Healthy Families—Foundation For A Prosperous Society Conference (WFWP Russia)
Written by: Olga Vakulinskaya
From July 10 to 11, WFWP Russia, in collaboration with Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) held a two-day conference titled: “Healthy Families Are the Foundation For the Prosperous and Healthy Society” in Tikhvin, Russia. The program was supported by the House of Spiritual Enlightenment. Among the participants there were representatives of college administration, deputies of the Tikhvin District Council, families and youth of the town.
The main speakers of the conference were Vitaly Vakulinsky, President of FFWPU Russia, family psychologist; and Olga Vakulinskaya, President of WFWP Russia, specialist on moral education.
The program began with a word from the pastor of the Pentecostal Church, Victor Markelov, who spoke about Christian principles of a healthy family. He emphasized that sacrificial love, mutual respect and absolute fidelity are the most important principles of building a truly happy family.
Next, Vitaly and Olga introduced the topic, “Building a House of Close and Sound Relationships.” The couple showed practical ways to improve family relationships, as well shared many concrete examples and cases from their own family life.
The following topic was on “Close Trustful Relationship With Teenagers Is the Way to Guide and to Help,” in which Olga shared tips on how to create trust and closeness with teenagers. She emphasized that the most important priority that parents should pay attention to is their children. It is critical that children are able to discuss any issues that arise with their parents.
After that, Vitaly gave a presentation on “How to Solve the Problem of Gadget Addiction.” Vitaly shared practical guidance on how to talk to and come to an agreement with children so that they can be well protected while using the internet.
The final topic for the day was “Practical Steps to Solve Conflicts Between Husband and Wife.” Vitaly and Olga shared some practical guidance coming from their own experience on how to solve conflict in a marital relationship. The participants of the program were most inspired when the couple showed the steps to resolving a conflict in a role play.
July 11 was dedicated to a program for teenagers and their parents. Olga spoke on the topic of: “Love and Sexual Integrity,” where she talked about the consequences of casual intimate relationships and spoke on the importance of relationships grounded in trust, fidelity and love. The young people and their parents were moved to tears by this talk, especially because moral education has been on the decline.
Here are some of the reflections of the participants:
Parent: Thank you very much for the talk on “Love and Sexual Integrity.” I am very grateful that my whole family could listen to it and the talk could clearly explain such important things that were difficult for me to explain to my children.”
Parent: We would like to express our deepest heartfelt gratitude for your investment. Nobody was teaching us such things before and we could really learn a lot through your workshop. We really hope to have the opportunity to listen to you more.”
Teenage Participant: “Before this lecture I considered sexual relationships before marriage as a norm. After the lecture I started thinking deeply and changed my opinion. It was also very important for me to hear the comment from your husband – to hear a man’s viewpoint. Thank you very much for the talk.”
Teenage Participant: “The most important thing that I could realize from this talk is that husband and wife should keep fidelity to each other for eternity.”
Teenage Participant: “I was wondering about sexual relationships but I was not thinking about creating a family. The most important thing that I could realize through this talk is that the sphere of an absolutely committed relationship is the ideal foundation for building a family.”
Many participants expressed their desire to continue such programs in the future.