The Words of the Altomare Family
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The Words of the Altomare Family |
Our Dearest Family,
The following is a long-overdue report on all that has taken place here in Washington since our beloved Leader and Mrs. Choi arrived. I hope you will forgive such a belated report but when you read it you will see why it is so late! I know how anxious you have been to hear what has been happening. The more we are with our Leader, the more we realize how blessed we are to have such an opportunity. We are truly unworthy of such a blessing. It is only right that we share even the minutest detail with you so that you too can share in the wonderful moments we have had. Unfortunately, I cannot go into too much detail, but I will at least cover the highlights and give a few impressions.
It was a beautiful day in March that we were standing outside Arlington House impatiently waiting for our Leader's car to come into view. Though chilly, we were so full of anticipation that we barely noticed the cold. Everything was prepared: the arch of flowers with our Divine Principle symbol proudly sitting on it, through which he would pass, the white "carpet" spread along the sidewalk upon which he would step, the guest book he would sign, the beautiful bouquets of red and white flowers wrapped in gold paper for him, Mrs. Choi and Miss Kim; even keys had been made up to present to him -- a key to Arlington House, the Fellowship House, the Jhoon Rhee Institute, and New York Center, and the key to Washington. Our Master was coming home!
At last we sighted his car. Oh, how we wanted to break our formation and run out into the street where he was. But we formed a reception line and waited for him to pass through the arch of welcome and greet each one of us. Though I had spent three glorious days with him in San Francisco, being more aware of how truly great a man he was, I was even more excited to see him again. Recalling that first sight of him in San Francisco I could well imagine how the others were feeling as he shook each one's hand.
We followed him into the house where there was singing, picture taking, flower and key presentations and prayer. It was over all too quickly, but there was much more yet to come later in the evening. Our Leader went to his room and rested while we went to our respective duties in preparation for the evening program.
What a stirring sight it was to see approximately fifty people packed into the meeting room at Arlington House to meet our Leader. Joe Badraw as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and he began the program with a welcoming speech. I was moved to tears as he spoke of how he felt when driving into Washington from Martinsburg, W.Va., carrying in his car the man in whom heaven and earth meet, the greatest man who ever lived. The car was bedecked with flags, he said, as it flew down the highways and circled the streets of Washington, making its way to Arlington.
A man greater than all the kings and statesmen of the world put together was present in the world's most famous capitol, a man whose mission it was to save the world. Yet not one person they passed on the streets knew who was in the car driving past. It broke my heart to hear Joe say, "But nobody knew him." How little we have done that so few would know what man was walking amongst us.
There were various words of welcome from representatives of the Washington, New York, Cleveland and Philadelphia Centers. Songs were sung, poems read, musical instruments played, and words said, all to give praise and honor to our Leader and heaven. Then the exciting moment came when our Leader spoke to us. He gave a long and inspiring talk, following which Jhoon Rhee presented him with an engraved plaque. It was a wonderful evening, but as you probably know from experience, it was only the beginning! After refreshments, those still present gathered for an informal celebration which included songs sung by each and, most important, our Leader's song to us.
After seeing him, the members of the Washington Family have experienced a dedication and conviction a thousand-fold stronger than before, and some who had been on the border line accepted fully after meeting him.
This day was spent in sight seeing around Washington. In the evening about 35 gathered at the Fellowship House to have dinner with our Leader, the guest of honor. We had so much fun that evening! Our Leader sang and led us in many songs. Anyone and everyone who had any musical talent participated, and Gordon explained the significance and procedure of blessing ground. We had a real family reunion that night!
The third day started off on a clear, brisk morning as we went to the Ellipse, a park behind the White House, to bless ground. A civil rights demonstration was scheduled to be held at the White House later on that day so policemen were keeping everyone away from the grounds, but it seemed that they didn't even see us. The ceremony for blessing the ground was beautiful.
Then we proceeded to the Capitol lawns to bless ground there. The scene was very solemn as we blessed the ground of the Capitol of the United States.
It was a magnificent sight to see our Leader perform such a great work for heaven with the Capitol building looming up behind him. As he prayed for our country, the bells began to chime, "God Bless America."
