By FFWPU Eastern Africa
Under True Mother’s blessed guidance, a 14-day workshop for the second generation was held in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme “Let us practice true love in resemblance to our creator, our Heavenly Parent” from December 14-28, 2014. There were 96 participants. The participants who were 13 to 26 years old, came from Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Burundi
In preparation for the workshop, the second generation made many conditions, including fasting and kyongbe conditions. And during the workshop leaders made a special prayer condition early every morning before Hoondokwe for 14 days.
For this workshop, we have received financial support (5000 USD) from True Mother, and the same time the second generation inspired the members during the joint Sunday service which helped them to collect about 3500 USD at the beginning of the workshop.
The objectives of the workshop
- Align ourselves with True Parents’ lifestyle of living for the sake of others.
- To find our true identity.
- Take responsibility for the fulfillment of vision 2020.
This workshop guided by the East Africa Regional President, Rev. Camara, three lecturers: the sub regional leader of East Africa Rev. Kililo, the national leader of Kenya Rev. Tanui and Pastor Mrs. Ominde and two staff member: Mr. William Juma and Mrs. Kililo.
The workshop started with Sunday service sermon I gave which transformed the atmosphere and created the foundation for the success of the workshop. All participants were very inspired to know that True Mother was very keen on the success of the workshop
From the second day the workshop schedule started at 5.30 with hoondokwe. The hoondokwe content was very interesting and the readings were carefully chosen to provide a direction for the rest of the day. After the hoondokwe we did the bouncing exercises that True Mother initiated. Our daily lectures started at nine in the morning after breakfast and after every lecture there was time for discussion in teams. There were ten teams each guided by a second-generation team leader reporting to a Parent figure. There were five parent figures in the workshop each in charge of two teams.
Every day we had four lectures and a session for sports before dinner. Rev. Kililo gave the principles of creation on the second day and Rev. Tanui gave the lectures on the fall of man on the third day. On the fourth day Rev. Tanui continued with lectures on the last day, predestination, Christology and resurrection. Rev. kililo gave lectures on the principles of restoration on the fifth day and on the sixth day it was Rev Tanui who gave a lecture on Moses and Jesus course. Rev. Kililo concluded the Divine Principles with preparation for the messiah and second coming on the seventh day. True Parents’ life course was covered on the eighth day by Rev. Kililo and on the ninth day Cheongpyeong Providence (Why the second Generation need to participate in the Cheongpyeong providence) lectures were given by Edwin Plekhanov. On the tenth day Rev. kililo gave presentations on the blessing.
The workshop activities
On the eleventh day of the workshop we visited St. Bernados ophaned children’s home and the workshop attendees offered a heartwarming performance to the orphans.
On behalf of True Mother, the second generation from the workshop offered a one-month supply of food and 6 month supply of stationary to the Children’s home. To see many orphans reminded all participants on the work at hand toward restoration of the world and the necessity of ideal families.
with St. Bernados orphan children home
The Saint Bernados orphaned children home were grateful to True mother and to the second generation who conveyed the gifts to the children. St. Bernados children home expressed their desire for another visit to the home when the children are not on holiday and when we could have a longer period of time with the children
On Christmas day we took time to celebrate Jesus birthday together with the birthday of all the second-generation participants who had their birthdays in December. Participants took time to show their talents and entertain others. It was a very joyful day.
On the thirteenth day I guided the participants on the Church Tradition for the whole day. The presentations were the culminations of the whole workshop leading to decision making on the way forward by participants. Participants were guided to decide on which way they wanted to serve the mission and on what they wanted to take responsibility for after the workshop. The workshop attendants took time to discuss among themselves and to meditate on their decisions.
We had a lecture competition where thirty-nine participants offered to compete in giving Divine principle lectures. After casting ballots seven of them were able to compete and three won and received prices. There was also a Family Pledge memorization test. The majority of the participants scored more than 70%.
Peace Rally
As an embodiment of successful fourteen days’ workshop a public rally was held on 27th; December 2014 at the Nairobi Central Park, the venue where Pope John Paul II addressed a large crowd in 1995.
The theme of the rally was “building a culture of peace: mainstream living for the sake of the nation”. The presence and support of administration officials also served to rubber stamp the whole importance on the subject of saving the family. The slogan of the rally was “One Family under God” printed on the white caps to match the white T-shirts.
The workshop participants received briefing from the Regional President before being dispatched in teams of three to different parts within the public park. They invited guests to the main venue and 133 persons registered for more education. Some of the invited guests gathered for the rally speeches and later confirmed their interest in attending further lectures.
The rally sought to achieve two main objectives
- To have the workshop participants put into practice what they learned from the workshop and to experience heart of God and True parents in restoration of humanity.
- To invite members of the public to listen to the peace speeches and to encourage them to register for follow up seminars in peace embassy.
Mr. Phiri David from Uganda was the MC while the main speakers were Rev. Kililo and Rev. Tanui sub regional and National leader respectively. All forms of campaign tools were utilized to ensure that the peace campaigns actually got to the target audience.
Rev. Mwalagho Kililo spoke on the importance of family as a school of love and foundation for the nation. And Rev. Emmanuel Tanui spoke on the cause and the effects of conflict. He emphasized on individual and collective responsibility to seek solutions for the historical conflict that have weakened our ability to move together in the same direction as one family under God. He sensitized members of the public on the need for transformation. He cited the culture of living for the sake of others and the power of true love as a weapon that would address the so many problems that are bedeviling the society. He concluded by asking the participants to put the interest of the others ahead of their own personal interests.
The rally was concluded with songs from the 2nd Generation group performance. Different nationalities show cased their cultural heritage in songs and dance. Other people also took part in the event to show their talent in music.
The Program was concluded with a prayer from Rev. William Juma who was the main coordinator of the workshop. After the rally, within the park, the children had fun camel and horse riding as well as merry-go-round.
Outcome of the workshop
The participants determined to align themselves with True Parents’ life style of living for the sake of others. They were able discover their identity as children of True Parents. They made a determination to take responsibility for the fulfillment of Vision 2020.
There was a graduation ceremony where each participant received a certificate of participation and a Divine Principle book. At the end of the workshop thirty six participants out of the total participants of ninety six,, signed a resolution to take up full time mission. The remaining other participants will take part time missions to support true parents and Gods providence in general.
Those who committed themselves for full time missionary work received True Parents autobiography-as a peace loving global citizen in addition to the Divine principle book. Many of the children commented that the two weeks workshop was the best two weeks in their lives. Thanks to God and True parents that Heaven took over the workshop and brought about a result beyond our imagination.
Two Sudanese second generation was at all the time very grateful to True Mother. One of theme Sarah Ahmed was always crying when she talks about True mother. This was their first workshop with the second Generation since Sudan is an Islamic country.
Thanks to True Mother from Sudanese second generation
Dear True Mother,
My name is Sarah and my sister’s name is Amirah. My father is Sudanese and my mother is Japanese and we are all living in North Sudan. My parents are from the 1275 couples (1989).
We attended the 14 days second generation workshop in Kenya. It was an extraordinary experience for us, and we felt your support throughout the workshop. We hope to dedicate our lives for the Heavenly Parent and True Parents. Thank you so much for your love and care.
We love you.
Sarah and Amirah