First 40-Day Workshop in English-Speaking West Africa -- An Interview with Mr. George Glass

Angelika Selle
November 1984

Brothers and sisters of the first English-speaking Wet African 40-Day Training gather for a photo on graduation day.

Question: Mr. Glass, you were asked to conduct a 40- day workshop in Lagos, Nigeria. What was the purpose of the training? Had there been previous workshops of such kind in this area?

Throughout 1984, 40-day training programs have been held in many regions of the world, as our membership is growing more and more rapidly now. In some regions of Africa we have previously had such training programs three or even four times already. Rut for English-speaking West Africa, this time was the first. The energy and excitement surrounding the training was electric for the participants and for the lecturer The program was to be held in Nigeria, a nation where a quarter of all Africa's peoples live Unificationist missionaries had been working there for many years but only in recent years has our family really begun to develop. These and other factors made me very curious and anxious to participate in this training.

Question: Who were the participants? From which countries did they come, and what is the background of their native lands?

The participants came from the whole of the English-speaking West Africa, region of Africa. One person came from Gambia, seven from Sierra Leone, five from Liberia, ten from Ghana, and fifteen from Nigeria. In addition to participants from this region, one came from Sudan, and one from the United States. In all, forty people attended -- thirty- four brothers and six sisters.

They ranged in age from the late teens to the early fifties. Everyone had been in the Unification Church for several years and many had already had quite a bit of experience in teaching Principle and in pioneering.

Our staff included Mr. Albert Shandalala as coordinator, Mrs. Anne-Rose Adams as assistant, a kitchen staff of three members, and myself as lecturer.

There are approximately 122 million people in English-speaking West Africa, but the majority of these people live in Nigeria (94 million). Christianity and Islam are the major religions practiced in the region. The land is quite fertile throughout these nations, and many people arc engaged in some form of agriculture. Oil has been the key to Nigeria's economic development. The economies of the other nations revolve around more traditional activities such as agriculture, timber, fishing, and so forth.

Question: What was the daily schedule of the workshop?

Our daily schedule was quite simple in that we began each day with morning service (delivered by the trainees, who took turns) followed by breakfast and general cleaning. The morning hours included four hours of lecture (with appropriate coffee breaks), lunch, an afternoon activity which generally was the good, strenuous physical work of clearing land and planting crops, followed by a break, and then a late afternoon program of lectures. Dinner was held each evening at eight. We followed this with various videos and films as well as discussion or study periods. The day ended with group prayer.

Training began on August 27th with the first cycle of lectures by the missionary to…

Question: Can you depict the highlights of the lectures and their effect upon the members?

Over the weeks at our training center we studied with one goal in mind: to become second Rev. Moons. Through our lectures and our lifestyle we constantly endeavored to develop the heart of our True Parents and to become men and women that Heavenly Father might use in his providence in West Africa. The regional leader, Mr. Yutaka Kijima, and all the missionaries began the training with this attitude, and we worked to achieve this day by day.

During the training we covered Level 4 and Unification Thought, both taught by Mr. Osamu Sano. The second cycle of lectures were Principle based on the study guide, with an admixture of internal guidance. We spent one week studying the CAUSA worldview.

Following internal guidance the trainees spent one week lecturing Level 4 and we concluded with lectures on providential guidance.

Each day was quite special. Through our prayer and study, through viewing True Parents on the video tapes, working together in our farming project, and sharing in small and large groups or at mealtimes, we all felt the presence of God and True Parents and came to know our Heavenly Father and True Parents more and more deeply. We all experienced a very real sense of repentance and rebirth. As we studied together we all were made more profoundly aware of the very precious gift our True Parents have given us in the Principle.

On our first day together, we spent the entire day in one group listening to one another's testimonies. Each one had much to share about his or her experiences prior to and since joining the Unification Church. We plunged into the program from the very next day.

40-Day graduate John Yirenki of Nigeria teaching Principle.

Question: The jungle must have provided a rather exotic environment for the workshop. How were you accommodated?

