World Mission Headquarters shared with members around the world, the following two letters to True Mother from Iloilo Church in the Philippines and Melbourne Church in Australia, during the Cheon Shim Won Vigil Prayer on October 28, 2024.
From: Rev. Carlo Niño Bartolo (Iloilo, Philippines)
Good day to our most beloved True Mother.
I am Carlo Niño Bartolo, a pastor from Iloilo Church, one of the selected strategic churches for growth in the Philippines. I humbly present our report for the month of September 2024.
We feel deeply honored and privileged to be included as one of the strategic churches. When the announcement was made, our church members experienced a profound mix of joy and pressure, recognizing the magnitude of the responsibility bestowed upon us. They acknowledged that being chosen is a great honor, but also a significant task. In response, I assured them that fulfilling this responsibility would determine the extent of the heavenly blessings that our church can receive, and thus, we must approach it with faith and dedication.
Our main focus has been fulfilling our witnessing responsibility. We strive to reach out to individuals outside our church, making witnessing a key priority in our activities. For youth witnessing, we ensure it takes place at least four times a week. Our efforts in UPF and Tong-Il Moo Do also involve witnessing, which occurs at least twice a week. Additionally, we prioritize educating new members by organizing lectures and seminars every Saturday and Sunday.
Initially, five dedicated members led our witnessing efforts. However, we are pleased to share that two second-generation members have recently joined us, bringing our team to a total of seven. Currently, each time we go out for witnessing, we dedicate between 3 to 6 hours, always maintaining a positive and joyful attitude. After our witnessing activities, we often gather to share simple snacks, reinforcing the sense of fellowship and unity within our team.
Moreover, we are proud to report that our families are making remarkable efforts in witnessing to their relatives. Many have invested considerable time and energy, even shedding tears, as they work tirelessly to invite their single relatives to attend the Divine Principle Seminar and qualify as candidates for matching. Blessed families who are employed have also taken it upon themselves to encourage their relatives to join the HTM Blessing and participate in educational programs. This month, we had 19 participants complete a two-day seminar.
We also place great importance on offering sincere prayers at Cheonshimwon, where we commune with Heavenly Parent and True Parents. Our witnessing team devotes themselves to this spiritual practice, seeking divine guidance and strength to fulfill their mission. Additionally, our witnessers offer special conditions of devotion and prayer for the newly invited guests, asking that they be granted clarity to understand their true purpose and experience a profound transformation in their lives.
Through these acts of spiritual dedication, we pray that their hearts will be open to receiving the teachings, allowing them to embrace their role in God’s providence and fully align with the path of True Parents. We believe that by intertwining our witnessing efforts with sincere prayer and devotion, we can foster lasting spiritual growth and deeper connections with our new members.
We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity and remain committed to fulfilling our role as a strategic church for the growth and development of our movement.
Thank you very much True Mother.
Respectfully Yours,
Mr. Carlo Niño P. Bartolo
October 6, 2024
From: Rev. Daniel Meadows (Melbourne, Australia)
Dear True Mother,
I am grateful for the opportunity to report to you about the current progress of Melbourne Family Church. I hope my report is adequate.
The Melbourne church has a lot of potential in several areas: Outreach to Christian ministers, reviving the sleeping second gen, and raising the upcoming generation.
I am happy to say that this year 4 children have been born into our community, so even if our witnessing result is very lacking, we are still increasing.
We have been focused so far on trying to create the kind of church and community that people would be proud to be a part of. Focusing on a positive spiritual environment and a successful external environment.
We have a dedicated youth team that stays involved with the current church youth, trying to involve them and keep them connected. We have raised and appointed a youth Assistant Pastor, who has recently been matched. We have been making regular family events focused on building true relationships and strengthening the sense of community. These events also provide a safe opportunity for distant members to reconnect. We try to make our family events coincide with Holy Days, so as to create a culture in our children to celebrate our own Holy Days as much as we would celebrate Christmas or Easter. A current favorite amongst the children has been True Children’s Day.
With a 4 year foundation of progress behind us, we will begin an earnest investment of heart in finding and bringing sleeping members back to life.
I had heard that you suggested to a Korean leader to model church services after Hyo Jeong Nuri. Based on this and since we have had an increase of children in our community, we have implemented the Hyo Jeong Nuri service once per month. We made our own style and program, basically, we want the kids to have a lot of fun while also learning about God and True Parents. We also take care to connect the children to the Aunties and Uncles so that it truly can be a 3-generation service. It has proven to be very successful with members enjoying it more than the usual service.
In regards to Christian outreach; Ministers are quite open to working together in Victoria as Christianity and the family is under attack by government policy. Sad as it is, it creates an environment where Ministers are very willing to connect as friends rather than adversaries. I hope to see our network increase and friendships grow.
I look forward to reporting our progress over the next month.
Please take care, Mother. We miss you and we love you dearly.
Sincerely,
Daniel Meadows
October 7, 2024