Ming Chik Chan sent a letter a few months ago to Steve Stirling, ChildFund’s executive vice president and chief administration officer. In these excerpts, Mr. Chan shares his story of leaving China for Hong Kong in 1949, during a time of political instability. He and his siblings were placed in orphanages affiliated with Christian Children’s Fund during the 1950s, which were led by Dr. Verent Mills, then CCF’s overseas director. As an adult, Mr. Chan has worked to help other Chinese children. The images in this post come from his letter.
Taking this opportunity (the 75th anniversary of ChildFund International) on behalf of my brother, my sister and my family; I would like to thank those who contributed to Christian Children’s Fund/ChildFund, and for those who labored to raise numerous children. Without such loving deeds, they would be lost and without hope. May our Lord bless them and their families for many generations to come!
Also, I would like to mention our PaPa — the Rev. Verent Mills — and Mrs. Mills, who inspired many of us. Our lives were revived by them and many others. We wish them to rest well in our heavenly Father’s bosom.
During the change of government in China in 1949, my father passed away, and my mother left China for Hong Kong, leaving her three children back in the country. My uncles in Hong Kong requested that my mother get us out of China, and that was when we became refugees in Hong Kong. We thank our Lord that during that time, my mother worked as a housemaid for a family from England. Knowing that we had no place to live and no chance of being educated, the mistress of the house helped to get three of us to orphanages managed by Christian Children’s Fund. Not only we were provided with shelters and food, we were also provided with full-scale educations.
We were taught to value life, to work hard and to respect others.
My sister’s and my brother’s stories were about the same. We were admitted into CCF orphanages at different times and at different locations. Later on, my sister and I moved to Children’s Garden.
It was the second time I rode a train since I was born. I was 9 years old, and I remember this clearly. My mother was going with me, and I knew it would be a long ride.
My mother took me to an orphanage far away in the new territory of Hong Kong. That place was called Taipo, a small city near the border of China. After getting off the train, we had to ride a bike, and it took another hour to get to a village. There, we were greeted by several men; later on I found out that they were the staff and principal of the orphanage.
The name of this orphanage was called Agricultural Project; translated directly, it means the place where people learn how to farm. This project had a huge Chinese-style mansion, where most of the staff and girls of all ages stayed. There were two other old houses, one about 100 yards away up the hill where many of the boys stayed, and the other about 150 yards down the hill, where I was assigned to stay. Our canteen was a three-walled shack built next to a boys’ dorm. Classrooms were scattered around the compound built with mud bricks, wood planks and iron shingle roofs.
I spent four years here, and during one of the typhoons that hit Hong Kong the hardest, many of the buildings were heavily damaged. I remember my dorm’s roof was yanked away by the typhoon, and all our belongings were wet. Immediately after this disaster, we were moved to a new orphanage built in Wukaisha, named Children’s Garden.
Children’s Garden turned out to be like a dream for all of us. This place was set up like villas, built with a huge auditorium, playgrounds, modern classrooms, paved roads and a full-scale infirmary. Each villa accommodated 12 to 14 kids, and we thought of this setup as our family, supervised by a house parent. There were 66 such villas in the time when I lived there. The school systems ran a full-scale program, with lessons from morning to late afternoon, including all kinds of sports and activities. We were also provided with Christian education. Children’s Garden was connected by ferry to a university on the other side of the harbor.
This was the place where I grew up. I spent a bit more than four years there, and I left when I turned 18.
I migrated to the USA at the age of 32 with my family and worked in several U.S. corporations. At the age of 60, I took early retirement and volunteered in a Christian organization, setting up orphanages in China. From 2003 to 2012, we set up three orphanages, nurturing about 400 children to date. I retired from this organization on August 2012 after I suffered two light heart attacks.
To read more about ChildFund’s 75-year history and what we’re doing today, click here.
