Who is Rev. Sun Myung Moon? This is the question that 140 ministers gathered together to have answered. To discover who is this man, what prompts and motivates him to keep going like a freight train at the age of 82. Why have the Family Federation members continued loving serving, sacrificing through so many times & trials. Many ministers don't want to know why, are perhaps afraid of the answer. But 140 brave ministers decided to come together to discover what makes this movement tick.

Gathered together at beautiful Ocean City, Maryland, a beautiful resort town on the Atlantic Ocean more than a 3-hour drive from Washington DC. These ministers came with various levels of heart, curiosity, desire to learn, sometimes a "knowing" or push from the spiritual world. Many ministers we hoped would come could not cross that bridge; and some who came surprised us, we didn't realize they were yet at the level of desiring more.

The ministers are always so kind to members, but sometimes among each other they share their fears. During such a long bus ride, some of them were joking that even if they got negative or upset they couldn't run away ? they'd surely get lost in the wilderness. "Ah, so that's why they're squirreling us away so far; so we'll have to listen." But this comment was said in fun, though perhaps thinly hiding a little of the old fears.

At Hoon Dok Hae on the first full day, Monday, Father's speech from the Madison Square Garden of the September 18, 1974 rally was read. This is such a powerful and clear message. There were many positive exclamations heard throughout the reading. But later, when questioned, a number of the ministers expressed some struggle with the declaration of the failure of John the Baptist.

However, after the first lecture of the morning, the first portion of the Principle of Creation (as presented by Rev. Phillip Schanker), the comments overheard were quite different. "This is so clear!" This teaching was just amazing!" Many ministers didn't want to wait for the group meetings to have question & answer; they wanted to discuss this very interesting understanding of the Bible right away. I cannot imagine how this will grow throughout the 5 days of lectures.

Many ministers who came here had to fight & overcome many odds. I'm sure they'll be blessed for their perseverance & determination, for their open-mindedness.

One lady minister shared with me an experience she had the first night in her hotel room. She actually shared a room with me, and the next day asked how I had slept. Had a noticed a lot of energy in the room? She actually lay awake & watched a vision of 3 large conference tables right in our bedroom. She recognized only one person, John Quincy Adams. She knew the others were all very important men in the early days of the founding of the United States & in the early days of our fledgling government. They were all so happy that she & I were there with them. Truly the Clouds of Witnesses are real, and I believe will rain down among this workshop. Alleluia!

Do you remember when people used to walk out on the Fall lecture, even leaving the workshop? On Tuesday as Rev. Jenkins concluded the Fall of Man, he received a standing ovation from this group of Jesus' spiritual children (your spiritual children, these ministers!) They truly understood this, hooping & hollering as he spoke. The ministers genuinely enjoyed the Principles of Restoration as well; they seemed to easily relate to the Cain/Abel situation. As the lectures progressed, the Bishop next to me leaned over and said 'the ministers can come now because the Unificationists have paid the indemnity.' I was so moved by his understanding.

At dinner one of the ministers shared at our table that in his discussion group he just had to tell the other ministers 'don't struggle over Rev. Moon as the Messiah, after all, it's so obvious.' The ministers sit in the discussion groups humbly seeking to understand; and it's the other ministers who are helping to clarify the principled understanding. The job of the Unificationists is much easier than ever.

Tuesday's closing meeting was presented by non other than Archbishop Stallings. Interestingly, he didn't provide proof, he just shared his heart. But this heart came on the foundation of a day of great truth presented by our leaders, Rev. Jenkins and Rev. Schanker. Bishop Stallings implored us to understand who WE are, who I am. If I know who I am and who God is, I don't have to worry or be threatened by whom HE is. The Bishop gave testimony to who Father is to him, what he has witnessed and discovered. Stop waiting for the rapture; that's an escape clause. We just want Jesus to come and deliver us! We must engage in the work of Kingdom building with the Lord. God didn't mess it up, man did; so man has to clean it up. What have you seen, what is the fruit? The problem is that we've been so caught up in our theologies that we can't see. Bishop Stallings then declared 'Who do I believe he is? I can't tell you because you can't handle the truth!...I have seen him live like Christ so I believe. I believe he's the Lord of the Second Advent! I'm not ashamed to tell you. Jesus saved me and Sun Myung Moon restored me! As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord!!'

