My Matching Day, March 27, 1987 - Absolute Faith! Absolute Trust!

My matching came toward the end of my 40-day workshop with Reverend Ahn and coincided with the Black Heung Jin Nim Pentecost.

The matching was on March 27, 1987. My matching day was so special and spiritually meaningful, filled with excitement, fear, challenges, and a test of faith!. I am one of those members who love to be close to the stage. Whenever I had the opportunity to see True Parents, I wouldn’t miss it for the world! on the evening before the matching day, I was among a small group of people who gathered at the door as early as 8:00 P.M. Members were coming for the matching worldwide. The New Yorker hotel was overbooked; even small conference rooms became bedrooms!

There were more than 3,000 candidates. by 5:00 P.M. of the previous day, the hotel lobby was jampacked with people, and the atmosphere was indescribable! There was so much excitement and joyful and happy smiling faces everywhere you turned. People were embracing and excitingly happy to see each other again on this joyful occasion. Knowing how huge the crowd would be for the matching, I quickly went up to my room, refreshed myself, put on my best suit, came down and joined the waiting crowd gathered at the main ballroom entrance, which was scheduled to open at 4:00 A.M.

Already at 2:00 A.M. there were a lot of people praying and spiritually preparing themselves for the matching. Church officials came and led the waiting crowd with holy songs and prayers. Finally, the exciting time everyone had been waiting for came! The doors to the ballroom opened! I found myself being carried by the force of the rushing crowd into the ballroom and found myself in the middle of the room in the sixth or seventh row from the stage - not in front, but close enough. I was sitting right on the

dividing edge of the walkway that separated brothers and sisters.

As the ballroom was filled to maximum capacity, the official preparation began. Church leaders led people with holy songs and prayers and meditation in unison. A few minutes before True Parents came into the room, a wave of spirit and emotion took over. I was praying and crying uncontrollably with tears running down my cheeks, pledging to God that I would accept any sister with whom Father Moon would match me. I was interrupted by a loud announcement that ordered everybody to stand up and ready themselves to welcome the True Parents and family. I can’t describe the overwhelming spiritual atmosphere and the excitement that filled the ballroom! it was so powerful one could almost fly with joy! At the height of the tension, True Parents walked in, and the crowd broke into the loudest cheer, clapping, whistling, and loudly welcoming the True Parents. After the welcoming Father gave a short 2-hour speech.

The Test of faith

After the speech, Father and Mother left the room to officiate at a small ceremony, held in another room. They returned in an hour to start the matching. We were told to spend this time in prayer and meditation. After the welcoming of our True Parents the second time, the matching ceremony began. As everyone sat down getting ready for the exciting yet fearful moment, for some unknown reason, I looked over from where I was sitting to the sisters’ side, and my eyes caught this particular sister; she was humongous! She was an Asian sister who looked like an Eskimo or Hawaiian, big and tall with a huge round face with plump cheeks, perhaps with health problems. While I was trying to deny what my eyes had just seen, a voice inside me said to me, “Even this one?” This was as a response to my pledge to God that I would accept any sister that True Father chose for me. I quickly replied, “Yes, even to this one!”

Now the real moment came. Father Moon, accompanied by his translator and a couple of other close disciples, started walking up and down the pathway. occasionally Father stopped here and there and talked to candidates, asking them their ages, level of education, and where they came from. Father started matching interracial couples first - black and white, Asians and Americans. Meanwhile, my eyes somehow were pin-pointed on this big sister with a tinge of fear inside me that I might be matched to her. Father changed from matching interracial couples and asked all those who were older than forty years to come to the front; suddenly the whole room shifted. People who were standing in the front moved to the back to make room for the older people of forty years or more. I didn’t change much because of where I was seated. I looked to check on the sister; I saw her move forward and stand in the second row straight across from me! it continued this way three or four times. Father kept on switching from matching interracial couples to young couples, to older couples.

Finally, my time came! Father Moon came to me and asked me a few questions, such as how old I was and where I came from. All the while I was answering him, Father Moon was looking deeply at me beyond my external appearance. After he talked to me, he walked to the sisters’ side, talking to different sisters here and there. it took a while before Father Moon matched any couple, so I thought maybe it was not my time yet. When Father Moon pulled a sister out from way back in the ballroom and walked with her toward the front, I had no idea to whom that girl would be matched. I couldn’t even see what she looked like because she was walking behind Father as he guided her by the shoulder. When Father got closer to me, he pushed the sister to me and with his other free hand, he pulled me by the shoulder and pushed us together. Suddenly, the crowd broke into a big roar and loud applause, and a few voices close to me shouted, “Good match! Good match!” The atmosphere was so intense; we didn’t even look at each other. We walked out of the ballroom behind one of Father’s disciples where we were guided to a seating area, just outside the ballroom door. Again as we walked to this special area, we were greeted by another round of applause from members gathered outside the ballroom. A beautiful angelic-looking lady by the name of Traudle Burn welcomed us with her bright smile. She was one of the assigned elder church sisters who were there to help counsel newly matched couples and help them if they had any issues.

As we walked out of the ballroom, I looked to my matching partner, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! This sister was so beautiful! I couldn’t believe God would match me with such a stunningly good-looking sister! I fell in love with her right at that spot! We were then taken to the registry desk and registered our names and the church centers we came from. We were given the number of our matching and had our picture taken by a professional photographer for the record. After that, we were told to go out together into the city and have a coffee. I tell you! My first walk with this stranger was awesome. I became totally intoxicated with love! holding hands and walking in the streets of New York, everywhere I looked, I saw love. We walked for about five or seven blocks, I can’t describe the feeling. I felt like a billionaire man walking tall next to this most gorgeous, most elegant lady. We came to a street corner on Fifth Avenue and saw a posh café. A nice table by the window was set there vacant as if it was set for us! We sat there and had coffee and talked for approximately two hours. My beautiful partner came up with a name that we call each other, “Providential Partners.” What a great day to remember!!! Thank you, True Parents!!!