Contributed by Chungbom Katayama and Yoshika Iwamoto
From June 1-6, Midwest CARP hosted our first week long Divine Principle Workshop with the CARP chapters from Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. The workshop was hosted at the KOHOE campground in Michigan with the support of the Jesper Family. We had a total of 22 participants, four of them being new CARP members studying the Divine Principle for the past year.
The workshop consisted of lectures, discussions, and activities, including a trip to the Indiana Dunes. The Divine Principle lectures were presented by Dr. Michael Hentrich from Colorado. He gave a total of 11 lectures covering the whole Divine Principle and end with a guidance on Father & Mother Moon’s life course. The lectures layed out the main points of the Principle while providing insight into the real-life applications of these lessons. Many CARP members, both old and new, expressed an appreciation for the Divine Principle and the new understanding of faith practices in their lives.
Every day of the workshop, the CARP members started their morning with an energizer and a guidance on life of faith practices. A number of topics were covered by the CARP staff organizing the workshop: “Prayer” by Nobu Iwamoto, “Reporting” by Norikuni Nishikawa, “Scripture reading” by David Lee, and “Setting conditions” by Grace Kisile. Each guidance was given with a practical explanation of the habit along with testimonies on the impact it made on their personal lives. Each participant was given time to practice the habit together after the short talk.
The evenings were also filled wiith spiritually based activities. Two of these activities–led by Norikuni Nishikawa and Mune Nakamura–focused on repentance and gratitude. For the first activity, participants wrote their letters of repentance to God. These letters were burned in a bonfire. Some participants stated this was their first time repenting. Many expressed their appreciation for the opportunity, and the night was concluded with songs and s’mores by the campfire.
In another activity focusing on gratitude, the participants had an opportunity to express their appreciation for each other. After sharing theirs, each person was given another person’s prayer list. The night ended with each person being prayed over by another participant.
The workshop was filled with a spirit to learn and gain from the lectures and activities. Many participants had questions on the content and had opportunities to ask them during one of the Q&A sessions following the lectures. The participants stated that they also appreciated the time in between activities to discuss personal questions with Dr. Hentrich.
For the first time in the Midwest CARP workshops, we introduced the mission Father & Mother Moon as True Parents. Those who had heard this for the first time were inspired by their lives and the mission that they had taken on. The participants had positive responses and were forward-thinking in their understanding of this point. A CARP member from Minnesota stated, “at first, I didn’t know why I came to this workshop. After hearing the last lecture I realized I was called to this workshop to know who Sun Myung Moon is.”
We concluded the workshop with a short guidance on the next steps. There was also time for reflections and testimonies. Many participants shared their highlights and determinations moving forward. One participant described the workshop as a “spiritual revival,” and shared how the workshop impacted her relationship with God. Many participants shared their determinations to set conditions to advance their life of faith. It was a workshop where many were inspired to take their next steps with God and deepen their understanding of Divine Principle.
Testimonies :
“Without this workshop, I wouldn’t have learned as much about the Unification church and Father Moon’s history and accomplishments. His teachings are full of value. I think I grew more in my relationship with God and I learned more about what true joy is and most importantly what love really means”
- Samuel (Minnesota)
“My relationship with God has always been good, and I have been able to rely on Him to understand me and my struggles. I had a spiritual awakening joining this group and I have grown so much by reading the Divine Principle with my team leader”
- Kaila (Indiana)
“Before going to this workshop, my relationship with God was not that strong. Yes, I still believe him but I didn’t put faith in action. But after hearing the different life of faith habits lectures, and even practicing them, it brought back a sense of happiness towards myself and God”
- Victor (Minnesota)