National Messiah List (April 2002)

Dear respectful NM’s families,

I hope you all had a great Easter wherever you where. With the new NM list which was introduced to us at Easter time I was thinking and reflecting a little bit, and please allow me to share my thoughts with all of you.

When the NM list started some years ago I think we all on the list got very inspired and shared our lives, many struggles and other issues as well. Once this list started I felt we all were a big family of NM’s. I always felt it is my “personal NM list” in which I wanted to contribute and serve.
I guess sometime I succeeded and other time I did not. Sorry for the mail which were sometime in your eyes not approbiate. Once Ralph said: NM’s is new to all of us which and was newer pioneered before, and therefore all those challenges occur to us.

I was a 21 year foreign missionary and in 1975 I left Germany at age23, and I felt like Abraham leaving his nation and everything else behind in order to serve God and True Parents. I wished during this time we could had had the Internet. It would have helped so many foreign missionary literally to survive.
How lucky we are now to have the Internet in NM providence. We had not the Internet but at least two things the foreign missionary had, was Heavenly Father and True Parents.
I felt that same feeling when I picked up the NM ship for the Philippines in 1996.

There were times I also struggled to give up and resign as NM from the Philippines. My wife encouraged me always not to do so. Since last year I felt the NM’s list and it’s members (who have not contributed yet) are not responding enough to make this list worth while. I always felt this list is different from all the other lists I know inour movement. Sorry to say, in one way I expected more participation from all of us. Unfortunately, I noticed always the same NM's, even thought we were 150l ist members.

One reason for not writing might be that most NM are not in the countryyet and why to bother. But why not to share what everybody else is doing in his native country? Nothing wrong if you are not in your mission country. I’m the same. I live and work in Austria, but I’m not in the Philippines yet. I will make the decision when I shall go to the Philippines and nobodyelse. I know I love the Philippines and if I have the money I will go.

Sometime I wished we had more "chats" on other topics, not just NM shipissues to make this list more “light” and other NM listmembers can contribute too. (Sorry when I say this)I could not agree when some month ago a reminder arrived to the list which said many e-mails are personal messages which are of no interest or concern for the public. It isabsolutely right, but I noticed since then mails were less written to the list.
I enjoy also the light issues-non public onces. I like the”Ucafe Forum (before it was Damian Anderson list) It is so alive!!! I hope our list comes to this level again soon.

Whatever reason for not contributing, but for the sake of the “NM’s family group” and keeping the list alive we should have contributed more. This is the way I think.Nothing had changed much only Jonathan added some more feature and possibilities to the new NM list, but the same principle stays, i.e. only for NM’ families. There must be a reason why the list changed a bit. Sometime I wished Peter Kim or Hyun Jin Nim are on the list to assist us as our elder bothers.

Now I think does Jonathan give us another chance for the list? He isthe list master and it takes time and energy to serve this list. That why I’m very grateful to Jonathan.
Let’s give him a big hand…….

I like to appeal to those NM’ families who newer wrote anything to the list. Please don’t consider this list as a normal list. It is your list too!! And much of the NM future lies with you in this list. Either we increase or decrease together in the NM providence. That’s why I feelthis list is very important and allow me to say, our heavenly Father used Jonathan to create the NM list.

I hope nobody is offended by my letter. I’m just worried if the list doesn’t push up again perhaps in a year or less Jonathan will stop theNM list, and with it we have no more a Forum which has the power and ability to unite all NM's families in order to serve God and True Parents.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,
Wolfgang Schawaller
NM Philippines