From all corners of the northern hemisphere, from Iceland to Slovakia, from Andorra to Finland 58 young people met, in order to participate in the 15th Blessing Workshop. It has been the biggest of its kind, except for the ones with the STF-Teams. The parents were invited as well, an experience that was very new for many of the 30 „older "participants. Some haven’t had any workshop for a long time, let alone with the 2nd generation.

There was a good atmosphere, although one could feel at the beginning that the seriousness of the topic had an influence on the moods. The Easter weather helped us to concentrate on what was essential. There were of course several starting points among the youngsters: some already took the decision to be matched by True Parents. Others had questions and some even doubts, which they could also express.

Martin Alexy, HARP leader in Slovakia was the coordinator, Geros Kunkel, leader of the 2nd Generation department in Europe, and Rainer Fuchs lectured.

One central theme was of course how God worked in history, in order to purify the blood lineage. Another one was about the necessity to differentiate between emotions and heart with a lot of practical examples to make it easier to understand. Mutual respect between parents and children was also emphasized: respect and gratefulness for what the 1st generation sacrificed for God and True Parents for example. And also the necessity for the children to express when they feel that their parents are not behaving as they should.

The testimony of Geros and Astrid Kunkel moved everybody, for they already took this step and mastered it successfully. Some parents also recounted their matching experience, which was a testimony of how important it is to trust God and True Parents and also showed how God cares and wishes the best for everybody.

In the evening before departing we gathered around a fireplace, grilled marshmallows, played cards and sang, what consolidated the heart ties between each and every one of us.

We left each other with the hope of being able to see each other soon, having in our hearts the much more knowledge and many impressions.

From April 14th to 17th we participated, together with 2 of our daughters, in the Blessing Ws. It was a very good experience to be together as parents and children. The lectures were very inspiring, and we hope that especially the sometimes tearful words of Rainer Fuchs, as a father, could help the children understand their parents’ hearts, sacrifices and hopes for the future. Testimonies about matching, blessing and family life - as well of 1st and 2nd gen. participants - are surely very encouraging and widening the horizon for those who are in the process of preparing themselves.... The overall atmosphere was very open and warm, and we were well taken care of by the 2nd gen. dept. staff, as well as the youth-hostel staff. Thank you very much, all those who were involved or participated!

I participated, together with my parents, my sister and another BC from Holland. This blessing workshop was a very good experience. The youth hostel was a nice, big place. Rainer Fuchs gave very useful and inspiring lectures; I think he is a very good teacher. His and Geros Kunkel’s lectures together gave me a good image of the higher purpose of the blessing, how we should prepare ourselves for it and how we can make it successful.

One night, several parents gave a testimony. Every single one was so impressive! I really realised that our faith makes each of our lives very special and valuable. Because of the lectures, testimonies and the even very interesting Hoon Dok Hae, I feel that I am a little bit more ready for the blessing.

The atmosphere was good, and got even better during the workshop. The singing became more and more enthusiastic and the feeling of being one family got stronger. I have the idea that there have been a lot of useful, inspiring conversations, between parents, children and between parents and children.

The atmosphere felt also quite relaxed and ‘mature’, probably because it wasn’t as normal workshops with roll call and teams and those things, and because children and parents were mixed.

All this makes the blessing workshops really recommendable to anyone who wants to know more about or prepare himself for the blessing. Thank you to the staff that made this workshop possible!

Before the workshop I didn’t know whether to come or not for my parents were not able to come but really wanted me to attend. I didn’t have any expectation what so ever and because of this I was very scared.

I strongly feel that I have taken something away from this workshop not only about the blessing but on a personal level that I can take home and use in my every day life, this is very surprising for me because it usually takes a while until I figure out what I got from most workshops. So it showed me what kind of impact this type of workshop could have on others.

Coming one day early I think also helped me very much get in to this workshop, spending time with the staff, getting to know them personally; they were very kind and helpful and made me feel very welcome, so during my time there this helped me feel a lot more comfortable in everything I did.

I came to this workshop having never thought seriously about the blessing and not thinking their was so much to it, so being on this workshop, having to think about it really showed me a lot, how there is much more to it, difficulties that can arouse, the processes that you must go through etc. What also interested me a lot was the whole biblical background to the blessing, the restoration course of the family throughout history, I realise that there is a lot deeper meaning behind the blessing which a lot of people still have to hear and that it can only be told properly through a blessing workshop. Honestly the part that had the biggest effect on me was the testimonies, I have heard many before but these really showed me how hard it can be at times but then also how amazing it can get, it really inspired and helped me personally.

The workshop itself was very homely, everyone was relaxed; the activities that took place were not usually on an ordinary workshop. For example the designated tea times, really helped me feel at ease and comfortable. Being with very little English was strange, usually we are the largest group on a workshop but because we were only three, this made it easier to talk to others and we were able to become a lot better friends with each other.

Lastly I am very very grateful to have been able to come to this workshop I would definitely recommend this workshop to everyone, even if they are not thinking about going to the blessing any time soon, you never know it could help in a different way like it has for my self. This workshop will definitely give you the information to start preparing or at least start to realise it is real and it’s not so far away.

This year over Easter time, the annual Blessing Workshop was held in an Youth Hostel in Oberreifenberg (Germany). Around 70 participants, parents and children spend 3 days there and I have to say it was a really nice atmosphere.

Even though it was the second time for me to attend a Blessing WS, I found I could appreciate it more; the lectures, given by Rainer Fuchs and Geros Kunkel, were about the importance of blood lineage, the meaning of the Blessing and I realized all over again, that the Blessing is just NOT an ordinary marriage. Sometimes – well, more often than not – you need to repeat things in order to truly understand them. In Discussion Groups we talked about the topic of the lecture and I noticed how important it is for 1st Generation that 2nd Generation can really follow the path they started.

We also had a nice walk in nature, which was concluded in a tea and coffee break in a restaurant nearby. I think all of us had a chance to have good conversations, getting to know new people or connecting to old friends again. Also, there was the opportunity to make Blessing Pictures (which was quite a fun part actually); we had a professional photograph, who by the way took hundreds of snapshots during the WS.

At the last evening we heard many good testimonies, of 1st and 2nd generation Blessed couples. It is really amazing to see how much devotion and trust they lay in God and True Parents, that each one of us has a destiny that eventually leads us to our partner, and thereby closer to God. Because the partnership should lead to the further development of our Heart, that is the essential part of it. So, all in all, I think it was a very valuable experience for everybody, whether they want to go to the Blessing in the near future, or just get a picture of, or even if they already received it and see it all from whole different point of view. I want to thank the Staff for all their hard work: Geros Kunkel, Rainer Fuchs and Martin Alexy (as MC).

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