wfn.org | Central Taiwan "Cradle of Churches" to be Auctioned Off

[Taiwan Church News <pctpress@ms1.hinet.net>]

Taiwan Church News 2659, February 16, 2003
Translated and rewritten by David Alexander

   The ancestral home and original clinic of the late Rev. Dr.
Hsieh-wei (Chia-Ui), known as Ta-tong Hospital, was flattened in
the September 21, 1999 earthquake that shook Central Taiwan.  The
land had been pledged against a mortgage of approximately US$2.5
million prior to the temblor.  The owner has has fallen on hard
times and into arrears on the repayments.  The land, a parcel of
4860 square feet in the central district of Nantou City, will be
auctioned on February 19th.
   The site has been important in the history of several of
Taiwan's ecclesiastical and social welfare organizations.  It has
housed the Nantou City YMCA, the Nantou County Lifeline
Association, Nantou and Nanshan Presbyterian Churches and Nantou
Holiness Church. People associated with it have figuree in the
histories of four Christian hospitals that trace their founding
to Dr. Hsieh's ministry.
   The parcel is owned by Hsieh Su-chong. He works as an
evangelist among middle and low income isolated aborigines in the
area. He said that he is saddened to see such a significant piece
of Taiwan's history go on the block.  He hopes that a church or a
group of Christians can purchase it and dedicate the land to
housing for the elderly and infirm.

For More Information: Hsieh Su-chong   FAX: +886 49 2226044

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