Details on transforming Las Vegas into a Mecca of Forgiveness, Love and Unity
by FFWPU USA
Over 35 Unificationists from Korea were invited personally by True Mother to come to Las Vegas to participate in a 14-day witnessing leadership program. In the past week True Mother has been personally guiding the team to lead the way in sharing their faith. The team from Korea has been working together closely with Las Vegas Japanese missionaries, local members, and the National Ministry Team. They have recently been joined by thirteen young Americans. Here Mr. Demian Dunkley, Director of Evangelism for FFWPU USA, explains about the exciting leadership training program in Las Vegas:
True Mother is very closely involved in this witnessing initiative, watching and guiding us every day. It is an amazing opportunity for our American Unification family to support her, and show up to support the Korean and Japanese brothers and sisters. They really have a strong determination to witness, and share True Parent’s love. True Mother has asked each Unificationist to bring at least one spiritual child (or even ten).
Every morning and evening True Mother receives an update on the activities and gives suggestions on how outreach efforts can be improved. She really wants participants to understand True Parents’ heart for the nation and people here. Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Continental Chair of FFWPU USA, said, “When I share with True Mother the team’s witnessing experiences, she is very sincere and I feel her loving heart towards the brothers and sisters working so hard here. True Mother is very happy to hear that CARP in America and our Unificationist-born youth are coming to join the witnessing team here.”
The Witnessing Begins
On the first day, six teams went witnessing in the area around UNLV campus and the new CARP Learning Center. At first some were a little nervous about the language barrier, but our National Ministry team prepared materials for them and that morning I gave a presentation about ways we can approach people, love and invite them. The main thing though is that these Korean Unificationists are so courageous and have a lot of love to share. They are really inspired by True Mother and want to spread True Parents love in Las Vegas.
After just one hour witnessing, one team brought a young man Zachary . He is 25 and has a family, but just lost his 2-year old daughter two months ago. He shared in tears and moved everyone with his deep heart of compassion. He is trying to turn his family tragedy into learning how to love people more centered on God. First we played him the Create a Life you Love Diving Principle intro video, and after some discussion he received a one hour lecture on the Principles of Creation. He agreed to come back the next day at 4pm to continue. He enjoyed his time with us very much.
True Mother heard the report about the witnessing activity and especially about Zachary, the young man who came to the Carp Learning Center. She was deeply moved and happy about the report. One comment she shared was, “It is harder to raise children than to give birth to them.” She encouraged the team to keep making an effort, because God is ready to support us.
Everyone on the witnessing teams met people and collected names and contact info. We invited them either to the Learning Center, or to join our food or cleaning service projects throughout the week as the next step in our outreach efforts. Rev. Ken Doo, the local Las Vegas Family Church pastor, and Akira Watanabe, Director of CARP Las Vegas, have been helping.
One the morning of day two, Dr. Kim, brought gifts of encouragement and good health from True Mother to witnessing team. Dr Kim opened the day with a prayer after sharing an inspiring report about the Las Vegas Providence for workshop members as they prepared to go out witnessing.
Because of the cold weather and busy schedule, many of them are now feeling challenged physically. Some are catching colds and feeling a little weak, but they don’t show it. They were totally supportive of each other and so determined to find the people whom God has prepared. Every spare minute has been spent going through their name lists and contacting their guests. They are here for such a short time, so every moment counts. True Mother gifted beautiful cashmere scarves to all of them to help keep them warm.
America Joins the Team!
On the third day, 13 American Unificationists joined the witnessing workshop. These amazing brothers and sisters dropped what they were doing and came from all over the country to support True Mother’s witnessing workshop. The new team members will be divided among the teams, two per team, to help with witnessing and translation. As the Americans started arriving, the Korean and Japanese teams became extremely excited about working together with them. They are so grateful to those who are showing up to help.
The next day they began the Shine City Project, cleaning the area around Lake Mead, and in the afternoon they worked with the Food Is Love project to feed the homeless. One thing is for certain: God is bringing a whole bunch of really cool people together!
The following day, they spent time completing housekeeping errands and following up with guests such as Crystal, who was on her coffee break. She only had a short amount of time but they introduced our movement to her and invited her to the CARP center where she was introduced to the activities happening there. They then met up with Juanita, another guest, for coffee and discussion. She has already heard some of the teachings from the Divine Principle and met some of the local Unificationists. She feels very good when she is with us. However, when she saw and heard True Mother speak last weekend, she thought “I think I should join this church.”
By this time, what had previously been a 36 Korean and 18 local Japanese missionaries witnessing team was now the miracle team! The 13 American Unificationists, most of whom are college-aged, officially joined the ranks via a humorous ceremony, showcasing the love, support and close bonds already created among the Koreans, Japanese, and Americans.
With the 2015 Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony just around the corner, news of a “matching” catches quick attention in our movement. In light of this, the witnessing team decided to conduct a light- hearted “matching ceremony” that took place at the team headquarters. Before dinner, the Americans who had come to support lined up in a row facing the six team leaders to be “matched” to a team. Other team members gathered around to cheer on and support the possible new recruits.
The team leaders were instructed to pick which of the American recruits would best complete the team based on their fluency in Korean or Japanese, their enthusiasm, and possibly even other factors like athletic performance (part of the fun behind the ceremony). Each of the six teams received two American recruits and celebrated over a special dinner.
With an intense schedule and with the surprisingly cold weather in Las Vegas, several team members were beginning to get colds and even became homesick for their beloved homelands. In response, Dr. Ki Hoon Kim and Dr. Michael Balcomb graciously sponsored a traditional Korean dinner to be catered to support and thank our hard working team. The American team also wanted to show their unity and support and prepared beautiful decorations and lights to foster a warm atmosphere.
The language barriers mattered very little the rest of the night as each team bonded and continued to stay together even after the close of the program. The beautiful harmony and support among all the team members brought forth a new wave of determination as the newly engaged English-speakers became a cultural and translational bridge for the deep hearts of the Koreans and Japanese to communicate to the Las Vegas population.
Local Unificationist missionaries and church members continued to stop by throughout the night including Akira and Makiko Watanabe, Directors of CARP Las Vegas, and local Unificationist Mimi Morse, who brought with her fresh fruits.
The energy here in Las Vegas is palpable and we know it is because of all the support and prayers we are receiving directly from True Mother, our leaders, and all of you from the country and world. Thank you for being part of our experience here in transforming Las Vegas to a Mecca of forgiveness, love and unity.
