Embracing Both CARP and IAYSP Missions for the Czech Republic's Sake

Two years ago, in December 2018, I became responsible for CARP and IAYSP in my nation, the Czech Republic. Before this, I did two years of a gap year program called STF Europe. In this program, I could realize, not only my value as Heavenly Parent’s daughter, but most important, I realized what my responsibilities are. Once I came home, I received the opportunity to become CARP and IAYSP leader for my nation. But I was feeling unconfident about taking this position. One day I was about to say no to the proposal by our national leader. But Heavenly Parent had a clear plan, as always and was not ready to give it up so easily. That same night I had a dream that changed my perspective.

I was dreaming, that True Mother was preparing a big speech to give in Europe. I was helping to gather people to attend the speech. I went in the streets and preached that the Messiah will now speak. Thanks to that the whole room was filled with people and many more were standing in the back. When True Mother finished her speech, she was walking towards a door that I was standing by.

Yet instead of opening the door to her, I was foggy-minded and looked around wondering how many people I had gathered. In that very moment, True Mother opened the door herself, and then looked at me and said, “You just missed the opportunity to open the door for the Messiah.” When I woke up, I knew what that dream meant. If I receive an opportunity to open a way for our True Parents, I should not hesitate even for a moment. And this is how I came to accept being the Czech CARP-IAYSP leader.

Dual obligations

Being responsible for CARP and IAYSP may feel like wearing two different hats. However, I see it as a unity of mind and body. CARP is an internal program; members study the core of the Divine Principle, and as students on campuses, we offer a life changing experience to other young people. For me, CARP is the way in which we can guide people to truly attend our Heavenly Parent and True Parents.

However, it takes an immense effort to raise even one young person to truly accept the Principle fully and decide to dedicate his or her life to achieving Heavenly Parent’s dream. Today, we do not have much time left in reaching out to 7.8 billion people, which is why we have IAYSP. In IAYSP we reach out to even more people. IAYSP teaches the Divine Principle using a character education method. In the Czech Republic, we strive to introduce it through intercultural activities in orphanages, service projects and different character education programs. In this way, we can reach out to more people and spread True Mother’s vision faster.

If someone were to ask me which organization I prefer, I would say I prefer when CARP and IAYSP work together, hand in hand, making this world the kingdom of heaven we are working towards. Thanks to CARP, I can see young people’s lives turning around. I love to see the beauty of a young person, dedicated to sacrificing his or her life to fulfilling Heavenly Parent’s dream.

Saving young people, saving the nation

The first time my spiritual daughter met True Mother in Albania in 2019, she could not stop shedding tears of joy and gratitude. Every time I remember this, I feel courage rising in my heart and it gives me the will to witness to all the young people in the Czech Republic. Of course, this is a big dream and may not sound realistic but seeing how much young people suffer from following unprincipled ideals and values pushes me toward wanting to help them and guide them back home. Our primary goal is to bring God back home into Czech people’s heart. This goal for the Czech Republic, being the most atheistic country after North Korea, may sound quite impossible.

But thanks to the work of many Korean, Japanese, American and European missionaries, we could bring the Principle and God into many young people’s lives. In IAYSP, what warms up my heart is to see the impact, we, as youth, can have not only on our society, but on people’s lives and decisions!

As I mentioned earlier, the Czech IAYSP reaches out to youth in orphanages. Before the pandemic, we managed to organize our first event. I will never forget the joy and love we felt from these children. Many of the children come from difficult households, where hate, alcohol and violence are obstacles. We wanted to bring them joy and love through an American Culture Night with games, sports, snacks and a guidance on how to grow their heart.

The biggest surprise, we all felt, was that the children gave us much more love than we thought we would bring to them. We won their hearts and they won ours from first sight. In that moment I could see that it is not about the event, not about the program; it is all about the heart. That day I also saw how much power we can have if we truly unite as young people and decide to do something for the sake of others.

Working to help the destitute

Earlier, in 2019, we had organized two service projects, in which we brought food and clothes to homeless people. We first went door to door to ask people for donations and then distributed the food and clothing to people in need. The first time we did it, we only went for the purpose of giving out external help, so actually we felt quite empty. We had the feeling that we were helping them today, but tomorrow they may be hungry again.

However, the second time we did the project, we brought the material things as an excuse; the main purpose was to speak to them, listen to their stories and give them some light of hope. That day, we felt truly fulfilled and felt as if we had achieved the main purpose of the project.

We stayed with the people living on the streets for the whole afternoon, listening to their stories and especially listening to their life guidance.

Many of them had deep regrets, so they were guiding us and explaining to us how important it is to have big goals and dreams in our lives and to never give up, to stay away from addiction and to truly value the relationships we have in our lives.

Receiving such guidance from people who had hit rock bottom in their lives, brought lots of tears to my heart. Hearing from them all such beautiful encouragement but knowing that they themselves have given up on their dreams, gave me a new driving force to truly fulfill my life goals. I was even happier to hear, that I was not the only one feeling this way, but the whole project team felt exactly the same. As young people we really have the power to make a change.

Even the smallest step can create a victory that can change someone else’s live. That day, the homeless people did not want to let us go. Most of them haven’t had a conversation with someone in a long time and they told us, that they felt their heart warmed up.

I am truly grateful for these amazing memories and experiences CARP and IAYSP afforded me. With this

testimony, I want to encourage all our young people to seek to fulfill their responsibilities. Ask Heavenly Parent, How can I help you today? Seeing the impact we can have on other people by bringing them closer to Heavenly Parent and True Parents is the most valuable experience.

Please everyone, let us combine our will and talents and dedicate our lives to creating the kingdom of heaven on earth today. Our dear True Mother, please do not worry. We will work harder and harder to make your dream come true. Thank you for always caring for and loving us.

Kate Nguyen vice-president of YSP –Czech Republic’s Testimony

My grandfather was a strong Christian. The devotion he had was passed down to me, so I grew to seek God naturally since childhood. This foundation guided me into this community, which I joined three years ago. I believe that true love can save all of us. Thanks to this community I could not only change my life but also improve my relationship with my family and resolve all my resentment through seeing from God’s perspective. Growing up spiritually with second-generation members, I could see true love in action, and this created true everlasting friendships that anyone would wish for.

For me, spreading the Blessing is very important. One way to do this is by pouring my heart into IAYSP and CARP by reaching out one arm into the church community and the other arm outside of the community. In this way we can help youth like me realize Heavenly Parent’s dream. Recently I came back from a one-year program. I think it is also important to receive training and work on ourselves, in order to be able to give our best to our nation. Whenever I see pictures of True Parents, I feel a warm embrace as if they were my real parents. Thank you for saving me and always loving me! Please take good care of your health, True Mother!