3156 Edition
August 20-26, 2012
Church Ministry News

Reported by Ho Chiung-hua

Written by Lydia Ma

To help children who don’t have anywhere to go during summer vacation , Taimali Presbyterian Church and other nearby churches decided to work together and hold a summer camp for children in their neghbourhoods from July 24 to August 3, 2012. This summer camp called “Love@Taimali” included games, songs, tutoring, character formation classes, music lessons, and art and craft lessons. More than 160 children registered and attended this camp.

According to the Hong Chang-chun, who ministers at Taimali Church, this is the church’s attempt to reach out to troubled families in the neighborhood and share the Gospel with them. The church will also arrange home visitations and partner with local schools to serve the community once the camp ends. Hong added that Taimali region is cash-strapped and short on resources and this is the first time that a big summer camp has been organized.

Hong did not expect to see as many as 160 students register for this event. “We only put up an announcement in the front steps of the church using a red banner and we asked Da-Wang Elementary School to help us promote this event. We discovered later that most of the children heard the news through simple word of mouth,” she said.

A typical day at this camp begins with tutoring sessions in the morning, where students spend some time writing their school-assigned homework for the summer. Tutors are available during those sessions to help children who have difficulties with their homework. There are indigenous language and English language classes afterwards. In the afternoon, students may take music or art classes, character-building classes, and craft classes. These classes, especially the tutorials, are just what many children need as a number of them are raised by grandparents who cannot help them with their studies. Once students finish their daily assigned homework, they can go on to do other activities.

Hong Chang-chun said that the daily character-building classes in the afternoon center on stories from the Bible and the students learn about good character traits such as responsibility, honesty, gentleness, etc. These classes become great opportunities to introduce the Gospel to children. On the very last day of the camp, the children are invited to share about what they’ve learned.

This summer camp was very well received by local schools and the community at large. The principal of Da-Wang Elementary School even invited the church to partner with the school for a community project. Many parents were also grateful to the church for organizing this camp and providing a place for their children to spend their summer vacation so that the parents could go to work every day without worries.

The camp’s director, Chen Chen-hsiung, said that camp counselors had received some training in social work to help and inspire children toward self-discipline and good moral values. He hopes that the children’s growth will also inspire the parents and help them to have confidence in Taimali Church and entrust their children to the care of the church. He said that the only means for the Gospel to be proclaimed in the community one day is for the church to start building a relationship of trust now.