The 43 Couples'
Blessing was actually done in three parts, the first in the US at
Upshur House, Washington DC, then in Europe (Essen) and finally in
Japan. This was the first blessing on non-Korean members, and
was an international extension of the 430 Couples' Blessing.
The American portion of the blessing was on
February 28, 1969, with 13 American couples--including Edwin and Marie
Ang, Wesley and Gladys Samuels, and George and Diane Fernsler.
Eight couples were blessed in Germany on March 28, 1969--Reiner and
Barbara Vincenz, Teddy and Pauline Verheyen, the Martin Porters, Paul
and Christal Werner, Peter and Gertrude Koch, the Johann Van der Stoks,
the Kunkels, and Dennis and Doris Orme. Twenty-two Japanese
couples were blessed on May 1, 1969, in Japan. Ken Sudo's and
Takeru Kamiyama's couples were part of that blessing. Later
Michael Runyon officially joined the ranks of the 43 couples, actually
the Japanese portion, when he was reblessed to Chizuko whose Japanese
43 couple husband had left the church.
At the time of the blessing, the American
couples considered the match up of the number with the number of the
American founding colonies.
(Contributed by George
Fernsler, with additional information from Reiner Vincenz)
