My time in Japan was one full of discovery, humility, and love. I joined the international team travelling to church centres and CARP homes in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kumamoto and Fukuoka. Together we took part in an education programme called Waku-Waku, witnessing, sightseeing, service projects, and the Ocean Challenge.
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I am so grateful I could have the opportunity to experience the beauty of Japanese culture. I am so humbled by their serving attitude towards us all, ensuring we could have a valuable experience in a country so different from our own. The heart of the Japanese members could be felt everywhere we went. Being with Japanese members was so special because they have such a deep heart and a loving spirit. They made us feel welcome and I will never forget the memories we shared with them.
From July 30th I participated in the 10th World Carp Project. This time, I did a lot of things and it was a month with a lot of moving around. Most of the participants this time were 2nd generation. Their families who won and supported 430 other families.
To start my reflection I want to point out my highlights and personal experiences. I travelled alone to Japan because I felt too much stress and pressure at home. The feeling of being in Japan was a beautiful feeling of happiness to be blessed to meet my mother, my mother in law and other 2nd generation children from other nations. The weather was not good at first. It was rainy most of the time with some sunshine. There were also warnings of a typhoon coming. We were told that the typhoon season was unusually late in Japan this year.
In Iceland, we haven’t had any university student members for long time. But this time, we could invite anyone older than 16 years of age who was interested in this project. Therefore I was encouraged to invite our young stars in Iceland. Also it was scheduled to learn about a self-pastoral care program in which I am personally very interested. I am very happy that one girl (Konny) was able to join the whole programme this time. I had not planned to go to Japan but I was guided to participate in the programme in Tokyo.
30 June (Sat)
I heard a speech from Sarah J from CARP LA and she explained how she and the rest of CARP LA established the movement called ‘Peace Starts With Me’. She managed to hold an event at her college campus which educated the young people why it was better to wait until marriage to have sex. Although she received a lot of controversy, both the students and teachers ended up loving the message and supported her. Because of this she had been requested to hold her event again. I was so amazed about how much work is being done in the USA compared to UK CARP. Several months before the CARP Hyo Jeong trip took place, I was planning on going to Japan. For one thing, I wanted to use my time before going back to studies to get to know the Japanese culture and to practice my language skills. For another thing, I really felt like I needed some time for myself away from the environment I am used to especially in order to work on my life of faith and to gain clarity about my future. One day then, my mother got an e-mail about the trip and without thinking about it much I knew that I should take part. As it was a very spontaneous decision, I did not really have many expectations about how it is going to be and actually found myself being very unprepared once I have arrived in Japan.
I am incredibly grateful that I was blessed enough to be able to participate on the Hyeojong trip and Jcarp exchange project. It will be a highlight of my summer that I’ll never forget.
What I liked about this trip was the fact that we spent time in both Japan and Korea. This was the first time for me to go to Cheong Pyong so this trip really was a significant moment in my life to be in the Holy Ground of Korea.
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Stories
Here you can find a selection of stories and experiences from some of our participants. The project is slightly different each year giving people a chance to participate again, parhaps taking a more supervisory role the next time. But each one of them has a life-changing experience which they will carry with them for many years to come and will encourage them to start projects of their own in their local community. CategoriesArchives
September 2019
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