HE JUST could not stop talking. His face was beaming. In less than one year his school, which receives poor students from the surrounding farming community, has been transformed. Morale among teachers and students is at an all-time high.
* A TOTAL of 980 of his students whose families live well below the poverty line received financial assistance.
* A NEW HOSTEL is being built to enable students who live too far from the town to complete their secondary education.
* ONE HUNDRED scholarships were given to develop talented students who will in turn serve the community.
* NEVER BEFORE had any school in the entire county been visited by a group of international students. He showed us pictures of our Singapore students interacting with his own students. “When the time came for them to leave – many tears were shed,” the principal said with a tear in his own eye!
What impressed me most were the ways different parties came together and pooled their resources to help the less fortunate.
The Methodist Missions Society (MMS) had only a small part to play. The local church in the area supplied the manpower.
A children’s charity from Singapore stepped in to help. The local, provincial and central governments of China all pitched in their resources.
One of our Methodist schools in Singapore sent teachers and students.
In October 2005, the worst typhoon in 100 years devastated that community. Today, that same community is brimming with hope and expectation, especially among the youth.
The church in that county has grown and developed a ministry among 10 universities throughout the entire province.
Your contributions to the MMS China ministries has made all this possible.
Thank you for your prayers and your support.
The Rev Dr Norman Wong is the Executive Director of the Methodist Missions Society.