On May 15 and 16, 1999, Dr. Kathy Winings from UTS offered a seminar in Chicago to 40 leadership brothers and sisters throughout Region 6. She came representing the bridge between UTS and the world wide Unification movement. She outlined the vision of UTS along the lines of what True Parents are now doing in the world and spoke briefly about the student internship program now available to some of the local churches in America.

Bishop Ki Hoon Kim opened the seminar. His main points were: We have already achieved the 360 million couples' blessing. Therefore, all of those who have been blessed should likewise bless one other couple. If this were to happen, then each newly blessed couple would bless yet another couple and in this way, Father's goal of eliminating Satan's blood lineage by the end of this millennium can be accomplished.

He talked further about inheriting True Parents tradition, their thinking and their lifestyle. He quoted from Father: "My lifetime motto is to sacrifice myself for others, shedding tears, sweat and blood." Father came from the Christian foundation. This is a religion of tears and blood. It is the religion of the cross. We have to constantly view ourselves from God's viewpoint every time we take action. We have to revitalize and reawaken.

Bishop Kim also stressed the following points for success: Hoon Dok Hae, Church Visitation, Evening Programs, 2nd Generation Education, Pastoral Counseling of our 185, Tithing and Donations. We also have to get into the local schools and onto the college campuses.

All of these things will take our absolute faith, obedience, love and unity with one another.

Rev. Michael Jenkins followed. He talked about the responsibility of the older son, and tied this in with thoughts on the necessity of VIP development. He spoke about touring American with Mother. He shared some of Mother's insights about America at this time.

Mother talked about a Korean legend that best displays the heart of the elder son. The parents of an elder son of a Korean family passed away and were placed in their tomb. The tradition of the elder son would be to build a shack at the entrance of the tomb to pray for his parents. Leaving his wife and children at home, he would put on very humble clothes and live in the shack for three years while enduring the harsh weather and living on rice. The elder son would cry and repent every day during those years that he did not do more for his parents while they were alive on earth.

Mother commented, "As an elder son nation, we should have the heart to comfort our True Parents and take care of their concerns."

Rev. Jenkins then launched a plan of action for accomplishing our part of the 400 million couples' Blessing. He first stressed the internal need for unity between our Regional leader and all other department leaders from the local churches and businesses as well as CARP and other groups related to our movement.

Secondly, he emphasized that we need to clearly understand the role of Christianity in this particular providence. Dae Mo Nim has recently liberated 106 saints to work with us in America. We have to connect to Dae Mo Nim's, Heung Jin Nim's, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as well as these liberated saints or we will not be able to fulfill our part.

All members should attend a Christian church at least once a month. They should love and serve this church, especially the minister and his wife, and give special attention to the women's leadership within the church as they give so much with little recognition and support. Eventually, when trust is formed, the minister will want to help match and bless the young people of his church.

He also talked about other areas where we can effectively work toward the 400 million couple Blessing. We should meet local community and political leaders. Don't be afraid to serve them and help them, but keep in mind that the purpose is to inspire them with True Parents overall vision.

Rev. Jenkins also talked about the need to be involved with academic and ethnic organizations. Always, even as we are serving their needs, we keep in mind that we have a vision that will inspire them and ultimately help them to achieve their goals more fully than they could without it.

He concluded with several points of action through True Family Values Seminars, Women's Recognition Awards, Parent's Day Activities, Church banquets and special events such as a CARP, WFWP or ACC speaker.

The seminar then moved into specifics concerning young people today. Some of the points that Dr. Winings emphasized were:

Young people understand sincerity. They know if you are just going through the motions or if you really care.

Invest in them and in their lives with honesty. Listen to them and be there for them.

Use words sparingly. Use the Principle. However, all of your words must be also in action. They will see immediately if you live your words or just say your words. If you live your words, they will respect what you have to say and in many cases begin to take you seriously and follow your example.

Involve them in programs, especially those that have some kind of activity. Service projects are excellent for teaching young people the basics of the Principle.

Be clear when talking about sin. Don't be vague. They need to understand that sexuality permeates our being and that what we do in this area affects everything about our lives. They need to hear that the root of sin is the misuse of love, that all the suffering and misery of humankind starts and ends in this area and that they can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Be sensitive when speaking about God. Some young people had terrible family experiences and their hearts are not opened by descriptions of God as a parent.

Develop a weekly or regular time to meet with young people. Stick to it, though sometimes they may not. Show that you are consistent and they will begin to come on a regular basis. Use role play, simulations, discussion groups and challenge them to think.

Lecturing alone doesn't reach young people, so they won't be moved by speeches about Adam and Eve, but they will be inspired if challenged to think and talk about Adam and Eve as a prototype couple that caused a lot of problems for all of us. They will be inspired if challenged to think and talk about how they could do a better job for future generations.

The workshop was very useful for our local leadership and we are grateful to Rev. Kim, Rev. Jenkins and Dr. Winings for their time and efforts to give us inspiration and practical knowledge on how to go about achieving the enormous task of blessing 400 million young people and couples in our region.

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