Asian Young Women’s Leadership Development Seminar
Asian Young Women's Leadership Development Seminar
The Asian Young Women’s Leadership Development Seminar (AYWLD) is held around February every year in various Asian countries mainly for Asian young women (from university-age up to the age of 30 or so) who are Christians (participants from Japan are also eligible if they are interested in Christianity). The purpose of the AYWLD is to empower women, develop leadership of women with an international perspective, develop human resources who raise interest in social issues and international challenges, think about social issues on a global scale (especially from an Asian perspective) and serve to solve them, develop the next generation, promote cultural exchange with a focus on Asia, and contribute to the building of trust and the formation of new communities across national borders.
In the past, we have held this seminar in Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. For about a week, participants from about 10 countries learn about the host country’s culture, history, social issues faced by women and the Bible.
Participants are required to complete pre-assignment before the seminar, and during the seminar, participants from each country have the opportunity to present the assignment and give group presentations at workshops and lectures. In addition, the seminar is interactive, with opportunities for participants to actively demonstrate their gifts in the schedule to encourage their autonomy.
Participants from Japan are required to take a pre-training in preparation for the pre-assignment.
In addition, the seminar is conducted entirely in English, providing a good opportunity to practice communication in English.
One of the features of this seminar is that the participants other than Japanese are Christians. We have a schedule where participants of the same age from different countries worship together every morning and end the day with prayer, but basically participants lead the worship. Since many of the participants from Asian countries are leaders in their church youth groups, universities or other organizations, their active participation inspires the Japanese participants every year.
Participants from Japan are required to submit a report after the seminar, and report on their participation in the seminar at the program debriefing session held at the end of the fiscal year.
【Outline of the Seminar】
Application for seminar → document review → interview → notification of acceptance or rejection → pre-training→ participation in seminar → submission of report → participation in debriefing session
