World CARP hosted the Lasting Love Conference on the premises of the Ohio State campus on May 22nd, 2003 targeting professors, educators and students. We had a goal of 100 participants, but to our surprise, 120 people showed up at the conference. This was an amazing experience ever!

The theme of the conference was focused on "Mature Heart and Good Character as the Basis for Lasting Love". The keynote speaker is Rev. Joshua Cotter, President of World CARP USA. He gave a powerful presentation on the three life goals (mature character, contribution to society and loving relationships and family). The presentation was well received and digested by students and professors. This was confirmed during the discussion groups. Seven students reported on the outcome of their discussions. We were amazed by their insights; one could believe that they were already members of World CARP. The conference was very inspiring and professors were very proud of their students when they gave comments on the selected readings. We had two sessions on "The Priority of Character" and "Youth's Search for Lasting Love" which included the readings by the students of the Ohio State University (OSU), the comments by the professors of OSU, the discussions and the reports by OSU students.

The program began at 6:00 pm and ended at 8:30 pm. The dinner was served at 8:00 pm. All students and professors stayed to the end even though the dinner was served late. My impression is that people did not want to leave the room even when we were closing. It appeared as if they wanted a long program. This is because they were very inspired by the presentations and the organization. We used the interactive method that allowed everybody to participate. The professors were fully involved also in the discussion group on their table. Dr. Viola Newton, professor of Literature and Dr. Joseph Russell, Psychologist, gave insightful and inspiring comments on the Priority of Character and Youth's Search for Lasting Love. They used personal stories, anecdotes, poems and examples that were down to earth. Many other professors came as well; Dr. Joachim Zabramba for instance helped a lot even in inviting his own students. The students were grateful for being invited because they learned something new from the academics. We received also a lot of support from the Ohio Family Church led by Rev. Ki Yeal Lee and his wife ___ who entertained us together with another vocalist Ms. Terri Page, both of them were excellent to uplift the spirit in the audience. The conference was emceed and coordinated by Dr. John K. Mwamba who introduced the audience that the Lasting Love Conference is the inspiration of Dr. Sun Myung Moon and began in May 31st, 2000. Rev. Stephen Nomura, Vice-President of World CARP USA assisted a lot in putting together the readings materials that professors and students received for their education of the heart. The local members were supportive in making banners, ushering, serving food, on the registration tables, even in passing out flyers.

The results of the conference were instant when students were asked to fill out the evaluation forms. Many of them expressed interest to get involved with the World CARP activities and events. Now, we will follow them up through the advanced seminars, workshops and community service projects. The vision is to continue on quarterly basis the Lasting Love Conference until the 60.000 students at the Ohio State University are reached with this positive message of touching the hearts of intellectuals. The next conference is scheduled for October 2003 with a goal of 700 students and professors. We look forward to great things happening with the World CARP Ohio in the future.

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home