Ecumenical Youth Exchange Program (EYEP)

Latest revision:2017/06/16

Introduction of the Ecumenical Youth Exchange Program (EYEP) from PCT Youth Ministry Committee:

One of the primary goals of EYEP is to provide the church youths with an unique ecumenical and cross-cultural mission experience that will challenge their faith and strengthen their ties with Jesus Christ; meanwhile, we believe that the youths will have the chance to explore their leading potential and to acquire new skills through this program, and then, become valuable resources for future youth events, leadership training, and EYEP.

◆ When, Where and for How Long?

1.Visiting and receiving will take turns every alternate year.

2.Length of stay:one to three weeks.

3.Time:Generally, EYEP takes place during July and August every year, but the actual date is usually decided after the consultation with the applying church/organization. Therefore, the time may vary, e.g. in addition to the summer vacation, Taiwan’s educational establishments have a one month winter vacation (January-February, actual dates fluctuate due to Lunar Calendar), so the winter time can be an option to explore in some special cases.

4.Commitment duration between PCT and International Partners:two years. (extendable after review)

5.Time Frame:

Year	Program
2002	International partners hosted PCT youth: 1.Presbyterian Church of Wales(PCW) / 6 youths
2003	Program was cancelled because of SARS epidemic
2004	International partners hosted PCT youth: 1.Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) / 6 youths PCT youth hosted international partners: 1.CCT / 15 Thais youths
2005	PCT youth hosted international partners: 1.Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea(PROK) 2.United Church of Christ in Japan(UCCJ) 3.Presbyterian Church of India(PCI) 4.United Reformed Church in the U.K.(URC)
2006	International partners hosted PCT youth: 1. Mission 21 / 3 youths 2.CCT / 6 youths 3.UCCJ / 11 youths 4.PCI-Mizoram / 5 youths 5.Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ) / 6 youths
2007	PCT youth hosted international partners: 1.CCT / 6 Thais and 4 Taiwanese youths 2. PCI-Mizoram / 4 Mizoram and 4 Taiwanese youths 3.UCCJ / 7 Japanese and 7 Taiwanese youths
2008	International Partners hosted PCT youth: 1.PCANZ / 8 youths 2.CCT / 6 youths 3.UCCJ / 7 youths 4.PCI-Mizoram / 5 youths
2009	PCT Youth hosted international partners: 1.CCT / 5 Thais and 6 Taiwanese youths 2.PCI / 2 Mizoram and 2 Taiwanese youths International partners hosted PCT youth: 1.Presbyterian Church In Canada(PCC) / 6 youths
2010	PCT Youth hosted international partners: 1.UCCJ / 8 Japanese and 8 Taiwanese youths 2.PCC / 9 Canadian and 6 Taiwanese youths International Partners hosted PCT youth: 1. PCI-Mizoram / 6 youths 2. CCT / 5 youths
2011	PCT Youth hosted international partners: 1.CCT / 7 Thais and 6 Taiwanese youths 2.PCI-Mizoram Synod Choir / 27 Mizoram and 2 Taiwanese youths
2012	International partners hosted PCT youth: 1.PCI-Mizoram / 5 youths 2.PCC / 6 youths 3.CCT / 7 youths 4.UCCJ / 7 youths 5.PCANZ / 6 youths
2013	PCT Youth hosted international partners: 1.CCT / 7 Thais and 7 Taiwanese youths 2. PCI-Mizoram / 2 Mizoram and 2 Taiwanese youths
2014	International partners hosted PCT youth: 1.PCANZ / 5 youths 2.PCI-Mizoram / 9 youths 3.PCC / 5 youths 4.CCT / 6 youths PCT Youth hosted international partners: 1.UCCJ / 3 Japanese and 5 Taiwanese youths
2015	PCT Youth hosted international Partners: 1.PCI-Mizoram / 4 Mizoram and 2 Taiwanese youths 2.Jesus Christ Church in Japan(JCCJ) / 4 Japanese and 3 Taiwanese youths
2016	International Partners hosted PCT youth: 1.PCI-Mizoram / 5 youths 2. PCC / 6 youths 3. UCCJ / 7 youths
2017	PCT Youth will host international Partners: 1. PCI-Mizoram / 5 Mizoram and 4 Taiwanese youths 2. Mission 21 / 1 German, 1 Austrian, 2 Swiss and 3 Taiwanese youths 3. JCCJ / 3 Japanese youths and 4 Taiwanese(include a Malaysian) youths International Partners will host PCT youth: 1. Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover / 7 youths

