芥菜種 - Neipu Township

After World War II, Taiwan’s supplies were lacking, the people’s lives were hard, and everything was waiting to be done. The restoration of infrastructure was slow, not to mention the lack of domestic medical equipment and professionals. In the early post-war period, it was largely dependent on the assistance of foreign missionary medical teams to fill the island Insufficient resources. Missionaries from abroad took the burden of taking care of the disadvantaged in society on the front line. Among them, a pair of missionary couples, Sun Jacob and Sun Lilian, brought in the kind resources of the American people to help Taiwan weather the precarious difficulties of the 1950s. During the difficult period, and later, Taiwan’s first social welfare organization, the Mustard Seed Association, was established. The name for the mustard seed is derived from a biblical story. It is described that the mustard seed is smaller than most seeds, but when it grows up, it can become a towering tree that allows birds to inhabit, and at the same time breed other life, and make the environment endless. Ms. Sun Lilian used this belief to create many touching stories in Taiwan, from Beimen Blackfoot to Lesheng Nursing Home, from Reconstruction Homes for the Blind to Children’s Homes, from the City to the Country, from the Mountains to the Outlying Islands. The unfortunate feel for the pity and unreserved help, and the courage and confidence to put love into action. In 1947, the Canadian Presbyterian Church sent a pair of American missionary couples—Jacob Sun and Lilian Sun—to Taiwan to preach, but this was not the first time they came to Taiwan. As early as 20 years ago, they came to Taiwan in 1927. For missions, I learned Taiwanese in only one year. Sun Jacob served as the principal of Tamsui Middle School and the principal of Taiwan Theological School. He later left Taiwan due to the tight conditions of the Second World War. However, with the outbreak of the Korean War and the support of US aid, the situation in Taiwan gradually stabilized. The Sun family returned in the first wave. In addition to missions, the missionaries on Baodao should also help new foreign missionaries integrate into society. Sun Lilian was only Sun Jacob’s helper at the beginning, handling all kinds of affairs. The little lady transformed into a giant who dedicated her life to Taiwan. Sun Lilian has received basic medical and nursing training, so the mode of missionary education mostly starts with medication and bandaging. Compared with modern missionary methods, it can be said to be a compromise method to meet the needs of the situation. The first place she needs to go to is the Lesheng Sanatorium for leprosy patients. Before she arrived, for three consecutive weeks, a total of ten patients who were desperate for life committed suicide, while the alive were panting on the verge of lack of food, clothing, and no one cares about. The arrival of Sun Lilian not only supplemented their food resources, but also enriched their spiritual life. At that time, children born to leprosy patients had to be quarantined and could not live with their parents. Sun Lilian set up an "easy home" for these children, arranging time for the patients to gather with relatives to make up for the family happiness. In order to further help the recovered, she personally rushed back to the United States to raise funds. In 1954, she established the "Occupational Therapy Room" and "Hope House". In the same year, in order to make the charity operation more perfect, it applied to the California government to establish the "Mustard Seed Foundation" to institutionalize fundraising in the United States. In 1962, the Christian Mustard Seed Association was officially registered in Taiwan. Sun Lilian’s mission in Taiwan witnessed the history of Taiwan’s public health in the 1960s and 1970s. Not only did she provide equipment and resources for leprosy and black feet, but even the aborigines in remote mountainous areas could see Sun Lilian everywhere. Based on the compassionate feelings, let Sun Lilian through the Mustard Seed Association, from aboriginal tuberculosis to production, nurturing, vocational training, etc., for more than 60 years, the Mustard Seed Association has successively established nurseries, youth homes, homes for the disabled, Nearly one million people have been helped by lung disease nursing homes, aboriginal maternity homes, and vocational training schools. Although Sun Lilian passed away in 1983, the American missionary known as the "mother of the natives" and the "mother of the blind" , Is still missed by everyone. In the age when the government was the weakest, poor and remote, many people were struggling in a difficult situation and lacked opportunities for change. It was not until Sun Lilian and Mustard Seed that they heard the sound of saving their hardships, and the original gloomy future was illuminated, and many lives began to change. , A social welfare group, a religious organization, and a foreign lady remedied the work of government departments in the difficult years. Although it is for the purpose of missionary education, in the process of implementation, all people start with relief and then provide life skills training, ranging from babysitting, hairdressing, carpentry, and auto repair classes, all in order to allow the disadvantaged groups to be independent Self-improvement, Sun Lilian will sow beautiful seeds for mustard seeds, and will spread branches and leaves in various fields. In addition to the development of affairs in Taiwan, it also sets its sights on Nanyang and extends its assistance and missionary experience in Taiwan to benefit more people in need. From after World War II to the present, Taiwan has been in need of foreign aid from the beginning, and now it is capable of backward countries such as Africa and Central and South America. Sun Lilian's spirit does not disappear with her death. She is Teresa from Taiwan, with a warm and firm smile that will always remain in everyone's hearts.