[3097] Youth short-term missions further evangelism and cultural exchanges at Taiwanese local churches

Youth short-term missions further evangelism and cultural exchanges at Taiwanese local churches

Reported by Sam Lee and Chen Wei-chien

Written by Lydia Ma

This summer PCT will host about 170 youths for its annual “I Love Taiwan” (ILT) Mission scheduled from June 28 to July 14, 2011. Youths participating in this mission will observe and serve at various PCT churches and organizations and through such an experience, they will learn about Taiwan and serve God through short-term missions here.

The ultimate goal behind this mission is to encourage youths to experience Taiwanese culture and lifestyle and share about it once they go back to their home countries, said PCT Youth Ministry Committee Secretary Itan Pavavalong. He hopes that youths will come to understand Taiwan’s isolation from the international community and appreciate Taiwan’s beauty and cultural diversity.

The camp’s theme for this year is “Diverse and Beautiful Taiwan” and camp leaders hope it’d remind youths of Taiwan’s current international predicament. Pavavalong likened Taiwan to a lonely, self-confident, and multi-colored bird flying solo. Though the journey may be at times lonely, it is also filled with hope because Taiwan is flying towards its destiny.

Youths participating in this year’s “I Love Taiwan” Mission came from as many countries as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Germany, UK, Thailand, and US. As many as 91 youths from these countries have come to Taiwan.

Accompanied by 80 local youths from churches across Taiwan, they first convened at Aletheia University in Tamsui for 3 days of training before being sent to various churches across Taiwan for 10 days to observe and serve at various local ministries. Afterward, they will meet at Hsieh-wei Campgrounds in Puli to share what they learned and did during their internships.

Song Meng, a Japanese youth who speaks Mandarin fluently and whose parents are Chinese, hopes that he will get to know some Indigenous new friends and visit Indigenous reservations. He will be interning at Hongye Presbyterian Church, an Indigenous church belonging to Bunun Presbytery.

Joonhyuk Huh, a South Korean youth who came to Taiwan through ILT Mission a few years ago, is excited to be back because he really appreciates Taiwan’s trademark hospitality.

In related news, over 100 Taiwanese American youths came to Taiwan on June 30 to minister to Taiwanese students through an English summer program. They first gathered in Hsinchu at Canaan Church for a 3-day training before heading out to serve with various churches throughout Taiwan.

This summer program, sponsored by Nehemiah Foundation USA, is called Americans Dedicated for Voluntary English Teaching in Taiwan (ADVENT). It will be held at various schools in Taoyuan, Yunlin, Changhua, Hsinchu, Sinbei, and Taitung in collaboration with local churches in those areas.

ADVENT has been held for 7 years now and its volunteers are second-generation Taiwanese American youths from senior high school to college graduates. They come to Taiwan during their summer breaks and help local churches host English Summer camps that blend character training with evangelism. Besides learning English, camp activities also include watching skits that contain biblical and moral themes.

A total of 145 teens are coming to Taiwan to help with the summer camps. The camps have also been highly appreciated and welcomed by local majors and magistrates. This year, Changhua County magistrate Cho Po-yuan even arranged for 2 tour buses to help these teens get around.

In return for helping Taiwanese kids improve their English and sharing the gospel with them, these youths will experience Taiwan – the place where their parents grew up.

“But the greatest achievement for these youths is probably the discovery that they can share the gospel too,” said Rev. Chang Yu-ming, the coordinator of this program. He recalled that one youth wept for 1 hour after the camp, overwhelmed at seeing his entire class of 20 children make a decision to accept Christ.