wfn.org | TCN: Missionary Joyce McMillan’s legacy lives on and impacts others across Asia

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2985 Edition

>May 11~17, 2009

Missionary Joyce McMillan’s legacy lives on and impacts others  across Asia

>Reported by Chen Wei-jien

>Written by Lydia Ma

Shen Chiou-hsiang was one of the children who received help and  encouragement from the late missionary Joyce McMillan when

she was left at an orphanage run by McMillan as a little girl with  physical disabilities. She just finished a book recently which

describes her childhood experiences using words, drawings and  handcrafts. The book was formally dedicated at the beginning of

this month in memory of McMillan, known to many as “Grandma  Joy”.

Shen was three years old when she was afflicted with polio. She was sent  to Joy Orphanage at the age of ten to receive formal

education and therapy. It was there that she learned to stand up and  walk instead of crawling on the floor.

Looking back on her experiences, Shen believes that it was Grandma  Joy’s heroic and unselfish love that helped many people like

her find hope again and regain their lost dignity. Being able to stand  up on her own two feet was key to regaining her lost dignity and

she credits this feat to Grandma Joy. Before being able to stand, she  often had to endure people’s ridicule and mistreatment

>because she could only crawl.

Upon finishing high school, Shen went on to learn composition and work  at Eden Social Welfare Foundation. It was there that she

met her future husband who later became a pastor. In 1991, Shen  accompanied her husband to Malaysia where they opened a

center to help people with disabilities. She also founded another Joy  Orphanage in Thailand in 1996. She began an association for

disabled people in Kuala Lumpur in 2000 to help them regain  self-confidence and also developed a series of vocational training

>seminars for them.

While introducing her new book, Shen noted that many people today  reminded her of her past when she was still a young girl. She

remembered seeing only her shortcomings, being unable to see and  experience God’s love or overcome the challenges before her.

She hopes that her experiences will help others see that they are  blessed by God. She added that the biggest gift she received from

Grandma Joy was education and guidance toward taking the right path in  life. Thoroughly touched and impacted, she now emulates

Grandma Joy’s approach in raising children at orphanages in  Thailand and Malaysia.

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