2013 BAPTIST YOUTH WORLD CONFERENCE IN SINGAPORE

The 16th Baptist Youth World Conference will be held on the Southeast Asian island city-state of Singapore
in July 2013.
The conference, the last of which was held in Leipzig, Germany, in 2008, takes place every five years. The
first youth conference was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1931, with 400 delegates from 16 countries.
Emmett Dunn, Director of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Youth Department, stated that Singapore was
chosen due to its ideal location in Asia, its relatively easy visa application regime, and an outstanding proposal
to the BWA by the Singapore Baptist Convention (SBC). Dunn was also impressed by the close cooperation
between the SBC and the country’s tourist board, and the belief by Singaporean Baptists that the conference
will elevate the status of Baptists in the country as well as attract more youth to the church.
Singapore became the choice for the meetings after extensive site visits by the BWA to inspect conference,
accommodation, transportation, and other facilities on the island nation of roughly 4.8 million people.
Peter Tang, general secretary of the SBC, expressed great delight that Singapore has been chosen to host
the largest international gathering of Baptist youth. “This is a God-given opportunity to Singapore to play its
part in the global Baptist community,” said Tang, a former businessman who, in 2006, gave up his business to
be the full-time leader of the convention.
“The entire Baptist community shares the joy and exuberance that Singapore is given this honor, especially
as more than 50 percent of Singapore is below the age of 25,” said Tang. “The youth will rise to the challenge
to make it a spiritual blessing and life transforming experience,” he told the BWA.
Planning for the youth conference will begin in earnest in March 2010 when the BWA Youth Department’s
International Program Committee, chaired by Debra Berry of the United States, meets at the BWA Center in
the United States.
A Local Arrangements Committee is to be formed in Singapore early in 2010, and the theme for the
conference is expected to be announced during the Baptist World Congress to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii,
from July 28 to August 1 next year
“With the dynamic growth of Baptist young people in Asia, we expect 6,000 to 7,000 young people to attend
this conference,” said Dunn. The last Baptist Youth World Conference in Germany in 2008 had in attendance
roughly 6,300 youth comprising 97 nationalities from 88 countries.

PHOTO: The Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, the venue for the 2013
Baptist Youth World Conference

25
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32