wfn.org | Church ministry helps young delinquents turn around

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

>      Taiwan Church News

>3041 Edition

>June 7~June 13, 2010

Church ministry helps young delinquents turn around

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

Cheng-Feng Teens School (CFTS) held a graduation on June 3 at  Glory Church in 
Taipei to

celebrate the accomplishments of 12 students. The school has been  serving 
delinquent youth

>for more than a decade.

Founded in 1999 by Glory Church in Taipei, CFTS is an organization  with a 
vision for helping

youth who cannot attend regular schools, learn through standard  school 
curricula, or youth who

are dealing with crises in life that prevent them from going to  regular 
schools.

According to CFTS, it has helped 15 teenagers this year and 12 of  them are now 
graduating

from the school while the remaining 3 are returning to their  former, regular 
schools.

Teenagers who seek CFTS’s help usually come from families  that can no longer 
provide for

them. Many aren’t willing or able to return and live at home.  Some teenagers 
attend CFTS

because they’ve been arrested and the outcome of their trial  is still pending.

Most teenagers who attend CFTS do so because they cannot thrive in  the current 
educational

system in Taiwan. The way lessons are taught in public schools  cannot further 
their learning. In

many of these cases, school officials were the ones who referred  students to 
CFTS.

The ultimate goal of CFTS is to see every student it has helped  overcome 
life’s difficulties, set

personal goals, and strive toward fulfilling those dreams and  achieve full 
potential.

Hsiao-yueh, one of this year’s graduates, lost her mother  last semester. With 
support from

CFTS social workers who kept her company and encouraged her, she  was able to 
get all the

help she needed to get back on her own two feet. Now, she is all  smiles and 
brings laughter to

everyone who meets her. Her personal aspiration is to open a  French restaurant 
and she

plans to work toward reaching that goal after she graduates.

CFTS bought a cross necklace for every student as graduation  present. Social 
workers from

CFTS fastened the necklaces for every student. As students  received their own 
necklaces,

they were moved with gratitude and hugged the grown-ups who’d  made such a 
difference in

>their lives.

According to CFTS President and Glory Church pastor, Rev. Chu  Tai-sheng, he 
didn’t have

any experience counseling delinquents when he first founded the  school. At the 
time, church

staff had to bargain with youth mafia in some instances just to  help students 
stay in school.

These challenges have now faded into the distance and the church  has learned 
how to

effectively help delinquent youth get back on track after a great  deal of 
experience.

In contrast to previous years, this year’s graduation  ceremony was closed to 
the media to

avoid harassment, which had occurred on previous occasions.  However, the 
absence of

media also highlighted social indifference toward delinquent youth  and their 
plight.

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