Regional youth conference begins in Tonga next week

07 JAN 2000 NUKU'ALOFA (Pacnews) --- Tonga's Tupou College will house
over 600 youth from around the Pacific region for a Pacific Youth
Convention next week.

The convention has the theme " Youth fully alive in Christ."

Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Reverend Simote Vea said
the conference would encourage young people from around the region to be
strong and dynamic Christians and to be instrumental in helping their
families, churches and their respective society.

Four hundred youth will come from around the Pacific region. 200
participants are from French Polynesia. They arrived today on a
chartered flight from Tahiti. This afternoon, the Tahiti delegation will
hold a prayer service at the landing place of Tahitian missionaries
Tafeta and Hape at Mu'a village, eastern Tongatapu.

According to Simote, the organising committee will conduct many
activities during the conference, including bible studies, group
discussions and speeches from guest speakers focusing mainly on youth
issues. Reverend Valamotu Palu, Secretary of the Suva based Pacific
Council of Churches is in Tonga to lead the conference.

Other countries taking part are Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue,
Papua New Guinea and Samoa.. PNS