On September 28, 2019 the Georgia True Family Community Center hosted a Youth and Students for Peace (YSP) seminar and launch for Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in Subregion 2 , which is the southeast regions of the U.S. A total of 23 people participated in the seminar from the south eastern states, along with Rev. Ernest Patton, the FFWPU Subregion 2 Director, and Jongsook Moon, the Subregion 2 Secretary General. 

For this seminar multiple presenters worked together to create a more meaningful and applicable content on how to reach out to the greater community through service and interfaith exchanges. Naria Gaarder, the YSP National Program Coordinator, introduced YSP and its mission, along with the broader picture on how service and living for others is the key for sustainable peace. Sunghoon Park from Washington D.C. narrowed down how FFWPU of Subregion 2 can support YSP and the Sustainable Development Goasl (SDGs) through regional initiatives and shared about the Peace Library initiative: building partnerships between local governments and Family Federation by fostering literacy through creating convenient access to books for local citizens. He shared about his prior experience in sending containers full of educational books to countries such as Nigeria and its process, which inspired those listening. Also on the team was Dr. Alexander Cromwell, who received his PhD in conflict resolution from George Mason University. Dr. Cromwell incorporated interactive activities within the seminar to help participants experience and understand what creating peace looks like in a conflicted situation. All the participants enjoyed this aspect of the seminar and gained significant insight from it.  

Park was appointed as a subregional YSP coordinator for Subregion 2 and plans to institutionalize the Peace Library initiative to more effectively support the founder of YSP’s vision for global peace, starting with countries in Africa. 

The next YSP seminar is scheduled to be on Oct. 26 in Washington D.C. area. Stay tuned for more details.