ECUMENICAL YOUTH FORUM 2007

Transforming Our Nation

A New Venture

“Radical Faith: Transforming Our Nation” was the theme chosen by the CCM Youth Network Group for the Ecumenical Youth Forum 2007, which was successfully held on 20-22 July 2007 in YMCA Kuala Lumpur, and was jointly organized by CCM and YMCA. “Bold, Challenging, Non-conforming, Exploratory and Creative” were some of the sentiments and thoughts that were attached to the Forum.

The Forum, postponed from March 2007, was aimed at providing
(a) An avenue/platform for Christian youths for sharing and learning;
(b) An exposure to social and political issues as well as ecumenical concerns;
(c) Enhancement of ecumenical youth leadership development.

This eye-opening Forum, well received and well-managed, has set off the momentum to revive youth work programmes in CCM.

Attendees

A modest group of 30 young people drawn from seven denominational churches, including 3 from the Sarawak Iban Annual Conference (SIAC) whom CCM subsidized their air travel, eagerly participated in the Forum.

Nine resource persons facilitated various parts of the Forum, and 4 staff/coordinators assisted in the logistics and needs.

The Programme

A series of events, mostly action-oriented and interactive, kept the participants always on the move and working hard. The participants were divided into three groups: Blue (Ocean), Yellow (Royal Priesthood) and Pink (Pinkies), for bonding and for competitive mood.

Briefly, the programme contents included the following.

(1) “Community Building” (Elizabeth Naidu, GB) --- Games and exercises for self-discovery and team building.

(2) “Ecumenical Formation” (Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, CCM) --- Churches working together; wider and deeper issues at national and global perspective. “Ecumenical” (and also “Ecumenism”) was at first a strange word and was hard to pronounce. Since then, participants were comfortable with the new concept.

(3) “Human Rights/Freedom” (Alice Nah, HAKAM) ---A run-through of the Universal Human Rights charter to gain a glimpse of the subject matter.

(4) “Media Literacy” (Sonia Randhawa, Centre for Independent Journalism) ---Role of media; a tool to mould or to break; and “reading between the lines”.

(5) “Political/Religious Rights” (Rajen Devaraj, Malaysian Bar Council) --- Exercises to help discern and choose; highlights of some current boiling issues; guidance on balanced views and appropriate actions.

(6) Workshops (“Passports & Covenant Stops”) on “Rights” --- Participants by grouping were to attend a workshop (about 45 minutes) and have their “passports” stamped, and then move on to the next workshop, and the next.

(a) “Disabled People” (Ivy Pua & Elaine Sia, Beautiful Gate)
(b) “Children” (Madeleine Yong, P.S. The Children & Asha Lim, CCM)
(c) “Displaced Persons” (Alice Nah, HAKAM)

(7) “Action Plan” ---Participants in their groups reflected on the input and responded with an Action Plan at personal and group/church levels.

(8) Group Outing/Photo-taking (theme-based) --- A group dynamics exercise; taking photos of pre-determined objects/scenes “creatively” for presentation.

(9) “Communal Worship/Dedication” (Chrisanne Chin, Presbyterian) --- A brief Sunday service with sing-along and Bible passages; pasting of a cut-off piece of hand shape with his/her name written, onto a board, and holding a lighted candle, by each participant as a symbolic act of commitment and dedication to the cause of “Transforming Our Nation” with their “Radical Faith”, It was a solemn and moving scene, where the seriousness and dedication of the young people there were exemplified.

(10) “What’s Next?” --- Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, in the Summation/Plenary Session, encouraged youths to move forward to the front, and be “light and salt to the world”. Participants then eagerly presented their group “Action Plan” with passion and conviction. Resource Persons (Alice Nah, Madeleine Yong and Asha Lim) were present to moderate the session.

After the presentation of Certificate of Attendance, the participants, hand in hand, sang the thanksgiving song as the finale. Very naturally, they hugged one another to cherish the bond and common vision they had established over the last two days.

Evaluation/Feedback

The participants were by and large enthusiastic, responsive and energetic, and conscientiously participating in all events. The Forum was full of life and enthusiasm all through. Generally they had learned something new and useful, and acquired a wider perspective in life.

From the pre- and post-Forum assessment forms, it is gathered that knowledge level of the participants on the Forum topics, at pre-Forum stage, hinged on “A Little” mostly (60%), and at post-Forum stage, moved up to “Some” (70%) and some even “A Lot” (15%). Absolute majority (80%) recommended that similar forum, with some improvement, be repeated for those not around. Some outstanding participants even indicated that they would like to train others on certain topics/areas they were comfortable with.

Overall, the participants are much encouraged through the learning process (hands-on, participative and interactive), and are motivated to pursue similar and spin-off projects.

“The youths really enjoyed the experience there. They said that they have learnt a lot and are looking for more exposures like that. On behalf of the Mar Thoma Church, I would like to congratulate and express our gratitude to the organizers and leaders of the Forum.” Rev Dr Thomas Philips, President of CCM, was pleased with the outcome of the Forum.

Among the participants, Melvin Jacob (Orthodox Syrian Church) commented: “The Forum was full with knowledge. There are so many things that have been brought to us … In my personal opinion, CCM has done a very good work for the youths.” Confessed Edwin Paul (ELCM), “I received a whole load of information on Human Rights and the rights of the media which I never thought it even existed. Great insights on our country’s issues, too. God bless CCM for organizing such a useful event.”

The resource persons were equally enthusiastic. “I enjoyed the session,” said Rajen. “It was a pleasure,” echoed Sonia. “It was a pleasure! I look forward to further collaboration with CCM”, remarked Alice Nah. Ivy Pua (Beautiful Gate) thanked CCM “for giving us a chance to share…… We really have a good time to interact with sisters and brothers from different churches. We really appreciate it.”

Concluding Remarks

With the encouraging feedback and success of the Forum, the CCM Youth Committee will move on to plan ahead. Chrisanne Chin, the Moderator, will help develop a “3-year strategic plan” for ecumenical youth leadership development.

Andrew Tan
CCM