Twenty years ago IBLP opened an office in Taipei, the capital of the island nation Taiwan. This Buddhist country has been receptive to the ministry’s presence, and in 2001, welcomed Americans to come and to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to its public school children. God also opened doors to reaching the Taiwanese children through the Children’s Institutes that accompany the seminars adults attend. This year young people from the United States, Mexico, Malaysia and even some from Taiwan served as teachers at the CIs. The seminars were held in the cities of Hsinchu, Tainan, and Taipei. At each location approximately 70 children attended the CI while their parents attended the seminars.
Usually children at the CIs come with their parents; however, this time in each city, local churches also brought orphans and children from broken homes to attend. What an opportunity to show God’s special love and concern for orphans! One young girl shared how what she learned at the CI helped her deal with the pain of losing her mother.
Another new aspect of the CIs in Taiwan this year was the curriculum. The Power of God was written under the direction of Timothy Chen, leader of the Taiwan CI Trip. The new lessons taught the seven basic principles and character qualities and emphasized God’s power in transforming lives. Children learned these life-changing concepts through songs, stories, object lessons, skits, testimonies, and crafts.
One teacher shared, “I was a bit nervous at first because we were using a new curriculum …. Growing up I had attended CI every year, so I was pretty familiar with the material; however, this year it was all new. There were new lesson topics to remember, new crafts to figure out, new everything. My apprehension didn’t last long, though. It was refreshing to work with new material… I found that as I read over the curriculum, I would learn things, too. It was nice to not just be giving out, but also to be able to take in.”
One young man, a first-time leader, stated, “This trip is my first time to be part of a CI…. Father has used it to stretch my horizons… in working with different ministries. It has been encouraging to me to be able to teach the kids biblical principles and character illustrated through songs, stories, crafts, and (my personal favorite) testimonies from my own life. I’ve been extremely blessed to be able to work with such a great team of like-minded believers who enjoy teaching….”
Many seeds have been sown in Taiwan through the Children’s Institute this year. Please pray that those seeds will bear fruit in due time. Besides the approximate 210 young Taiwanese attending the CIs this year, there are many, many more school children to be reached in the public schools there. VOICE (Visualizing Opportunities In Character and English) students also served as leaders in the children’s ministry during the seminars. The VOICE participants live in Taiwan and teach English as a second language in the public schools. For more information about this ministry opportunity, please visit www.voicemissions.org, or to learn more about International Children’s Institutes, go to Global Encounters under Programs.