NEW BEGINNINGS IN DENVER
BECOMING LEADERS OF THE HEART
It was a great blessing for the Mile High City to welcome and host our national president of WFWP USA, Angelika Selle. It was her first visit to Denver and she arrived on Wednesday afternoon, the 28th of September and departed on Friday the 30th at noon. It was quite a whirlwind stay for her as we had two public events for her to address, a core team meeting, and various interpersonal sharing over breakfast and tea. Angelika also managed to squeeze in a short but significant visit with her niece who lives here.
Denver has had an active WFWP chapter since its inception in 1992. It has gone through many changes, stages and growth over the years. The sisters have good contacts that have stayed with our organization. However, there has been a bit of a lull in WFWP activities of late, and Angelika's visit helped to revitalize and refocus our Colorado chapter.
Our Wednesday evening program began with a sit-down dinner. We created a Parisian cafe theme complete with French cuisine, blue and white table cloths, round cafe tables, candlelight, posters on the walls depicting scenes of France and a handwritten menu in French. There were 33 people present of various ages and backgrounds. We had two men present, our national webmaster Michael Hentrich, Jr. and his father Rev. Michael Hentrich, the Denver state leader. Rev. Hentrich is 100% behind WFWP. He created the banner for our program, did all the technical set-up, and drove Angelika to and from the airport.
Angelika shared about WFWP's activities, history, vision, goals and spiritual underpinnings in a sincere and impassioned manner. She encouraged us to be leaders of the heart, to let go of our egos and to tap into the feminine side of God. She said it was the time for young women to step into leadership roles and for all of us to work together inspired by a higher purpose.
Over a delicious dessert of pears and vanilla ice cream, drizzled with chocolate, our lovely Japanese Kodan sisters entertained us with a beautiful Japanese song. And from the group picture of the event, you can see that everyone left the event in high spirits.
WFWP USA President Angelika Selle
Our breakfast program the next day was more down home and relaxed. The breakfast table was a tad quiet because we were all immersed in the heavenly task of savoring each bite of warm crepe that was filled with whipped cream and Nutella. We were all gathered at Catherine Ichinohe's home and she herself whisked together and created each and every delectable crepe for us. The atmosphere was warm and cozy. We had four guests: a new member of the Unification Church who is a psychologist in her 30's, a college student who has done medical service work in India and is putting together a "Portraits of Peace" photography show, a longtime member of WFWP who is a grant writer, and Miss Falls who was so inspired by the dinner program she wanted to come to our breakfast program.
The guests were excited by the depth and breadth of WFWP. They were interested in knowing how they could be involved. Both of our programs helped to reinforce the need for consistent monthly gatherings and programs on our local level. We are also discussing how to educate our longtime contacts and to bring them to a new plane of understanding.
Denver group photo
We are grateful to Angelika whom God used to pour forth a flood of insight, foresight, and personal testimony that encouraged us to deepen our relationship with Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother as well as True Parents and Jesus. And she helped us realize that she too has had personal struggles that she has persevered through and emerged from victorious, with a lot of painful heart stretching. And she is still facing many challenges in her life as a national leader, mother and sister. As we all are. We were struck by her foresight that an important role of WFWP is to expand the foundation of women who can support True Mother when she takes the leadership role in the future.