In 2022, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Eden, we established its “Eden Task Force” to bring the love of Taiwanese and international volunteers and their care for the land to remote locales in Taiwan. Eden Task Force not only aims to provide services to disadvantaged groups, but also hopes to combine and train domestic and foreign volunteers, promote multicultural exchanges, and provide opportunities to volunteers to give full play to their strength when serving remote areas. It is hoped that in the future, the resources of the government, enterprises, churches, non-profit organizations and academia will be brought together to respond to the needs of disadvantaged groups, spread the love of Jesus Christ, and lead society in paying more attention to the issues affecting disadvantaged groups. This is how we will achieve the vision of a “Walking together for commonwealth.”

Photo: Volunteers and Staff working towards the shared goals of Eden Task Force -walking together for commonwealth.

At the International English Camp, Sister Rika, a Christian from Indonesia who is currently studying for a PhD in translation in Taiwan, said she gained a lot from the work team. The camp took about a month for the volunteers to prepare. Ten international volunteers from different countries designed all the lessons and games from scratch using online meetings, and there were many interesting discussions during the process. During the preparation, Rika realized that each volunteer had their own cultural background, strengths and weaknesses, and even though she had never met them, she felt the support and care from the volunteers. The first day of camp went very well, and the children were very energetic and lovable. Before she left the mountain, she told the children that she would see them tomorrow, but the next day, due to the epidemic, the planned two-day camp was turned into a one-day camp, but because she believes that God is in charge of everything, she still believes that everyone learned a valuable lesson and felt God's love for everyone.

Photo: Ms. Rika (third from the right) was praying together with other international volunteers and Eden’s staff during the evening prayer on the first night of the camp.

Towards the future, Eden hopes to practice equality, implement human rights protections, and make services available across 22 counties and cities in Taiwan and in more than 200 service centers and 26 foreign countries and regions. Eden will continue to put human rights into practice through providing services, and start a dialogue with God so that He can show us infinite possibilities and hope for taking the continuous journey of “Walking together for commonwealth” in the next decade.

We never give up because we see the needs of people.

We live a life with common blessing because we have hope.

We walk on the same path because of the love in our heart.