When Father announced this important meeting, through prayer I received that there was some providential meaning and if we failed to accomplish this, I felt it would be terrible for America. A was desperate to accomplish this.

I had been working with a wonderful group through the Women's Federation for World Peace for the past four months. Because I was very active, they even asked me to become a member of their board of directors. The group was doing very valuable work helping to turn around first time offenders. I thought that they would be a perfect nominee for an award.

Initially, they accepted. Then they changed their minds when they discovered that Rev. Moon would be speaking at the awards banquet. I was asked to come to a meeting at their office. At this meeting they told me that they would not go because of Rev. Moon and that they no longer wanted to have anything to do with me because of my religion.

Even though I have worked with the church for almost twenty years, I still felt as if I had been stabbed in the heart with a knife. I had labored for them so diligently, and they were the people who had asked me to be on their board. It was extremely painful.

I felt that I had to vindicate Father. I showed them three color pamphlets detailing Father's vast accomplishments. I shared with them about True Father and how much he has been misunderstood. Still they were afraid that if they worked with me no one else would want to work with them.

After testifying strongly to Father's goodness, I told them "No matter what you do or say, I will still love you and support you. One day you will be honored to work with a `Moonie'." They all felt so ashamed they couldn't even hold up their heads and look at me.

My heart was broken. I had hoped so much that they could experience the blessing of coming to this event. There were only a few days remaining. How could I discover a nominee in such a short time?

I went to the ocean and prayed, "Please, God, take this pain, this hurt, and this persecution. Turn it into a `Diamond in father's Crown of Glory.' Please help me to find some noble serving person whom you feel deserves recognition." For almost two hours, I prayed in desperation.

When I went home, I called Richard Sapp, a fellow member of the selection committee. He responded to the situation immediately. We contacted Lenny Theisen, another committee member, called some other people, and by that evening we had a wonderful candidate. She was the founder of a school and home for unwed mother's and had raised over 45 children. She had even worked on the same reservations where I had worked in south Dakota. I knew that she and her husband were the prepared people that I had prayed to find.

I was privileged to travel with Caroline and her husband to the event in Washington. They received a special award recognizing them among all the other 150 candidates for their great service. That evening at the banquet, Caroline cried as she expressed her gratitude for the award. She was so humble and beautiful. I looked to see Father's tender face as she was speaking. He was nodding in agreement.

Father was happy and so was I. Because of the prompt response of Richard Sapp and Lenny Theisen and our united effort, God was able to turn a difficult situation into a "Diamond in Father's Crown." The pain in my heart was healed. To see Father happy made it all worthwhile.

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