◆ Who may participate?

1.PCT Youth Ministry Committee warmly invites youth members of our international partner churches and related ecumenical organizations to participate with us in EYEP.

2.Attendance:four to six youths from each participating partner church/body.

3.Applications must be screened and endorsed by the relevant committee/officer of the sending church (e.g. youth, ecumenical or mission committee) before forwarding to the receiving church.

4.Age:18-35.

◆ Expenses

1.The charge of passport and visa application and international airfare will be at the applicants/applying churches’ expense.

2.Those participants who are also members of church organizations like CWM (Council for World Mission) may consider applying for nominal financial support.

3.The participants need to ensure they have adequate insurance cover for international air travel and medical needs.

4.PCT will provide all EYEP participants with nominal insurance cover for accident and local travel during the program.

5.Personal spending will be at the participants’ expense.

6.The receiving church will provide hospitality (food and lodging), local transportation during EYEP.

◆ What do the participants do during EYEP?

PHASE I

Preparation by Sending Church

Advertising and recruiting - establish local deadlines:

• Sending churches will screen applications and select participants.

• Sending churches are advised to consider the ethnic and gender balance when selecting the

participants.

• At least 2 members in the team should be able to communicate in English.

• Sending churches should provide the receiving churches with the participants’ basic information, and keep in touch with the receiving church.

Travel Documents:

• Participants should ensure passports are valid for six months or more beyond the actual travel dates.

• Participants should secure plane reservations early and process the necessary visitor’s visa.

PHASE II

Preparation by Receiving Church

• The receiving church should arrange airport pick up and transport to the venue.

PHASE III

Language issue:

We believe that language barrier should not be an excuse to exclude the youths from being sent to foreign communities. It’s true that language issue is a challenge in Taiwan, but PCT would evaluate the ability of each participant and encourage them to try as more as possible. After all, language is a part of cultural communication, so youths should see it as a challenge instead of a burden.

Home stay:

We would like the youths to be hosted by church families. For the convenience of the homestay providers, the team can be split up to stay with different families. Home stay will deepen the youths’ involvement of the local church, and both the families and youths will obtain personal and unique experiences apart from the experience when being in the group. If the program is held in Taiwan, the youths’ main accommodations may be local churches because the majority of PCT pastors and their families live on the church premises, and some churches have guest rooms as well. .

PHASE IV

Before the Departure for home:

Mission Exposure:

The host church should plan sightseeing and group visits to churches and social service organizations.

Debriefing:

Before the end of the visit, most youths would use the last one to two days to write reflection, and join worships and the farewell parties. In addition to taking pictures, participants are required to keep journals to collect the necessary data for the future reference, reports and sharing events.

PHASE V

Back Home - Sharing and Reflecting:

After returning home, youths will have to write reports as formal records of this experience. We hope the report can be written in English, or the mother tongue of the participants. We also hope the youths will have the opportunity to share the experience to local churches, presbyteries and youth organizations.

Additional Comments from PCT:

The date range of EYEP might overlap with that of some local/national church cultural events. The receiving churches are welcome to take our youths to join these meaningful activities; besides, we hope our youths can share the unique experience with us. What we don’t expect to see is that these programs become a pure tourism, because the core value of EYEP is the mission experience and ecumenical communication. Surely, proper relax is acceptable.