CARP Las Vegas finished up its third segment of the road trip across America. From June 17 to 19, a collaborative team consisting of CARP LV staff, Chicago YAM (Young Adult Ministry), and Prof. Gerry Servito organized a Divine Principle (DP) retreat for young people in the Midwest region.
This retreat started out at Camp KOHOE in Michigan on the first day, then continued at the Chicago Family Church facilities, and finally ended at a local park on the last day. Around 30 students participated in this weekend retreat.
With Gerry Servito as the presenter, there were four presentations that covered the introductory content of the Divine Principle – two lectures on The Principle of Creation, one on The Human Fall, and one on The History of Restoration.
The purpose of this event was to both, introduce the Divine Principle to new guests and to revitalize young Unificationists who were either born into the movement or have recently joined. For CARP LV, this was also an opportunity to raise up its leaders and members while also inspiring the local community about the Principle and this lifestyle.
Some of the participants shared with us their own intentions for joining this workshop.
“I wanted to experience healing from God’s love and connecting to my true self. I wanted to understand True Mother’s vision for the young people in this movement and in America.”
“My intention was to truly just be a student – to learn – and through new understanding and realizations to be able to receive God’s love and share that with others.”
“I wanted to understand and hear the Divine Principle from a new perspective. I also wanted to learn how to share the Principle with those who have never heard it before.”
“My intention going into this retreat was to build a strong foundation for my life of faith. [I want to] trust in God’s love, trust that God is guiding me and feel how it is to live for the sake of others.”
By the conclusion of the retreat, new guests were inspired about the Principle, relatively new members whose faith had been challenged by family and friends had their faith in the Principle and True Parents reinforced, and Unificationist-born young adults were revitalized in observing the Principle’s effect on more recent members and new guests.
There is some excitement among the Chicago young adults that they can introduce the Principle to their own friends and family. Here are a few realizations that some participants had during the retreat.
“[I realized] that a culture from Heavenly Parent’s love is deeply healing. It was something I was craving and I didn’t realize how much my heart was unable to rest in recent experiences. Coming back to the basics was very clarifying. The culture of love was really what put my heart at ease.”
“As a second generation [Unificationist], I’ve never really experienced interacting with a person my age who is just learning the Principle or has just accepted it. It was great to be with people in those positions! There was a [young] first generation sister on my team from CARP LV and it was amazing to witness her understanding of the DP. This gives me hope to be able to share the DP with people my age and to have them accept it.”
“Before I joined CARP, I always had an idea of the purpose of life. The purpose of life is love, however, I did not understand the full meaning. When I joined CARP, slowly it started to reveal itself. The purpose of life is love because God is love! Now the goal is to get through the 3 Great Blessings to fully understand the purpose of life, love, joy, and God.”
To follow CARP Las Vegas’s journey across America and to join up, go to http://carplife.org/summer2017/