Generation Peace Academy Newsletter for December 2011

pg 4 Above: GPA Leadership initiative participants leads the OSDP workshop in song in Atlantic City, NJ. Front Cover: 1st year Kohta Nishioka poses with some of the youth in Guyana. Inside Cover: 1st year, S. Kawachi poses with new friends in Guyana.

Contents 4 OSDP WORKSHOP 17 NEW GPA WEBSITES Leadership Module participants attend the OSDP workshop in Atlantic City.

6 THE LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE A week in the life of the Lovin’ Life mod- Photos throughout the newsletter taken by Christo-

GPA in ule. pher Stair, Joe Giampoli, and Teddy Sylte. Spread Design by Christopher Stair. Articles contributed by

12 St.OVERSEAS Keimi Kanno and Elissa Allen MODULE

Guyana Lucia, Trinidad and Guyana, at your service!

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powerful and exciting moment that called the Spirit of almost all of the Leadership Initiative members came God to be present in the conference room during their to the front of the stage to receive prayer. To many it time there. was an unforgettable experience where participants of different faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds could The content of the lecture covered everything gather as brothers and sisters. God was surely present from Introduction to the Divine Principle, Principle during that time. of Creation, The Human Fall, Mission of the Messiah, Restoration, and The Second Advent. It was a great Another highlight of the workshop was the opportunity for the members of the Leadership Initia- Blessing Ceremony. Participants saw a beautiful video tive to listen to so much of the Divine Principle and showing testimonies of ministers who received the to receive it from such a wonderful and experienced blessing and how it healed and changed their mar- lecturer as Reverend Jenkins. Hearing the content of riages for the better. Following the video was a panel the Divine Principle in the same room as the Christian of couples who also gave testimonies about receiving Ministers amplified the experience. Having been born the Blessing. For members of the Leadership Initiative, into the faith, we Blessed Children have often taken the it was the first time hearing testimonies about how Divine Principle for granted, not fully appreciating the powerful the Blessing is. depth of its content. But after hearing the testimo- All in all, the OSDP nies of our senior ACLC workshop was a wonder- leaders and ministers ful experience for both the whose lives have been Leadership Initiative and directly transformed by the clergy who both at- the power of the Divine tended the event in Atlan- Principle, we could feel tic City. both sides benefit- the importance growing ed where the clergy could up in this culture. Having feel inspired by the youth- witnessed the ministers’ ful presence of the young gratitude for True Parents Unificationists involved and their determination in church activities, and to witness to others about the young Unificationists

GPA participates in the OSDP them, I, a member of the Second Generation, felt could see the strength that the new truth, taught by workshop in Atlantic City deeply moved. The ministers were impressed to see so many True Parents, inspired the ministers. It was an enriching, win-win situation for young people involved in such a movement and were all. Since this workshop, it became evident that young

F From November 6 to November 9, 2011 the Leadership Initiative at 43rd street, which included 60 Reverend Jenkins, Bishop Stallings, with an introduc- tory lecture in Korean by Reverend Yuu. curious to know more about them. Ministers and members of the Leadership Initiative engaged in fel- lowship at the dinner table and while singing songs of praise and worship. By being present at the workshop, Unificationists add a special flavor to the OSDP expe- rience for ACLC ministers and clergy. Therefore on November 14, 2011 60 members from the GPA Fun- draising Module participated in the OSDP workshop members of GPA, were encouraged to participate in the members of the Leadership Initiative visibly added in Las Vegas. We would like to thank everyone for the Original Substance of the Divine Principle work- The schedule was rigorous with lectures begin- spirit to the atmosphere. making this experience possible, especially In Jin Nim shop in Atlantic City at Trump Plaza. ning as early as 6:00am and ending at 9:30pm. How- for giving us this amazing opportunity! ever, despite the early start, the participants filled the The second night of the workshop concluded The Leadership Initiative contributed 65 par- air with youthful energy. with an altar call where those needing or seeking for ticipants out of the 600 present that included as many prayer could receive love and attention from various - Contributed by Keimi Kanno as 60 ministers and clergy members from different Every lecture session started off with praise and ministers. Everyone went forth with open hearts and faiths. Upon special permission given by True Parents, workshop songs lead by Bishop Jesse Edwards, Rev- participants shed both tears of joy and tears of repen- the majority of the lectures were given in English by erend Daugherty, and Reverend Cotter. It was truly a tance. It was a very deep and moving experience where 4 5

GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 Unification Movement. The afternoons from 1:00pm to Tuesday November 1, 2011: 5:00pm are dedicated to various practicums or intern- ships. Students choose the field they are most inter- On Tuesday, a very special guest speaker ested in and gain hands-on experience shadowing or Bishop Jesse and Tanya Edwards, spoke during the working with someone from the various departments morning session. Bishop Jesse and Tanya Edwards is of HSA-UWC. For example, students have the oppor- a very prominent couple in ACLC who love God and tunity to work with Jaga Gavin or Christine Froehlich True Parents very much. They came to shed light upon in Youth Ministry, to learn about graphic design with the many confusing interpretations of the Bible, and to Tamara Gavin, to write for Unification News and share their personal testimony to our students. Need- communications, or to collaborate with the Lovin’ Life less to say, Bishop Edwards is a very powerful speaker video crew. In the evening all of the students attend who answered any and all questions openly relating to programs hosted by the Lovin’ Life Learning Center the Divine Principle and the Bible. which they learn how to host and how to properly set up. That afternoon Ariana Moon and her father Jin Sung Nim blessed us by teaching us a ballroom dance Monday October lesson. They focused on 31, 2011: preparing everyone for

i p a ballroom competition

h On Monday which everyone will par-

s Heather Thalheimer, ticipate in after Thanks-

r the director of the giving. After an hour and

e Leadership Initia- a half of ballroom dance

d tive, gave a lecture lessons, everyone went

e a e on ministry struc- to their practicums. The

L iativ ture and function. Tuesday practicums are After lunch break, graphic design, perform- everyone divided up ing arts, choir and min-

i t into their various istry. Choir is one of the

In practicums. Monday largest practicums that is particularly spe- work under Mrs. Nancy cial as they attend Kubo and her daughter the music practi- Mitsuru Kubo, a member o cum which Sonic Cult main guitarist and manager, of Sonic Cult. The choir is preparing to go to Korea to imi Kann Joe Young, hosts. In the performing arts practicum compete in the God’s Day talent show in front of True By : Ke students filmed the next episode of Mr. The Fish for Parents where True Children are the judges. Out of 100 CARP while other students practiced dance choreog- who auditioned, only 42 made it into the choir. raphy. Debby Gullery from the Blessed Family Minis- The purpose of the Leadership Initiative is to Being located near the Headquarters Church try spoke to the ministry practicum, and the service Tuesday night is Korean drama night with a give students the skills and tools necessary to help con- in America translates into quick thinking and a much practicum set up a coat drive to collect donations at showing of a few episodes from the Korean drama tribute to their Lovin’ Life Ministry satellite churches. needed exercise in flexibility to keep up with the most Lovin’ Life. Queen Seon Duk. Korean drama night is a tool to To accomplish this, the weekly and daily schedule of hard-working people on Heaven and Earth, our True Monday evenings are set aside for team meet- teach about heart of attendance, Korean culture, and the Leadership Initiative is specifically designed to give Parents, and with their best ambassadors, the True ings. Each member gathers together with their teams valuable life lessons. Sometimes Jin Sung Nim attends students the most relevant, up-to-date and practical Children. and team leaders to reflect upon their week. They the viewing, and afterwards leads discussion on the experiences. In New York many educational resources To give a taste of what members of the Leader- discuss their goals for the week and how they were or main themes of the drama. are available. Not only do students have the opportu- ship Initiative go through, I will illustrate what hap- were not able to accomplish them. Team members nity to see Lovin’ Life up close and personal, they can pened during the week from October 31 to November share any inspiring or interesting experiences that they Wednesday November 2, 2011: also meet the people who organize Lovin’ Life and who 6, 2011. have had. They also take time to delve deeper into the work behind the scenes. These professionals do not Everyday from 9:00am to 12:00pm is reserved message of In Jin Nim’s sermon from the previous Sun- Wednesday morning we had another special only have many years of experience with Lovin’ Life, for guest speakers teaching about Contemporary day all-together as a group. guest speaker, Reverend Jim Edgerly from Massachu- but with the Unification movement as well. Ministry, the Bible, Leadership, Life of Faith, and the setts. Reverend Edgerly talked about the organization 6 7

GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 terwards they participated in a ballroom social hosted with a ballroom social. We spend the evening danc- by the Bridgeport community. Late in the afternoon ing away, showing our perfected moves that we honed we departed for Atlantic City, NJ for the beginning of during the earlier lessons. the OSDP workshop. The workshop itself was a great experience for everyone. It was wonderful to have such Friday November 4, 2011: experienced and amazing speakers such ask Reverend Jenkins and Bishop Stallings. Mr. Gerry Servito came on Friday morning to give a session on an introduction to Unification Wednesday November 9, 2011: Thought. He came complete with many years of ex- perience and a passion for the Principle. He gave an The OSDP Workshop in Atlantic City, NJ explanation of the Three Great Blessings according to concluded in the early afternoon. After a three hour Unification Thought, and the purpose of life. He dem- bus ride back to the city, the students arrived in time onstrated the process of creation and the essence of for Junction. That night Linda Haft gave the “Smart God-given creativity Relationships” lecture, by singing his own previously known as original song. “Free Teens”. It’s a great Friday after- eye-opening experience noons intentionally as Linda Haft stunned lack structure so that the audience with pow- students can either erful statistics about work on personal teen pregnancy, STDs, projects or prepare and single-parent fami- for the evening lies. Linda Haft gave an Above: Mrs. Kubo Leads the female portion of the choir in their weekly choir practice on Saturday. program - Open exciting presentation Mic. Open Mic is a that was easily relatable attend the Original Substance of the Divine Principle Friday night event and practical. of a ministry and how to create powerful and effective Workshop in Atlantic City, NJ. The plan was to leave where many of the teams. He uses his personal experiences as examples of on Sunday after service which was in Bridgeport, CT Leadership Initiative On that same effective and ineffective organizing and shows how the that week. Therefore, we started making arrangements students sing, dance, evening, Jin Sung Nim Principle also applies to the organization of a church. for travel to both Sunday Service in Bridgeport and the or showcase their invited the group from He explains how he applied the universal principles workshop in Atlantic City. special talents, making it a very exciting evening. Junction to a 3 Doors Down concert at the Manhattan presented in the Divine Principle into his own church community depicting the evolutionary development Center. We were very lucky to be able to enjoy a free Thursday November 3, 2011: Saturday November 5, 2011: concert with amazing live performances. It was truly that took place and the result of it. The presentation was very inspiring. an incredible blessing to spend more time with True Thursday morning is dedicated to a small On Saturday the choir practices all day with Family, and the chance to end an intense experience at The afternoon practicums on Wednesday are: group activity called Starting Point. It is a Small Group Mrs. Kubo who flies in all the way from Seattle. Those the ODSP workshop in such an exhilarating way was music lead by Joe Young or Mitsuru Kubo, Ministry, designed for new members in order to better explain who are not a part of the choir and are studying for very rewarding. Service, and SAT study. The SAT study group was life of faith practices such as prayer, reflection, report- the SAT spends most of their time preparing by taking made available for any of the Leadership Initiative stu- ing, etc. The facilitator of Starting Point guides the a full practice test during the day. In future modules That sums up a typical week at the 43rd street dents who wished to improve their SAT scores in order group through exercises and discussions to gain a when there will be no choir or SAT group, most of the Lovin’ Life Learning Center for the Leadership Initia- to apply to more prestigious colleges. stronger understanding of these difficult themes. Start- students will be busy with New York or New Jersey tive. Every week is very different from the last, but the Junction, a mid-week youth service for both ing Point is a real and engaging way to teach about life youth ministry programs. coordinators do their best to keep some consistency in New Jersey and New York, is held on Wednesday of faith without direct lecturing. the activities and the education. Thank you In Jin Nim nights. Members from the Tri-state area come for In the afternoon Ariana and Jin Sung Nim Sunday November 6, 2011: for allowing us so many precious and important expe- inspiration where Lovin’ Life Youth Pastor Jaga Gavin came to teach ballroom lessons. We worked on tech- riences that are essential to becoming excellent sons gives a short sermon highlighting practical life lessons. nique for the Viennese waltz, swing, and Cha-Cha. On this particular Sunday, service was held and daughters of God. However, this day was particularly unique because our Afterwards we separated into the various practicums at Bridgeport University. The Leadership Initiative left Heavenly Parent called us for a special mission. We (ministry, choir, performing arts). early on Sunday morning to help set up for service. Af- were informed that the Leadership Initiative should Thursday evening is the highlight of the week 8 9

