The 5th International STF Assembly

Yun-a Johnson
July 11, 2007

Bright smiles, high spirits, powerful singing, and black t-shirts. Excited greetings in Korean, Japanese and English can be heard in the Chung Peyong Chung-a Youth Camp as STF members from around the world gathered for the week long STF Assembly.

Although we come from different countries we all share the same youthful energy, joyful spirits, and passion to change the world. We met together in Korea centering on the Assembly theme of "One Family under God, Aju! The Hope of All Humanity is the Unification of North and South Korea".

After spending the whole first day sharing report, testimonies, watching videos of the past year's activities from each STF Chapter (that was really exciting!), we spent the next day close to the demarcation line of North and South Korea, watched over the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) from a South Korean military outpost (Typhoon Tower). What made the experience very real was the opportunity to do service for the local villagers who live next to the DMZ: some teams helped weeding the ginseng plantations, cleaning, painting…the day ended with a barbeque prepared by the local people, together with a lot of singing and dance.

Another unforgettable experience was the all day sports contest where the nations lined up their best teams to challenge each other in basketball, soccer, dodge ball and relay race. It was a tight competition but STF USA came out first! But something so unique about this sports festival is that everyone invested the entire day into cheering and chanting and singing to support the competitors -- but not just for their own country, within an hour or so nations were pairing up and eventually going beyond all boundaries with the common spirit of striving for excellence and #1!

That energy and synergy was rekindled the next morning as we sang to welcome Hyun Jin nim. Our spirit inspired the rest of the participants (about 1,500 in total): Jr STF, World CARP leaders from around the world, newly appointed MTF (Missionary Task Force) and more to join in and soon the whole gymnasium was like a stormy ocean of powerful singing and swaying and jumping…I felt this experience showed the spirit of STF: 2nd Generation becoming leaders who own God's vision and who can inspire and spread it to others.

It is not enough though, to just spread this vision within our movement but we need to reach out to the world. This is something Hyun Jin nim emphasized and it was the focus of the final day of our Assembly when we did a Peace March and demonstration in the college area of Seoul. The march lead us up to the doors of the 16th World CARP Convention, now renamed 'World University Students Assembly'. The spirit was so high and excited there that Hyun Jin nim said he was surfing on the energy of the room! He concluded by saying "We've created the first ripple of the Heavenly Tsunami that will transform this world!!!"

To end the Assembly on a very high and deep note we attended HDH with True Parents in the wonderful Chung Joon Gun Palace, where Father emphasized how fortunate we are to be living in this era. Father ended with: "You young people should take responsibility for all the things I have not been able to fulfill. Young people from around the world, your missions are very great."