Summer 2023: RISE UP!
“These are our brothers and sisters, and we need to think about them, and when we do, we need to roll back our sleeves, and rise up to the challenge.”
~ True Mother
Our summer workshop in August 2023 was all about rising up - not just every morning for sports and reading HDH, but taking the opportunities, the challenges, facing our fears and building a culture of true love. Pushing ourselves to overcome physical, mental and spiritual hardships can be difficult to do on our own, but with the right support, the right friends around us, we can go way further than on our own.
Each day was unique with its own mini-motto that gave focus to the lectures and activities.
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A central topic of the summer workshop was connected to our identity. Born as God’s children we have a great challenge in front of us, but being chosen is a blessing. How can we really understand that? How can we really fulfill that?
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Our heritage is mixed: thanks to True Parents a lot has been cleared up from the heaviness of history, but the fall of man still impacts us. How did True Parents fight through their struggles and pains so that in the end they had achievements bigger than anyone else in history? Who are they really?
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The first generation in Europe was led by True Parents for a reason, but being a pioneer comes with its own challenges. How did they push forward and rise up? What kept their spirit motivated?
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Although we have a lot of potential to become true sons and daughters of God and True Parents, we’re constantly confronted by our environment. Are we strong enough to stand up again after we fall? Are we united enough to make sure we all make it?
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If we want to get through all this, change the world for the better, change ourselves for the better, we cannot stay on the couch. Without a doubt, we will need to have the courage to step outside of our comfort zones. What can we do when we are afraid of doing that?
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When we enter into a living relationship with God, it naturally entails responsibility for us. And fulfilling this responsibility has to become our commitment for us to remain in this relationship. What does true commitment look like?
We couldn’t have done this without our sponsors. The 70+ people present at the workshop were financially supported by the FFWPU EUME HQ, Martha and Christoph Kral, and the Polish Educational Foundation. Thank you again for your generous donations!
