16th EAST ASIA REGIONAL CONF in TAIWAN INFO PACK # 1

16th IT EAST ASIA REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2026 … may I have more info, please? (Letters & Info Packs)

BASIC INFORMATION

1. TAIWAN CONFERENCE INFO PACK – This will be the official source of information on anything and everything related to our 16th EAST ASIA REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2026 in Taiwan.

2. REGISTRATION – Online registration for the conference is open. You need to complete the registration so our event organizers could include your name in our conference participants list, prepare your immigration documents, conference ID’s, T-shirts, conference materials and prepare meals and snacks for you.

3. VISA – There is no need for an Entry Visa for a Filipino to enter Taiwan. All you need to present to the Taiwanese airport authorities are your passport, a return ticket; and if asked, certification of the conference event and proof of accommodation during your stay in the country (to be provided by our office). Please double check your passports expiration date. The Philippine immigration officers won’t allow you to leave the country if your travel date falls within 6 months prior to expiration. If you are Philippine born but holding a non-Philippines passport, you must check with the Taiwan embassy for their entry requirements for passport holders bearing the country shown on your passport. For other nationalities who need to apply for entry visa to Taiwan, our office will provide the necessary documents – invitation to the conference, status as IT missionary or trainee, etc. that must be submitted on your visa application.

4. AIRLINE TICKETS

You may directly book your flights at your desired airlines or the travel agency of your choice.

 Please take advantage of the low airline rates. As of this writing, the cost of a round-trip ticket is still almost at par to the cost of a plane trip to Palawan or Ilocos Norte, or other provinces in our country. The rates may not hold for long so don’t wait for the price to go down. The possibility is far more in favor of costs going up.

5. AIRLINE BOOKING ASSISTANCE

Effective year 2024, our IT Office or any of our office staff will no longer be able to provide airline booking assistance. We sent out already a general communique explaining the rationale for the decision. The memo states …

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ITEAMS OFFICE

We would like to inform all IT Missionaries & Missionaries in Training that we are discontinuing all flight booking assistance effective this month of January 2024.  A service that was started by a few of our staff to help a handful of our technology challenged missionaries have recently been overwhelmed by the steep increase in the number of missionaries asking for such help.  We recognize that our present essential services staff are no longer adequate to serve the fast-growing number of trainees and new missionaries in this area. Our recent failures to deliver the service on time led to disappointments and complaints which we don’t take lightly.

Our present staff have too much work on their plates already and their best intention to help simply falls short of expectations. To remedy the situation, we decided to discontinue the practice.  Our office staff were already given instructions to inform everyone that we can no longer provide such assistance. 

We suggest that you avail; of the services of a travel agency for your flight booking needs or try to book directly online on the website of the airline of your choice. You may also ask your fellow missionaries who have already been booking their own flights to; provide the guidance that you need.

Thank you very much for your understanding and continued support.

Requests for booking assistance directly from our office staff which were continually facilitated resulted to multiple cases of problematic transactions. We would like to avoid the repeat of such cases at all means.

Any booking transactions made with any of our staff are considered personal in nature and International Teams will not assume responsibility for any problems that may arise. We will also distance ourselves from any request for assistance on failed transactions. Any IT Office Staff who will be a participant in the booking transactions will be subject to strict disciplinary measures.

6. SCHEDULE OF CONFERENCE 

 Day 1 (MARCH 30) – Registration and Welcome Event

·      Registration & distribution of materials start at 1pm

·      Program starts at 2pm and ends at 5:30pm

Day 2 (MARCH 31) – Whole Day Conference – 8:00 am to 5:00pm

Day 3 (APRIL 1 ) – Whole Day Conference from 8:00 am to 5:00pm

Day 4 – onwards (April 2 – …) Post-conference Trips to various locations in Taiwan for those who will be straying longer. A separate itinerary and program was set for all those who will take part in our ACCESS 2 training. Detailed information will be provided later. Our organizing team will be at hand during the conference to assist all who will be joining the post conference trips or ACCESS 2 training,

·      PRE-CONFERENCE Activities (March 28 –… ): Most of our IT Office Staffs will arrive on the 27th of March.. Those who will arrive on an early date too are more than welcome to join us. We hope to provide a better picture of the pre- conference activities soon.

7. CONFERENCE VENUE: 

CHIEN TAN OVERSEAS YOUTH ACTIVITY CENTER

No. 16, Sec. 4, Zhongshan N. Rd., Shilin District

TAIPEI, TAIWAN 11166

8. HOTEL / HOSTEL LODGING

·      The conference venue is part of the Chien Tan Youth Hotel, a 3-4 stars rated hotel offering rooms/beds for lodging for conference participants. They offered a limited number of rooms and beds at a discounted cost. But still even with the discounted rate, the hotel being in the 3-4 stars rank, cost per room will still be in the more pricey level. Some might opt to book lodging in a different place.

·      We are compiling a long list of hotels near the conference venue which will be sent later. There are hotels offering dormitory type rooms and backpackers hotel that will be included in the list. Our Taiwan based missionaries and partners will be assisting those who are really are on a tight budget and hopefully will be able to identify low cost accommodations, just like in our previous conferences here. We are also looking for possible hosting groups that could accommodate for free some of our least funded members.

9. CONFERENCE FEES

·      A contribution of US$ 80 or P4,500 per participant will help cover expenses on venue rental, and lunch meals, snacks, conference materials, honorariums, etc…

·      If you decide to pay this month of January, you will avail of a P1,000 discount. The discounted conference fee is US$ 60 or P3,500.  The discounted price on February is P4,000 or US$70.

10. CONFERENCE PROGRAM

·      Conference program, conference theme and speakers’ profile will be provided on the next Info Pack.

11. POST-CONFERENCE TOURS

·      We are on the process of identifying various locations in Taiwan for our post conference group tour. Detailed information will be provided later. Our office team will set up a post-conf table during the conference to aid those who will be joining the post-conference trips.

12. CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS

·      All ITP missionaries, alumni and partners are invited to the conference. If you would like to invite your friends or relatives to the conference, we would require that they be of the same faith. The conference is not an evangelistic gathering, and the topics will not suit those coming from a different religious background. Those who qualify will be classified as SPECIAL GUESTS.

13. PRE-DEPARTURE BRIEFINGS

·      Our office will provide an important pre-departure briefing/meeting to be handled by our office support staffs, a few days before your departure. The objective is to prepare all of you for your airport immigration encounter – both here and in TAIWAN. We want to make sure that all bases are covered well before sending you out to Taiwan. You will be provided with all the required departure documents to include ITP documents stating the nature of the event, conference program, and accommodation guarantee, etc.

14. TRAVEL CLEARANCE

· The Philippine government requires all government employees to first secure clearance before they are allowed to travel outside of the country. If you are a government employee and could present the document upon the demand of our airport immigration authority, you will be denied boarding. Please make sure you secure one as early as possible. We have missionaries in the past who were not allowed to board because of their failure to attend to this important requirement. Our office will issue the needed certification explaining the reason for your trip to Taiwan.

15. PRAYERS AND INTERCESSION

·      Please always include the conference and the organizing staffs in your prayers. Pray also for GOD’s provision for all those who will be attending the conference. Pray for the 16th EAST ASIA REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2026 in TAIWAN to be fruitful and successful.

ALL FOR GOD’S HONOR AND GLORY!!!

Ptr Gani Sison