Contributed by CARP New Jersey
CARP New Jersey is in the middle of hosting our REKINDLE program going from June 8th to August 3rd, and we just reached our halfway point. Through this program, our hope is that all participants will become more knowledgeable about God and more consistent in their practice of life of faith habits. We set up a trinity system, where all the participants are separated into teams of three to do reading and discussion together daily. Each week, the participants also create an action step to help them in developing their relationship with God.
When we started this, our focus was on encouraging the youth and young adults in our local community and help them in their lives of faith; however, we opened up REKINDLE for young adults nationwide, and young adults from different states, even as far as Hawaii, are joining us.
We kicked off the program with our CARP NJ leaders, Shogo Nakaza and Sasha Okon, speaking about the importance of a life of faith and briefly sharing about the mission of CARP. Pastor Crescentia DeGoede, local New Jersey mentor, shared about God and the significance of Heavenly Parent’s Holy Community, recently coined by CARP founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. Pastor Crescentia conveyed that the essence of Heavenly Parent’s dream is love and that there is power to each of us being able to live a life of true love. Each participant was deeply moved by her words and felt empowered to love the people around them for the sake of Heavenly Parent’s dream. This is a short testimony by one of our participants;
“It really hit me when she said that there is so much we can do but the core component to bring about God's dream is by living a life of true love and for the sake of others. It is so simple and clear, yet so hard. I repent for the many times I was not so loving and thought of myself. but these words are clear that I want to think about even more. As Pastor Cresentia said, each day we have the opportunity to be a contributor to God's dream! And it is really the little things that add up to the big.” - Participant’s testimony
We were also honored to have Rev. Mari Curry and Rev. Andrew Compton share about the significance of CARP founders, Father and Mother Moon, and their life. Rev Curry shared her personal testimony about being with Mother Moon. The testimonies and pictures she shared about Mother personally buying her a blouse and Mother looking at her newborn child were so moving. Through Rev. Curry’s testimony and example, all of us witnessed the love Mother Moon has for us and for humankind. Rev. Compton completely awed all of us with his lecture on their life, with a focus on the years between 1960 and 2020. He not only shared about the events and achievements Father and Mother Moon had but also conveyed their unwavering faith and filial heart.
Coming up are presentations by CARP USA President, Jinil Fleischman, CARP NJ mentor and leader, Tomomi Fukuda, and more. Stay tuned!
This is an ongoing story and will be added on to at the conclusion of Rekindle. Find out more about CARP New Jersey on their Facebook page. Share your story to jennifer@carplife.org!