Contributed by Younng-Joo Scharf
Over the course of a week, 16 young CARP leaders and guests participated in CARP Bay Area’s annual summer Divine Principle retreat! Of the 16 participants, 5 were attending this kind of retreat for the first time. 4 were students from Chabot College and 1 from Cal State East Bay.
Each day was jam-packed from arrival with Divine Principle lectures, team discussion, sports, singing, and reflective activities in the evening. Some favorite activities of the participants were a live-action Among Us game at the start of the retreat, a letter to God activity, a team skit night, an entertainment night, and a testimonial night. Everyday had a specific theme including: “Who Is God to Me?”, “What is Holding Me Back”, “What is an Ideal Relationship”, and “What is God’s Calling for Me?”. Throughout the retreat, a strong culture of heart and care was created so that all the participants shared that they felt for the first time they could be themselves, feel unconditionally loved, and know what true brother and sister relationships felt like.
Because of all the rain over the winter, Heavenly Hills Christian Camp was full of wildflowers and new life that hadn’t been seen in previous years. During breaks and discussion between lecture, most teams took advantage of the fresh pine air and shared time together by the fire pit, outside the dining hall, or underneath the large redwood trees. This was the first time for many of the guests to spend this long away from home and in nature and was the highlight for many at the end of the retreat.
The staff of the Heavenly Hills Christian Camp were incredibly helpful as well doing all the cleaning and dishes so that the CARP staff could focus on main retreat program. Spiritual support and prayers were also given by the Heavenly Hills staff, starting with the camp director praying with Kazuya Morita, the main coordinator for CARP, at the beginning of the retreat for the whole program.
CARP will continue its momentum from the retreat with the actionizing program from June 9th-15th which will focus on principle in action training from the CARP House: DP lecture practice, witnessing, fundraising, service work, and morning devotional reading and evening closing. Our hope is that by the end the participants can themselves commit to becoming CARP leaders in the upcoming semester and growing their involvement and contribution.
Testimonies from guests:
“...I’ve gathered some direction as to next steps to take leaving Twain Harte, that is working on my relationship w/ God and my family. The last few years have probably been the most difficult and most estranged with my family. This is something I will work on using the love and knowledge found and received in this retreat. Before coming, my energy and focus has misguided, focused on negative/harmful aspects. These are no longer of much concern to me. Family is the important thing. I want to express my unconditional love to them, and to others, to God, and myself… I want to share everything I’ve learned with my parents. I hope to extend some direction and hope I’ve found to them as well, so that they too can practice healing. I’d like to continue CARP… no matter how much time I have, I intend to use it to connect with my sisters and brothers even more, build this family as my genetic one.”
- America A., 20, Student from Chabot College:
“Thank you for making this possible. I feel a lot better and happier. I can feel God’s love and his presence, his existence throughout my life. I can love myself more now and I’ve learned how to socialize better… I will nourish myself spiritually through altruistic love, four realms of heart and do what I can for our beautiful world gifted by God through community service. I will continue to keep loving and be me. I will be God’s image and under his guidance to restore the world’s previous original mind of love and I will help the fallen as they are also children of God who simply lost their way.”
- Mark Salvador, 19, Chabot College