Since Chris joined the Unification movement he has been intent on finding the answer to one burning question in his mind, namely what is the best contribution he can make with his life for God?

Chris was born in western New York State, a hundred miles east of Elmira, where Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church. When he was two years old his family moved to New England and he lived for sixteen years in a small fishing town on the coast of Maine. He recalls that New Englanders are deeply religious. To survive the harsh winters early settlers adopted a rugged individualism that earned them the nickname the "frozen chosen".

In September, 1992, while studying in New York, he met CARP and was introduced to the Divine Principle. Later he enrolled in seven and twenty-one day workshops, at the end of which he made a three year commitment to full-time missionary work for CARP, postponing his studies until a future date. At the end of three years he decided to join the upcoming Blessing Ceremony. On November 9, 1997 he met Mitsuko Ishikawa for the first time in Washington DC and they were Blessed together in holy matrimony.

Chris is a proud graduate of World CARP and has great respect for its leaders. He learned a lot from his World CARP activities and appreciates the close connections between brothers and sisters. Since most CARP leaders are UTS graduates, their example motivated him to attend UTS in the future.

On God’s Day 1998 he attended the Chung Pyung Workshop in Korea. This was a time of great personal reflection and questioning for him. He especially reflected upon the best way to dedicate his life to God. He was a song leader at the workshop; his sincere dedication was conspicuous from the stage and caught the attention of Rev. Yang, leader of the Washington DC region. Rev. Yang approached Chris and advised him to come to UTS to prepare to become a future leader in America. This spurred Chris to more seriously consider coming to UTS.

When he returned to the United States, the country was reverberating with President Clinton’s sex scandal. Chris saw the sad reality of how mired in moral crisis America is. He realized that America, as well as CARP and the Unification movement, needs strong leaders for the future. However, when Chris was in World CARP he felt the amount he could contribute was limited.

Therefore, upon his return from Chung Pyung he proposed to his leader that he go to UTS. Both Jin Hun Nim and Mike Balcomb supported his decision and he received internal guidance and heard good testimonies about UTS from Jin Hun Nim. Mike Balcomb shared insights into the future of UTS including suggestions about what UTS needs to change in order to welcome young people, including Unificationist 2nd generation in the future. This helped him as he was preparing to come to UTS.

However, this was also a time of great turmoil. His wife was kidnapped and confined by an anti-Unificationist minister in Japan. She was missing for 70 days. As she planned her escape from the house in which she was being held, he took social action against faith-breaking to try to prevent this kind of unlawful activity from happening again.

By the grace of God, his spouse escaped, but Chris remains outraged that Unification Church (UC) members continue to be kidnapped at the alarming rate of 200 – 300 per year. He sees God working even in the face of such difficulties. He feels he can effectively solve this problem with the support of the UTS community.

Thousands of UC members have had their faith broken by people opposed to the UC. He does not see this as a problem of such people or the Japanese government alone; he feels we must address the issue as a community and as a movement. Chris emphasizes that we need to strengthen and tighten our community bonds as brothers and sisters, as well as maintaining good ongoing relationships with our physical families. He believes that UTS is central to the development of such bonds, and can provide a model for such relationships.

Chris enrolled at UTS on January 1999, and was chosen as Junior Class President. He is seeking to serve brothers and sisters in the community in whatever ways he can, to inspire others through his example. He realizes UTS needs to grow and change in order to meet True Parent’s hopes and expectations for the future. He initiated a community birthday party during lunch at the beginning of the month. This inspired students ("it was short but extremely sweet" was an oft-heard comment) and staff alike. Several staff members are early UTS graduates and this sparked memories of their early UTS spirit and the sense of community they experienced here.

He sincerely wants to inherit True Father’s tradition and build deep relationships between brothers and sisters. Academic Dean, Dr. Mickler, gave this advice to new students at orientation: "Develop harmony between your heart and mind!" This became Chris’ favorite motto for his time at UTS.

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