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Taiwan Church News 3046 Edition July 12~July 18, 2010
Christian AIDS foundation to open new home-style care facility
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong Written by Lydia Ma Photo by Chiou Kuo-rong
Taipei City Department of Social Welfare recently entrusted an important assignment to Garden of Mercy Foundation. It asked the foundation to establish a new center that’d care for children aged 1~18 infected with HIV.
The center wouldn’t run like a normal clinic, instead, it’d adopt a livelier or homier management style. It’d also provide medical services, psychological counseling, and social services under the same roof – a one-stop service for children suffering from HIV and their caregivers.
A ceremony celebrating the start of this new ministry was held on July 10, 2010, at Chung-Shan Presbyterian Church in Taipei. According to Garden of Mercy, the new home, christened “Taipei Home of Kindness”, has hired one
Garden of Mercy has also been contacted by Child Welfare Bureau and both organizations are looking to start another similar center inTaichung area with the help of another couple who will work there full-time.
According to the foundation, there are about 30 children infected with HIV in Taiwan who don’t have a home or parents to care for them. The foundation hopes to provide a warm home for these children and care for them in a home setting. Its vision is to protect these children’s rights, and take away the sting of AIDS and the fear of death from these children’s hearts.
The foundation reminded the public that though these children often can’t speak for themselves, they’re just like any other children – precious in God’s sight. They need love and nurturing as they grow up and shouldn’t be discriminated because of their disease, which they contracted through no fault of their own.
One pastor urged Taiwanese Christians to reflect on what they’d done for the most marginalized people in society and whether they’d attempted to reach out to these people in their daily lives.
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