By this time nearly the whole crowd was on their feet, and I was sobbing too hard to take any more notes. Rev. C. Phillip Johnson then called the crowd forward to affirm these statements. The men and women came to the front (with the exception of less than 10) and sang and prayed and testified. It was truly a great day for them, and for our members as well, our eyes glistening with tears because we know YOUR blood, sweat and tears that have finally brought this day!

The final day of the ministers' workshop in Ocean City Maryland was very rich. Read during HDH were two of Father's recent speeches, "The Life of Jesus", from the Washington Times 20th anniversary banquet, and "God's Fatherland and the One World", presented to the world leaders attending the IIFWP conference on 9/21/02. The prior HDH readings were Father's public speeches of the early 1970s. Again, very well-received.

As we were gathering for our first presentation, Rev. Tessie Willis from Texas entertained us with an incredibly beautiful rendition of our elder brother Jon Shuhart's "Precious Light'. It is so inspiring to hear these ministers singing the deep songs we grew up on in the movement.

Wisely, scheduled for the entire day were presentations on the Fruits of the Movement. These presentations were given by our brothers Mr. David Caprara, Dr. Frank Kaufmann, and Rev. Greg Carter. These presentations were really icing on the cake. The attendees had days of deep Divine Principle content, then were able to see Principle, true love, in action, through our movement's many various activities. I hope you can some day hear these presentations, they were such an inspiration.

Dr. Yang, our beloved Continental Director, presented "Rev. Moon's Life Course'. He shared his testimony of joining the movement as well as many of his experiences with Father. A number of ministers commented on his deep heart of love towards them, and his humility before and loyalty to Father.

One minister wrote in his reflection that he wants to become like Dr. Yang. Four ministers offered testimony at the end, followed by Rev. Edwards, Bishop Stallings and Rev. Jenkins. Rev. Rico Diamond said "It doesn't matter what we call him, his ministry and calling won't change. This is the most ridiculous and outrageous seminar I've ever attended -- ridiculous like Jesus!" From Minister Ronnie Bailey, "If we're going to serve Him we have to pay the price. Don't shy away from your suffering; it will only bring you closer to the Lord. You should sell everything you have to possess a beautiful pearl.' Brother John (a white Southern Baptist minister), "This is an incredible truth! I've been looking for you for 15 years. There will soon be millions of ACLC ministers walking this land. I thank Rev. Moon for this vision and you for sharing it with me.' Sister Price was so spirit-filled as she exhorted us to march on, dropping what we don't need so as not to have any weight or burden to slow us on this race to the kingdom. Rev. Jesse Edwards told us that the trials he's going through are not because of Father or the ACLC. All of us have to go the course of Jacob and Esau and lay their own foundation for the messiah. So what God gives you is between you and God.

I cannot begin to record here the final messages of Bishop Stallings and Rev. Jenkins. But they brought great inspiration as well as the urgency of the times.

As we were finishing our final meal and preparing to board the buses, Rev. Jenkins announced that we'd meet at 7:30 in the morning for breakfast. A minister at my table commented "but what about hoon dok hae?!' Another ministers said "yes, we can't miss our 6:00 o'clock service!' We would all say that, right?

I had the blessing of helping to go through the ministers' final evaluations and letters to our Founder. They were so beautiful. Comments were such as, "I want to join 100% this Unification movement and all related organizations', "The Messiah is on the Earth, I want to be a messiah-ee.' "I love you Father', and my favorite, "I will die for you Father!'

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