To Western Leaders and our members:
Greeting from Mrs. Yasue Erikawa, World Itinerant
Oct. 3, 2000
Thank you for your taking the lead in the way of God's will, shouldering responsibility as elder son nation. Now is the time of unity between Korea, Japan, and America. And, one year has passed since the first Japanese missionaries came to America following True Father's direction. I express my gratitude for your internal and external help on the spot until now.
In the beginning I had Japanese missionaries give me "Daily Report" to grasp the situation of their activities in America. Then, I felt the heavenly fortune and the on-the-spot cooperation of the spirit world centering on God, Heung Jin Nim, and Jesus. So, I published "Tairiku Kanko News" to share the grace among missionaries in America and to open the way for the subsequent development. And now No. 89 was issued.
At one time I tried to issue the Korean and English version, but unfortunately it did not last long. This time I found a good translator, and I want to share the grace and information about elder son nation, America. As I want to have give-and-take action and do our best together, I issued No. 88 English version, meaning new beginning.
As you continue to lead the missionaries in the front line with God's grace, I pray for continued development, referring to the report from other regions or states.
As a way of thanking you, and for the purpose of inspiring all of our western members, I share the following testimonies with you.
I appreciate your opinions or reports. With best wishes to you.
Mrs Erikawa
(9/16) I came back to America as a missionary of Virginia, but I was the only Japanese missionary. There is no base, so I went to Washington D.C. I wanted to witness to good Americans, but I cannot speak English. I wanted to cry. But I pulled myself together, and tried to do my best to do whatever I could to break through.
I witnessed to many people for pre-blessing last year, but I saw that they had various problems when I came back to America. I cannot but reconsider the motive from which I witnessed last year. USA is the country where we have to get good results to restore the whole world and attain God's kingdom. Furthermore, I am witnessing in Washington D.C., which is the center of USA. I went witnessing, wanting to meet an American who worries about the future of the world and who can be responsible for the way of God's will.
Then, I met a single man who was in his forties. He works at the hotel that WFWP used for the Sisterhood Ceremony many times. He was inspired by that ceremony and thought to contact our church. He is anxious about the reality of the society, and was very inspired when he saw our video. He said that he wanted to study Divine Principle. He knew about the RFK blessing in 1997 and wants to receive blessing next time. So, he thanks me a lot and I feel that meeting him was the work of God. And I thanked brothers and sisters who made the foundation here in America.
(9/7) We took part in the Caribbean meeting. We were surprised that Minister Bob Row talked about the Million Family March. The minister and our church vice-leader shook hands enthusiastically to hold the MFM successfully.
(9/10) We went to the church that invited us, and were received warmly. The wife of our church vice-leader read the True Father's speech, and presented the church with the flag. The pastor there called the representatives of the congregation, and each of them signed the flag in front of the singing congregation. They praised our message and said, "You are with God."
After that they gave us a donation of $228. The content of Sunday service was also the value of family. The pastor held a wonderful Sunday service.
(9/15) We plunged into a very large and active Catholic church, which is in downtown, and Masses are continuously held in 5 languages. A receptionist, who was impressed by the flag activity, called the highest Father. He showed us to another room and received the flag pleasantly.
Then we met a pastor who welcomed our family. He knew True Father well and accepted the flag understanding the meaning of receiving the flag. From now on we want to take care of this pastor.
(9/19) We visit Caribbean groups on Tuesday. Today, our church vice-leader and 5 sisters took part in the Nation of Islam's meeting for economical support for the Million Family March. We explained the meaning of the family flag, and 5 people received flags pleasantly. One of them was a famous singer and he was moved by the meaning of the flag.
Then, the person who explained the MFM asked us to come to Pre-Million Family March.
(9/7) I have been active primarily in Upstate New York, based in Redhook (UTS). I reported that we were introduced by newspaper, magazine, and internet in September.
The Family Flag was introduced to many people through the mass media. I truly felt God's presence in this providencial activity.
