wfn.org | Aboriginal Doctor in Taiwan Opens Healing Center

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

Taiwan Church News 2676, June 15, 2003
Reported by East Coast Bureau. Translated and rewritten by David
Alexander

   Dr. Sukang (known as Chang Wen-chin in Mandarin Chinese) is a
member of Taiwan's  Taroko Aboriginal Tribe.  He is a member of
Chung-kuang Taroko Presbyterian Church on the East coast. Twenty
two years ago he graduated from Kaohsiung Medical College. For
the past ten years he has been on the staff of a government run
hospital.  Many of his patients were aboriginal people and
retired servicemen who came to Taiwan from China in the late
1940's.
   During his service in the public hospital Sukang became deeply
concerned about the lack of medical care in Aboriginal villages.
The remoteness and poverty of these settlements contributed to
the situation.	Late last year he began to visit one remote
village to offer free medical consultation.  As his patient load
increased his reputation spread.  The cry of the old soldiers and
aboriginal people in Feng-lin Township was very loud.  On June
1st Sukang marked the opening of a clinic in Feng-lin with a
service of Christian worship and a vow to operate it as a medical
mission center.
   The opening ceremony was attended by members of several local
churches.  The Rev. Lin Kuang-rong from Wen-Lan Presbyterian
Church delivered an address. He said that Sukang had shown
himself a generous man through acts of charity towards people
with medical needs.  He noted that, though Sukang's wife is not
an Aborigine, she has given full support to living in an
Aboriginal village, where she and her husband offer physical,
emotional and spiritual comfort to local people.
  In a dramatic flourish, Rev. Lin compared Sukang to Albert
Schweitzer, saying that "He does not covet the comforts or goods
of the city, but comes to the countryside to serve."

For more information: Lin Kuang-rong FAX +886 3 864 1616

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