The Words of the Meijer Family
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The Words of the Meijer Family |
Dear brother/ Dear sister,
I would like to invite you to contribute to the creation of a book I was asked to write by my Korean publisher. The theme of the book will be, "Why do non-Koreans join the Unification Church, and what motivates them to continue to stay involved?" The book will be written for a Korean audience, curious about why a Korean man, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, has been able to attract a large international following. Koreans are always concerned about how the international community perceives them, and such a phenomenon is naturally of great interest to them. If the book does well in the Korean-language version, there may be Japanese, English, and possibly other language editions afterward.
The president of the publishing company is not a Church member and the company is therefore in a good position to market the book to a non-Unificationist readership. Thus, the book may be a helpful instrument for informing contacts/ witnessing to people about our movement. International President Rev. Hyung Jin Moon is aware of the project and is supportive of it. That does not mean that this is an official Church publication. It simply means that this book will be written in good faith and that the entire writing and editing process is "an open book," so to speak. I hope it will be an asset to the Church, to the International President, to the Korean membership and hopefully that of other nations as well. Although different Church members may be asked to read the manuscript and comment on it/ make suggestions for improvement, in the end, I alone am responsible for the content and its presentation.
Please take a close look at the survey copied below/ attached. You can send your response to Maarten Meijer -- mpmeijer@gmail.com. In response, a separate Microsoft Word document (2003, 2007) is preferred, but if this is somehow difficult, an email text is acceptable as well.
Thank you, and God bless you.
A book project by Coliseum Publishers, Seoul, Korea and Maarten Meijer, PhD, Gapyeong, Korea.
Name (optional):
Sex:
Age:
Nationality:
Year and place joined:
Marital status (single/ blessed/ divorced/ widowed):
Children (number, gender, and age):
Please respond to the following questions. You can either respond item by item, or write a more "free-style," reflection type response. Do what works best for you. The more personal and detailed your account is, the more valuable and intriguing it will be to readers. You can write in any style you want, using "church language" ("True Father," "True Family," "four position foundation," "heartistic," etc.) or using more "secular language" ("Rev. Moon," "family values," etc.) As a result of my writing, the Korean translation, and final editing, the form of your writing may be altered significantly; but it will be treated with integrity so as to not change its fundamental content and meaning. There is no limit to the number of words you may use.
1) Why did you join the Unification Church? Reasons could include but do not have to be limited to: because of the teachings/ theology/ Divine Principle/ Unification Thought; because of the charisma/ example/ love/ heart/ wisdom of Rev. Moon/ True Father; because of the community/ fellowship/ atmosphere in the Church; because of the activism/ emphasis on peace, social justice, idealism, goal of establishing an ideal world/ Kingdom of Heaven; because of the values/ life-style/ emphasis on family/ emphasis on personal responsibility and self-perfection. Please explain your reasons in detail.
2) Why did you stay in the Unification Church? Reasons could include any mentioned under (1), but there could be additional reasons: because of the sense of responsibility/ commitment to the Church (or my mission/ task) I developed over the years; because of the connection I feel to Church members/ members of Rev. Moon's (True Father's) family; because of the happiness/ sense of fulfillment/ sense of meaning, purpose, value and direction I experience in the Church community; because of the safety, security, values my children are surrounded with in the Church second generation community. Please explain your reasons in detail.
3) What is the best experience/ are some of the best experiences you have had as a member of the Unification Church? What has empowered you to overcome the challenges you have faced as a Unification Church member over the years?
Please feel free to share this survey with any Church-member contacts you may have; post it on Unification Church web communities you are a part of (unless they are explicitly negative/ derogatory in orientation). The more responses, the better.
Thank you very much for your contribution.
Note: Please send your response to Maarten Meijer.