Taiwan: Adventist Youth Will Gather in Taiwan for the World Conference on Youth and Community Service
July 12, 2007
Taichung, Taiwan
Seventh-day Adventist world church leaders are
planning a major youth conference for December in
Taiwan, hoping to pave the way for future church
growth in the northern East Asia nation.
About 2,000 Adventist high school-aged youth will
meet for a week of service projects before gathering
in the capital, Taipei, said Baraka Muganda, youth
ministries director for the Adventist world church.
"Our church is not well known in Taiwan and we have
a small membership there," Muganda said of why
organizers chose the location. "We want Taiwan to
see Adventist young people demonstrating their love
for them and Christ."
There are about 5,200 Adventists in Taiwan
worshiping in 50 churches. The Adventist Church in
Taiwan became self-supporting in 2005, moving from a
"mission" status and achieving the rank of
"conference."
"We're excited and our church members are quite
astonished that the world church is focusing on our
little corner of the world," said John W. Ash III,
president of the Adventist Church
in
Taiwan.
The country's Adventist Youth director, Noah Lai,
said the church there is not large, but members will
be strengthened with the coming support.
"I think this is a great chance for [people] in
Taiwan to know that we are a happy family and people
around us will get to know our beliefs," Lai said.
Adventists are also celebrating 60 years of the
church's existence in Taiwan.
The Adventist Church sponsored a similar conference
in Bangkok, Thailand in 2004.
"We're not just going to preach to them; we want the
youth to come and do something in Taiwan," Muganda
said of service opportunities ranging from leading
health classes to building renovations and sports
education.
"Some of our service projects have been created by
the government, so our young people will be working
with the Taiwanese," Muganda said.
The Christmastime event is a "gift" to the people of
Taiwan, Muganda said.
The deadline to register for the World Conference on
Youth and Community Services is November 2. The
conference runs from Dec. 24 to Jan. 5.
For more information see the Web site www.youth.gc.adventist.org
Source: Adventist News Network
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