Taiwan Church News
3193 Edition
May 6-12, 2013
Church Ministry News

Reported by Chen Wei-chien

Written by Lydia Ma

Caotun Presbyterian Church recently began running a “Weekend Character Education Camp”. To the church leaders’ surprise, the number of children who registered and who aren’t from the church for this weekend afternoon camp exceeded the number of children from the church. A total of 67 children signed up for this camp and only 20 of them were children from the church.

This is the first time the church has tried holding a weekend children’s camp. This camp, which consists of two “semesters” is scheduled to run from March 9 until June 1 and then from October to December. However, one of the unique aspects of this camp that sets it apart from weekend camps organized by other churches is its focus on physical education.

At a seminar for parents of children registered for this camp held on May 4, Caotun Church leaders shared about nurturing children and enabling them to achieve their full potential. During an extensive introduction of the camp, they informed parents that the camp would last from 13:30 to 16:30 every Saturday. It would start with a time of singing, followed by a story time that draws on themes from the Bible. Then, all the children would be divided into 4 groups for their character education classes. Finally, there would be basketball and badminton classes so that all the children can exercise.

Caotun Church’s deacon, Hsieh Mei-fang, who is also the camp’s director, added that parents nowadays are very concerned about their children’s character development. This most likely played a factor in explaining why so many non-Christians rushed to register for this church-sponsored event, even though the church had not yet widely advertised this camp.

Hsieh added that about 30 staff members are involved in this camp and an additional 25 youths and young adults are also taking turns and volunteering their time. The sight of big brothers and big sisters will be an added source of inspiration for young children because the latter look up to them.

As for the additional physical exercise segment, Hsieh said that her initial motive was very simply to encourage children to exercise more in this day and age when children mostly sit in front of computers. Furthermore, it seemed natural to add this segment since the church has a lot of space. Hsieh is delighted that both children and parents have told her that they appreciate the sports segment scheduled at the end of the camp. Some parents have even reported that their children have asked them to exercise with them when they are home.

Caotun Church’s pastor, Rev. Pan Hsin-yi, said that he is very pleased at the work of his staff and appreciates their efforts. He underscored that his church’s community outreach ministries are based on the PCT’s “One-leads-One” guidelines. He feels that it is only right that churches should act on what they perceive to be the needs of their community and neighbors.