's love. Some of the brothers asked for a hug from Jin Sung Nim. We could see the excitement. The Ohio experience was all about love -- True Love. From North Carolina, from Tennessee, from Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana and of course Ohio young people came forward in all sizes and ages. (The Hutcherson family took up the whole stage with their eight children, all of whom are home-schooled.) It was an outstanding tribute to the way of the blessed family. You could see so many personalities, but most importantly you could see and feel the calling and identity of the Blessed Children is truly special.
When the young people would share, In Jin Nim would listen and Jin Sung Nim would take notes while some of the staff also helped, so that each person is remembered. On this tour of America In Jin Nim has virtually met every single one of our 2nd generation and blessed families. This has created a very direct personal experience of love from our True Parents with In Jin Nim. This is also creating a family spirit that is the foundation for a revolutionary ministry that is now launching in America. You could see the direct impact of these visits in the last blessing - the young blessed couples were well prepared in heart and felt secure and part of a big loving supportive family. In Jin Nim opened this door.
The Manhattan Center promotional video is shown which immediately inspires all to feel - wow our movement is the best!
There were hundreds of comments and here a just a couple to give you a "feel" for this event -
Yeri Mcclain shared concerning In Jin Nim's sermon and sharing, "It gave me a clear idea of how important it is to set goals even early in life. Also how big you can actually make your future."
Christina Flores said, "It was an extremely inspiring experience. I've never been so close with the True Family before. I've only seen them from far away. It was great to be in such close quarters with In Jin Nim and her family." Erika Hayasaka shared, "My impression was that In Jin Nim was more than I expected. She's a wonderful woman. I think that what she said about the Manhattan Center is awesome! It's bringing a dream into reality. I think we're looking at a bright and different future."
Trimon Lamson shared from the heart saying that In Jin Nim is totally real and gives him hope. He also commented that he really thought her hairstyle was totally beautiful!! (Everyone laughed -- it was totally from the heart -- it was so beautiful. The family atmosphere was filled with warmth and hope.)
We concluded the evening with prayer and with a sense of love and joy, reminding many of the older generation of the experiences we had when we first joined this movement, when Father was always there for us. Before the global providence, before the kings and prime ministers were coming forward, Father invested in our families as his sons and daughters. It's that Foundation of Substance that made the root of our movement so strong. Now that is experience is being given to the second generation.
The joy was the same we experienced when Father spent late night hours sharing stories of the earliest times in Korea. It was the foundation of our movement that is rooted in Jesus' teaching the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, where he gave the Sermon on the Mount, teaching with love and personally spending time with each and every person. Father listened to the testimonies of our members, from the early disciples all the way through to our 1st generation, until the providence became so advanced and Father's position elevated higher and higher until he had to work through other people. At morning Hoon Dok Hwe Father still personally touches us. Still, however, the rapid movement of the providence and physical distance has meant that most members cannot have those experiences any more, as we did when the movement was small. But In Jin Nim is bringing us back to that original root of Fathers care and love for us personally. She is truly a minister of the Lord, and she's bringing that kind of loving ministry to invest God's heart in each and every person.
The morning Hoon Dok Hae was an important experience of receiving guidance and understanding from Jin Sung Nim, as he testified about True Family. Jin Sung Nim has become an important bridge for all of us as blessed families to understand more deeply about True Parents and True Family, as he can testify from his personal life experience about how God is working through all the members of True Family, and how he himself went through a personal course of understanding how to relate more deeply, with the proper attitude and proper heavenly way, in which we allow God to work through True Family by being truly receptive and open, as well as sincere.
Jin Sung Nim's testimonies are extremely helpful for all blessed couples, and particularly the newlyweds, for he describes his early time of marriage with In Jin Nim and how they also had challenges to build a family of true love. It helps us to understand that there are difficulties and challenges we all must go through to build families that are based on the Principle and true love.
Jin Sung Nim shares many humorous testimonies of when he was first engaged and then married to In Jin Nim. Those testimonies are very helpful because they very much help all of us see that the ultimate goal of building a true family is not only for our own joy and happiness, but it's for God and for the benefit of others and for our children. Through working out our relationships in a blessed family, it becomes the base through which God can truly bless the future generations. So often in history marriages were made out of convenience or based on romantic love, and often they end in sorrow and sadness when that romantic love has a tendency to dissolve, as responsibilities and burdens of family life and children increase.
However, when the marriage is a covenant with God, based on love for God, love for each other, and love for children to come, a different enduring quality of love emerges. Through Jin Sung Nim's testimony all of us are being reoriented to realize the greatest value of our blessed families is that we become a temple in which God can express all of the loves that are fundamental to perfecting our character -- parental love, conjugal love, brother/sister love, children's love. Ultimately the goal of our families is to bring joy to God, to be God's image, and ultimately extend that true love to the next generation so that young people thrive and grow in God's image, wrapped in God's love. In Jin Nim and Jin Sung Nim are very honest about their early times -- and what is beautiful is to see their love for each other and how much In Jin Nim has established her family with True Parents love in such a way that it is now an example that we can learn from in this age. In Jin Nim is teaching us that go gain the world we must be the best -- in spiritual life and in all the fields of endeavor. It is time that we shoot high and really be all that God intends for us to be.
