by Nadiah Metaweh-Minneapolis, MN
In Region 6 we seem to have a lot of sisters who are 40 or older and are not blessed yet. For that reason a few of us have decided to advertise in the personals of the state's larger newspapers to find brothers whom Heaven has prepared for our Blessing or our sister's Blessing:
40 year old wants to talk with kind man for possible future relationship.
The paper supplies us with a voice mail (which helps eliminate the problem of people that may want to hurt you). If we check our messages once a week, this whole plan doesn't cost a penny!
Andy and Laurie Shoultz from the Iowa Unification Center have been especially successful finding and helping several couples prepare for the upcoming Blessing. When asked what they said to these people, they said that in a couple of cases, there was one person of a couple who was a former member and had a desire to be considered for the Blessing. As with all people they meet, they took care of them, talked on the phone, talked after Sunday Service, visited their homes, watched Divine Principle video tapes (Alan Feldsott's CARP series is a favorite of Andy and Laurie's) and showed genuine interest and concern for their well-being. As a result, people want to know how they can go to the Blessing and how to prepare themselves. Continuing education included 1 and 2-day workshops, and a weekend Blessing workshop at the regional headquarters.
Former Members
Former members know Divine Principle and know about True Parents. And, they never forgot. With very few exceptions, former members that we've talked with want to know what's happening. What has the movement been up to the past 10 years, or 20 years? They want to know what books and tapes are available. Most are 40 and older, some have spouses and/or children.
One way that was successful for meeting former members during Mother's tour was by placing ads in spiritual newspapers and contacting Chambers of Commerce and getting the names of volunteer organizations. This put us in touch with spiritual people and conscientious people.
In an effort to reach those brothers and sisters with whom we worked side by side, those we miss and those we wonder about-how they're doing, what they've done in their lives, a trio of us sent out Mother's speeches to 1000 people.
First we went through old notebooks and searched our memories for those unforgettable names and faces of those we cared about many years ago. When we had those names, we fed them into a computer with a CD ROM telephone list program. The computer gave us a list of all the people in the US with that name, or, if we narrowed it to a region or state or city, it would give us that list.
Then, we sent a cover letter similar to the following along with Mother's speech. It didn't matter that there was an average of 9 people for each name. We knew that probably only one of those 9 was or is a Unification Church member. Anyway . . . everyone would like to read Mother's speech, and now they got the chance.
Dear (name),
Don't know if you remember me. We spent time together in the mid-70s. I recently found out some things I thought you might be interested in, so I'm sending you a copy of Mrs. Moon's speech.
For the last 20 years I've (done this and that and this and that). There's much more to tell, but I'll wait 'til you get in touch-if and when you do, please give clue as to what you've been up to these last couple of decades!
My name, address, phone
I also found out that there'll be a Blessing of Eternal Marriage on August 15, 1995. If you and your "better half" are interested, you should contact someone soon!
Sincerely,
(signature)
Responses came from former members to whom we've been sending books, video and audio tapes. If they're nearby we meet, talk . . .
Responses also came from people who never heard of the Unification Church, but since they happened to have the same name as a member, they received Mother's speech and wondered where we knew them from. They have also received books and tapes and are now studying Divine Principle.
It's been a very good way to renew old friendships and create new ones.
Farmer Project
Since agriculture is a major industry in this region, we quickly discovered that the rural areas have a shortage of women. You may recall publicity last summer which spotlighted the little town of Herman, MN, population 485. That town has around 90 bachelors and only 10 or 12 women who are eligible to marry.
As with most rural communities-and this included not only the Midwest, but the whole country, and, if you talk with people from other countries, it's a problem all over the world-the women in the community finish school and want to go where the jobs are, which is usually the larger cities. Many men stay on the family farm and take over for Dad or Grandpa. The result is that there are very few women who stay in small towns and few opportunities for the men to meet women.
These men are generally honest, hard-working and pure-hearted people. They have been raised with family all around them, but end up living alone.
We know there are many hardworking, wonderful Japanese and Philippine sisters (and many others) who could be matched with these fine men. So . . . we decided to put these ads in small town and country newspapers:
Single farmers: are you too busy or don't have the opportunity to find that special someone to spend your life with? Your life-long companion and helpmate? Call or write to (address and phone #) for information and requirements.
Couples: Do you want to renew your wedding vows? Call or write to (address and phone #) for information and requirements. Of course, we have to be prepared for those who respond, so we're putting together video and audio tapes and written material to send or give them.