(9/10) I met True Parents at Belvedere and listened to True Parent's words directly. So, I started this week encouraged by these words. In the afternoon we made 2 teams and visited churches. Some woman pastor was very pleased with the flag and said, "Rev. Moon always gives me a wonderful thought." When we left the church, she said to us, "God is with you." We want to keep a good relationship with her.
(9/15) Today we made 2 teams with members of America, and visited on Inter-church center. That is a 19-story building, and there are more than 60 associations related to church. We heard that it was necessary to make an appointment, so we made more than 20 appointments on that day. Except for one, everyone agreed with the meaning of the flag, and accepted it comfortably.
The member who made appointments by telephone this time is a blessed wife who did not take part in the 21-day workshop in Chung Pyung. But, this time she is actively following True Parents' direction. We thanked her for her cooperation and felt it was the will of God. We will do our best for the success of MFM.
(9/11) There was a 3-day workshop last weekend, and we took part in it between visiting churches. All the guests of the workshop already know True Parents, and they asked questions and gave their opinions actively in the lecture. Some guest played the role of MC. We were surprised that the lecturer and guests were so friendly.
We attended the Sunday service of a church we'd been introduced to through its Sunday School Class. The secretary introduced to the congregation that Sep. 24th is the Family Flag Day. After that the pastor introduced us and talked about the meaning of the flag. He also said that he used the handmade bookmark in his Bible, which we had presented to him. Finally, he said, "Let's gather at the church with a present for one another on Sep. 24th to commemorate this day".
In this church the pastor prays for every church member who comes to the front at Sunday service. Pastor said to us, "Come to the front. I will pray for you." We hesitated for a while, because some member fell down after his prayer. He called us again, and we went to the front. Pastor said, "Raise your hands," and prayed as follows:
These sisters came from far-off Japan for their mission. May God guide them for their activity to be accepted widely! May all churches open the gates for them and welcome them! I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. We were so impressed by this prayer!
(9/14) The churches that we attended for Sunday service and Bible study became very close to us. We have a good relationship with the pastors and secretaries. When we request an appointment, they make one right away. In the old days they turned us away at the door, and we could not meet a pastor despite the fact that we visited the church many times. Even if they said that pastor would call later, very few called us. It is surprising that now we can go to the pastor's room freely!
To look for the good pastor whom God prepared, we struggled to meet many pastors. At that time the number was important. Now I think that was True Father's strategy. If we did not pursue the number, we could not find good pastors. There were many churches where pastors were absent. Once when we attend the evening service of a church, MC blamed us, "Moonies came here!" But, we could not be discouraged by the hardships. When we were in hardship, we concentrated on only giving flags, and waited for good opportunities.
For several days there were too many absent at the churches, and we were exhausted. We visited the last church that day, and that pastor was absent also. We got in our car and were about to leave the church. At that moment, a car was coming back to the church. We opened the car window and told the person, "We want to meet the pastor. When should we visit here?" He said, "I am a pastor. May I help you?" We jumped out of the car, and started to explain him. He opened the door of the church, and had us enter it. When we finished the usual explanation, he asked us, "What do you want me to do?" When we asked for the pastor's approval for the promotion of the Family Flag Day, the pastor made a proposal to give a presentation about the Family Flag Day at Sunday service. On Sunday of 9/17, we had an opportunity to speak about the importance of family, concerning to the Family Flag Day.
(9/17) The Family Flag Day is Sep. 24th. But, after all we commemorated the Family Flag Day a week before at two churches, and gave presentations. On that day, we handed out the cookies containing the Holy Wine to the whole congregation.
One of the two churches is very small and the pastor is a woman. She was very pleased with our meeting again. Members of the church listened to even our slow English. The pastor was impressed with our flag, cookies, and a rose bouquet, and she asked the congregation to give a donation to FFWP. After the service we received a donation of $25.
General affairs: Yamazaki
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