CARP USA: The Joy of Learning to Love - Giving Tuesday — Jinil Fleischman

Espina Lupili is a student at Montgomery College in Maryland, majoring in Biological Science. Two years ago, she found herself going through the motions of life, feeling stuck in a purposeless, endless cycle. That would all change when she met some missionaries from America who served her home country of Zambia. They inspired her to step out in faith, come to America as an international student, and join CARP.

As a leader of CARP DMV, she experienced the joy of loving others, of going beyond yourself to care about others. It’s only natural to give to others when you have been given so much.

“Why did I decide to join CARP? It’s just one simple thing actually: love. Even if I try to think of all the logical reasons I could possibly be doing this, none are valid or make sense. Only love, that’s the only possible reason. It was the experience of love that brought me to CARP.”

Read her story

CARP touches students like Espina every day thanks to your support. As we enter our final months of 2023, we hope to make an even bigger impact in 2024.

If you’d like to be part of CARP’s efforts in reaching students like Espina, consider donating today on Giving Tuesday. All your contributions go back to our chapters and students, and will support the work of CARP in 2024.

As always, thank you for your support!

November 23, 2023 student-spotlight Q. Search

STUDENT STORIES

ALUMNI STORIES

Contributed by Espina Lupili, from OMV CARP Year in Review If someone had told me two years ago th at I would trave l thousands of miles away and leave my ho me - the place w here I g rew up, where I lea rnt everyth ing I kn ow today, and w he re all my friends and family were - I would have never believed them. And yet, that is w hat happened. In Decemb er 2022, I le ft my home in Zamb ia to come to the United St ates and join the DMV (D C, Mary land, and Virg inia) CARP c hapter. I hope I ca n return home one day, b ut it will p robab ly not be the same. I w ill always miss my old life : my friends and family, and everything I left behind .

Why did I decide to j oin CARP? When I left, my f athe r looked me in the eye and sa id, “Even if we have to eat one meal per day just for you t o fi nd w hat you ‘re looking fo r, we’ll g ladly do it.” Why did I accept his word s? Why did I let my brother sacrifice his tuitio n t o help me pay f or my v isa7 Why did I leave w hile my mother lay on a hospital bed, not knowing if I w ill ever see her again? Why did I leave the children from my churc h that I love so much w ithout even saying good bye? Why choose t o be anywhere e lse but home?

It ‘s just one simp le thing actually: love. Even if I try to think of all the logica l reasons I could possibly be doi ng this, none are va lid or make sense. Only love, that’s the on ly poss ible reason. It was the experience o f love that b roug ht me to CARP.

I had taken a year off aft er high school, b ut ab out one month in I found myself tired of wa king up, doing chores, eating breakfa st, going t o sleep again til l lunch, eating lunch, dilly da lly ing fo r th e rest of the day th en going to sleep, o nly to have it all repeat the next day. I was stuck in a p urposeless, unfu lfilling cycle. I wanted to do something , anything re ally. Every night before going to sleep, I wou ld get down on my knees on the sid e of my bed and p ray. I told God I’m tired o f liv ing a life tha t feels li ke it has no pu rpose. Then slowly, doors started to o pe n. I got out of my comfort zone and made fr ie nds at church. Wi th strong encourageme nt, I volunteered International as a singe r for the p ra ise team, and it made me happy to offer this small act of serv ice. Trips O ne day, I met volunteers fro m Generation Peace Academy w ho ca me t o my country as

-- miss ionari es, and again, the opportunity t o go o ut of my comfo rt zone was offered to me , this time to join them in th eir act iv ities. I asked myself, “Why wou ld they come tho usands o f miles to a p lace they don’t kn ow j ust to volunteer 7 “ I d idn’t understand but they stil l seemed so happy. and I was amazed that they had so much love in th eir hea rts that they wanted to share, even with people th ey just met and d idn’t really know well. “Jo in the miss io naries7 ! I d on’t know about all that,” I thought. “ But isn’t that wha t I have been praying for this w hole time, to find a purpose?” So I said, “Yes.” I cou ldn’t b elieve I said yes. I d idn’t think c ould d o it. But after so me time, I was thriving. I was th e happiest I had ever been. I noticed it, the people around me noticed it and it was amaz ing ’ And what was I doing? Simply sharing God’s love. I rea lized I had been stuck in my own head and w hen I stepped o ut of my own though ts fo r a moment, I saw everything God gave me, all this love that I could s hare’

