During the 7 days Divine Principle workshop in Cleeve House, towards the end of the witnessing condition, Emanuel Hyung phoned me to ask if I wanted to leave the witnessing condition early to participate on the pre-summer fundraising condition. The purpose of this condition was to lay an internal and external foundation for the summer activities planned for this summer. I needed to think hard about what I should do. My original intention of pursuing the witnessing condition until the end was now being challenged by an alternative mission. I usually say "yes" when asked to do something, but this time I wanted some time to think.

That night I did some intense praying. I debated the need to stay for my guests, but I'll be back in September, so this is not a big issue. I didn't want to leave my beloved London team. I had no problems with anyone, so leaving would be a big sacrifice. However, I wanted to do some fundraising to improve my foundation of faith, in other words my relationship with God. I wanted to recharge my spiritual batteries after feeling quite drained in London. This Denmark condition would be an early opportunity to focus on myself. Besides, I wouldn't be able to participate on any of the European 2nd Generation activities this summer due to E-STF commitments, so this would be an opportunity to support at least in some way. On top of all this, I thought it would be a great chance to set a good example to my younger brothers and sisters in Europe to be a model fundraiser and inspire the team.

The next day, Monday, I phoned Emanuel Hyung agreeing to participate on the condition. That Friday, I went to Denmark's capital, Copenhagen.

The team was led by Arthur Schenk, assisted by R. Seidl. The fundraisers were Bruno Ribeiro and me from E-STF, plus Yumiko Igarashi, Christina Seidl, P. Haider and John Brady. We had a great reception from the Danish church, who welcomed us to their large house warmly. There was a loving atmosphere making me feet at home there. The Danish church is not big, but the families are really close and Sunday Services were typically relaxed and friendly. The centre alone is a good reason to visit Denmark. I was tempted to stay there forever.

However, the mission was fundraising. I had previously had four months of fundraising experience, in Holland, Belgium, England, Wales and London. I had a few breakthroughs, but generally speaking I was dissatisfied with my internal results since I struggled frequently. I knew how valuable fundraising is as a tool for growing internally, but I had not yet exploited the opportunities. This time I set the goals of supporting the team and coming closer to God. By setting these clear internal goals, I had genuine determination, motivation and inspiration to invest a lot. With this desire, I made the short condition consist of quality experience.

The first half day was a pleasant return to the fundraising mentality. I was praying almost always, trying to see from God's viewpoint, loving the people for the sake of it (I hope!). Anyway, I felt so strong and enriched after the first day, it was like a breath of fresh spiritual air for me. I made my external goal that day, and I felt pleased with my attitude towards the rest of the team. I demonstrated good vertical tradition with Arthur Hyung, reporting in a structured way. (In fact my reports became the source of much fun.)

I really wanted to work hard during runs and also in between. Unfortunately I was sleeping in the van between runs at the start. I felt really bad about this, because I couldn't stop it creeping up on me. I must have been recovering from the witnessing period, but my mind and body were simply not united. Thankfully, I really pushed to stay awake in the van and after a while there were no more problems for me instead the rest of the team began to suffer from uncontrollable fatigue!

My daily internal goals were very clearly planned. Towards the start I made an effort to be grateful and to show humility. On these days, the external result was disappointing. Maybe that was because I did not invest internally enough, but at least it helped me to show gratitude and humility even within fruitless experiences. When my goal was to give joy or love to the people I really did well. The challenge about this, though, is that Danish people are hard to love. They may be friendly if you know them, but generally they are quite closed. Their doors also close very quickly when most Danish people reject me. I found refuge with the ethnic minorities, but they are usually easy to love. I wanted to push hard to love the Danish people. It really tried to love them, but it was as though they simply didn't like me!

On the last three days of the fundraising, I set the same internal goal: Love God. Usually things go through three stages of growth (formation, growth, completion) and I think this was such a case. On the first day, I struggled to keep faith, getting quite disappointed with the response of the people, which meant I wasn't being unconditional enough. The next day I pushed to be more joyful and determined, but I couldn't inspire the people enough, so the intensity of my love had to grow. Then, on the last day, I slightly altered my goal to "Love God ABSOLUTELY". My prayer became really intense. Inside I was deadly serious, but outside I was excessively joyful. That day I really broke through externally, having many amazing experiences of people buying or donating, where before they wouldn't. The Danish people suddenly reacted to my investment. I think my genuine effort to love the Danish people, my attempt to grow internally and keeping God by my side made the last day a very explosive experience for me. Through the power of prayer, I could feel God as a strong reality. He was grateful for all my effort and was more than willing to reward it with result.

After the Holy Day morning, Rosi, Bruno and I left for Frankfurt, 2 days early before the end. I felt really happy within that team, especially grateful for my experiences. We said goodbye reluctantly and left. I may have annoyed the team with my attempt to be hardcore, but I feel that a high standard inspired them, even if they were mocking me for it! I wanted to support the team and set a good example, and I hope I did that. All the indemnity I paid will hopefully be a good internal foundation for the summer activities, and I'm sure the money we restored will be much appreciated, financing some of what the European 2nd Generation will do.

Thank you Heavenly Father for this great time in Denmark, and I wish you all have a great summer!

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