CARP USA: Returning to My First Promise - Giving Tuesday — Jinil Fleischman

Returning to My First Promise CARP leaders go through a journey in manifesting a chapter on their college campuses. Many stories show that it is not just a matter of working out the logistics or practicalities of it, but it is one of overcoming spiritual and internal battles.

We invite you to read a candid and intimate testimony of CARP Princeton president and Mechanical Engineering major and Robotics minor at Princeton University, Yujin A.!

“Hands on my knees, I faced the altar before me, hot tears streaming down my face. I had just made a promise, no, a wager with the Most High.

‘If you let me get into college and go through it, I will offer my campus to you,’ I said.

‘I will establish a CARP chapter there if it’s the last thing I do,’ I offered my determination to Heaven.”

Read her story

We truly hope that hearing student stories like Yujin’s and Maria’s inspire you!

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We appreciate any and every contribution made to invest into our student leaders.

As always, thank you for your support!

. We had an amazing 2021 - 2022 schoo l year’ Chec k out our Annual Report here. And DONATE to support future act ivit ies ’

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November 21, 2022 student-spotlight Q. Search

It’s the middle of the night. You let out a deep sigh as a lonesome tear rolls down your cheek. Stories “Why did I even decide to do this 7 “ sniffling, you ask yourself.

You feel exhausted, worn out and daunted by the pressure of the lofty goal ahead of you. Can you do it? STUDENT STORIES Can you accomplish what your heart is calling you to do?

I understa nd . I’ve been there. We all have.

As I went through the j ourney of figuring out the c reation and official est ablishment o f a new ALUMNI CARP chapt er at Prin ceton University, my college, I had many such nights. STORIES

I asked myse lf why I had chosen to go about the task in the first p lace, questioned w hy I even let people know of my intention s, wondered w hethe r I could do it all before I graduated .. Archive I cou ld go on and o n about the barrage of negative thoughts and doubts that fi lled my mind and how “gru eling” the whole p rocess was but no. I choose not t o. Instead, I choose to share the va luable lessons that I learned alo ng the way and hopefully, hopefully, they w ill also help By Month you along your path.

Year in Review Returning to Your First Promise

Re me mber th e voices we were just talking about7 Those negative o nes that wou ldn’t relent 7 We ll, there’s a way to qu ie t them. To still them. To control them.

See friend, when that snake-like thought that seeks to stea l your solace comes slitherin g, don’t meet it head on just yet. Instead, pause, tu rn around and run back to your first prom ise.

And when you get there, remember your “why”.

As clea r as day…

Hands on my knees, I faced the altar before me, hot tears streaming down my face. I had just made a promise, no, a wager with the Most High.

“If you let me get into college and go through it, I will offer my campus to you,· I said.

“/ will establish a CARP chapter there if it’s the last thing I do,” I offered my determination to International H eaven. Trips It was a crazy idea, spurred on by the words of beloved Father Moon that I had read before:

-- “Take care of your university and /’II be responsible for the world.”

I felt he was talking directly to me, and so, like a filial child, I listened. Listened and hoped.

Some time later, I received an acceptance letter from Princeton University and I remembered my promise. Heaven had listened to my prayer and fulfilled its part. Now it was my turn to hold up my end of the bargain.

I would be traveling thousands of miles away from my home country Kenya to study in a foreign land. Truth was, I didn’t know a thing about what CARP looked like there and whether it even existed. But I had made a solemn vow and I intended to fulfill it if it was the last thing I did…

A nd so friend, whenever I wondered w hat to do; whether it was how to write a club const itutio n, where to get enoug h people to sign my club interest form , o r o n co ld autumn nights when I wal ked around t he ca mpus and prayed for it, I remembered my pro mise. And slowly, g radually, as I re-determined myself, that sly serpent backed away from me and up ahead I cou ld see t he substantial realiza ti o n of my goa l j ust a stone’s throw away. Yujin proudly holds her home country Kenya’s flag.

The Power of One

There’s an o ld Swahili adage t hat goes “Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa” which translates to “One finger cannot kill a louse… “

It is a saying that rem inds us of the power o f unity and t he need fo r co operat ion and collaboration for even the smallest things. Success, it suggest s, cannot be accomp lished a lone.

It’s a wo nderful teachi ng, certain ly. But sometimes on our j o urney, we feel alone beca use we simply just ARE.