Espina with several volunteers from Generation Peace Academy

The day was approach ing w he n my new friends would go back to America; sadness started to c re ep into t he b ack o f my mind , as well as the fear that I would fall back into a cyc le of purposeless liv ing. But unexpected ly, their t ea m leader - who had been a member of DMV CARP - inv ite d me to come w ith th em to America and j oin CARP. I had sa id yes to a lot o f things b ut th is? I wasn’t sure at all. Leave my home? My family? I thought I couldn’t. So I p rayed . I asked God, “Is this the path I must take?” “Is this the righ t decision?” “Is this w hat I have bee n praying fo r this w hole time?” I had so ma ny questio ns. After a lot of prayer, I felt strongly felt in my hea rt that th is is the path God had prepared for me. This is w hat I had been p raying for this whole time, so o nce aga in I said “Yes.” I had received so much love fro m the missio naries, that I was determined t o g ive it back t o oth ers thro ugh CA RP.

N ow, I am concluding my thi rd semest er as a pa rt of DMV CARP. Sometimes I forget my purpose. I won de r whe re else I cou ld be or what e lse I cou ld be doing . But as I reach out to my fe llow students at Mon tgomery College, though it may only be o ne in fifty peo p le, I can see in the ir eyes th e impact of the love th at I g ive and that I have been able to tru ly t ouch th eir heart. This is one o f th e most beautiful sight s in the world t o me. This makes me st ay, this is my why: to g ive people hope, t o make t hem smile, t o love them. And this is someth ing th at I feel I have been able to do in CARP.

I w ill alw ays re me mber the CARP DMV 2023 Summ er Retreat as o ne of my greatest learni ng experie nces w he n my capacity t o love people was tru ly te sted. As te am leader, it was my responsib ility to loo k after a few of the partic ipa nts. I fe lt like I ha d nothing t o offe r my tea m because they were mostly older and had more lif e experi ence than me. I was unable to g ive the m my e ntire affectio n because of this th ink ing. I was afraid that they would rej ect it. Every day I tried to do better, b ut still I stru ggled greatly. What mad e it more diffi cult for me w as th at they also had d ifferent persona lities. I re call sitting on the ground a few days before the retreat’s conclusion, feeling defeated and as tho ug h I had faile d. I felt bad for not giving it everything I had because I was afraid it wou ldn’t be accept e d. I spe nt hours s itting t here c riticizing myself and p lea ding with God , saying thi ngs like, “I’m sorry I failed,” and, “I’m so rry I could n’t do my best.” It occu rred to me at th at mo ment: w hat if I just complete ly gave them my heart? What if I sim ply exp ressed to them how much I genu ine ly ca red 7 I turned t o my t eam when I was at my most emotio nal and v ulnerab le st ate. I tri e d to tell the m exactly how I felt, but broke into t ea rs after a few words, the n muste re d th e streng th to go on. I felt like I had simp ly opene d up like a book. They accepted me, w hic h surprised me! My love was e mbra ce d by the m! And for th e remainde r of t he time, we laug he d wh ile we j ust t alked together. Th is event taught me that althoug h it’s not always easy, loving people is a choice we make. If we make this c hoice and invest o ur all, t hen our love wi ll undoubted ly be returned.

During my t ime in CARP. I have learnt to give love to others and learnt to receive love too. Through this, I have been ab le to see the presence o f God in peop le. It seems like such a simp le th ing to do but sometimes it’s rea lly challeng ing. In CARP. I have made friends w ith many differe nt kinds of people w ith d ifferent personalities includ ing some peop le that are more c halleng ing to love th an others. but I am learning to love them . I be lieve that doing thi s is the true mean ing of loving God. This love w ill be some thing th at I w ill carry in me for th e rest of my lif e.

Photos of Espina in CARP OMV

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