Memorial Day Weekend, twenty participants ages 15-22, nine young adult staff, plus parents gathered at the Atlanta Family Church to learn about and discuss preparing for their future matching and Blessing. Organized by Mrs. Kimbembi Koko with the support of Mrs. Myrna Lapres, the Level 1 “Introduction to the Blessing” workshop was attended by local families, as well as families from North Carolina and Florida.
Mrs. Debby Gullery made the presentations interesting, interactive and thought-provoking. She handled challenging topics and questions from the participants with patience and clarity.
This Blessing workshop material is designed for young people who are 16 years and older who want to understand and prepare for the matching and Blessing in the Unificationist tradition. It emphasizes becoming the right person before trying to find the right person. We compare infatuation with true love, dating with matching, and the ideal of the Blessing with traditional marriage. Personality tests and other self-evaluations are introduced, and participants are encouraged to make a plan for personal growth and relationship preparation.
Several highlights for the participants included: hearing the testimonies of group leaders Miambi Koko and Tae Joon Mutandwa about how they prepared for the matching process and receiving the Marriage Blessing in August 2018, and the separate gender discussions during which each group had a chance to share and get questions answered.
Everyone was impressed with the wealth of knowledge and resources that are available to all of us on the Blessing & Family Ministry website. A great takeaway for the parents was to purchase/read through the Family Matching Handbook together with their teenagers and young adults. This gives the opportunity to learn and discuss together.
In spite of the record-high temperatures, the weekend was an awesome experience of renewing old connections, making new friends and having a lot of new information to digest and put into practice.