The training facility was provided for us out of the generosity of one Chief Adeyemi, met by Mrs. Vera Shandalala when she was fundraising. The chief not only offered for the staff quarters his land in Iperu, Ogun State, Nigeria, but gave us land which we could clear and plant food on for our needs both now and in the future. The site, about an hour's drive by car north of Lagos, was well suited for our purposes. It was far from the hustle and bustle of Lagos, and to say that one was close to nature might be understating things. No really wild animals ever appeared, but the myriads of scurrying lizards along with an entomologist's heaven of insects helped one remember that we were in rural Nigeria and not rural America.

We held our training during the last month of Nigeria's rainy season. At some point nearly every day we had a good drenching, and I was amazed at how quickly this water would be absorbed and the ground dry again after each rain. The sun would come up each day about 6:45 and set at 6:45 p.m. Often at night the sky would be clear and one could see numerous stars. The days were full of blue skies with fluffy clouds floating about until the rain clouds would come thundering in. When we could observe the sunset there was often a tranquility reminiscent of the Korean countryside.

Each morning and afternoon numerous swallows nesting in the tree just opposite our lecture hall would cheerfully sing and flit about. When you were in the bush you could observe the most interesting forms of life.

You never knew when a well-developed insect of one kind or another might decide to land on you and scamper across your body. Or you might uncover a slow-moving but deadly puff adder, as we did one afternoon while clearing the bush for our farm. (We decapitated that snake and gave it to our gatekeeper, who cooked it and shared it with some of the brothers.)

Iperu is a small town with a night market and a public tap for water. There are churches and mosques as well as schools in the area, and in spite of our remoteness we could hear throughout the day the villagers going about the business of daily activity -- be it gathering for prayer in the early morning or late night, going marketing, or trudging off to school or to work in the fields.

Question: What kind of food did you eat?

Our kitchen staff did a marvelous job each day preparing three nutritious meals and one tea time. We all ate well, thanks to the staff and the support of brothers and sisters who were providing funds and food from Lagos to assist us. We generally ate staples such as yams, sweet potatoes, rice, noodles, and bread, with fish or meat and vegetables seasoned with spicy chili pepper.

Each meal was prepared by our staff over an open fire in the traditional way. Our sisters would go to the market each evening to purchase the fresh produce for the next day's meals. We also had vegetables from our garden regularly.

In our very rural location electrical power failed from time to time or the pump for our well faltered, but brothers and sisters carried on without complaint.

Question: The members here never receive visits from True Parents, and rarely from church elders. How do they relate to True Parents and the movement?

One point I found especially touching was the warm relationship many members had with True Parents and Heung Jin Nim through dreams and visions. I had many dreams during my stay in Nigeria, so it did not seem unusual when members would report experiences with True Parents or Heung Jin Nim night after night.

During the training we also had the opportunity to watch many videos and films that coincided with the day's lecture topics. For most of us, watching the 10 tapes on "Unificationism: Perspectives on Christian Faith" was extremely valuable, as we could see True Parents as we had not seen them before. Perhaps most valuable of all for many was the experience of watching the tape of In Jin Nim during the Pageant for Religious Freedom in Washington. For many, tears flowed freely as they listened to her moving speech about Father.

On the eve of our 40th day we watched the videos of our True Father at East Garden on May 19th and July 20th. It was a fitting climax to our efforts during the training, since Father's message in the first instance concerned becoming second Rev. Moons and in the second instance contained Father's guidance prior to his departure for Danbury. Each member was deeply moved seeing and hearing our Father.

Question: What was the outcome of the 40-day workshop?

In the late evening we all gathered for a huge bonfire and pledge to Heavenly Father to seal our commitment to Him and our determination to assist with all our ability in God's providence for English-speaking West Africa: indeed, for all of Africa and the world. After our prayer and pledge many members remained in prayer through much of the night.

As we gathered for our group photos on the 40th day and packed our belongings for our return to Lagos afterwards everyone remarked how quickly the time had passed and how many blessings God had given us during our stay in Iperu. We had the intense feeling that we had all met God and True Parents very deeply. The training closed on the evening of the 40th day with a wonderful dinner, skits and graduation ceremony.

Immediately following the program, all trainees began a two-week course of intensive witnessing and teaching of Principle in Lagos. At the end of the two weeks 28 new members had already attended seven-day training.