Youth and Students for Peace (YSP) in the USA held its first online seminar amid the Covid 19 social distancing through video conference with much success. Held on Saturday, April 25, 2020, the online seminar came about when Naria Gaarder, the National Program Coordinator for YSP USA, was asked by Stephanie Dias of the Manhattan Family Church Youth and Young Adult Ministry to give an online Peace Seminar to their High Schoolers and young adults. Multiple youth groups were invited and a total of 24 participants joined from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and even as far away as Peru. 

This shorter version of the Peace Designer Seminar was more focused on the concept of what service and living for the sake of others means and why it is important for creating peace. It explained the deeper meaning of “Hyojeong”, a term created by YSP’s Founders meaning “Filial Heart” or “Heart of Filial Piety”, and how a culture of Hyojeong is really a culture of living for the sake of others. Participants shared with each other in breakout sessions about what peace looks like for them and examples of Filial Heart they have seen in action or have been told about. Exercises that touched on creating peace within ourselves and peace with others were done to also address creating peace and resolving conflict in areas we might not even realize or consider.  The final part of the seminar guided participants to create initial thoughts and ideas of possible service projects they could do in their communities by listing their personal skills and passions, and issues in their communities they see and want to address. 

“It was easy to follow. I liked the breakaway groups that allowed me to reflect on my ideas and saying them out loud to another person holds me accountable.” --Abigail, Boston, MA, Age 17

“I really liked the 5 whys and questioning the source of problems. I also learned about how I could make an impact on the future my way.” --Mihwa, Worcester, MA, Age 18

“I like the breakout rooms where I shared about the examples of filial heart and I think it’s really important for young people to learn about filial heart and to work for our environment.” --Reina, Manhattan, NY, Age 16

“I feel that this is just an introduction to YSP for me and I look forward to attending more YSP events in the future and getting my youth ministry more involved! I think a lot of great ideas can come out of these seminars. I have the beginnings of a really cool idea for a project. Going to talk with some friends about it and see what we can come up with together. Thank you!” --Yuki, Belvedere, NY, Age 23

Interested in hosting an online YSP Seminar for your area youth? Contact Naria Gaarder at naria@yspusa.org for more information and any questions.