Hi. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jimi. I'm writing this to you because I want to tell you just a little about my experience on STF (Special Task Force). For those of you who don't know what STF is, it's basically a one to two year program that BC's can join after they've graduated from high school. Basically, you'll get the chance to do some old school MFT (Mobile Fundraising Team ...stuff your parents might have done back in their day, going all over the country in a van with a bunch of awesome brothers and sisters and a team captain)-style fundraising and also be involved heavily in major "church" activities (one major thing we were helping out with almost full-time this year was True Father's 50-state "We Will Stand" speaking tour). OK, so I'm guessing that most of you probably aren't so turned on by the prospect of spending most of your days on STF going out on the streets fundraising or witnessing (yeah, it gets REALLY heard sometimes) but how about this: you get to spend at least one year of your life totally devoted to finding out WHO you are, WHY you're who you are, WHERE you are in your relationship with God, and HOW you're going to deepen that already-existing or (in most cases) non-existent relationship with God. For me, this experience on STF (even though it's not even over yet) has been utterly and completely (and I am telling this to you with all sincerity) LIFE-CHANGING.

Up until I went to STF, I thought 1 knew who I was ...of course, I don't think that anyone can ever truly know EXACTLY who they are unless they become perfected, but you know, I thought I knew the basic structure of "me" . Actually, more than that, I thought that I knew exactly where I was with God: I knew 1 loved Him as a father and that I talked to Him a lot, so I thought that basically, we had a very good relationship. However, when you're out there fundraising, you're not just in some place selling a bunch of wind chimes or whatever. You are out there with God, no matter whether you are talking to a million people or not. And spending all that time alone with just Heavenly Father by your side, you come to realize many, many different things. You start to see yourself in different aspects, each level of your self-discovery delving deeper and deeper into your personality, your heart, your soul, and most importantly who you are and why God created you that way. You start to understand things about the puzzles of your past that somehow create the picture of the present and you also wonder differently about what the future holds. Moreover, you come to realize (very, very slowly) that everything you thought was important and real and all the things you thought were "all good" (for example, my relationship with God) are actually not as important or real or not as good as you knew them to be.

What I'm saying is that on STF, personally, I learned (and am very much still learning) about MYSELF and MY LIFE, and more importantly, I am having REAL experiences every day dealing with getting to TRULY know God and the awesome power of His love. My eyes have been totally opened and not only do I get to live life more attuned with God while I'm on STF but I am constantly learning how I ` can apply it so that 1 will ALWAYS know how to live life more attuned with God. And let me tell you, life is so ...so... (man! i just don't know how to describe it!) ...AMAZING when you start living your life WITH God.. not just having Him on the sidelines, someone you turn to whenever you're in trouble (of course it's still that way sometimes) or whenever you want something for yourself, but really LIVING with Him... on STF I REALLYgot to know God as my Father, I've felt that amazing thing that Christians call "grace"; and so many many other things about what I can do with my life when I'm living with God. I could go on forever because even after these mere 7 months of STF life, my life of faith has deepened so much and I've gained so much knowledge that I don't even think I could find the words to describe the depth of it all! I'd just like to say as I end this testimony that if anything I've talked about hits close to home for you, then please, with all my heart, I ask you to consider joining STF for the 2001-2002 year, and hopefully, the path that you will walk to find yourself and God will be truly enlightening and fulfilling.

Love, Your sister, Jimi Baughman

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