Youths discover their place and calling in society through volunteering

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

      Taiwan Church News

      3051 Edition

      August 16~22, 2010

                                   

       

      Youths discover their place and calling in society through 
volunteering

       

      Reported by Sam Lee

      Written by Lydia Ma

       

       



      Young volunteers in Taiwan are on the move! A training seminar 
for youths interested in 

      volunteering took place from August 9~11, 2010, co-sponsored by 
Taiwan Christian Service 

      and PCT Youth Ministry Committee. 

       



      The seminar trained youths on the theories and practices of 
volunteerism and equipped them 

      to become “professional” volunteers who possess all the 
necessary skills needed to assist in 

      community outreach and rescue operations spearheaded by their 
own churches. 

       



      Speakers emphasized that volunteering was an important aspect 
of establishing connections 

      with the international community and encouraged youths to get 
training in order to become 

      good volunteers for their churches.

       



      Taiwan Christian Service is composed of 15 Christian churches, 
non-profit and social welfare 

      organizations, including PCT, Episcopal Church, and Garden of 
Hope Foundation. Its current 

      CEO is PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang. Rev. Chang highly 
recommends training 

      youths to become volunteers and believes it’s necessary to 
raise up young volunteers who can 

      then go on to serve in local, national and international 
settings. 

       



      Taiwan Christian Service has held several training seminars in 
the past, but this seminar was 

      especially tailored for youths. Introductory classes include 
survey of volunteer activities, 

      sharing from volunteers, social services overview, introduction 
to organizations in need of 

      volunteers, review of regulations concerning volunteering, etc. 

       



      Advanced classes include topics such as resource allocation, 
trends in volunteerism, ethics 

      for volunteers, teamwork and self-analysis, etc. These classes 
are all geared towards helping 

      youths add knowledge to passion so they can become competent 
volunteers.

       



      Shih Wei-ting, a college student from Taitung College 
Fellowship, commented that the 

      seminars she attended were very informative and fast-paced and 
prompted her to reflect once 

      again on her role as a Christian in her society.

       



      Shih had previously attended a summer camp in July co-sponsored 
by Hualien and Taitung 

      college fellowships where she visited poor families and inmates 
and shared the gospel with 

      them. She later attended a forum for Christian students 
interested in starting a student 

      movement and it inspired her to apply for training and become a 
better volunteer. 

       



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