The Words of the Bratti Family
|
|
The Words of the Bratti Family |
At the Commencement Ceremony on June 4, 2011, for the graduating class of the Special Task Force (STF) 2010-11, 140 graduates found themselves seated before the stage of the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City, surrounded by more than 200 friends and family members, to celebrate a remarkable year with brothers and sisters, team leaders, STF staff, representatives of Lovin' Life Ministries' Senior Pastor Rev. In Jin Moon, and most of all by the love and guidance of God and True Parents.
The Commencement started with congratulatory remarks from Mr. Roland Platt, the STF national director, who shared about how proud he was of each graduate. He also declared that the 2010-2011 year has been extremely successful in many ways, including record-breaking results by team members in fundraising, witnessing at the Lovin' Life Learning Center in New York City, overseas service projects, and of course, ballroom dancing. Platt also reminded attendees that the reason why each participant had so many incredible experiences and were finishing this year so brightly was because of the love and close connection they could have with True Family, more so this year than any other.
Our elder brother, and national youth pastor, Jaga Gavin also shared his congratulations and anecdotes from working with each of the STF service programs at the Lovin Life Learning Center throughout the year.
The keynote address was given by a representative of our senior pastor, Rev. In Jin Moon: her husband. His words summed up much of what we learned this year; he spoke of the True Family's course of restoration paving the way for the next generation of Unificationists to move on to a more free and spectacular world, and the desire of True Parents and of In Jin Nim to see us excel in every part of life, both in the church and on our school campuses.
It hit me as he was speaking that I am totally free to invest in my future with everything I have, because True Family will always be there for us through both rough patches and good times. My STF experiences have helped me feel like I can face the next phase in my life, be it attending college or continuing on to a second year of STF. I strongly believe that with In Jin Nim's guidance our generation is destined to do great things.
During the commencement, talented members of STF performed songs, s including a beautiful rendition of "Fix you" by Coldplay and an original song, "Stubborn Love," by Daniel Castillo, YoungBok Gomez, and Natasha Honey. These performances demonstrated how far young Unificationist musicians have come due to weekly Open Mic performances at the Learning Center and nourished by In Jin Nim's vision of excellence and all youth pursuing their dreams.
A beautiful slideshow depicted the highlights of the past year and the three modules of STF training: Lovin' Life, Fundraising, and Overseas service projects. This was followed by defining moments from four STF participants: Naomi Froelich, Irina Miller, Miye Bishop and Neal Ichinohe. I was particularly inspired by Neal's recollection of discovering how much God loves him as His eternal son and how he learned through the course of his STF tenure to receive all the love that God wants to give him.
The testimonies were followed by the commencement ceremony. The spirit was high in the ballroom as every person received his or her completion certificate from HSA-UWC Executive Vice President, Rev. Joshua Cotter and was congratulated by the STF staff who had invested so much in us throughout the year. I couldn't help but get a little weepy when we were then given a congratulatory gift by the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), the book, Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss, in order to support us in the next chapter of our lives.
The ceremony ended with the songs, "Seasons of Love," from the musical, Rent, and "Light of Grace," which graduates sang together as a way to show our gratitude to God, to True Parents, to our senior Pastor, to all of our parents, and to everyone else who supported us throughout the year. There were plenty of hugs and tears, and I'm positive that every person graduating felt so much love from Heavenly Father, True Parents, and In Jin Nim. I can only imagine the exciting futures we have ahead of us.
Contributed by Felicia Bratti, Special Task Force (STF) graduate 2011