Spreading Love: CIG Missionaries Return from Abroad
Photo courtesy of CIG Youth Missionary USA Facebook
“Being a missionary in another country helped me to recognize the blessings that America has and how doing the smallest of actions can impact society through one person,” says Mika, a young Unificationist from New York City. Mika joined some 27 Cheon Il Guk (CIG) missionaries this year who were sent throughout the world to share about their Unificationist faith, including Albania, Kenya, Zambia, and Kosovo, among other places.
“I took this opportunity to further deepen my faith in order to implement good practices for my life back at home,” says Mika, who traveled more than 4,600 miles away to Romania. “Whether it is through growing my heart to love or going back to gratitude, I am going to spread God’s love. I want to become someone that God can use as His vessel.”
The CIG missionaries, who are typically in their late teens and early 20s, prepare with weeks of special training before their team departs to different countries for a few months. The first wave of missionaries took off in November 2021, followed by a second wave in January. “This journey is about emptying yourself and letting God work through you,” says Mika. “If you take a leap of faith, God will catch you.”
For Preston, a second-year CIG missionary who went to Albania, it’s been an opportunity to deepen his faith and share about the Unificationist culture of love with others. “Seeing our team grow closer together and helping the young people of Shkodra to mature and thrive has been an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life,” he says. “I’m grateful to God for this amazing mission. My biggest takeaway has been learning to embody and share the culture of heart that I value so much.”
Preston focused on building bonds with his team members and those of the greater Shkodra community — a town known for its arts, culture, and religious diversity despite being the center of Albanian Catholicism. “I now know the true impact the culture of heart has on people and how to bring it with me wherever I go. I will certainly miss the beautiful mountains and rivers and the delicious food,” he adds, “but most of all I'll miss the people. Every day, I was moved by their warm hearts to care for and embrace everyone around them. In the final couple of weeks [of our mission work], we were determined to put in our best efforts and leave something behind that will last.”
Joseph, a Unificationist from Northern California, embarked on his journey as a third-year CIG missionary in Prishtine, Kosovo. “I felt a lot more confident in our overall purpose, as well as what I’m personally trying to accomplish here,” he says, looking back on his experience. “For the past four months, I’ve been exploring my passion to educate and care for young people, and at the same time, dig deeper into what I really believe. I feel confident that the breakthroughs that I’ve had [in Kosovo] will shape my life, and I hope that our team can leave a lasting impact.”
Described as a life-changing experience by many of the missionaries, there have been some unexpected outcomes for a few of them, too. “I’ve learned a little Albanian,” says Joseph. “Also how to cook and clean. And I’ve created bonds that I will not forget.”
In Africa, team members deployed to Kenya and Zambia also shared their calling to serve God through missionary work in an unfamiliar land. “I hope to be an extension of God’s love and light throughout the world, to give comfort to God’s children and my Heavenly Parent,” says Sean, a second-year missionary from New York City who went to Nairobi.
“I want to shine a light of hope to others and help them feel a deeper level of love from our Heavenly Parent,” adds his teammate, Tazue, a first-year missionary from Indianapolis. “He created each of us for something greater, to serve others, and I am here to do that through CIG missionaries.”
You can learn more about CIG missionaries here.