CARP Las Vegas hosted monthly 2-Day Workshop reported by Akira Watanabe
On September 30th and October 1st, CARP Las Vegas hosted our first monthly 2-Day Workshop for this Fall semester. During this workshop, we had a total of 21 participants including local 2nd generations, 7 of them hearing a Divine Principle lecture for the first time. One of greatest things has happened was that 3 of new CARP members participated in this WS and one of them witnessed and brought 2 guests and Las Vegas community brought 7 guests to this WS. New members stepped up to take responsibility for God’s will. On the evening of the first day, we gathered everyone for a friendly game of volleyball and had a BBQ dinner prepared by the Rev. and Mrs. Doo. Then we all gathered at the church to start some icebreaker activities. Our night went on with a fun game of learning each other’s name, and incorporating a dance move to it. We also played a game of “fishbowl” competing against brothers and sisters. As we closed off the ice breakers, we officially welcomed all the participants to the two-day workshop. The theme of the workshop was ”What is most important in my life?” We were given ‘family’ groups, and concluded the night by sharing with each other our intentions for the workshop.
On the second day, we started the morning by driving to Exploration Peak. We hiked to the top of the peak to have a prayer. Before our prayers, Mr. Akira Watanabe gave a small talk about the importance of being sincere and honest during prayer. The participants were asked to have two points to pray about: gratitude, and an area in their life that they feel stuck in. Taking the time to pray allowed the participants to have the opportunity to freely connect with themselves and God.
Our main program of our workshop was the Divine Principle lectures, which was all given by Rev. Andrew Compton. Throughout the course of the day, he gave four lectures: Introduction to Divine Principle/Principle of Creation Pt. 1, Principle of Creation Pt.2, The Human Fall, and Restoration/ Mission of Messiah/The Last Days. Although there was a lot of content, Rev. Compton did not compromise himself in expressing God’s heart through the Principle. After each lecture, we were given discussion time to share within the families, what we gained through the lectures. The discussions was a chance for the participants to truly share their own experiences and how it connected to the Principle. The discussions were so moving that some participants shared with tears. In the afternoon, we exercised our bodies again with another round of volleyball games. Some of the participants gathered together to make cookies for everyone. It was moving to see how naturally a brother/sister culture was created.
As a way to close the workshop, we gathered around a bonfire, singing in songs and sharing about our experiences. One participant, Marcus Fuller share that he was so grateful to feel supported by his family to be able to share about challenge in purity very honestly and vulnerably. He felt a sense of belonging, realizing that actually, many of us are going through the same fight to overcome the lust together. Also, Kwasi Boakye shared about his experiences from joining CARP two years ago, till now. Coming from a Christian background, Kwasi said that he was afraid of studying the Principle because he felt he might have to discover a new God, but actually he testifies that the Principle has helped him to understand the same God he’s always known, on a much deeper level. Hearing everyone that spoke truly was a testament of how much God is working in each one of our lives. Mr. Akira Watanabe gave a closing message to encourage others to never give up, despite the realities of this world. Although life gets very difficult, we cannot ever forget the experiences God provides for us, and how desperate He is to share His love to each and every one of us. And We appreciated to Japanese missionaries, Mrs. Jares, Mrs. Oberg and Mrs. Ota to support this workshop.
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