Embracing Ancestral Backgrounds at the Hyojeong Youth Blessing Festival

Ryan: Hello! Good morning! We are a second- generation international blessed couple. I am Ryan Hokanson. I have an American father and a Korean mother. As a child, I lived in Alaska in the U.S. and I moved back and forth between Korea and the U.S. Now I am working at the Korean Youth and Students for Peace organization to create cultural and educational materials for future generations of young people. Nowadays, I am working busily and happily like a mini-broadcasting station.

Nok: My father is Thai and my mother is Japanese. I was born in and lived in Bangkok, Thailand. I came to Sun Moon University to study after receiving the Hyojeong Peace Academy Scholarship from True Parents. I am in my fourth year. I am also learning how to run a café as an intern at the World Youth Headquarters. My dream is to create an economic foundation and do business in the future to support members of the Thai movement and other people in need around the world.

Before I was blessed, seeing my own parents love for each other, I felt that two countries could become one in a family. I also prayed that I would meet someone with a background from two different countries and create a family in which those four countries become one.

Ryan: We were introduced to each other by our parents, and in February 2020 we attended True Parents’ Blessing and became a couple. My wife, who is the most beautiful woman in the world, always cares for me, tries to understand, always makes me laugh and makes me happy. We mainly communicate in Korean, but communication is difficult at times. In that case, I use a lot of body language and sound effects. Some such expressions my wife would sometimes use are “It’s ping, ping.” “It’s tong tong.” “It’s pyuha!” Yes, it is difficult to tell the exact meaning.

Conveying meaning is a little slow and sometimes inaccurate, but on the contrary, emotions seem to be transmitted more effectively. We try to understand each other by listening to each other’s hearts as well as our words. Along with Korean, we communicate through the language of love. In addition, we feel even more deeply the heart and love of Heavenly Parent and True Parents as I learn Thai and Japanese and my wife learns Korean and English and we embrace four countries and their languages.

Honestly, since we were blessed, we haven’t been able to go on our honeymoon yet, due both to our busy schedules and the coronavirus, but since receiving the Blessing, we feel that all the time we have spent together has been like a journey. I always look forward to the “newness” we find in each other that is like a honeymoon.

Nok: I cry sometimes. I am deeply grateful to Heavenly Parent and True Parents that I could meet my husband. To me, I feel that my husband is a gift from Heavenly Parent and True Parents.

Sometimes I ask Heavenly Parent in my heart, Can you give such a big gift to me I am lacking; how can I have found such a good husband I felt that because Heavenly Parent loves me a lot, I could meet Ryan. After receiving the Blessing with Ryan, I thought that I should no longer receive blessings from Heavenly Parent and True Parents, but that we should return joy of filial piety to Heavenly Parent and True Parents as their son and daughter.

Ryan: My wife’s phone number is recorded under the name “God” in my mobile phone. Through her, I can feel the love of our Heavenly Parent, and I feel that we can become one and resemble our Heavenly Parent. After receiving the Blessing, my dream has been to go to Thailand to introduce True Parents’ language, Korean, to people there and to spread the culture of true love.

Nok: Before the Blessing, I always had conversations with Heavenly Parent, but only in my heart. Now I am blessed and feel Ryan is my personal God who always listens to me and always comforts me. The lyrics of the song “First Love” express that we are each other’s God, and we would like to sing this for you here.