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Ocean Blue
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Ocean Blue
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“A-die”
P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter 2012 July
The Presbyterian Church in TaiwanSeamen’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: E.SUN COMMERCIAL BANK KAOHSIUNG BRANCH BANK Account No: 0082466056717 Name: The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center Address: NO3. SZU WEI 4TH ROAD. LIN YA DISTRICT KAOHSIUNG TAIWAN R.O.C. SWT：ESUNTWTP
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P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2012 July
Ocean Blue The light blue sky, the dark blue sea, is the typical impressions about blue. Some will hum a pop song “Blue Sky” of Chang Hui-mei. The lyric writes about “Beyond the dark wall of heart, there’s a blue wide sky…”.
“Blue” symbolizes free, easy, and relief, when
someone get rid of the difficult. However you get a different answer comes out from uncle Shin, an old captain, by seeing his tears with a long sign. It was a long journey from Indian Ocean to Taiwan which was used to be a pleasant journey—a journey to home. This time it turned into a heartbroken one, when uncle Shin sailed the ship home alone. His beloved son, A-chang, who went for his first time pelagic fishing, was killed by the others Indonesia fishermen. The same blue sky, the same blue ocean, had the opposite meaning for uncle Shin. He murmured to himself that “I had almost forgot how did I sail home alone with A-chang’s boat. The only thing I remembered was the endless ocean blue.” Uncle Shin’s son, A-cahng, was a fisherman who was also the mainstay of the family with his beloved parents, wife and his children. As the inshore fishing environment got worse and worse, A-chang still could make ends meet with his hard work. But unforeseen events (his second child who was choked by the milk was in a brain dead state and the new born baby was born to be a congenital cerebral palsy) forced A-chang to make a decision: go pelagic fishing The coming bills and daily medical expense didn’t care A-chang to give up, on the other hands, these heavy burden turned into a strong determination that led him to love his family more and to give all he can.
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P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2012 July
Uncle Shin showed of the photo proudly, which A-chang took at his first sailing. Achang smiled confidently before the ship with his 6 feet 4 inches tall and he seemed to tell us he wasn’t defeated by the rough life. No one knew this was the latest time to say goodbye. It was A-cahng’s first sailing but also the latest one. When the ship left harbor few days later, it lost connection and was away from regular direction. A-chang’s family asked for help from the ministry of the foreign affairs and the fisheries bureau of government immediately. 4 days later, the ship (Jin Hai-hsiang No. 3) was found near the Indian Ocean, and the captain, A-chang, was missing. During the legal investigation those foreign fishermen finally confessed that they did kill the captain and pull him into the sea. This accident not only took away the only supporter from the family, but also let uncle Shin lost his dearest son, those children couldn’t see their respected father, the wife didn’t embrace her husband home. SFSC came to comfort the family instantly and assist to apply the compensation of bloodshed and the social welfare resource. Thank for pastor Cheng and members of Yen-chou church brought concern and accompany for this family in need with God’s mercy and grace. I couldn’t erased uncle Shin’s wry smile in my head when I was leaving.
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P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2012 July
A-die “A-die” sounds like a typical Taiwanese’ name was a 30 years old female Indonesian caregiver. She got married with Sadirun in her young age. They lived and had a little girl happily, though they didn’t have enough money. Few years later, they decided to make their fortune by working oversea in Taiwan where was known of her wealth and luxury. They dreamed about coming home together with enough money and providing a better life for their beloved family. When A –die took care of an old lady in Kaohsiung, her husband, Sadirun, worked at Su-ao fishing port. Unfortunately, last Septembers the ship which Sadirun worked was missing near the area of Japan. The relatives and the ship owner were hurry looking for help and the government also sent the rescue team to find the ship. Half month passing there didn’t have any news about the ship and no evidence about the crews members. That big ship, included captain Huang, chief engineer Chen and 6 crews were disappeared on the sea! The local fishing association and the fishers felt confused and unsolved to the accident, because that day was a good day for sailing and fishing. After the accident happened, A-die was crying all day. Even the old lady who seemed A-die as one of her daughters grieved for this tragedy. The employer of A-die also tried to help because A-die was a careful and responsible caregiver. Lack of any clues, background and experience, their headless effort were in vain. When God closed the door, He will open another window for you. Mrs. Liao, the neighbor of A-die, a warmhearted Christian, recalled her mind about SFSC, when she bought the cookies at SFSC cooperation shop (Chia-pa-gih). She urged A-die to call SFSC and look for assistance. Before SFSC got A-die’s phone call, we had already noticed the missing ship for a long time. A-die’s appeal was a force that pushed SFSC to go further. After 3 months hard-work and negotiation between the ship owner and the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office, the result turned for the better. Though we had no information about Sadirun and the missing ship, we made a deal with the ship owner about the compensation for Adie. We still pray for A-die and her family and hope our prayer and concern help A-die keep in her faith in God’s grace.
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