In Nigeria there is a well-known prophet named Dr. Samuel Akin Adewole who was blessed in 1995. For the past three years he has been spoken of here as the greatest prophet in the nation, if not in Africa. Because he has accurately predicted political and other events and is known for this ability, he has direct access to high places and is a spiritual advisor of high repute. Recently heaven has revealed much to him not only about events in Nigeria and Africa but about True Parents and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Dr. Adewole was unsure whether he could participate in the Blessing on November 29 because of an important annual conference of his Celestial Church of Christ. But because he received a powerful revelation from God that morning, he decided not only to attend but to speak at the event. At Onikon Stadium, where the Blessing was to be held, there were the former Chief of the Air Force, a number of important traditional chiefs, the Secretary of Lagos State Government, a number of ambassadors, a Catholic Arch-Bishop, the Primate of the African Church, the Chief Imam of Lagos representing the Islamic community and some 120 other dignitaries. There were also thousands of other Nigerians assembled. At that gathering Dr. Adewole gave the following speech (taken from handwritten notes):

"Chairman of this occasion, distinguished guests of honor, and all brethren in the Lord, I thank the almighty, wonderful God today and I will continue to thank him forever for what he has been doing for the fortunate families of this generation and what he still wants to do through Rev. and Mrs. Moon. I thank him most especially for counting me worthy to join the millions of truly blessed people in Nigeria and the world at large, who are partaking in this special occasion today.

"As revealed to me by the almighty, wonderful and living God, the heavens are full of joy, and an uncountable number of angels are present here today with all the heavenly elders to give new peace, love, wisdom and earthly blessing to the few fortunate ones who are partaking in this special grace.

"In fact, until this morning I had not felt it was necessary for me to come here today because I had to prepare for an annual program in our church next Sunday. I had a lot of running around to do to prepare for it. But at about 3 a.m. this morning our Lord Jesus Christ personally appeared to me in my dream. He called me three times and said that I must participate in the Family Federation Blessing today if I still belonged to him, because he, Jesus Christ, the heavenly elders and all the angels were going to be here before anybody else in order to bless and anoint all the participants.

"The second thing he told me (in the revelation) was that truly he has been working with me in my own little way in Nigeria, but He had been working through Rev. Moon long before he started working with me. He also said that the two of us will soon know and meet each other, within one year, as brothers in the Lord, and we shall work in one accord and be in peace forever.

"He further revealed to me that Rev. and Mrs. Moon will soon be in Nigeria in 1998. They will come more frequently to Nigeria than to any other country in the world from 1999 on because `I (Jesus) have made Nigeria his (Rev. Moon's) second home, because Nigeria is my anointed country of grace.'

"And finally, Jesus told me that Rev. Sun Myung Moon is His. He, Jesus Christ, lives in Rev. Moon. `He (Rev. Moon) does nothing on his own, but through me (Jesus). I anointed him because I love him, because he loves all mankind and has suffered for me more than anybody else in the world. Therefore, whoever loves him (Rev. Moon) loves me (Jesus). and he that rejects him rejects me. Join hands with him. Heartily propagate and disseminate the good news to the nations. I bless you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.' Then Jesus said to me, `Stand and follow me now.' And we all flew together to Onikon Stadium with billions of angels and heavenly elders.

"Therefore, as a patriotic and peace loving Nigerian, I heartily support this Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in the interest of a lasting peace in Nigeria and in the world at large, and humbly implore and advise the federal government of Nigeria and every patriotic and peace loving Nigerian to join hands with Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Rev. Mrs. Moon to make this religious organization (FFWPU) a huge and remarkable success. I thank you all. God bless you"

Christian, Moslem Leaders Pray For Unity

In a nation troubled by religious tensions, top-level religious leaders from Christianity and Islam held hands at one point during the ceremony and prayed out loud in unison. Then a grand mufti representing Islam and a bishop representing Christianity prayed eloquently for the unity of their nation under God.

The satellite transmission for the event from the United States was crystal clear and flawless as True Parents some 5,400 miles away in Washington, D.C., officiated the Blessing not only in the USA but in Nigeria and other countries around the world. At the event four prominent Nigerians were given awards for their contributions to the "social development of the family." Also, both television stations and newspapers generously covered the event. A nationwide daily, "This Day," printed a full-page, positive article about the Blessing.

After the ceremony, literally hundreds of people expressed their appreciation for the ceremony which had deeply touched their lives and given new hope to their marriages. Claiming the Blessing had been an "eye-opener" for him, the Prince of Lagos said the program had given him "food for thought" about marriage. Many participants suggested that this should become an annual event, and one man observed that this was a "whole new approach to marriage in our times."

We started with 70 teams of 3 brothers each in January 1997. They had to be equipped with the Holy Wine, Holy Water, Holy Handkerchiefs, Blessing certificates as well as bicycles, bush lanterns and megaphones to enable them to cover remote villages effectively. We developed a lecture on rural hygiene and AIDS as a foundation for presenting the Blessing. Because poor hygiene and AIDS both kill thousands of Nigerians, the Blessing is presented as a powerful antidote to both.

