Here’s an interview with a returning participant of the International Exchange Trip to Japan and Korea.
1.Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you are currently doing, including your involvement with CARP or youth activities.
I am a second generation Unificationist from Nutley, NJ. I attend the Clifton Family Church and am the youth pastor there. I am also a full-time student at Rutgers State University in Newark, NJ, and I am studying accounting.
At Rutgers, we don’t have CARP chapter but right across the street is NJIT (another university) and they have a CARP chapter. Every Monday, I go over to the NJIT campus and help out with the witnessing activity CARP NJIT does. Unfortunately due to my schedule, I cannot attend the CARP meetings, but I try my best to attend the bigger events they host.
2. What inspired you to join last year’s trip?
What inspired me to go last year was just the fact that I would be able to go to Japan. When I got there I took time to figure out my intention and goal in joining this trip.
3. What were 3 highlights of your trip to Japan last year?
Getting the opportunity to travel to Japan (after 14 years since my last visit), meeting new people across the nation who are also involved with CARP and making friends, and meeting with Japanese and Korean CARP members and listening to their stories.
4. Were you able to implement or apply some of the things that you learned either in your personal life or as part of your CARP chapter’s strategy?
Just like the Japanese CARP students, I also started to witness to students.
5. Did you learn something new/ gain a new perspective after the trip?
I learned how dedicated the Japanese and Korean CARP members are towards True Parents. It’s something that left me thinking how I can improve my own relationship with God and True Parents.
6. Why did you decide to go again this year?
Since I’ve become more active with CARP this year, I want to learn more on what other CARP chapters in the US, Japan, and Korea are doing to reach out to many people. I would like to bring some ideas back to NJ and see if we can implement some effective strategies.
7. What are you most looking forward to on this year’s trip?
I’m especially looking forward to meeting more people from all over the place and spending time with them and I’m just as excited to go back to these countries.
8. Would you recommend this trip to your friends? If yes, why?
Yes. If you are a current CARP member, I think this trip can ignite a fire in every person’s spirit of wanting to do more for the club and make it bigger and better. If you aren’t a CARP member, it’s a great way to gain insight on what CARP is all about and see how CARP can change people’s lives. Either way you get to travel overseas with a lot of amazing people!