Just a few hours before our family was to leave for Korea, we received a phone call, informing us that our son, Dohi, had just been matched to a Korean girl, Jin Hee Kang. She lives in Seoul. What a myriad of thoughts one entertains in an airplane flying across the Pacific Ocean, to meet a future daughter-in-law from a very different culture. Electric excitement!

At the airport we were met by our daughter, Joni, along with her fiance, Jin Man Choi, as well as our host, Mr. Michael Richardson. We learned that there was to be a meeting at the training center where the newly-matched couples could meet each other. Of course, we were eager to go there, so we were driven there directly from Kimpo Airport along the Han River to the training center. Tricia Wentworth, who was the Blessed Family Department's representative from Region One (Boston), also rode with us because no one was there to meet her at the airport.

As we arrived at the training center, it was pouring rain. We made a quick entrance under umbrellas into the center, where excitement was mounting as brothers and sisters were gathering in the hall upstairs. Word was going around the True Children were coming and Hyun Jin Nim would be speaking. It was a gathering especially for the newly-matched Second-Generation couples, so we were really happy to have been taken there.

Jin Man helped show Dohi where he could go to prepare for this occasion and the rest of us also changed into our good clothes. Then we scurried upstairs where we met another Western parent, Mrs. Gertrud Koch. We entered the hall, where Rev. Zin Moon Kim was giving a report on True Father's activities, in Korea, of course. We just sat and soaked up the atmosphere, noting the many Second Generation members sitting near the front and then the many parents sitting near the back of the room.

After several members of the True Family made their entrance, Hyun Jin Nim began to speak. When he started to speak seriously about the meaning of the Blessing and marriage, he used a translator (Rev. Zin Moon Kim). He spoke to the Second-Generation blessing candidates, starting with the question, "Why does the Unification Church stress the Blessing so much?" And why has Father spent hours on so many occasions detailing all aspects of the relationship between men and women? He spoke seriously, yet at times with laughter and humor, of the importance of the Principle of Creation, and the importance of purity.

According to tradition, all of the brothers were sitting on the right side of the room, and the sisters were seated on the left side of the room. When Hyun Jin Nim finished speaking, he asked the brothers and sisters to move from their chairs and sit on the floor next to the sides of the room. Then, as Holy Songs were being softly played on the piano, adding to the creation of a truly heavenly atmosphere, the announcement of each brother and sister was made, beginning with his or her father's name. The brother and sister stood up and quickly made their way to the center of the room where they bowed and walked up to the podium where Hyun Jin Nim presented them with their matching pictures. As a new couple, they then went before True Parents' picture and bowed in gratitude and acceptance for this great gift of a spouse for eternity! They were then seated as a couple. We were really moved as we watched these young men and women come together as couples, realizing that each match was really made in heaven by God and True Parents! Along with a deep joy that moved one to tears, there was the excitement of the moment which caused one to just about burst with happiness and anticipation of the future for each couple.

You can imagine, even at this very solemn occasion, the flurry of excitement, not only in the hearts of each young man and woman, but also in the back half of the hall as parents and friends craned their necks and tiptoed to see their son or daughter or friend, and their "match"! So many photos were taken of the rather embarrassed couples as they walked back to their seats!

Following the final prayer, the couples were surrounded by their families and, after introductions and greetings, went downstairs to eat lunch together, and share more. Jo Won Seuk kindly sat with our family and the Kang family to help us communicate and learn more about our soon-to-be daughter-in-law and her family, as we shared with them about our lives.

It was at this point that we began to feel a tangible relationship with Korea as we were getting to know the Kang family. We felt some judgment that he hadn't learned more Korean. However, that overwhelming feeling of an eternal connectedness with other families, interwoven together, was an awesome experience. The families with whom our two children were being blessed also had two children receiving the blessing.

This is just a glimpse into our family's experiences during the week of the International Holy Wedding. There are thousands of stories to be told, and they will, no doubt, be passed down to future generations.

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