We can see that the movement is going through a healing process at this time, for many of the blessed children had to go through a course of growing up under parents who sincerely devoted themselves to God, just as True Parents taught, in such a way that even denied the children for the sake of saving America and the world. Just as men go off to war, leaving their families behind, parents of God's dispensation were fighting a spiritual war to save the family, the nation and the word, breaking down racial barriers and bringing religious harmony.
The victory of the coronation of God and extension of that crown of peace to True Parents and to Hyung Jin Nim has now established that that era has victoriously been established once and forever. The establishment of True Family in so many important roles throughout the world in bringing God's kingdom -- and especially In Jin Nim's chairmanship, being trusted by Father to lead America -- is allowing us to understand the vertical sacrifice of our True Parents and how important it was for the 1st generation to walk that path of sacrifice.
In Jin Nim emphasizes that that path of sacrifice laid the foundation for the kingdom, just as a foundation is needed for a house. We have been laying the foundation for the kingdom and Father has successfully and forever completed the foundation. But the foundation is not the kingdom itself. Actually True Parents are now lifting up True Family and all of 2nd generation to build the kingdom literally, a kingdom of love in which care for the historical providence of God is rooted in spiritual excellence and loving marriages and family care as well as excellence in achievement -- in the arts, culture, academia, sports, business, medicine, in all endeavors in life.
Therefore, the vision is cast and being really deeply received in the hearts and minds of our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations, as we realize all the tears and blood of the martyrs and sacrifice of the ages, and particularly of True Parents and True Family and the 1st generation, was all put on the altar at the time of the coronation, sealed forever, and allowed to go forth now in kingdom-building centering on the 2nd generation. Therefore, the creativity and the incredible genius and gifts of the blessed children that many times in the foundation-building era were suppressed and even cast aside have now become the beautiful central point of our focus. We will maintain our spiritual excellence as we lay the foundation for God's eternal kingdom, but at the same time we will now expand that excellence by bringing substantial true love among all races, substantially building beautiful nations, beautiful peoples, and a beautiful understanding a respect for all religions.
As the families were coming forward to meet In Jin Nim after the Sunday service, my wife and I were so moved because we could see the heart to heart impact on our families. Our 1st generation are now a little grayer and bigger around the waist, but they still have the same hope and aspirations they did when they young adults. Many of those 1st gen struggled so deeply during this last decade of God's dispensation because we all wanted to help the next generation to find their place in kingdom-building. However, to be honest, we were pioneers who didn't really know how to allow our next generation to take things to another level. True Family is changing that. Now, because of the huge response of our younger generation - the hope and aspiration that we will see the Kingdom - not "out there" but in our own families has become real for all generations for the first time.
Now with the emergence of True Family's role, and especially In Jin Nim's leadership in America, I saw with my own eyes many of those beautiful 1st generation weeping at the back of the hall as they saw their sons and daughters awakening with hope and joy that they can become the best in the world, the best in religion, in art, in music, in business, in government and... that our movement can become the best. They can begin to realize their real identity as very special sons and daughters of God. They are feeling proud of God's calling to their parents and now to themselves. Proud because through things like the Manhattan Center promotional video and the real love and care expanding in our movement -- they can see the excellence that no one can deny and all can be proud of. They long to be proud of who we are and be able to share without hesitation to all.
The developments going on with True Family now in terms of excellence in spiritual life and accomplishment of the respect and love for all humanity is very real and tangible hope that we can bring the world to a better place. Thank you Rev. Hyung Jin Moon for opening the door of True Parent's love to all of us. In Jin Nim is now doing the same. Our movement is a place of True Love. The hope is rising in America among our families and especially young adults because we can feel and believe that we are destined to rise to the top of this nation because of God's blessing and now True Family guiding us to become by practicing true love and the principles of heaven.
In Jin Nim's Sunday message was powerful - she is reaching young and old alike.
I came here because True Parent's love you!
When I was young Father taught us that we must love America - to do that he said we must know English and speak it very very well. It’s only in truly understanding everyone that you can love them.
Blessed Children need to be protected and loved. The best asset of our movement is our children. They are not potted self sufficient plants. They are born blessed which means that we have to take care of them. Why not build relationships so that they want to come and be part of our events.
They feel the need to be part of our community and they are to be protected. When I meet your children, they represent the best of what we can be. They care about the elders, the handicapped and the people who are suffering.
If our movement can be more like the sunshine it will bring a new understanding. When they do come and see your wife or your husband -- then they will be inspired and intrigued to learn more about the principle. Just like the way the book the Secret was such a phenomenon? It was because of the title -- the "Secret". It intrigued everyone. Sometimes I feel that taking the more subtle approach is more effective.
