You could say that the new World CARP President Hyun Jin Moon is a man in a hurry. From the moment True Parents assigned him to his new role as the international leader of CARP and the 2nd Generation, he has been sharing his vision of a bright new future for the Unification youth movement whenever and wherever he can. In the past few months, he has led conferences in Bridgeport (twice), UTS, National Headquarters and Chicago. He has also been a keynote speaker at the ALC meetings in Washington and is even now on a tour of CARP chapters in Korea, Japan and four other Asian countries.

March 31, the day Hyun Jin Nim was officially inaugurated as the World CARP President, was a typical example of his determination to guide CARP to new successes. For five hours before the inauguration, Hyun Jin Nim sat down at the Columbia Road family church in Washington DC with a group of more than 70 CARP alumni, brothers and sisters who had been leaders and members of CARP over the past 20 years. He wanted to hear from them about what had worked and what had not worked well during those years, to find the "nuggets of value" from the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds and hundreds of CARP volunteers in campuses across America.

The reason for this extended give and take was not just to reminisce about old times, of course. The most interesting reports were about specific witnessing campaigns, including New York and San Francisco 1986 - 1994, Los Angeles 1979 and many other programs at schools across the nation. Hyun Jin Nim's vision is for CARP to once again become a powerful evangelical force for the Unification movement as a whole. "We need new young members," he said, "and I am confident that we will find them once we redirect our energy and resources into witnessing. We need to study and learn from the best practices from our own past, and from other countries as well."

The inauguration itself was a moving event. The local DC church community invested their hearts to create a simple but solemn ceremony, which turned out to be a moment of rededication and redetermination for all of the CARP and the Church members present. Dr. Chang Shik Yang, continental FFWPU president, introduced Hyun Jin Nim and commented on his many other initiatives, including the True Family Culture Conferences, his successful business enterprises and his outstanding record at Columbia and Harvard. Congratulatory telegrams were read from international FFWPU President Rev. Sun Jo Hwang and from Rev. Jeong Ok Yoo from Japan. Gifts and flowers were presented from various nations.

Mike Balcomb, the outgoing US CARP President, took the opportunity to review the history of World CARP under its two previous Presidents, Hyo Jin Moon and Jin Hun Park Moon. Under Hyo Jin Him's leadership, World CARP had held International Student Conventions in Seoul, Tokyo, New York, Bangkok, London, Paris and most notably in 1987 in Berlin, where CARP leaders shouted "Die Mauer muss weg" the wall must go!

Jin Hun Park Moon's lasting contributions were the creation of the STF (Special Task Force) and the founding of the Pure Love Alliance. The STF is a one or two year training program for young Unificationists to strengthen their life of faith before going on to college. From just five participants in the first class of 1995, there have been more than 100 graduates, and thirty five in this years class. In the same time period, the Pure Love Alliance has emerged as a leading international force for purity and abstinence, with three national and international tours under its belt. PLA volunteers are now teaching the CLUE abstinence curriculum to thousands of students in dozens of public schools across the United States.

Now the challenge is to bring these victories to a higher level. "You who are gathered here today are the bright, young, second generation members of our movement." Hyun Jin Nim said, "Don't tell me you don't have the capacity to be able to see that we have entered a new historical era. The changes are coming about, not only within our movement, but also throughout the whole world. The winds of change are circulating, dislodging people's old traditional ways of thinking.

"There are more options now than ever before in human history. Yet, what kind of value systems will people have to guide those options? What will be the tradition, the vertical standard that connects the lives of people, to God, to the ideal world, to a better society?"

Immediately after the inauguration, Hyun Jin Nim went with the entire congregation to the holy ground at the Ellipse, near the White House. Members have maintained a consistent prayer vigil there for many years, and on this night fervent prayers were offered for the success of his new mission and for the victory of True Parents speaking tours and other providential activities.

After that, Hyun Jin Nim and 20 World CARP leaders went out to a farm in West Virginia for a two-day workshop retreat and planning session. Each of the nations and regions represented - Korea, Japan, USA, Europe, Russia, Hungary, Germany, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines - had already prepared reports about membership and activities in their own country. Even though the size and scope of CARP activities in each nation varied widely, the group focus was to create a new mission statement for CARP appropriate to the challenges of the new millennium and the settlement age.

On the second day, Hyun Jin Nim led an extensive case study of J-CARP, which is in many ways a model for other nations to follow, in that it is growing each year through a successful witnessing program, and is student centered but financially independent. Questions flew thick and fast as the CARP leaders asked J-CARP President Eiji Tokuno how J-CARP had managed to develop and grow despite the very difficult social circumstances of the movement in Japan.

Lastly, the discussion turned to the structure of the new World CARP organization which will be created in its finalized form later this year. Even though the legal situation in each country is different, every national CARP chapter will be represented in the governing structure of World CARP. "This will be a different organization in just two years" said Hyun Jin Nim, "and in five years it will be spectacular. If you believe this, let's work together to make it happen!"

US CARP Has a New President Too

Howard Self was recently appointed the President of US CARP. He has been working with CARP since the days of Tiger Park in the late seventies, and brings enormous experience to the role. Mike Balcomb has taken on new duties with the international organization of World CARP.

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