P. C. T. Seamen’s / Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter 2015 JULY
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center No.2, 1F Yukang Chung 1st Rd., Chien-chen District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Tel:886 7 8227296
Fax:886 7 8416870
Website: http://www.pctsfsc.org.tw/
Bank: CATHAY UNITED BANK, KUTING BRANCH Account No: 030501340525 Name: THE JURIDICAL PERSON OF THE PEACE SOCIAL WELFARE AND CHARITY FOUNDATION Address: NO. 149, SEC.3, ROOSEVELT RD., TAIPEI, TAIWAN R.O.C. SWT：UWCBTWTP
If you want to receive our newsletter online in the future, please mail to pctsfsc@yahoo.com.tw 1
P. C. T. Seamen’s / Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2015 July
Provide to The Needs Instantaneously Director / Rev. Chen Ping-Hsun Recently I was in charge for a case of a fisherman falling and disappearing into the sea. This happened to a fisherman’s family in a villiage in Penghu Chimei Township. Whoever heard of this, no matter their family, friends or other strangers, felt sorrow of it. This is everyone’s ‘spirit’ that bring us conscience and further emotional expressions.
Receiving the message from preacher Zheng Kai-jia in Chimei PCT, I got the sense of grief deep from my mind. This is the compassion that we are gifted when the God creates human being. The compassion brings us sorrow, which is the spontaneously emotional reaction from everyone. Within the process of concerning the case, the colleagues in our center contacted between each other instantly, and kept contacting preacher Zheng, for arrangement of client’s family visiting, care and consolation; for arrangement of filling out the client’s information’s; for booking the plane tickets (thanks to preacher Zheng’s help for booking) and lastly for my visit there, as delegation of our center, for further care and giving our consolation money for instantaneous needs. (This is our destiny, responsibility, pastoral care and other necessary working process for consolation.)
The concern for this case had always been the destination and the destiny we hold by every member of our center. That is the model for us to execute as the Lord executed when he was alive – “The life of faith and the faith of life – seeking and acting the faith”.
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. “ – < James 2:17>
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”–<James 2:26>
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P. C. T. Seamen’s / Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2015 July
This is the fundamental and action by every member in our center, which is the group worship.
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." – <Matthew 9:35~38>
We are only to continue learning and executing necessary missions and responsibilities.
Consequently, to mention the social service work, we do not only execute the works, but also receive the love from the Lord and obey the teaching and the words from the Lord. We rely on the touch and the calling by the Holy Spirit to execute every destiny and responsibility. We bring the love, grace and the meaning of life from body and soul from the Lord and share them with every single person, family and friend in need.
Dear brothers and sisters, through your care, prayer, giving and support to our center, please let us, wonderfully and gracefully, serve the people bodily and soulfully in need instantaneously. And please help us with the Holy work. Let us cooperate -- the center does its best to fulfill every service and care, while the caregivers pray and worship for every colleague in the center and every fisherman/seaman, and their family. Let all our need be attributed to the God’s love and award of grace. Also let all the glory be attributed to the God.
May the God bless everyone!
Translated by Hung Shan-yu
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P. C. T. Seamen’s / Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2015 July
The Seamen from Foreign Lands Social worker / Huang Chung-tse The center (SFSC) is located by the Cianjhen Fishing Harbor. Cianjhen is a type I, large fishing harbor, and many overseas fishing vessels dock here. Therefore the foreign fishermen on the boats are the people we serve for. Recently I attended the Seminar of The Globalization And International Migrant Workers, held by the Evergreen University. The seminar introduced the situations the migrant workers facing nowadays, along with the international trends. Director Li Ching-hui also came to share her documentary “Money And Honey”. She spent 13 years to accompany the Philippine caregivers working in the nursing homes in Taiwan and took record of them. The Philippine caregivers came to this strange place overseas far from their country for work, back and forth, for the beloved family in their hometown. Time flies, always realistically. As 3 years, 6 years passed, they earned money, but merely lost their beloved family. That reminded me of the foreign fishermen we served for. They also leave their countries to earn money, and confront with the oceans, boats and fishes, which exhaust their energy and spirit. They might be injured at slight negligence, and then unable to work, having to return to their countries. This long-lasting pressure could only be relieved once they arrive the harbor. Sex and violence are the fastest way to relief the pressure, also the most usual one. Therefore when plenty of fishing vessels arrive the harbor, conflicts between the crew with different nationalities usually occur. Clashes even happen between the crew from the same country, a few dislike between them or a slight misunderstanding may cause their fights. Found fighting by the police, they will be sent back to their countries, which does not worth it. The center sees their needs and provides the crew a place to rest and relax. They can use the computer devices to chat with their families to alleviate the long for their countries. They can also play billiard, badminton to take off their pressure accumulating in their bodies. In the process of my service, I found that the crew are jubilant to use the computer in the center, and say “thank you” when they leave. After further acquaintance, they share their daily life with me. Once one crew member shared with my colleague that his wife in Philippine was ready to have a baby, and he was ready to be a father! The joy from their face made me really pleased. However, I feel some distance between us owing to my language skill, and this is what I have to work harder for. By enhancing my language skill or by other methods could I be more familiar to the foreign fishermen. I could more understand their needs and assist them in advance, which could bring better effort from our services, and bring the foreign seamen warmth as they were home.
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