wfn.org | TCN: Taichung church hosts and reaches out to foreign students

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2985 Edition

>May 11~17, 2009

Taichung church hosts and reaches out to foreign students

>Reported by Chen Wei-jien

>Written by Lydia Ma

Min-Tzu Road Presbyterian Church in Taichung city launched a new

program aimed at reaching out to college students who’ve come  from

other countries or cities to study in Taichung. The program allows

volunteer families to take turns reaching out and hosting one  foreign

student at a time. These foreign students already attend church  services on

a regular basis and families focus on their spiritual lives and  daily needs to

make sure that they are doing well while living away from home.

The main goal of the program is to increase interaction and build  intimate

relationships so that foreign students can find a sense of  belonging even

>though they are away from their own families.

Since April this year, the church has been able to enlist more  than 10

families willing to reach out to foreign students enrolled at  nearby National

Chung Hsing University and National Taichung University. So far,  11

foreign or non-local students have signed up to be part of the  program. Of

these students, 3 are foreign students from Africa.

According to Pastor Dong Rong-kuang, more than ten families came

forward to participate in a draw to decide which family would host  each

student. The church plans to organize one draw every year so that  each

student will at least get to know four families during their four  years in

Taichung city. The program will allow families to have close  relationships

with foreign students and reach out to their spiritual and daily  needs on a

>more personal level.

One church deacon who participated in this program recalled that  he was

greatly encouraged by a similar program when he was in college and  hopes

to encourage other students in the same way he was encouraged. He

added that many college students are very busy during the week and  what

they need most of the time is a little bit of encouragement and  fellowship

after Sunday worship. Whether this kind of fellowship takes the  form of

going to the movie theater, going to a concert, or dining with a  family, the

most important thing is to let students know that they are in the  family’s

thoughts and prayers. Families can also reach out to students from  less

affluent backgrounds by providing material resources.

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