Queens Family Church's Middle School workshop

A middle school workshop for 30 youth was held at Queens Family Church from April 2-5, 2015. The workshop focused on helping the children understand and share God’s parental love. With so many new events and changes happening in their lives, it is sometimes hard to keep in mind that God’s and parents’ love is always unchanging and waiting to embrace them. In this workshop, participants were given an opportunity to reflect on their relationship with both God and their parents and to practice communicating with them. During lectures, they discussed questions such as, “How do we connect or communicate with God and our parents? What are some obstacles that prevent us from effectively understanding and communicating with them?” Some of the participants’ answers were similar to those of the other participants, and in this way, they were also able to build a strong connection among their peers.

There were many activities prepared for the children to fully engage in the theme of understanding God’s parental love through communication and connection. They had a young parent share her experience from childhood to becoming a parent, a Divine Principle activity designed to teach about God’s creation and the fall, and a service project at the senior center to share love through performances and gifts to those older parents who are away from their family.

The service project was a challenge for many since there were communication barriers. This discouraged some of the participants, but towards the end, the seniors were happy to receive company from the youth. By reaching out to others, the participants were able to put themselves in the shoes of their parents and God and felt how hard it is to reach out to others.

Toward the end of the workshop, the participants and their parents were given a chance to communicate with each other. The participants were asked to write a letter to their parents. At the same time, the participants’ parents were asked to write a letter to their children. On the last day, the group read some of the parents’ letter to their children anonymously and the children really took this moment sincerely. It showed how much the children wanted to hear from their parents. The workshop was a memorable experience for the participants.