The Root, Vision and Heart of IPEC

Over 100 participants from all over America gathered for orientation at the International Peace Education Center (IPEC) to kick off the 7-Day Divine Principle Workshop being held at the Mt. Charleston Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gathered in the newly finished main hall, Naokimi Ushiroda, President of the Collegiate Association for the Research of the Principle (CARP) USA and overall Program Director for the workshop, cheerfully welcomed eager and excited Unificationists both young and old. In his opening remarks, he clarified the goal of this workshop.

“The purpose of this workshop is to give each participant an opportunity to experience transformation through the word.” He went on to say, “Our hope is that each of you will be able and confident to share the Divine Principle with others.”

True Mother has expressed her desire to see families return to their roots. This message inspired the Divine Principle workshop team to design a study program targeting individual, personalized growth.

“Please take this chance to discover which part of the Divine Principle resonates with you right now, and applies to you at this point in your journey,” Naokimi suggested. “There is no need to try to learn all there is to understand about the Divine Principle in these short seven days. Instead, aim to have a personal transformative experience as your takeaway.”

With these words in mind and heart, each participant turned to their neighbor and shared why they decided to drop everything, and spend a week in Las Vegas, studying scripture.

One participant shared that to get there, he sold his truck to pay for the airfare and registration fee. Another participant from Minnesota decided to be a caregiver, offering anyone who needed minor medical attention and counseling to participants. One young man from Chicago decided to register when he participated in outreach for the first time and realized he had the ability to share the word and overcome his fear. The workshop could not have begun with a more uplifting tone. The room was full of the energetic noise of laughing and sharing.

Naokimi then introduced Teresa Ferette, workshop coordinator; Mr. Steven Kwon, President of Good Korean Guy (GKG) Builders Inc. designer and construction manager for the Peace Center; Rev. Thomas and Kathleen Hwang, Peace Center Education Directors. Rev. Hwang spoke briefly on True Father’s vision for the International Peace Education Center saying, “The Peace Education Center is meant to promote the international peace movement” she said. “It was True Father’s hope that leaders from all walks of life would come to this place, grab hold of God’s vision and make it flourish in the world.”

Kathleen Hwang also shared her sentiments on the significance of this day, ”It took 6000 years for people from all over the world to gather in one place and study the word. This place is meant to share God’s purpose of creation, the purpose of life, and God’s hope and plan for life with all the world.”

The Hwangs feel honored and serious to have been given this mission to educate leaders of the world. They are so thrilled that True Father’s dream of holding study of this kind could manifest here in Las Vegas. “Divine Principle is the root on which we stand” shared Kathleen, “So it’s significant that we are studying Divine Principle as the first study of the word here at the Peace Education Center.” They asked all the participants to pray for the fulfillment of True Parent’s vision not only here in Las Vegas but in the world.

During the rest of the workshop, participants will have ample time to read the Divine Principle, have team discussions, and a Q&A session with each lecturer. Breaks have been scheduled into the afternoons to give participants a chance to share their thoughts in a less structured atmosphere.

Tomorrow morning, team leaders will be introduced and participants will choose the team leader they resonate with most, creating tightly knit teams of seven people within which to study for the duration of the workshop.

The workshop organizers shared that the program was designed for maximum participation, so full engagement would be the only factor that could make the quality of this workshop exceptional. “So bring your A game!” Naokimi encouraged before closing the kick-off orientation. So far, it looks like it’s going to be an exciting and powerful next seven days.