European members of the greater Hudson Valley area conducted their annual meeting at UTS shortly after the conclusion of the 20th annual graduation ceremony and banquet on June 23. About 20 members from Great Britain, France, Italy, Holland, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Germany and Austria and their spouses gathered to hear Dr. Guido Lombardi, Dr. Dietrich Seidel and Mrs. Gertrud Koch speak on Europeans in the USA.

Dr. Lombardi (Italy) has been privileged to report regularly on his involvement with Italians on both sides of the Atlantic to True Parents. Rev. Moon had asked him a few years ago what he was doing for Italy and then suggested that he accomplish Tribal Messiahship from his home base in the USA where our movement has a greater foundation. Access to high-level people is much easier in the US than in Europe. Father told him to join the largest local ethnic organizations and become a bridge between the US and his home country.

Dr. Lombardi discovered that the Italian-Americans have great interest in what's going on in the homeland. On the other hand, he was able to impress some of the political contacts from overseas by facilitating audiences with high-level US government officials. Following Father's example he spends 90% of his energy on the education of leaders. "Shock treatment" was the term Father used to advise Guido how to educate his newfound friends: Don't be afraid to say what's right!

Dr. Lombardi's advice to the group was twofold: first, reach out to people and don't wait till they come to support you. And second, don't worry about money. The key to both of them is to find and ask the right person, namely your "John the Baptist" both here and overseas. Your JtB will help you find both good references and adequate resources.

With comparatively little outreach activities he is now more than ever in touch with his tribe of Lombardis in northern Italy. Dr. Lombardi has the help of one Italian-American friend who supplies him with a fully-furnished office on Fifth Avenue in NYC, from where he runs his nonprofit organization connected with Tribal Messiahs in Italy. In this way, he can be informed about Italian VIPs' US travel plans. A newsletter every two months keeps up with the stages of the "bridge- building" process.

Dr. Dietrich Seidel (Austria) reported that he had received his own brand of shock treatment from Rev. Moon in 1994 when he was challenged either to become the president of Austria or the president of an Austrian university. A short time later, Dr. Seidel was able to meet the Austrian ambassador. As professor of theology at UTS he's been invited to various conferences in Europe to present papers on how to make the Kingdom of Heaven a reality, with special attention to the establishment of ideal families. He has received useful input with regard to diplomatic skills from Mr. Rudolf Meyer, an 18-year veteran missionary in former, war-torn Yugoslavia. Mr. Rudolf Meyer is currently director of public relations at European headquarters and faced with the challenge of legally setting straight Rev. Moon's record with the German government.

At their home in Red Hook, NY and the local adult education center, Dr. Seidel and his wife Elisabeth (France) have been teaching German and French to interested Americans. One of their students, the son of a WWII casualty, wanted to learn French to visit the place where his father died and to connect with the people who are tending his father's grave.

Dr. Seidel concluded his talk by recounting Father's hope for an International European Association to grow out of UTS, and for UTS alumni to be the catalysts of positive change in Europe. Networking through newsletters, E-mail, the Internet and other traditional means of communication would help to encourage the building of "ethnic churches" as Father calls them, not buildings, but associations of people with common roots.

Mrs. Gertrud Koch (Germany), wife of the late Mr. Peter Koch, the first Unification missionary to Europe, talked to us about her experiences with students at the Little Angels Boarding School where she worked for several years. She now serves with the Blessed Family Department.

Echoing Dr. Lombardi's account, Mrs. Koch shared the excitement that Mr. Abdel Mesbah, originally of Morocco, created recently. To accomplish his bridge building, Abdel and his wife Gertraud, from Austria, started ARMEC, the Association for the Research of Middle Eastern Culture, and after one year's existence, pulled together a celebration which counted ambassadors, a local congresswoman, the media and a celebrated Middle Eastern folk musician among its 150 participants.

Since Mrs. Koch's husband ascended to the spirit world in 1984, she has been keenly interested in any developments concerning spiritual support from there. She reported that Daemonim Hong, True Mother's mother, discovered while still living on earth that literally thousands of spirits are part and parcel of our daily lives and that they are even more attracted to those who harbor a greater portion of the brightness and warmth of God's love. This causes people and families with a strong core of goodness to be afflicted with many peculiar troubles. (Detailed accounts of Daemonim Hong's current work are available from various sources.) A key to the success of Daemonim's liberation work (from spirit world through a medium on earth) is the opportunity which liberated spirits have to receive complete education and care regarding their purpose in that world. This is in contrast to former liberation ceremonies, in which they didn't have the benefit of being taken care of by Heung Jin Nim and Daemonim, who are continuing True Parents' work in the spiritual work.

Angels play a major role in this process and are even made available to people on earth whose line of work takes place on the national level or higher. For example, Mrs. Nora Spurgin, national president of WFWP in the USA, when facing heavy responsibilities to be accomplished by an extremely limited number of people, delegated the tasks at hand to various bands of angels as well. A key person (JtB) was found and doors quickly opened to working relationships with world-level figures.

Mrs. Koch exhorted us to mature and take responsibility for our lives, or as Peter Koch would have said, "to become a reasonable person." The fact is that we literally are on stage, no matter how private we deem our actions. With the "spiritual video cameras" rolling, there is no place for us to hide.

Mrs. Koch recalled her deep respect for her husband, but regretting misunderstanding him on occasion, which was compounded by her quickness to speak out. She urged us to love each other as husband and wife and to control our bodies.

She recounted her times in Korea listening to True Father speaking without translation, when often her heart would be filled to the brim and she in turn wanted to thank him. She knew deep inside of herself that he spiritually received her gratitude. True Father, she said, would want to give everything to us if we were ready to receive it.

Mrs. Koch had many experiences which confirmed for her that everything Father did was for our best. She has been hoping and praying for the appearance of the "St. Paul's" of our day and age who can maximize Father' work.

All participants in this annual meeting were looking forward to putting the above words to good use in their Tribal Messiah missions. For more information concerning Europeans in this area, please feel free to contact the Seidels at 914-758-4137.

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