Why I Joined

Today we’re joined by Shinghi Detlefsen. Born in Berkeley, California, Shinghi is the youngest son of George and Pat Detlefsen, who were Blessed in marriage at Madison Square Garden in 1982. He was raised in a Unificationist household, and like most second-generation Unificationists, he had to discover the value of that.

Shinghi’s journey of spiritual discovery started when his father died in 2005 from Parkinson’s disease. Shinghi was just 15. His father’s death sent him on a path to discover his faith, his principles, and his purpose.

Today we’re joined by Maarten Meijer. Maarten was born in the Netherlands. He was drawn to the spirituality of Albert Schweitzer and Leo Tolstoy at a young age. After an unprompted brush with Jesus around sixteen, he bounced from Zen Buddhism to the existentialism of Hesse, Nietzsche, and Camus. He hitchhiked around Europe searching for truth. After two years of disappointing biology study, he dropped out of university. Maarten then sailed a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean to America, where he joined the Unification Church in 1980. He was shocked by the power of the Divine Principle.

Today we’re joined by Larry Moffitt, Secretary General for North America of the Universal Peace Federation and Executive Director for The Washington Times Foundation. All his life, God has been knocking gently on Larry’s door. Somehow, he always knew there was a God who had a personality, ideas, and opinions. Starting in high school, he set out to find Him, or Her. He was open to God being female long before it was cool.

During his first two years in high school, he began a nightly prayer: “God if you ever need me to do anything, please just ask and I’ll do it. Amen.” Nine years later, God did just that.

In the Unification Church, he has had an eclectic career, from singing in a rock band called Sunburst to emceeing for every church holiday for five years. When Larry founded The News World team in 1976, it marked a fork in the road away from academia and theology and onto the path of communication and media that has marked his contribution to the Unification movement ever since.

Larry attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning a bachelor’s degree in radio, television, and film, with minors in journalism and photojournalism. He has a master’s degree in communication, obtained on a fellowship grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Today we’re joined by Dan Fefferman. Raised in a secular Jewish family in Los Angeles, Dan began consciously searching for God when he moved to Berkeley to attend the University of California, where he earned a degree in political science.

When Dan attended the first Black Panther Party meeting, he realized how Marxism had infected the civil rights movement with hate. He decided that he needed to answer some basic philosophical questions for himself. When he heard the Divine Principle in November 1968, Dan accepted it immediately and moved into the church center in Berkley with other young Unificationists.

Today we’re joined by Crescentia DeGoede. Growing up in Pennsylvania, the closest Unification Church was one and a half hours away, so faith practices were centered on the family. She would participate in church camps over the holidays, where she built lasting friendships with other young Unificationists.

It was at a church camp at 13 years old where Crescentia had her first deep spiritual encounter with God and Father and Mother Moon, committing her life to God and the Unification faith. After participating in a religious gap-year program, Crescentia received her bachelor's in Sociology from Arcadia University. She went on to pastor in Philadelphia and New Jersey and served for six years as the Director of the National Blessing and Family Ministry of the Unification Church in America.

Today we’re joined by Jario Vincenz-Gavin. He currently serves as pastor for a vibrant community in Mobile, AL along with his wife Leena. They have been married for 15 years and have three wonderful children. Together, they are guided by their motto “Pursuing the ideal, while embracing the reality.” Always a dreamer, Jario works hard to encourage others to own their value as a child of God.

Growing up in the movement, Jario was inspired by the dream of "One Family Under God." He didn’t know if it was something he could really be a part of, but God had other plans.

As a college student, Jario supported youth ministry before being asked to pastor a large church community full-time in Chicago for two years, planting a new church in the suburbs for four years,  and then moving to Alabama to pastor a medium-sized church. Through it all, he’s learned that the key to ministry is recognizing the qualities of the people in his community.

Today we’re joined by Joe Young. Born and raised in northern California, he decided to become a professional musician at the age of 15. Four years later, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in jazz guitar, and at 22 began playing in bands and touring.

Joe was born into the Unification movement and returned after years of being distant at the age of 24. He joined the national music ministry, where his passion shifted from playing guitar to writing songs.

Almost a decade later, Joe and his wife began pastoring the local Unification Church in South Florida. What they planned to be a one-year commitment turned into five. During that time, Joe had many insights, including a newfound love and spiritual connection to Jesus. Joe’s passion shifted yet again to ministry, preaching, and worship music.

Today we’re joined by Andrew Love. Raised in Toronto, Canada, Andrew got into the comedy world at 18. After attending college for comedy, and doing shows all around Toronto and Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at show business. That’s where he ended up meeting the woman who would introduce him to God and cause a massive shift in the trajectory of his life.

At the age of 27, everything that Andrew believed to be true was challenged when he encountered the teaching of the Unification movement. He was confronted with the proposition that all of the assumptions about life that he held onto so tightly, might, in fact, be wrong.

Today we’re joined by Diane Kelalu Hack, a Bachelor of Science Registered Nurse student at Chamberlain University in New Jersey. She was the regional Youth and Young Adult Coordinator for her church for two years and worked as a Nursing Assistant. She recently took on a new role as National Administrator for the Women’s Federation for World Peace USA.

Her life of faith came to a turning point during a 40-day spiritual retreat in the Korean countryside where she was able to understand the hearts of Rev. and Mrs. Moon on a deeper level.

Born in Africa to Congolese parents, Diane moved to the U.S. at age 13. She comes from a well-educated, loving family. Her parents were strict when it came to Unification Church traditions and involvement in the community, which she credits to her becoming the strong, faithful woman she is today.

Today we’re joined by Mark Anderson. In 1994, Mark was elected to the Arizona State Legislature where he served for 14 years. During his time in the legislature, he authored numerous significant and innovative pieces of legislation. Mark has been published multiple times in newspapers such as the Arizona Republic and East Valley Tribune, and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Washington Times, and Chicago Tribune.

From a tiny town in rural New Mexico to a series of deeply spiritual experiences, to the corridors of power in state government, Mark’s life has been an adventure.

In 2010, Mark was elected to the position of Justice of the Peace for the West Mesa Justice Court and was appointed as the Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Korea for Arizona in 2019. Mark has participated in service projects in Honduras, Mexico, Trinidad, Thailand, Ukraine, Ecuador, and Zambia.