wfn.org | TCN: Youth from 11 countries participate in “I Love Taiwan Mission”

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2995 Edition

>July 20~26, 2009

Youth from 11 countries participate in “I Love Taiwan  Mission”

>Reported by Li Hsin-ren

>Written by Lydia Ma

130 youth from 11 countries participated in “I Love Taiwan  Mission” youth camp

organized by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan’s Youth  Committee from June

30th to July 17th. Since its inception in 2002, the vision of  “I Love Taiwan

Mission” (ILT) is to encourage young people to experience  ecumenism through

participating in mission, learning and sharing, and forming a life  of identification,

>commitment and growth.

During the camp’s final days, participants attended a  symposium and recited

together the prayer “Let Taiwan Soar in Love” as they  marked the 60th

anniversary of PCT Youth Fellowship (also known as TKC). The  prayer proclaims

God as Lord of Taiwan and the world, and encourages youth to  pursue freedom,

>justice, peace, and love.

After participants from different countries arrived to Taiwan,  they convened at

Aletheia University for 4 days of pre-camp training to learn about  Taiwan’s history

and culture before they were sent out to serve at 22 churches and  organizations

across the country. During the following 10 days that they served  at local

churches, these youth experienced Taiwanese social customs  first-hand, helped

local churches organize summer camps for kids, assisted local  churches in

>summer school ministries and more.

After returning from local churches, youth held a symposium for  several days to

exchange ideas and share lessons they had learned while serving at  local

>churches.

According to Susanna Fisher from Frankfurt, Germany, this is the  second time

she has attended “I Love Taiwan Mission”. She served at  Chuen-Jhi Church in

Pingtung last year before serving at Shan-Chi Church in Hsinchu  this year. Fisher

noticed that the landscape between northern Taiwan is vastly  different from

southern Taiwan but the people are equally full of passion and  vitality, and she

has grown to love Taiwan after these missions. She chose to attend  the

workshop on “Taiwan’s sovereignty and international  status” during the

symposium to get a better understanding of the challenges Taiwan  faces in the

>international arena.

One Japanese girl whose father is Taiwanese was sent to Atayal  Presbytery’s

Ulay Church. She shared during the symposium that though she  attended a

Taiwanese church at home and spoke Taiwanese, Japanese, and  English, she

could barely speak Mandarin when she came to Taiwan. Serving at an  aboriginal

church where aboriginal languages and Mandarin were prevalently  used was very

challenging but also gave her an opportunity to learn Mandarin and  experience

>aboriginal culture.

Most of the youth participating in “I Love Taiwan  Mission” this year were

Taiwanese-Americans whose parents studied and later settled down  to work in

the U.S. Though their parents have strong attachments to Taiwan,  these youth

born in the U.S. do not know Taiwan well. Many said they came on  this mission

because their parents encouraged them to come to Taiwan and get to  know their

homeland through participating in a youth mission.

The symposium component of “I Love Taiwan Mission” is  part of a series of

events organized to promote TKC. Youth deepen their understanding  of Taiwan

during the symposium by attending 21 workshops covering topics  ranging from

music, culture, environmental studies, social outreach, and ethnic  studies.

A cultural gala was held during the youth camp so that  participants could wear

their national attires and show the uniqueness of their  country’s culture.

During the camp, PCT Indigenous Ministry Committee Program  Secretary Rev.

Omi Wilang preached on “Let Taiwan Soar in Love” and  encouraged youth to

use their faith in God to renew their self-confidence and use  their spiritual gifts

>toward serving God.

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