This summer, the largest denomination in Taiwan will send youths to spend time in missions abroad, and invite guests from abroad for multi-cultural exchange.

The Presbyterian Church of Taiwan announced on Sunday that it has started the registration process for applicants wishing to participate in the "I Love Taiwan Mission 2006" project. The program, says PCT, will open with a training session on Mar. 17 that will introduce participants for adapting to a foreign language environment at the Youth Work Center.

According to PCT, its goal is to lift the local youth out of "their own cultural shells," and promote the "important duty of international fellowship and exchange." Ultimate destinations for participants in the program will include Switzerland, Japan and New Zealand.

In February, several youths from Taiwan participated in the World Council of Church’s 9th Assembly gathering at Porto Alegre, Brazil. Dr. Cheng Yangen, head of the PCT Ecumenical committee and Academic Dean of Taiwan Theological College, mentioned that the young people who participated in the assembly represented Taiwan’s churches as ecumenical ambassadors.

Besides sending workers abroad, the Youth Work Center will also receive over a hundred youths from abroad for training, in July, before dispersing them to assist churches throughout the island. Organizers hope that the program will allow youths in Taiwan to experience working with the Christian community at the multi-cultural level.

Last year, the denomination housed an international conference called Youth Jubilee at its youth conference center, bringing young delegates from Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan from member churches of the Council for World Mission.