That evening 60 of us gathered at Arlington to listen to the message of our Leader. Included in the gathering was a newspaper woman from a Virginia newspaper who later wrote an article in the newspaper about the meeting, Doris Walder, Gordon Ross, and Miss Kim each gave his witness, and then our Leader spoke.
After the meeting, about 15 of us stayed with our Leader until 4 am. There were many questions and much advice he gave us that evening. He particularly stressed the necessity for unity and uniformity in the US centers.
He was very serious when he spoke of this, and even angry. He said if we were following him instead of our missionary leader, there would be unity.
At that time I caught a glimpse of how much heartbreak we in the United States have caused him because of our selfish arrogance and pride. We were very solemn when we left that morning and felt new purpose and determination never to fail him again.
The rest of the week was spent in question and answer sessions with our Leader. Everyday we were more and more astounded at his unsurpassable wisdom and love. The overwhelming realization that such a man actually existed and was right there with us was almost too much to bear. Every moment with him is like being in heaven. We are blessed beyond imagination.
The more we were with him the more we wanted to be with him, so it was a very joyful day when we drove out to Dulles international Airport to welcome him to Washington again after finishing his tour of the United States. He was accompanied by Mrs. Choi and Mr. Nishikawa. About 25 of us went to the airport, some even taking off from work and skipping school to greet him.
Of all the days in my life, Parents' Day 1965 will remain as one of the most memorable. We arose very early in the morning and went to Arlington House where the morning ceremony would be held.
We donned our white robes and knelt on the floor praying and softly singing hymns as we waited for our Leader to come down stairs, It was an unbelievably beautiful sight to see everyone dressed in those robes of pure white, but even this sight was nothing in comparison to our Leader who was dressed in a magnificent robe of gold, He was truly the Sun in all its glory, the Son of God, The tears poured down our cheeks as he made his obeisance before our heavenly Father. It was the most beautiful sight I ever saw in my life, I will never forget the moments of that morning.
Then the greatest privilege of our lives came when we bowed together before him, Col, Pak then gave a deeply moving prayer which spoke of what suffering our Leader had had to bear in order to bring this day to pass. The ceremony was closed with a stirring prayer by our Leader.
The Cleveland group had arrived the evening before and were present for the ceremonies Later on during the day, the Chicago group arrived. The Fellowship House was really packed that weekend.
About 35 were present that evening for the meeting in which our Leader gave a talk on the significance of Parents' Day, Children's' Day, and World Day. He said that in the future another day would be added, God's Day,
The festivities continued after the meeting with a Christmas tree under which were presents for our Leader from each of us, Gerald Johnson of Chicago greatly enlivened the atmosphere with his Guitar. Special tribute was paid to the first three American disciples, Eileen Welch, Doris Walder, and Pauline Phillips, all present that evening.
The next evening was set aside to welcome our Japanese brothers to Washington, Mr. Nishikawa and Daikan Onuki. The rest of the week was back to normal, we to our duties and our Leader taking time to rest and study.
We arose bright and early, particularly. Those of us who would be on the National Karate Championship float in the Cherry Blossom Parade, These were Doris Walder and Barbara Mikesell dressed in floor-length gowns, and Moon Hye Yoon and I dressed in Korean costumes.
Joe Badra was also on the float demonstrating Karate forms, and four other boys from Mr. Rhee's school. It was so exciting to sit up there waving to all the people as we passed by. Many were apathetic and I felt as our Father must feel when he calls to us but we do not respond. As we neared the main stands, the crowds were larger and more enthusiastic. As we approached the place where our Leader was seated, we lined up on one side of the float facing him and bowed as we passed.
The evening program went very smoothly. Many important guests arrived, and Doris sang the Korean and American National Anthems, I hope all of you saw the telecast of the tournament on television. May 9th, Over 3,000 spectators attended. Following the tournament we went to Arlington House to celebrate the success of the evening. Our Leader was very happy that evening, so the tournament must have been a huge, heavenly success!
