Matching & Blessing Workshop
Best foot forward: New Start. Next Steps.

Dear brothers and sisters,
We are very grateful for the international online Matching and Blessing education many of us could experience during two weekends of February. With over 80 participants from Europe, America and Korea, candidates and parents gathered together for internal guidance and sharing on what it means to put our “best foot forwards” in this essential area.

Thank you to all the guest speakers who contributed with their experiences and guidance: Mike and Fumiko Balcomb, Armando Lozano, Josephine Jensen and Javier Badosa. Together with sessions led by the ESGD, we could explore important aspects of how to navigate and elevate our matching tradition. What is commonly misunderstood in this task and journey? What is essential and what isn’t? How do we evaluate a potential candidate: what does a “good” match really mean? What are some fundamental aspects of personal preparation that can make all the difference? And how do we create space for God to guide us through the process as families?

Together, we could delve deeper and find some personal encouragement and direction for the steps ahead. We want to wish each candidate and parent who attended, all the best in your follow-up reflections and conversations. And may we continue to support each other and stay connected on this important journey.

Sincerely,
Patrick, Yebuny, Julius and Martin

The ESGD team is continuing their work in the Matching & Blessing area based on the foundation of the European Second Generation Blessing Department. It was founded in 1998 by elder European Blessed Children, has worked closely with the International Blessing Department, and successfully restarted the European BFD in 2007. We have worked with second generation throughout the last 20+ years, and want to carry on offering support for brothers and sisters through the different stages of their matching and Blessing journeys. We aspire to provide helpful and relevant education for Blessed Children, Jacob Children and their parents, centred on the Divine Principle and True Parents’ teachings. Good education can make a difference; we want to do our best to offer something from our shared experience in the field.