3rd Heavenly USA Cheonbo Workshop Testimony

July 28, 2025

Hello. My name is Lisa Oya, and thank you for this opportunity to share my testimony with all of you. 

Just to briefly introduce myself, I’m 23 years old, from the Los Angeles community, and I’ve been actively involved in CARP for the past five years. Please bear with me—I don’t consider myself very good with words, but I’ll do my best to share honestly and sincerely from my heart. 

To begin, I’d like to talk about why I decided to attend this 40-day workshop. 

Before coming here, I was feeling very spiritually stagnant. Even though I was attending church and actively supporting CARP, I realized that my heart wasn’t really in it. I felt disconnected from God, from my purpose, and from the people around me. Spiritually, I was at the lowest point I had ever felt—numb and unable to feel anything. 

When I looked at how I was treating my community and especially my family, I saw that I had closed my heart. I couldn’t express what I was thinking or feeling. Even with my own mother, I had shut her out emotionally. That’s when Pastor Takayo approached me in late June and asked if I would consider attending the 40-day workshop. 

At first, I hesitated. I had never been away from my family for that long, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready. I prayed a lot about it, asking God what I should do. The answer in my heart kept coming back: “You should go.” So, I said that I will go. But even then, I was still unsure. The idea of stepping out of my comfort zone to come all the way to Las Vegas felt overwhelming. 

Then, just a few days before the workshop began, I was faced with a very painful and personal situation—something I won’t go into detail about here. What I can say is that when I told my mom about what had happened, her immediate response showed me just how much she loved me. No matter what I had done or how bad it was, she would have rushed to my side in a heartbeat. That moment helped me reflect deeply on how I had been treating my parents—and even more so, how much Heavenly Parent must have been feeling seeing everything I was going through. It was through that experience that I made a firm determination to come to the workshop and offer it sincerely. 

When I first arrived, I was incredibly nervous. I didn’t know almost anyone—maybe 99% of the faces were unfamiliar to me. And I tend to get anxious talking to new people, so I kept to myself a lot. During the first few days, I felt really lonely, anxious, and unloved. I was fighting with my own fallen nature and even spiritual negativity. It was really hard. 

On Day 3, we had a session to reflect and set our goals for the workshop. My goal was to try my best to understand Heavenly Parent’s and True Parents’ heart, and to offer sincere prayer and jeongseong in CheonShimWon. It was a good goal—but ironically, that same day, I hit a breaking point. I felt completely disconnected. From people, from Heaven... even from myself. That night, I cried myself to sleep, thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t be here. Maybe I don’t belong.” 

The next morning, I decided to go to CheonShimWon to pray. I knew the thoughts I had the night before were not right. And in that prayer at the CheonShimWon, I felt comforted. As I prayed, the Bible story of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to find the one lost sheep came to my mind. And I am that one sheep. And Heavenly Parent never stopped looking for me. Even if I was lost, Heaven was still coming after me. 

Then, on Day 7, something really shifted for me. 

During Maggie unnie’s lecture on HyoJeong, she asked, “Are you doing this from your own perspective, or are you genuinely calling out to Heavenly Parent and True Parents?” That hit me so hard. I realized how much I had been focusing on myself—my feelings, my doubts, my fears—without considering how Heavenly Parent and True Mother were feeling. 

I felt this overwhelming sorrow in my heart. I couldn’t even describe it. It made me want to cry, to scream, to reach out to Heaven with everything I had. But at the time of Resonance Prayer, I still wasn’t ready. I wanted to confirm: is this feeling really for Heaven, or is it still about me? 

So after the Resonance Prayer, I ran to CheonShimWon. As soon as I began praying, tears just poured out. I could only cry out, “Omoni, omoni,” with a heart of deep repentance. 

Until that point, I had struggled to understand True Mother—her messages, her heart. I was slowly giving up trying. But through that prayer, something broke open in me. I began to feel what it means to long for your parent—to want to be with them, to cry out for them. I want to remember this feeling, as this can be a start to how valuable True Mother is to me. 

Even though I still have a long way to go, and I know I’m far from perfect, I want to grow into someone who can truly comfort Heavenly Parent and support our Holy Mother Han. I want to become Pure Water—offering prayers, devotion, and love, not just during this workshop but for the rest of my life. 

I hope to continue with this heart through the remaining days of the workshop and deepen my understanding of True Mother’s heart even more.

Thank you.