The vision my brother had is so great. Everything is prepared for us at this time. I wanted to inspire the young people -- we are not a tired movement. I want to inspire the first and second generation. The first generation sacrificed everything and was literally digging the foundation and creating the basement and foundation for the Kingdom. 2nd Generation - you are not to be laying the foundation -- you are to build the beautiful house that is built on the foundation of the sacrifice and tears of True Parents and the 1st Generation. This is the best way we can say we are grateful to the 1st Generation. Father said we must love America - to do that he said we must know English and speak it very very well. It’s only in truly understanding everyone that you can love them. I was the captain of the field hockey team - and the team gave me the choice to choose my number. I asked Father what number I should choose and he thought about it. Your number should be 43. It is interesting that when this great responsibility came to me to be the Mother of America I was 43 years old.
Blessed Children need to be protected and loved. The best asset of our movement is our children. They are not potted self sufficient plants. They are born sinless which means that we have to take care of them. Why not build relationships so that they want to come and be part of our events.
They feel the need to be part of our community and they want to join us but they must also be nurtured and protected. When I meet your children, they represent the best of what we can be. They care about the elders, the handicapped and the people who are suffering.
If our movement can be more like the sunshine it will bring a new understanding. When they do come and see your wife or your husband -- then they will be inspired and intrigued to learn more about the principle. Just like the way the book the Secret was such a phenomenon? It was because of the title -- the "Secret". It intrigued everyone. Sometimes I feel that taking the more subtle approach is more effective.
As a new chairman of the movement - as someone who wants to rebrand our movement I know that we can really develop. When Father and Mother look at America and say America represents the Elder Son Nation. I realize that God has blessed this country so much and prepared it to do great work for the world. We are going to strive for internal and external excellence. Think of ourselves as one big family and how we might achieve a total victory together.
The joy of True Parents was truly immense at the time of the coronation, and I can see why. The most precious gift that Father wanted to give to God - the crowning of God and his Sabbath Day - was given by America through True Parents daughter In Jin Nim. This is the time where hope is rising in America. Now In Jin Nim is being called by God to launch a new ministry. It is like the ministry Jesus started, like the ministry Father started. It's a ministry of True Love. She is launching a new ministry where the word will be preached and songs of praise will go forth and most importantly True Love will be the center. Our early movement grew fast because we could feel the love of True Parents. Our movement is poised to grow rapidly now because we can once again feel the love of God directly and personally for our families and especially for the younger generation.
In the "Family Celebration" on February 1st, after True Parents' victorious coronation, we saw a model for a new kind of ministry that will be one that has the highest standard of excellence, that as we sing and pray before God, as we offer songs of praise, we will do it with our very best heart and preparation.
That "Family Celebration at 9 am on Sunday the 1st reverberated through all of the movement (another report is forthcoming on the Family Celebration of Feb. 1st). The music ministry exhibited there was truly great. Also - she invited all dimensions of our family to come home. Many who had felt left behind or hurt were personally called by In Jin Nim to come "home" to True Parents. They did - the love is flowing. In Jin Nim is showing us that if we prepare our offering properly, it will give heaven joy, it will energize and inspire the masses of people who are already blessed in our American movement, and it will definitely cause a wave of response that God has hoped and longed for in America -- that masses of young and old alike will come to engraft themselves into True Parents' true love, true life and true lineage. Our movement is growing now internally and externally. We will see the dream of True Parents of a Peace Kingdom of True Love by 2013 become a living reality. Ohio was transformed from this visit of Love. True Parents sent their love and heart to each and every member through In Jin Nim and True Family -- and Father is now touching us the way he did in the beginning of his ministry.
The testimonies of the young adults that were there say it all:
Christi Immel said, "In Jin Nim really really cares. She wants to get to know her brothers and sisters. She's really down to earth and easy to connect with. She's doing amazing and is going to do much more AMAZING things with our movement." Kai Schmittat shared, "I'm excited to work with True Family and get closer to them. In Jin Nim gave us a lot of hope. Thank you!"
Darrel Rood - "I'm excited about what I am capable of doing. Life is wonderful. Thanks to In Jin Nim for bringing this to us."
Congratulations to Rev. and Mrs. Lamson, to Rev. Garun Abrams, the youth minister, and all of brothers and sisters of District 6. The Ohio visit was a profound experience of seeing the vision of hope in God come alive in His people. It is no wonder that True Parents were overjoyed with the weekend experience of the coronation of God, the blessing, and the beautiful Hoon Dok Hwe that followed because it was an offering of excellence made from the heart. Though we were not perfect in our offering, True Parents' daughter, who has shed so many tears for our blessed families, was able to bring us all together with the right mind and attitude and prove that Father's trust for America was well placed and will yield the harvest that God has longed for from the elder son nation.
God bless America, God bless True Parents and True Family.