The training program started out to be 40 days but was changed to 21 days. The daily schedule was as follows up at 6 am, breakfast, a lecture, lecturing was done by either Col, Pak or Gordon Ross and took most of the morning, The afternoon was left for witnessing and studying, in the evening, another lecture. About four or five cycles were covered during the 21-day period. During the program, 12 of us stayed permanently in the Fellowship House with many others staying for a few days at a time.
Now that the training program is over we have moved to a different phase of training in the morning the members practice lecturing, afternoon is for studying and witnessing, and a formal lecture by Gordon is held in the evening, Through this program the members have been able to learn Principle very quickly, and we are preparing to go out and start centers of our own as soon as possible. The training program is a long way from being perfected, but improvements are made daily and it will shape up into a definite and effective pattern.
Another interesting thing that happened was the visit of Arthur Ford, the world-famous medium from Philadelphia. He, Marcus Bach, Ruth Montgomery who is a Washington newspaperwoman and authoress, Dr. Edward Bauman who has a religious discussion program on TV and pastors one of the largest Protestant churches in the area, and several other distinguished guests were present. Arthur Ford gave a reading for our Leader which was not as good as usual, but at least got the point across.
Then there were questions and explanations, dinner and informal talking. Most of them were interested enough to take back reading material with them and the last report was that Ruth Montgomery was very impressed with the first chapter.
This weekend was another important occasion in the history of the Washington Family. Our members advanced upon New York City, one of Satan's largest strongholds. Included is a comment about the trip by my mother. There were 21 of us that entered the city. We were God's soldiers marching into Satan's territory to take it for our Father. Two more members came later in the evening, and five others were already there -- a total of 28.
From Mrs. Altomare:
"Briefly, we left Arlington at 7 am, arriving at noon in New York. Base was a two-room apartment on the 11th floor. After lunch we started sight seeing and kept up a rapid pace the whole time we were there. Some of the sight seeing was by auto, but it was not restful as traffic in New York is the most miserable experience that can be imagined."
"Sunday was spent at the Fair. It was really delightful for me to see, but the pace was so rapid the entire three days, and sleep such a rare commodity, that I literally fell flat on my face from fatigue."
''The whole meaning of the trip for me was the wonder of observing, being with the Leader, having the deep satisfaction of knowing he loved my people and my country and was praying for them. It broke my heart to see him working 24 hours out of every day while we sleet or just tagged along. I began to feel that if I shed one more tear my eyes would be swollen shut."
"There were many spiritual experiences but I am not very articulate and find it most difficult to express them. Being so new in Divine Principle, I do not fully understand many things so I prefer to wait. Actually I cannot recall one minute of the entire trip that was not significant."
On the way back we stopped in Philadelphia at Mr. Walter Voelker's house and had dinner, Mr. Voelker is a friend of Anthony Brooke and Arthur Ford, and has been studying the Principle. Miss Kim spent a few days in Philadelphia with him while she was here, and talked to many people in the Philadelphia area.
So now we are back in Washington resuming our work schedule. Mrs. Hurd remained in New York to carry on the work there with the support of three new members in the New York Center, Mr. Steve Koh and Mr. and Mrs. Woo Shik Yoon. They were found by Moon Hye and Mrs. Hurd before they came back to Washington, Moon Hye will be staying in Washington permanently now to do the work for the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation, and I am also staying here to finish up the writing as fast as possible so that I can move on to new mission fields.
Our membership has made a definite increase during our Leader's stay. New members are: Major Abdullah Mudaber of the Jordan Army, Diane Giffin, Sara Towe, Adele Altomare, Kathe Williams, and Ann Furnace, Mr. Voelker and two friends of his, Mr. and Mrs. Everett Johnson who stayed with us in the Fellowship House for a few days, are also becoming active in the work.
Our goal is for each of the members to get three new ones before our Leader departs.
Gordon has been kept very busy here. He lectures, organizes witnessing campaigns, and keeps the Fellowship House in order. We all love and admire him so much. I would also like to mention how much we enjoyed Miss Kim's, Doris Walder's and Marjorie Hill's stays with us. Love to each of you from the Washington Family.