TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

President Angelika Selle was invited to Moscow to speak at and help celebrate the 20th anniversary of WFWP there with Russian women, some of whom had attended the October "Turning Point" Assembly in Las Vegas. International President Lan Young Moon, representing WFWP co-founders Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and her late husband, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, conveyed the keynote address. Mrs. Selle and her daughter Tanya, who accompanied her (paying her own way), represented the United States and were able to create relationships of heart, connecting deeply to the soul of the Russian women there.

The 20th anniversary assembly hall at the Beta Hotel overflowed with women leaders, mothers, young women, and even men who came to celebrate, honor, and uplift the work of WFWP in Russia. Mrs. Olga Vakulinsky, chairwoman of Russia and a vice president of WFWP International, warmly introduced each speaker and then proceeded to acknowledge founding members of WFWP Russia as well as long-term members who had made a solid foundation for the organization.

In order to celebrate the occasion, it was a real treat to hear and see a professional balalaika player and dancer in her native Russian costume, followed by a more modern-day singer, a young lady who sang a moving song to all mothers in the audience, as it was Mother's Day in Russia that weekend.

Our international delegation was also invited for sightseeing and for meeting a famous woman artist, Helena, whose passion it is to revamp ancient Russian traditional clothes into modern and elegant ones for the sake of bringing Russian culture to the world through her exhibitions.

Most of all, what Mrs. Selle and Tanya experienced there as they socialized with Mrs. Vakulinsky's family and shared deeply with women via interpreters is that the Russian soul of mothers is still alive and well. They felt, as the work of WFWP continues, that they will be the "salt of the earth" to make a world of peace a reality.