A new format was used for the Reps meeting this year and everyone loved it. We feasted on scrumptious treats (Asparagus Souffle, Blueberry/Ginger scones…need I say more?) baked by Clive Messenger (Clive was to be found in the Prana kitchen for three days, baking hundreds of goodies) before sitting down to hear Vincent DuPont talk about all the new exciting events for MSIA/PTS Representatives.

Vincent, looking fabulous in a snazzy tie, gave an update of some MSIA news. We have more distance learning available than ever before with new email and on-line classes, mostly developed by Joan Shea. Paul Kaye has created a new class called, “Momentum: Letting Love Lead” that is being offered in Argentina, England and Spain, and is available upon request. And we can send letters to J-R and John by email now!

Angel Gibson filled us in on how to get J-R and John’s books into people’s hands through bookstores. Why? Another way to reach out with the Traveler’s energy and message of loving and Soul transcendence. Norma Albanese, a rep in Knoxville, Tennessee, showed a video she had created on how to start a Book Club in your local bookstore. Her enthusiasm is high, and she has been welcomed into her local Borders with a monthly Book Club where she also shows videos and all attendees get free coffee from the store’s coffee shop as they “tune in.”

Valerie Bishop and Vincent Dupont unveiled the amazing new Expansion Program that has us all thrilled. All the MSIA marketing materials have been redone and are gorgeous! People who first inquire will receive a free book, Journey of a Soul. If their interest continues, they receive a free new tape by John Morton called the “Sacred Sanctuary” (you can also purchase this meditation for yourself). And if they still want more, they can get their first year of discourses for only $50, returnable if they decide that Discourses are not for them after all. Or they can get a catalog of intro materials that is being created, with a coupon toward their first purchase. Read the article in the July/August New Day Herald for more information, but take my word for it, this program is what we have all been waiting for! Vincent calls it the “Take Our Light Out From Under the Bushel Program” and that is a good description. Thanks thanks thanks to Valerie, David Sand, Shelley Noble, Margalit Ward, and all the people who put so much into this phenomenal endeavor.

If that weren’t enough…Vincent then shared a video clip from Nigeria and we heard from our Nigerian rep, John Chike Onyida, who went to enormous efforts, including sleeping two nights in the airport, to leave Nigeria to attend Conference. It was a warm and wonderful story that motivated all of us to serve the Travelers even more. John Chike shared this poem with us to conclude his story:

Before I found you, J-R
Life was un-eventful, meaningless and without purpose.
Commonplace, lack-lustre and drab it was,
And nothing seemed to be working
J-R before I found you!

Before I found you J-R
I would often go off to a quiet
Secluded place to ponder on my existence
And my life’s purpose, I would cry and
Ask God “Oh why were these things so off beat…why?”
As I wished upon a star in the sky.

Before I found you J-R
Through many churches and organizations
I searched for my life’s purpose.
Through books and diverse sources I searched.
In temples, in objects of my desire
Animate and inanimate—all but in vain.

J-R before I found you
I sought desperately for self-realization,
In ancient and modern transcendental practices,
As the recommendations came and as my
Insatiate spirit continued to explore…

Then the entire tumult and agitation
Came to a calm resolution J-R,
When I found you.
Was it God’s grace given in?
Was it my determination to give some
Meaning to my life?
Was it my unspoken destiny
Bringing me to a grand finale?

I did not have any clear answers J-R
Not until I found you!
And now my life is so full of bliss.
Joy and peace my heart knows beyond
Measure, beyond my imagination,
Beyond my emotions, beyond my mind.

Now that I found you J-R
Nothing out there has changed.
The challenges of this world, the slings
And arrows of outrageous fortune
I still and must confront.
But through them I wade effortlessly
Under the Traveler’s divine guidance, protection
And love, now that I found you.

…Now that I found you J-R
Life is meaningful and purposeful
I am in the strong arms of a true friend
And lover who accepts, nurtures and cares
For me just the way I am.
Who guides me gently beyond my self-imposed
Limitations into the limitless realms of light.

Now that I found you J-R
I walk around in sheer awe at this glorious
Gift of soul transcendence extended
To me in this dispensation; that I am
Heir to, that all of us are heir to.

An extremely rare opportunity indeed
I have, to find in you a true friend and wayshower!
I am truly home J-R, now that I have found you.

And then there was JOHN…

John Morton took the stage after John Chike’s emotional story; I heard John M. say that he was awash in emotions and glad to be here. John took sharings from the reps and, for me, it was the most beautiful I’d ever seen him.

This rep meeting was incredibly powerful and I felt the blessings I received at this meeting were amazing. I’m so proud of our Church and I’m sure that the hundreds of Reps in attendance felt the same way.