The Words of the Irwin Family
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The Words of the Irwin Family |
I just came back from Las Vegas where I was involved with distributing True Father's autobiography in Spanish. I and our team players, Jack Young and Bill Bechtel, had the greatest time and I felt an urgent desire to give a report about the experience.
When the call came to distribute True Father's autobiography in Spanish, my husband and I decided that I would go, since I speak some Spanish. So far we had come to nearly every mayor providential event
in Las Vegas and as most of our members who have participated; we had only a tourist impression of this city -- the life revolving around the casinos. I had no idea what I was about to experience.
Thanks to the excellent connections of Juan Carlos Bellido, a Latino Supermarket allowed us to set up a table and distribute books right outside the main door. That's where I made the incredible discovery of "the other side" of Las Vegas.
During four days I was there I saw family after family come in and out the market. These were Latino parents, many of them with three to four children -- decent, normal families. I was so taken aback; I did not know that the city of Las Vegas was so full of these beautiful people.
My second surprise came when I started to hand out the autobiographies. People actually stopped and listened! They were curious to get a free book and many reacted with delight when they heard it contained valuable lessons from a great man that we could also apply in our lives. Many people asked, "Who is this person on the front cover?" And they thanked me over and over for the book. They were especially happy that it was in Spanish.
I asked everyone who seemed to be interested if they like reading books – I wanted to be sure those who got it would really read it. My experience living in Nicaragua was that most people there did not read much. But in Las Vegas, the Latino people reacted very positively about reading. Some said they were always looking for good books. I heard over and over, "Sure, I like reading, I'd like to have this book!"
I was amazed by the people who had already received the book and told me their story. In one instance there was a man who could not decide if he should take the book or not, a women standing next to us turned around and said, "Take it, it's a wonderful book, you will like it!" Another lady I stopped said, "I'm reading it right now, I was amused how stubborn the author was as a little boy." Another person was amazed how True Father had met and talked to Gorbachev. An Armenian gentleman turned the book around and proudly showed me how his former president had given a comment on the book cover.
A student had seen the book at a doctor's office and was happy that he could get his own copy now. Many people had received the book in English and where glad that they could now have one in Spanish -- they would be able to understand more of the content. One man who had picked up his book the previous day came over and said that after reading the first twenty pages he was so elated that he wanted a few more copies to give to his friends. A bright looking young guy confessed that he had just come out of prison that morning and needed something to orient himself. A mother with small children heard from her neighbor how good the book was and gladly accepted one. I often recommended parents to read it to their children.
Our team had decided to have no preconceived notions towards anyone and offered it to everyone we saw. To my amazement people who I never expected, accepted the book and thanked me.
Such interaction with people went on throughout the four days I was there. It was a totally humbling experience. The books were flying out of our hands. Between the two of us working at the market, we gave away 15 to 17 boxes of books per day at that spot. We perceived the ardent thirst for true values in people's hearts. I was just fighting back my tears. Gratitude to our True Parents gushed constantly through my heart. I am convinced that whoever takes and reads the book will have a changed mind forever.
I was very much aware that I stood on the foundation of so many hard working brothers and sisters who previously had distributed books, walking miles and miles under the hot sun from store to store and house to house. I felt we were reaping the fruit of their dedicated effort. I hope that many of our members can still come to Las Vegas and participate in this last leg to quickly fulfill the goal of distributing the Spanish copies of True Father's autobiography. ---
Marianne Irwin, San Francisco Bay Area