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Photo Album October-November

10 10 11 To view our complete photo galleries please visit our Flickr at: www.flickr.com/genpeaceacademy 11

GPA Volume 1 Issue 2 The Overseas team in St. Lucia, GPA Volume 1 Issue 2 posing with local families in front of the Trois-Piton Church in Anse La Raye

KICK OFF Above:The GPA participants in St. Lucia practice a song to perform at the local church in Anse La Raye, St. Lucia

from last year’s program, Magnus has developed the community.

Workshop a deep fondness for our church and for the GPA

Overseas Service program. He can even name every single partici- The following day the team explored the pant who had previously served in St. Lucia! surrounding countryside and hiked up the moun- In a humble house in the heart of the fishing vil- tain bordering Anse la Raye. Upon reaching the lage of Anse la Raye, the GPA members quickly end of the path they decided to press on a bit settled into their new abode for the next three further and ended up at a beautiful waterfall. At weeks. As soon as they arrived, they jumped right the base they met Mr. Paul and Ms. Delrita, two into service by getting natives who care for the the house they were falls and work the farms

St. Lucia staying in spic-and- span. Afterwards nearby. Normally they require a $10 entry fee,

A Reported by: Cynthia Jones and Ami Stair they met with and but upon remember- Compiled by Elissa Allen, Edited by Thanh Le received education ing the good works of As part of the Generation Peace Academy from Remy Taupier, the previous STF group, every first-year participant gets the opportunity to Life is nothing if not an adventure. The who is the National they urged the team to serve in a foreign country for twenty-one days. This GPA group that headed to St Lucia experienced Messiah to St. Lucia. jump in and swim for module, participants are serving in three countries: the joy of trying to travel on the busiest travel Also, Senior Group free, and had even of- St Lucia, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. Over- day of the year – and unfortunately missed their Leader, Akira Wata- fered them some native seas service is a great opportunity for GPA members flight! The group was so determined not to let nabe, who as GPA fruits. Mr. Paul and Ms. to experience God’s heart and to have a greater un- that happen again by showing up at the airport staff came three days Delrita served coconuts, derstanding of the world, both of which are critical four hours early the following day. before, briefed the grapefruits, and golden for creating leaders. In St. Lucia members will be group on the expecta- apples, a small fruit with working in the village of Anse la Raye supporting Upon finally arriving in St. Lucia, a warm tions and responsibilities of living and serving in a texture similar to that of a mango but a bit more different public works initiatives, in Guyana they tropical breeze and balmy 86 degree weather wel- another country. tart, freshly harvested from the trees. The team will be working in the orphanage Joshua House, comed the group. In contrast to the wind tunnels took a refreshing dip and embraced the beauty of and in Trinadad and Tobago they will be working to improve two different community centers. For of New York, this was not a bad way to enjoy late As the group began to settle into St. Lucia the forest and its waterfalls. more about their experiences in each of the different November. Also there to greet them was Magnus, they discovered two things: one is the beauty of After an exciting afternoon, the team had two countries, take a look at the following reports. the leader of a local Catholic youth group called, the country they are serving, and the other is the meetings in the evening. They met with a local Youth on Fire. After working with participants significant impact that STF 2010-2011 made on man named Victorien Lawrence, who started a 12 13

GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 Trinadad & Tobago Reported by: Rachel Boothby Compiled by Elissa Allen, Edited by Thanh Le

One of the most valuable aspects of serving in foreign countries is learning how to adapt. The GPA members who went to Trinidad and Tobago experienced that lesson the first day they arrived. It was originally intended that they take a short tour on their first day, but be- cause of the political unrest within the country, their hosts thought it would be wise for them to stay at the church center in Diego Martin. The GPA members decided to make the best of the situation by attempting a painting project at the Church. Above: Alexa Sensini teachesthe locals of Trinidad how to Above: The GPA participants take a group shot with the Prime Minister of Guyana play the popular game “hand ninja”. Despite the slight shuffling of their sched- taking a bus ride up the narrow mountain streets, beauty. Afterwards, they visited the city of Mo- ule, the team was still able to enjoy a Thanksgiving the members were greeted by a chain drum perfor- racas where they met with representatives from youth sports club as a way of creating non-violent meal with many guests from the local community mance by five little boys and the President of the over forty communities all over Trinidad for a opportunities for teens. Victorien wanted to col- lower St. Barbs community, Mr. Brown. There was conference. The GPA members received the op- laborate with GPA to work together and create an also a martial arts demonstration by a local black portunity to introduce themselves to the com- interactive youth forum that included twenty of belt named Craig, and some of the GPA members munity leaders and share their goals for service. the outstanding youth from the different sports Nick Kiefer, Masataka Asaoka, and Simon Nagle They also had a chance to bond with the local clubs. This forum would take place on December participated as well. After the performances, the youth from the community and engaged in some 3, 2011. The GPA members were excited about the team made their way through the village streets, cultural exchange through sports. opportunity for cultural exchange and the chance meeting and greeting the local community mem- They taught the young people how to play Fris- to connect to other young people like themselves. bers along the way. bee, and in turn, played a game of cricket! Finally After all the introductions, the team surveyed the at the end of the day, several representatives of The memorable day drew to a close lastly at upper St. Barb Community Center which is in bad GPA were interviewed on a love radio talk show. a meeting with Amy Stevens, an 18 year old local dis-repair and even had a caved-in ceiling. Howev- All these experiences contributed to the team’s member of the community. She described being er, the GPA members previously empowered by the appreciation and love for the culture and for the really touched by the experience of working with positive attitude and the high-spirit of the people people of Trinidad. The people did not have last year’s STF participants. Amy reflected, they had met and felt confident enough to tackle much in terms of material wealth, but they had “I felt like I was a part of the family when they this task. After settling in and true to the spirit of tons of spirit and heart, where the music is liter- were here. It’s ridiculous how close we got and I Above: The girls of Trinidad pose with a rose. the Caribbean, the day ended with an impromptu ally, always playing. am still in contact with a few of them. Ever since that same evening. They also witnessed a perfor- dance party. they left I have a better understanding of God and I love to spread the Word to others in the village.” The GPA members learned a valuable lesson that mance from the national Parang singers. Parang, a native style of singing and dancing originating from Trinidad and Tobago, is similar to caroling Despite the unexpected outcome of the first day and the various remodeling projects, the GPA Guyana Reported by Chiyo Tanimoto and William Nguyen day - the simple act of service can touch another and often celebrates the life of Jesus Christ. members also had opportunities to relax and to Compiled by Elissa Allen, Edited by Thanh Le person in unforgettable ways, and that little things experience the country that they are serving in. can make a large difference. The team is in for an On the next day the team finished painting On Friday they took a morning hike through the In each of the different countries where exciting 21 days! the local church and headed to their main service mountains and visited a waterfall where they had GPA members are serving, the participants gain a location at the St. Barbs Community Center. After the opportunity to swim and soak up the natural 14 15

GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 GPA Volume 1 Issue 3 GPA members will interact with and take care of the orphan children staying there. The GPA mem- bers started work right away by digging out the foundation for the facility. Several team members worked at the site and others interacted with the kids. Both groups experienced tremendous joy from their time together.