What do we do in times like that? In t imes when we look around our campuses and it seems like no one e lse shares t he same valu es, mora l standards, passions, or ideals; t imes whe n we are bombarded w it h persecutio n fo r holding a d iffe rent set of beliefs; ti mes when frie nds shun us for being “strange”?

I can o nly te ll you wha t I d id.

I th oug ht of Fat her Moon w ho, at t he tender age of 16, received the incredible ca ll from our Lord Jesus to continue God’s mission t o b rin g World Peace.

I thou g ht of t he incredibly lonely pat h t hat he and his w ife, Mother Moon, wal ked as they fought to pry th is w o rld fro m the grip o f evi l a nd si n and restore it into a world of peace and goodness on behalf of God;

I thou g ht of all the trials and t ribu lations they encoun tered , the pe rsecution and the rid ic ule, the fa lse imprisonme nts and the slander, the m isunderstandings and t he criticisms, al l for uphold ing the Will and Word of God;

I thou g ht of t he countless v ict o ries t hey achieved in sp ite of it all, the love they demonstrate d towards eve n t he v ilest o f t heir opponents, the life-chang ing truth shared across the world throug h th e Divine Prin cip le, the numerous peace organ iza t ions fo rmed worldwide (includ ing CARPI), and al l the couples across t he g lobe they gave the Marriage Blessing t hrough their minist ry, and now wo rking to rea lize a v ision of world peace throug h ideal fami li es;

I th oug ht of all that and as I did, it dawned on me t hat had Father Moon at 16, regarded himself as but a lowly child in t he then war-depraved country of Korea who cou ld do nothing to change the world, then he woul d have never accomp lished all the great th ings that he d id, and you and I both would certainly not be hav ing this conversat ion.

A nd so friend, in rea lity, Heaven rea lly on ly ever calls one person because that is all Heaven needs.

Thoug h you are “alone,” as lo ng as you heed t he ca ll and pledge to re main loyal through every tri al, sincerely and passionate ly going forwa rd t o pave t he way of righteous ness for those t hat will come afte r you, all of H eaven w il l be w it h you.

The Way Prepared

I know w hat you might be thinking

That’s inspiring, yes. But the thing is, Heaven is “up there” while I’m “down here” in the physical world dealing with AcTuAI problems.

I he ar you.

H eaven w ill never set you before a pat h un prep ared. N EVER.

Whe n I started ou t. I thought I was the on ly o ne on campus w ith a Unificatio nist background who was familiar w ith t he t each ings of the D iv ine Principle. But somehow in the fi rst week of be ing at Princeton. I met Yoo Sh in Tana i , another young Unifi cati o n isl. We happe ned to be atte nd ing t he same small g ro u p orie ntat io n p rogram during o ur freshma n year o ri entat io n. The re w ere countless p rogra ms fo r th e N1,300 underg rads to choose fro m and somehow he an d I e nded up in t he same one.

Coincidence? I think NOT. More li ke Hea ven’s g uidance.

Toget her, Yoo Shin and I began working towa rds esta bli shi ng a CARP chapter on o ur camp us but before we knew it. COVID-19 b ro ke out in the spri ng semest er of o ur freshmen yea r and everyone got sent home.

H owever, even under those unfortunate c ircumstances, we ha ppene d to learn about a nd got to meet people from th e Unif ica ti o nist commun ity w ho e ithe r lived in Pri nceton and/or were alumni affi liated w it h th e university. We were surprised by how many t he re were and overwhelmed by t he ir desire to sup port us throug h o ur process.

Most, if not all, had exp erience w ith CA RP or lead ing sma ll groups o f fa it h. They shared incred ib le insights. adv ice. an d resources to help us o ut.

In the end, were we rea lly alo ne? N O. There were already peop le prepared to help us- and more and more cert ainly showed up along the way.

Frie nd , if I beg in recount ing t he nu mber of t imes we sat d own and t ho ug ht “wow. w e though t this was going to be impossible but somehow it all worked out. “ you and I w il l b e here fo r q uite a lo ng time.

Yujin giving a talk at a CARP Cafe event.

So to make a long sto ry sho rt, heed t he ca ll in your heart. And as you go f o rth, you w ill be in awe as to how much has already been p repared fo r you to succeed. Whe n you e ncounter difficul ty and are tempted to g ive up, reme mbe r your first pro mise and you w ill find w ithin you the stre ngt h to continue.

H ave a g reat o ne.

Tagged: student leadership, student spotlight, student, carp nj, CARP Life, power of the principle, live for the sake of others, carp princeton

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