How to feed team members, how to accommodate them and how to transport them were some of the difficulties that had to be overcome, particularly in the rural areas. In some states, local people were initially suspicious and, as a result, several team members were arrested. However, all of our members in the country were focused on giving pre-Blessings, doing conditions such as 120 bows every morning and making strong prayer conditions to protect the work of the Blessing teams. All of our movement's resources were used exclusively for the Blessing providence. To make limited funds stretch as far as possible, we continually sought to whittle down the cost of blessing one couple. From an initial cost of $1.50 to $2.00 per couple twelve months ago, we gradually reduced the cost of pre-Blessings to less than 10 cents per couple and now less than 1 cent. We took such measures as reducing the size of the holy handkerchief, mixing holy wine with water, and linking personal allowances for the support of team members to the number of couples blessed rather than linking it to team need. These economies meant that each donation of $1,000 now make it possible to bless more than 100,000 couples.

Eventually, our members became well known for their work, and the villagers looked forward to their visit to receive the Blessing. In one incident several village chiefs argued with each other over who should receive the blessing team first. Some chiefs ordered villagers to attend the Blessing on time or pay a fine of $2, a stiff fine for a peasant farmer! Also, a number of local government leaders lent the volunteers their cars and even government personnel so the teams could move faster from village to village and be introduced to the local chief by a familiar government official.

A key factor in the success of the teams was their use of local ministers and newly blessed members to give the blessing themselves. In that way one member sometimes had ten, 20 even 30 non-members on his team doing blessings each day. Periodically their teams met for training in giving blessings and for verification that team members were doing blessings correctly.

But by far the most important factor was the mobilization of the spiritual world. Intense prayer, challenging conditions and harsh living conditions helped make team members and their surrounding spiritual world desperate. Visions, dreams and miracles became commonplace as thousands were led to the blessing by spiritual guidance. (In our next update we will share some of those experiences with you.) It is clearly a time of the outpouring of God's spirit on the earth.

As a result of this intense spiritual activity, now fully a third or more of monogamous couples in Nigeria have been blessed. Our goal in the next blessing is to bless the rest of those couples. That must include the Moslem northern states which, until now, have not been as receptive to the Blessing as the Christian south. But it is simply a matter of time and the intense and desperate work of brothers and sisters and of heaven.

For a blessing team member often the simple mechanics of life, which we in the West rarely consider, prove troublesome. Electricity, in villages that have it at all, is on and off, and may be off for days at a time. Running water, if there is any, may operate once a week or less. Tap and well water everywhere, even in large cities, is not potable, so one must boil and filter water or buy bottled water. Kitchens are often simply a kerosene burner on the floor for cooking simple meals and a tub for washing dishes.

While that may seem like a challenging and disagreeable existence, team members endure it willingly. For them, it is a privilege to be on a blessing team. Because of limited funds, only those who bless the most couples are allowed to participate directly in the blessing mobilization. Others become a support team in Lagos or other cities. So, to be a team member is an honor and a blessing itself. Those members in the more developed world who have participated in True Father's condition of donating $1,000 to take responsibility for 50 new couples have made it possible for these teams to bless millions of couples.

In that way you, too, have been present as a kind of invisible team member when the lights go out and the water stops running. You, too, have taken a bucket bath beside your teammates with water hauled from a local well. It was not heated, of course. You prayed with your teammates to the light of a candle or kerosene lantern, and you woke the next morning with them to say pledge by the natural light of dawn. As a team member, you, too, offered holy wine at pre-blessings to gathered couples and sprinkled holy water on them. You recited their vows to them to affirm out loud, and you read them True Father's prayer. You guided them through the indemnity ceremony and gave them a packet with Holy Handkerchiefs, instructions about the 40 day period of abstinence and the Three Day Ceremony, and a Blessing Certificate with the Four Vows and the Pledge. You had the satisfaction of helping to roll back the realm of fallen lineage a few steps further and of laying the foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven a little firmer. In short, your donation has made possible a miracle of heart. You have helped to free 9.2 million families for the Nov. 29 Blessing and 2.7 million since then, and to transform those lineages. Heaven must feel deep gratitude for your gift - and so do we.

For those who have not yet contributed, the Appeal for Africa opportunity is still available to you. While $1,000 may seem like a difficult challenge to your family budget, it will make it possible to bless more than 100,000 couples in Africa at current costs. (The Pre-Blessing now costs less than a penny per couple.) That is an incredibly good use of your hard-earned cash. As you have probably heard, True Father has also made it possible for you to receive responsibility for 50 newly blessed couples as spiritual children.

You may mail your contributions to: FFWPU, P.O. Box 1615, Spring Valley, NY 10977. (This is a NEW address; contributions should no longer be sent to 4 West 43rd St.) You may contribute by mail or check. Please include complete credit card information or make your check out to HSA-UWC WMD (not FFWPU) and write AFRICA on the bottom left. Please be sure we have your complete mailing address. Checks and credit cards will be processed by HSA-UWC in New York City.

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