2075 Couple Says ‘Thank You, True Parents’
Jon and Liz Brooker are one of the 2,075 couples who were married in 1982 through the Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony in Madison Square Garden. In the testimony below, Jon shares about his journey in coming to know True Parents and thanks them for the Blessing.
An Instruction From Heaven
My life is a dream because of True Parents. They are truly True Father and True Mother.
I was first introduced to the Unificationist movement in a beautiful campus courtyard while I was studying. I had recently transferred to this school from another campus.
This transfer occurred because I had taken summer and autumn off from college. With teachers who generally ridiculed Christianity and were very secular in their worldview, college had challenged my sincere efforts to lead a Christian life. For me, however, it proved to be a challenge that deepened my worldview and life of prayer.
On my prior campus, I had joined the rugby team. The rough and tumble of the game appealed to me. However, during a tournament in San Diego, the appalling nighttime behavior of my teammates, engaging promiscuously in turn with a young woman they did not know, caused me to realize my desire for a pure, true love. Returning home from the tournament, I realized the troubles on my team, troubles in school and troubles at home with my family. Experiencing deep homesickness, I longed for God even more.
Going to the fields to pray, Heaven instructed me to change to a new campus and a new focus of study. Little did I know then that God was to introduce me to a new heavenly family and a heavenly movement.
Reborn Through True Parents
Shortly before Easter in 1976, I befriended the man who would introduce me to the Unificationist movement, Geniro Yamahata. He spoke of a community where everyone lived together as brothers and sisters. We walked to a house close to the campus. There he introduced me to Scott Simonds, who gave me a brief overview of the Divine Principle on notebook paper.
Overwhelmed by emotion, seizing the paper, I turned from him, for tears were falling from my face. “Where did you learn this?” I asked him.
“A teacher from Korea,” he replied. He invited me to come that evening to hear a talk from Dr. Bergman. So ecstatic with joy, I floated back to campus.
That weekend I went with several others in a van to Camp Mozumdar high in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Scott Simonds was the lecturer and Franz Fiege, from Germany was my group leader.
Scott had mentioned that the Jewish people had not recognized Jesus because many expected Him to come upon the clouds of heaven as prophesied by the prophet Daniel. Instead, He was born on earth. Listening now to Dr. Bergman, himself of Jewish ancestry, I realized this was how Jesus actually was, a man like other men, but with profound wisdom.
After the lecture about Jesus I asked Franz why when I was born again in my youth did I still suffer sexual temptation. Quoting Romans, Franz explained that physical salvation remained to be accomplished, that Christ must return to earth.
Each lecture went deeper and deeper into my heart. On Easter Sunday April 17, 1976 it was revealed the Messiah had returned, born in Korea. My astonishment and joy was so great that I went to the stone amphitheater behind the Lodge and began to pray.
My whole body began to shake. The tears fell down in the sandy shale sand. Within me, a voice reverberated: “I have waited for you for a long time.” God, whose love was warm and exceedingly tender, embraced me. From that day, God, as my Mother and my Father, became a living reality in my heart. Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon are my parents, more precious to me than my own beloved parents. That Easter Sunday, I, Jon Brooker, was born again!
Thank You, True Parents
God told me on the way back to the Lodge that together, we would go on a great adventure. I felt my own Father and Mother holding my hands and speaking to me. That night, as I slept in an unheated cabin, the parental embrace of God kept me warm throughout the night.
I am truly thankful for True Parents. True Father and True Mother, I love you. Where you go, I want to go. I want to live with you forever. Thank you so much for the Blessing on July 1, 1982. As a 2,075 couple, we feel we are the most fortunate and blessed family. God Bless True Parents!
Love,
Jon and Elizabeth Brooker
As we approach True Parents at the Garden, to which we hope to invite thousands to hear True Mother’s message, we reflect on how we, ourselves, first learned about True Parents. Have a story to share? Click here.
If you’d like to join the Blessing Campaign to build your tribe and bring a substantial offering for True Mother’s arrival, visit heavenlytribe.org today, join the team, participate in support calls, and gain access to resources and inspiring stories from around the country. Together We Can Do It! You can also download promotional materials at familyfed.org/tribe/promotetheblessing.
Chris Jones
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Hi Jon. Your testimony brought me close to my own tears-thank you. Every day I also feel the love of my True Parents. Although we did work together I don’t remember your testimony-especially about playing rugby-my own favourite sport. I hope I can visit next year when I plan to visit to celebrate my 60th birthday by visiting some of the Holy Grounds I missed on the pilgrimage in 2014. God Bless you and all our love from Manchester,England.
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William Repke
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Thanks Jon for the memories of Camp Mozumdar and the LA family. We had something very special there. It was the birthplace of many wonderful members.
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Burt Leavitt
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Thank you so much for making the effort to share your testimony, Jon! God is great! There was a time when we regularly shared testimonies of how we met God and True Parents and how they worked in our lives, but it is rare these days. Let’s hope you have ignited a trend that will continue to inspire everyone with real-life accounts of Heaven’s intervention in our lives.
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John McKewen
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Thank you Jon for sharing your beautiful testimony. It is so amazing to think back to when we were introduced to True parents! Mine paralleled yours about 1 year later at Camp Mozumdar. You have always been an inspiration to me Jon. You were God’s joy-maker in my life when things were pretty tough. I always remember our times together with great joy! God bless you!
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Julian Gray
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Thank you for this very moving testimony. This kind of testimony allows the love and blessing of God and True Parents, experienced even earlier in life, to touch the hearts of others in the present and the future.
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