Master’s Blessings Arrive in America’s Last Frontier

Alaska is called the last frontier. This is also true in a spiritual sense, for until recently there had been no Alternative Living flyer distribution done there. After learning of this, a working team was formed by several initiates from the USA and Formosa to go there and share Master’s teachings.

After planning to travel the following week, the team quickly began collecting information about Alaska in order to make the trip as successful as possible. They found that there would be a July 4th parade and a festival in Anchorage, the biggest city in Alaska, which also contains about half its population. They also arranged to have a booth in the street fair that was part of holiday festivities and were able to secure space for a video seminar in the local library the next Sunday, July 9.

Since Alaska is such a large state (the largest in the US), initiates also researched the locations of other places to distribute flyers in Alaska, such as libraries, health food stores, Yoga centers, etc., and mapped out driving directions. For those places that initiates could not visit, about 30 municipal libraries were selected where they would mail materials about Master’s teaching. Finally, to facilitate flyer distribution, the flyers were ‘packaged’ together with seminar pamphlets and TV program postcards so they could be handed out easily.

Initiates from nearby states who were not able to join the working team to go to Alaska provided help by obtaining large quantities of the Alternative Living flyers and vegetarian food samples, designing and printing the vegetarian recipes, helping pack materials that needed to be brought to Alaska and providing financial support to help cover expenses.

After arriving in Anchorage, team members began immediately distributing the Alternative Living flyers at the 4th of July celebration in the downtown park where it was being held. After working late into the evening, they went out again after a brief rest to continue the distribution amidst a midnight fireworks display. What a surprise to see the bright colors of fireworks exploding against the backdrop of a gray sky! Alaska is also known as the Land of the Midnight Sun, and the sky indeed did not darken completely during the entire week initiates were there.

The following day, initiates set up their booth at the street market fair they had learned of before. Amidst vendors selling Alaskan specialties, team members eagerly passed out flyers and talked to passersby. The booth was cheerfully decorated with enlarged versions of friendly animal images from the Alternative Living flyer, so the chicken, pig and dolphin also provided life-promoting messages. A giant purple eggplant and an oversized red strawberry made of fabric framed the ends of a large Alternative Living sign, and Master’s loving gaze from the center of the stand blessed one and all.

Fellow vegetarians seemed especially appreciative to receive Master’s message of compassionate living. One woman who took a flyer commented, “This is very important work.” Initiates also had very good experiences in offering soy meat and “soy jerky” samples at the outdoor market. It was rewarding to see the surprise and pleasure on people’s faces when they tried these meat alternatives.

While doing their work, initiates wore the Association’s yellow vests and caps. The bright yellow color of the uniform was cheery and eye-catching. As people looked, many tried to read the words on vests and hats. In one supermarket, an employee was so taken that he approached the initiate who was buying supplies to comment on the SM logo. “What is it for?” he asked. “It is so beautiful.”

The uniforms also helped people accept information. One initiate who was wearing her vest coincidentally found herself next to a tour bus whose passengers were unloading. As they stepped down, she greeted them and began handing out flyers. She was able to repeat this with several buses, thus reaching many people in a short time. Another time an initiate was distributing flyers in front of the entrance to the market fair. Visitors, thinking from her attire that perhaps that she was handing out some required materials, lined up to receive the flyers, one by one. Initiates were impressed by the power of the yellow vest and hat!

One initiate had great success dressing up in a piglet costume and walking around the crowded venues. Upon seeing the waving pig, many small children spontaneously rushed up to give it a hug. Adults, too, could not help but smile as they saw the pig and its timely message: “Save Our Lives!” While the children hugged the friendly pig, other initiates chatted with the children’s parents in a very natural and easy manner about the benefits of the vegetarian diet.

After doing general flyer distribution and participating in the Anchorage street fair, initiates wished to reach the more remote areas of Alaska and split into two teams. One group headed north to the city of Fairbanks, while another team went south to visit Homer and Seward.

The drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks takes about eight hours, going past the tallest peak in North America, Mt. McKinley. The drive from Anchorage to Homer takes about six hours. As Alaska’s most traveled scenic byway, it has beautiful views of the lush Kenai Mountains, saltwater bays, jagged ridges and green alpine meadows.

Along the way, members of each team stopped at a number of small towns to find the local libraries and other public places where they offered some of Master’s books and DVDs and left the flyers. Upon arriving at their respective destinations, they distributed flyers to shops, public libraries, senior centers and youth centers in each city. One innovative technique they used was to put the flyers in pockets made of envelopes and inscribe them with the words “Free, Please Take One” so that people would know they were available. The Fairbanks team also went to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, handing out and posting there so that the students would have a chance to benefit from Master’s message.

At the Fairbanks Information Center, initiates got an opportunity to list the Association’s name as a member of the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau. That way, flyers can be placed in the display area of the Center all year round. An additional benefit of membership is the publishing of a brief description of the Association’s name and contact information (website, phone number and mailing address) in the 2007 Fairbanks Travel Guide. This same information is also posted on the Fairbanks web site. The travel guide is quite popular, with a distribution throughout the state of Alaska as well as many other states. Initiates even saw them when they landed at the Anchorage airport!

After returning from Fairbanks and Homer, initiates prepared for the video seminar that was arranged to take place on Sunday, July 9. With Master’s blessing, the seminar was very successful. The audience expressed their deep appreciation for Master’s loving message and most people stayed to learn the Convenient Method.

Altogether, initiates distributed approximately 25,000 Alternative Living flyers, accompanied by several thousand vegetarian recipes, seminar flyers and postcards for Master’s TV program. They also gave hundreds of sample booklets and “The Real Heroes” DVDs.

Alaska is a state endowed with astonishing natural beauty. Initiates felt their trip was the most wonderful journey they ever had, with God’s love and care being shown in every detail. They left Alaska feeling deeply thankful to our beloved Master for the opportunity to share God’s message of compassionate living in this remarkable land.