Friendship, inspiration, service, fun & teamwork… This is what I've experienced in the WCC Stewardship Programme. I go back with new ideas and experiences to share with other young people in my country and wherever I go. I'm really excited to share the good news and address the present issues in my context relevant to my faith and through the means of music…

I urge you to keep that passion going and take every opportunity to be SERIOUSLY involved in the ecumenical movement! Make your life an instrument of God's blessing for the whole inhabited earth. Purpose gives meaning... Jah bless! Supreme faith, respect and love...

The Stewards Programme 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland was an unforgettable experience. Living in a community with people from all around the world taught me that it is possible to live in fellowship. It was not always easy. We had our disagreements but the love of Christ kept us as one group of people. I enjoyed the city's history, diversity, cultures and learning opportunities within the WCC. The Central Committee meetings enlightened my understanding on certain issues that I saw far from me. Finally, I learned that beyond confessions, an imperative aspect of unity is respect for each other beyond our personal experiences. This is an important characteristic of ecumenism and the stewards did a great job in practising it.

WCC's Stewards Programme in Geneva is a million-dollar experience for me. It was a wonderful time to get to know Christian youth leaders and church leaders from different corners of the world. Staying together, thinking together, and planning together -- it was a real experience. Lectures by different leaders were highly beneficial and the leadership training was unmatched.

It was an opportunity for me to realise the latent leadership qualities in myself that could be used for the glory of God. Going back, I am sure, I can come out of the four walls of my church and free myself from the narrow confines of my church and work with a larger perspective, bringing together the youth of different churches. To have an effective Christian impact, especially in a multicultural, multilingual and multireligious pluralistic society like India, we have to be ecumenical. Churches cannot afford to shrink into their shells and have narrow perspectives. This is what I learnt.

Though the thought of going back makes me sad, the fact that I am going back with rich and unforgettable experiences makes me happy. I am indeed going back enriched, empowered and with a determination to work from an ecumenical platform. Now I know how to organize a national programme. I am indeed grateful to WCC and the Student Christian Movement of India that nominated me and I look forward to similar opportunities. I admire WCC leadership…

I am 28 and I study theology. I also like education, sociology and politics. I have no words to express my happiness after being a steward in the Central Committee of the WCC. This programme helped me to have a good experience especially in «floor management.» My message for the next stewards is «Be patient, be cool and work together». I conclude by saying «Let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace, because we have one Father, one calling and one faith to become one only race.»

I would like to say that it was a good experience working with guys from all over the world and attending the Central Committee. And to all the stewards, please volunteer instead of competing!

Great honour to be a steward! It helps you to know more about the WCC and how they make and approve proposals. If you want to be a steward, choose to be with the floor management. It is where you see all the action and fun.

You call yourself a Christian? In one's local context, this is a rather simple thing to define. Look around at the ''other'' faith traditions in your environment and extrapolate those unique traits which only you and your group possess. However, what happens when you come into contact with a host of individuals who all profess and identify with the same Christian call as you do, yet in such diverse and apparently contradictory ways? This is the challenge for those of us in a world house of Christianity! And the Stewards Programme is the meeting ground for such a dire exchange.

For the past three weeks, 26 young men and women have been compelled to reckon the thesis of the call to Christian discipleship, which is a call to unity. Whether through sharing a croissant or washing clothes together, it chips away at the barriers of confessional differences, denominational ruptures, and a chorus of other human-made divisions that divert our attention from OUR call to discipleship. How can we live together in peace, if instead of seeing Christ, we see the ''other''? In this short time, we have learned much. Some perspectives have been changed, some stayed the same, but we all walk away from this time together saying, ''yes we are Christian'' now knowing that our faith is wider than our region, affiliations, privilege, lack, race, gender or caste.

Being a steward means to me a great opportunity to meet incredible people from many countries and different cultures, and to be able to serve others. This made my life blessed. I have to thank God because we had the chance to share eighteen unforgettable days of our lives. This made me realize that we are different. But at the same time, we worship only one God, only one Father. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

I come from the United Reformed Church in England. I didn't really know what to expect from this programme, which was probably a good thing because I've learned that an open mind is one of the most important qualities in ecumenism — keep open to learning and challenges. God bless you all!

This is a one of a kind experience. It was a privilege to be there as a steward for the WCC. Also because I met new people and became really good friends with them. Here in Geneva was really wonderful! I encourage all the youth to apply to be a steward, not to get to know places but because you actually get to learn more about people and the knowledge that you achieve working with the Central Committee is forever. You learn, you teach, you share…I had a wonderful time and I totally would like to live it again. Thanks to all of you people that extended me their hand when I needed it. God bless.

The Stewards Programme for me was an opportunity to meet the most wonderful people from every part of the world. I did not quite think it would be this way, but I came to learn and realize that living in ecumenism is very possible. People can indeed worship together and love one another and be brothers and sisters — especially as we remain open friends to one another after the programme.