Women of Tomorrow – 1st Event Report (Watch out for the 2nd!)

The ‘Women of Tomorrow Pyjama Party’ was the first in a series of sisters workshops organised through the co‐operation of Women’s Federation and CARP. For a number of months, Mitty Tohma, as Women’s Federation director in the UK, and Yoshiko Chellew, Keishin Barrett, and Rosanna O’Connell from the CARP committee, had been planning this workshop as an opportunity for 2nd generation sisters above the age of 18 to come together to connect, share and more deeply realise the role we have as the women of tomorrow.

The workshop was attended by 7 1st generation mothers who came from all parts of the UK, including London and Birmingham, and also one mother who travelled all the way from Norway with her daughter to be part of the workshop. Although the workshop was intended for ages 18+, we had a much wider age range of 2nd generation sisters (the youngest being 10 and the oldest aged 27) who came from the UK and abroad, and totalled at 38 altogether. From the very start there was a truly wonderful atmosphere as sisters arrived to Livingstone House, meeting those whom they hadn’t seen in a long time and also getting to know new faces.

At the very start of the workshop we received some introductory remarks from the key organisers, auntie Mitty, Yoshiko and Keishin, conveying the purpose of the workshop: to connect 2nd generation to the goal of Women’s Federation, which is fundamentally to empower women to bring about peace in the world we live in; to take on more significant positions in the Movement as leaders, and to also understand, from a providential perspective, our role as future wives and mothers. As auntie Mitty conveyed, friendship is such an important catalyst to bring people together, and therefore, this workshop really gave sisters the opportunity to come together and do what we do best: share, connect and offer support and friendship to one another.

As the workshop was only a day and a half long, the schedule was indeed very packed! On day one we received some very inspiring content from uncle Tim Read and also from Mrs Song. In his lecture, entitled ‘Providential Women’s Course’, Reverend Tim spoke about the importance of nurturing our lives of faith in our daily lives, and overcoming our own fallen natures in order to become wives and mothers who can guide our future families in the right way. He gave examples of key Biblical women who laid the foundation upon which we now stand, and also spoke a bit about True Mother’s course. Through his lecture we could all better understand, internally, our value as 2nd generation women, and also what we need to do substantially in our lives to prepare for the future.

The pyjama party itself really started with Mrs Song’s talk. All sisters got into their pyjamas, including the mothers and Mrs Song herself! She wanted to create a real family atmosphere, and so we all brought our sleeping bags and sat together in a big circle in the main room. Mrs Song spoke very openly and freely about her life and about her relationship with her sons, and also about the parent‐child relationship. I think everyone could really connect in heart with Mrs Song. It was a very special part of the workshop.

On the second day of the workshop, Natasha Huish gave an amazing testimony about her life. In particular, she spoke about the constant support she received from both her parents, and her close relationship with them which always enabled her to make the right decisions growing up. As one of the eldest 2nd generation sisters in the UK who is also a mother, it was truly inspiring to be able to hear about her journey growing up, and also about her matching and Blessing with husband Matthew, and the obstacles they overcame to get to the place of unity they are in now with three beautiful children.

As well as the talks we received from Tim Read, Mrs Song and Natasha, all of the participants had a lot of time to share and talk about their own lives and plans for the future. We had a variety of creative groups on the first day, in which everyone could get involved. Ruth Johnson organised a jewellery‐making session, Kaomi Tohma organised a manicure group, Keishin was responsible for knitting, Chieko Cooper organised a cooking group. We also had a singing group led by Deborah Hanna, who taught everyone the Korean song, ‘Arirang’, as this is one of the songs True Mother loves a lot, and therefore has also been a precious song in the Women’s Federation history. The creative sessions were a really fun time for all the sisters to enjoy some girly activities and to have time to talk.

As the first in a series of many more sisters’ activities and events to come, I think the ‘Women of Tomorrow Pyjama Party’ was a very positive start. During the closing remarks given by Patrick Hanna and auntie Christa Rennie, there was a real sense that we have the potential to accomplish so much as the young of women of today, and these workshops are going to enable our sisters to become “the light” (as quoted by auntie Christa) to inspire others in the world.