For Thanksgiving the team toured around the city of Georgetown to see the cultural and his- torical sites. They concluded the day with dinner at a Chinese restaurant where, as in typical Thanks- giving style, they all shared something that they were grateful for. No matter the location or the food, the heart of gratitude is the key to Thanks- giving.

Heart seemed to be the theme to their over- all experience so far. Georgia Pearson, an experi- enced overseas organizer, shared with the group that the idea of service is not the amount of work Above: Josh Hunter and Masahiro Abe help mix cement on-site at a house building project in Guyana they do, but the heart behind it. Hopefully, that heart will continue to deepen throughout their experiences and interactions with the people of wide variety of experiences. In Guyana they re- Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s commitment towards Guyana. ceived the blessing of connecting with high-level world peace was the impetus for their activities. At politicians and the ability to represent True Par- the end of their meeting they presented the Presi- To learn more about these projects, to see pictures ents to them. On their first full day in Guyana the dent with a copy of As a Peace-Loving Global Citi- and read testimonies please visit our new website GPA members met with the current President of zen and a GPA Generation-Peace-at-Your-Service www.GenerationPeaceServes.com Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo. Originally the President T-shirt. In addition to meeting with the President, had planned to meet with the team for only fifteen the GPA team also had the opportunity to meet minutes, but President Jagdeo conversed with with the Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green. them for over an hour. The President was inspired The Mayor addressed the issues of future leader- by the group’s commitment to Foreign Service and ship in Guyana and mentioned that being able to remarked, “Too many politicians have never even put aside historical baggage and move forward been out of their own states. They have a limited was essential. personal understanding of the people.” President Jagdeo also told the team that service with too Besides meeting with various political many technical negotiations are, “All about the leaders in Guyana, the main project that the GPA head and has no heart behind it.” members will be involved in over the next twenty- one days is a construction project at the Joshua During the meeting with the President, the House Orphanage. The Joshua House is an or- GPA members clearly explained that Generation phanage operated by the Unification Church in Peace Academy was a project of Lovin’ Life Minis- Guyana that houses over 60 children. The team tries and testified to their connection to True Par- will be working at the Joshua House to build an ents. The team explained to President Jagdeo how on-site laundry facility. Besides construction, the 16 17

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New Websites New Websites www.GenerationPeaceAcademy.org www.Flickr.com/GenPeaceAcademy OVERVIEW: This is our public OVERVIEW: This is our photo website, the face of GPA on hosting website where we the internet. This site is readily upload all the pictures taken accessible to the general pu- during the GPA year. clic. Here, you can see pictures of all the current participants as well as donate to support COLLECTIONS: The photos the program. are organized into “collections” in the sidebar here. They are organized into logical catego- ries such as the different mod- ules. Within each collection, there are “sets” which further organize the pictures into more The GPA twitter feed, Face- specific categories. book page and RSS feed can all be accessed from the set of buttons located on the top right of the page.

www.GenerationPeaceServes.org www.Twitter.com/GenPeaceAcademy OVERVIEW: This page is specif- OVERVIEW: This is GPA’s Twit- ically created for the Overseas ter feed. Here we post short Service Module on GPA. It is summaries (tweets) about what almost identical in layout to the is happening currently on GPA. GPA website and has a very simple navigation menu along NOTE: A twitter account is re- the top. quired to subscribe to our twit- ter feed. Our twitter, because of its simplicity and ease of use, NEWS: In the news section you will be the fastest way to learn can read about the projects of current events on GPA as that are happening right now well as up to date information. in the countries the GPA partic- pants are currently in.