CARP: Becoming Who I Was Meant To Be
Photos courtesy of CARP USA
With the spring semester underway, CARP chapters nationwide have begun their regular club meetings often known as “CARP Talks.” The club meetings are also being successfully promoted at campus fairs, introducing CARP and its core principles to a broader student audience. In academic environments saturated with different interest and advocacy groups, CARP stands out — improving the minds and lives of members and new guests alike.
For one CARP leader, initiating a new chapter on her college campus was an uphill battle that left her unsure at times. “Pioneering a chapter was not as simple as it seemed on paper,” she said, sharing that she was “almost immediately met with backlash.” Still, with persistence and determination, she eventually gained campus support to launch CARP.
Drawing inspiration from the unconditional love shown by CARP’s co-founder, True Mother, the new chapter leader said she forged on feeling empowered and protected. “I began to realize how much God’s love and grace had been working in my life,” she said in a testimony. “I couldn’t help but run with burning love and joy in pioneering a CARP family on my campus where God could feel that His heart could joyfully and peacefully reside.”
National CARP leaders say club meetings and campus fairs have become a “great space” for new students to connect with their community and “gain insight that can help them lead a more meaningful life.” CARP Talks typically include discussion points on topics such as faith, family, relationships, and individual purpose, as well as personal testimonies, and reading chapters from the Divine Principle. There are also a range of retreats, seminars, and other engaging programs and activities.
As the young CARP leader now anticipates graduating this year, she and other Unificationist youth have boldly paved the way for CARP USA’s increasing presence — a 29.4 percent jump in chapter registration or chapter development during the 2021-2022 school year. These efforts are making a difference.
“Before I met [CARP], I was lost and had no sense of what love truly is; I grew up in a very abusive [and] toxic household,” shared a new member in her testimony. “My parents got divorced when I was six years old and I have been receiving therapy since then.”
The young student said, upon hearing the Divine Principle, “so many dots connected for me ... The Divine Principle gave me an outline of what love is and how it’s formed, how true heavenly families are made, and helped me finally get closer to God.”
Now a resident of a CARP house, she said she feels more encouraged about the future through “changing the trajectory of my lineage, by healing all the generational traumas passed onto me … [and] breaking the chain of pain and mental health illnesses within my family.”
“[CARP] impacted my whole view of life; it’s like everyone handmade a pair of ‘love glasses’ and gave them to me,” she said. “I am slowly becoming the person I’ve always wanted to be ... the loving, care-giving daughter of God I was always meant to be.”
CARP USA aims to have 1,200 chapters nationwide and 30,000 members by 2027. A delegation of 120 student leaders will also head to Korea by summer 2023.
You can connect with a CARP USA chapter near you here.