The 40th Anniversary of the Matching the First Members behind the Iron Curtain

On the 13th June, 1981 True Parents visited Camberg; many European members were matched at that time. A special group among the matching candidates were members of communist Czechoslovakia who followed True Parents secretly. They could not attend in person and had sent their pictures and data with the help of some Austrian members.

Peter Koch who was responsible for this mission at that time, believed that “also the members behind the Iron curtain should receive the Blessing.” In March 1981 he sent one sister to ask us if we would like to receive the Blessing. She could meet our members-only one by one in some secret flat in Bratislava. Actually, we were very surprised to hear that we had a chance to receive the Blessing. Our concept was that we can’t receive the Blessing before reaching individual perfection (1st Blessing). We had about 30 minutes time to decide.

Two months later this sister came again and asked for our pictures. We gave her the pictures that were available; they were not of good quality. These pictures were given to True Parents during the matching in Camberg, Germany. One German sister had the task to keep their application separate from others because nobody should know about these members behind the iron curtain. Then True Parents matched three Slovak couples and one Slovak-Austrian couple.

One and half months later Rev. Peter Koch came to our secret garden in the city of Brno. In a small hut, he told us the results of the matching and officiated the Holy wine ceremony and Indemnity stick ceremonies. That happened on the 1st August 1981.

In order to commemorate our matching 40 years ago, all couples met in the historical place on Sunday, 13th June 2021. It was so beautiful to meet again and remember the special occasion and historical time.

In our prayers, we offered gratitude to Heavenly Parent saying that we are still on the way to the ideal standard that True Parents have set.

Afterwards, we had lunch in a nice restaurant in Brno. We shared stories from the past and remembered our enthusiasm in the early years. The last programme was a boat trip to the Brno reservoir. A sunny day made it a perfect experience.

We are grateful to Heavenly Parent and True Parents for their love and care. We would like to offer this commemorative meeting full of joy and hope to our Heavenly Parent and True Parents.