A testimony by Nancy Escaleras Makowski which was published first in March 1992.
Sixteen years ago, I joined the Unification Church at New York headquarters. My family is from Ecuador, where I grew up. They became extremely negative and tried to kidnap me several times, unsuccessfully. My family is Roman Catholic and they had asked the priest what kind of church this was. I was only nineteen years old and according to the Spanish tradition, a daughter does not leave home until she is married. The priest gave a very negative report to my parents and for many years they persecuted Father and tried to get me to leave the church.
Study the Bible
During our last International One World Crusade campaign, I volunteered to go and travel around the United States witnessing for twenty-one days in each state with my team. There were not enough Divine Principle teachers on our team, so I had an opportunity to teach the two-day workshops even though my experience had been only with the Spanish workshops. I felt so little confidence that my prayers became desperate, especially because one of our guests was a Baptist minister.
Suddenly, I focused my studies on the Bible because the Baptist minister refuted me with it. Father appeared in a dream and scolded me for not studying the Bible enough and I promised to do so. I began to understand that in order to win Christians, I should know the Bible more deeply. Father won his first disciples that way. He went out preaching with the Bible and interpreted it according to the Divine Principle. That same Baptist minister did a seven-day fast and joined us in traveling around the country. I had the most beautiful experiences with other Christians at that time; unfortunately, I became so sick with chronic bronchitis that my central figure thought it best for me to go to my family’s home in California to get well.
I had been blessed with Don Makowski in 1982 at Madison Square Garden and my husband had visited my parents for two days while taking a student to a workshop. Fortunately, my parents really liked him. My father called him “my son” and hugged him. The second time he met him was when we stayed for five days during a fundraising expedition and my dad cried when we left and said, “You are my real son.” It meant a lot to Don because his father and mother were divorced when he was eight and his dad then went to spirit world.
This was the first time after joining the church that I was able to spend some extended time with my family. It was January 1984, the first Christmas and New Year’s I spent with my parents in eight years. Everyone was a bit tense. They were happy to see me but could not help but be negative and suspicious.
Because I felt so bad about having left the “front line,” I decided to make the best out of that time.
Hometown time was here
First, I managed to clean the house thoroughly, holy salted it and played holy songs and Divine Principle tapes all day (at least part of it while my parents were working). When they came home, dinner was cooked and the house was clean. My parents were very moved.
At night I sat reading the Bible in the dining room. They were surprised and happy to see me reading, so I invited them to read it with me. Then my mother said, “That’s not the Catholic Bible.” To her surprise, I changed to her own Catholic Bible and began to read out loud. After that, it became our regular pattern to study the Bible every night. Sometimes I had to convince my mother that this was more important than watching television. At the end of each session, we held hands and prayed. One time my mother asked me to pray the rosary with her, so I did. Also, every Sunday I went to Mass with my whole family.
I chose the Bible passages that explained the Purpose of Creation, then those about the Fall of Man, and also the lives of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. All of the readings I explained according to the Divine Principle point of view. The most tearful study was that of Jesus. My mother understood that Jesus did not come to die but could not accept that his family had not supported him. At this point, I explained my dreams and revelations about Jesus before and after joining the Unification Church.
Finally, I told them that I was going to make an outline of everything we had studied and drew the parallels of history on white cardboard. They were shocked to know that we are living at the time of Christ’s return, especially when I explained that it will not be the same Jesus but a new person, with a new name, according to Rev. 2:7-17, 12:1-14, 19:12, etc. I mentioned Reverend Moon’s mission.
At that point, my mother got up and said, “I agree with everything you have taught us so far, but don’t mention Reverend Moon.” However, my father stayed and showed a lot of interest, so I continued explaining Father’s mission to him.
It was no coincidence that all this took place in forty days, and then it was time for me to go. Our last study session was full of tears and I asked my parents whether they now understood and supported what I was doing. They both agreed and signed associate membership. My husband, Don, and I had been praying for this to happen. Since then, every time we go to visit, my father asks me to teach the parallels of history to my brothers and sisters. Once I even taught at four in the morning.
Blessed children and cable
Last November 1991, in the spirit of hometown, we took off a whole month, left my husband’s hometown, where we live, and took the children to my parents’ hometown for an intensive effort to knit us more closely in true love. During Thanksgiving, the whole family got together and it was a wonderful opportunity to share and pray as a family again.
This time I did not have to witness too much because our blessed children melted everyone’s hearts with their examples and prayers. I hope this episode has a happy ending when all my brothers and sisters decide to join me and my husband.
I am living in my husband’s hometown in New Jersey and support the tribal messiah providence there with him. His mother died about six years ago right after we began our family. She signed membership before going to Spirit World.
Don is a city leader in Teaneck, New Jersey, and has been pioneering the Di-vine Principle cable providence. He provides a Divine Principle series on three-quarter-inch tapes ready to be aired on cable television to all states that are willing to try it. His videos, as well as Richard Panzer’s and Ron Paquette’s, were recently nominated for Nova Awards on Staten Island.