20 Apr2017

American FFWPU & WFWP USA Leaders Visit Korea

Leaders of the American movement traveled to Korea during the week of April 12 to attend the main, international celebration of True Parents’ 57th Holy Wedding Anniversary. They also took time after the celebration to connect more deeply with each other and with the homeland, heart, and spirit of our True Parents. Here are some of their reflections:

I was really grateful to have a chance to join in this trip for two main reasons:
 
1) To attend True Parents. Even though I’ve visited True Father’s resting place, this visit was very special as we were celebrating the Holy Wedding Anniversary. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb was the dream that Heavenly Parent wanted to fulfill substantially on earth and True Father did it! He accomplished it all with True Mother! I was moved at the incredible legacy and life of these two individuals and all that their love, life, and lineage has accomplished. 
 
2) To spend time with our FFWPU USA family. That’s what the trip was like as we connected in heart while visiting places that True Parents loved. It’s an incredible experience to be among God’s warriors that have been in this movement for many years, standing for God’s Family to be unified, whole and complete. As the youngest member of the group, I learned so much informally and I hope we can have more opportunities like this in the future to bond in heart. I especially enjoyed going to a town near the 38th parallel, a place that was once North Korea. We went to the open markets and the uncles were so generous in sharing snacks and sweets with us, as we tried new and different delicacies. Learning that True Father loved a certain food there, I also thought deeply about True Parents’ hope for this place to be restored with joy once North and South Korea unification is complete. 
 
–Teresa Rischl

Overall, it was a rejuvenating experience. I was very grateful for the chance to represent WFWP USA along with WFWP USA President, Angelika Selle. It had been a while since I could attend True Mother in Korea and I’m very glad that I was invited to join our American team. I felt so much of True Father and True Mother’s love for each other during the celebration of their wedding anniversary. And I felt the comfort and security of knowing that I am a product of that love, as a child feels glad when seeing her parents love each other.

Visiting the Pine Ridge Resort where True Parents recovered after the helicopter accident, I felt glad in my heart knowing that they had such a beautiful place close to nature where they could recover and come back even stronger. Even though the trip was physically a whirlwind, going from place to place where True Parents had visited including climbing Seorak Mountain, I came back feeling revived in my heart and ready to take on the task True Mother is asking us to do. I felt through this trip she is asking for not just the external activities, but for us to also give our whole hearts to whatever we do, with absolute faith, love and obedience.

–Katarina Connery

It was a great honor and joy to be a part of the USA delegation in attending the 57th Wedding Anniversary of True Parents in Korea.
 
For me the best takeaway was to reconnect and re-experience the heart of our True Parents in a most profound way throughout the four days, through various experiences which all seemed to be connected. In fact, words are not enough to express fully what the experience was like.
 
A few highlights:
 
  • Being in the presence of True Mother and True Father (in spirit) on their Wedding Anniversary and being able to express our gratitude and joy through the spontaneous dancing of our American group was a most liberating experience for me. It felt like we are able to give back something small to make our True Mother smile.
  • Experiencing True Mother more up-close in a smaller setting after the celebration was reminiscent of many such smaller meetings with True Father, where she shared more personally of her hopes for us and her own commitment to giving herself entirely to manifest God’s dream in the next three years.
  • Visiting various sites the next day like Pine Ridge Resort, where True Father recovered from his helicopter accident, and Soekcho Village where displaced North Korean people live to this day and where our True Parents visited many times, all connected us to heart of True Parents as if they were right beside us and showing us around.
I am deeply grateful to have had this opportunity together with Katarina Connery to represent WFWP as part of the delegation and the US as a team. We all became closer through the true love that was overwhelmingly felt throughout.
 
Thank you, True Parents, for your legacy of love and living for the sake of others. Now it is our turn to go out and do the same, spreading the love, light, blessing and greatness of Heaven to all corners of the Earth.
 
–Angelika Selle

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  • Cindy Pfeiffer

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    So happy to see such wonderful representatives of America! I feel proud of all they do.

    Reply

  • Joy Garratt

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    Thank you so much for representing us and for sharing such beautiful testimonies!

    Reply

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