DONE Mission 022/023 reflections
DONE was providing me with an ideal environment to grow. For growth you need to have freedom and be trusted but also you need guidance and support and on DONE I got all of it. DONE showed me the potential that I have as a brother and son of God. I needed a little push and confrontation in my spiritual life and in how strong my values are. I would say that I became a different person. Much more confident and clearer and able to discern and confront right from wrong much better, both within myself and in others. Despite all the values, guidance, and education I experienced an incredible, unbreakable bond to every single participant and that is really something remarkable and something that I will remember my whole life. Certain things I experienced I cannot explain because they are not in my head but in my heart.
Participant from Germany
DONE and DONE M1 have both considerably helped me to deeply anchor my life of faith. Through experiencing the incredibly detailed and tailored content on the programme, along with the genuinely considerate staff, I was able to grow internally more than I could have thought of before applying for the programme. Being in an environment where everyone is intentionally choosing to take their faith seriously, on the programme we developed not only just friendships for life, but a family. The way the schedule works, allows for realistically evaluating aspects of your life that need to be improved or nurtured, whilst it also actively challenged me to exceed my perceived limits of my character. DONE creates a space for honest sharing that defined my experience and continues to encourage me to reflect and be more internally conscious in my everyday life. There is so much value in choosing to take time out and dedicating it to God, and having been on DONE, I feel so much more confident now contributing to my community back at home.
Participant from UK
My fundraising experience was quite magical for me. The most valuable thing I learned was trust and faith. Being able to trust myself, have confidence in myself. To be able to overcome my own struggles and challenges. Most importantly trust and faith in God. Faith that I’m being guided in my life. Faith that I will succeed, and I will be safe. Building upon this relationship with God centred on this faith was powerful and is a strong foundation for my life going forward.
When I look back on this period of my life, I think it will one of the most important and decisive moments in my life. The connections I’ve made here are invaluable. Each of us has a support network to rely on when were in need. I’ve truly found a family here. Thank you for this amazing opportunity to grow. Grow closer to God. Grow closer to the Blessing and to being a better person.
Participant from Ireland
When I look back on the last two years of DONE, all I can say is that I am grateful for how it aligned the beginning of my life with stronger values. How accurately your direction is tuned makes a decisive impact of what destination you reach, and I believe that both years of DONE helped me with exactly that: knowing my direction (instead of destination), and learning the skills and tools needed to keep it. This doesn’t mean that my life will be a straight line from now on, no. But when I do miss a mark, I can be sure that this incredible network of companions of faith (my fellow Doners) and a competent group of older brothers and sisters in mentoring positions, will offer the exact support I need to find my way back to a life for God. It takes effort, and won’t always be easy, and that is exactly why we need communities and strong environments.
Participant from Germany
DONE was genuinely one of the best and happiest times of my life. It helped me build a strong foundation for my faith through the content and the experiences I had, which I had been uncertain about for some time. I really want to live a life with God, and I’m committed to care and live for the sake of others. The relationships I made on DONE I feel couldn’t have been made anywhere else. Having that constant support and the precious bonds I made with people really inspires me to keep growing and pushing myself to be the best person I can be not just for myself but also for God and those who I really care for. Being with such caring and supportive friends helped me remove some layers I was hiding behind and see the qualities I had which I was unaware of. Being able to be truly free around others and to just be myself was a big accomplishment for me.
Participant from Ireland
DONE is a training program, of course it´s not your usual daily life in which you are confronted with maybe more profound problems and struggles; but it´s not a bubble which just simply pops. It is a decision which you make. After coming back home one needs to make active decisions every day: to think life is for or against you, to make commitments and keep them or rather set no goals at all to be “safe” and comfortable, to be responsible in life or to be a victim, to live in the now for the future or to live in the past. To protect your personal dream (or whatever reminds you of why all this freaking work and pain would be worth it) and remember it (which can be unbearably difficult) or to choose to be lost and helpless.
Participant from Germany
Going into DONE, with the simple reasoning of “I trust it is a good way of growing further” I had no idea of the immense value it was going to hold for me. Even with all the challenges and confrontations experienced, I gained so much more than I expected. We were able to create such depth and harmony by deciding to invest, being sincere and choosing vulnerability over comfort, and by supporting one another. It allowed me to see others with more clarity and establish unique connections, to gain more understanding of myself and to recognize my own self-worth. I was able to experience God’s love and see what it feels like to create a space where He can truly dwell and experience joy. DONE left me with an immense sense of gratitude and privilege. It is a reminder of the direction I want to walk and a reminder of a duty I carry to honour God, True Parents and my own ancestors, through my actions and life decisions.
Participant from Portugal
I’m grateful for all the couples and families on DONE. Seeing them happy showed me what I am working towards and why I was on DONE. I realised after seeing different people playing with Kolya and Siena that I want these people to be involved in my life and when I have my own children, I want my DONE family to meet them. They are my companions of faith from now on.
What about my current family? I’ve definitely improved my patience being on DONE. I want to be more open to my family going home, based on what I’ve learned on DONE. I want to create a good environment at home that my family and I can be proud of. I don’t want to force anything on my family or be critical of the bad things that can be improved. I want to work to build on the good things that we already have.
Participant from UK
If I had to describe my DONE M1 experience, I would compare it to skydiving. Granted, I’ve never been skydiving, but I think the analogy works. The first five weeks were focused on FR. And this was like how it is when you first jump out of the plane when you skydive. It took a while for me to adapt, but then I felt comfortable and started enjoying the fast speed (metaphorically and intensity wise). What made it incredibly meaningful was the team. We always supported and encouraged each other, and after every day, it felt like you were coming back to your family after a long day of work.
In the second part we had a week of education from Uncle Armando, and I saw it as the time you spend falling with the parachute open. Taking in information and processing everything, which was a nice period where we could ‘take in the views’. And finally, in the last week, we had a ‘long graduation’, we went to the mountains and prepared to go back to our day to day lives. And I would compare this period to when you prepare to land, ending with actually landing.
Participant from UK
As a Second Gen, I have always been curious and wanted to learn more about the history, spiritual aspects, and traditions of our church. I wanted to understand my parents’ life course, too. DONE provided the education that I always wanted. I learned so much about the history, principles, Matching & Blessing and heart of God and True Parents.
Another big realisation was the value of my relationships with brothers and sisters. We came to DONE for different reasons, being different personalities. We came to grow and learn with an open heart. We could support each other on our spiritual journey as a family. Finding a true friendship with someone who is also serious about the spiritual growth and going through similar struggles with you is hard. I could find my companions of faith on DONE. And I am forever grateful for that. Team success is way more fulfilling than personal success. It is my privileged to offer these victories to God and True Parents.
Participant from Hong Kong