Community Care Home for Taiwan Vulnerable Children

When Pastor Tsai and his wife, Mrs. Tsai, began serving in Xiangshan, Hsinchu 20 years ago, they noticed that there were junior high school students roaming the streets. Mrs. Tsai took them home for a meal. She asked the children why they wandered after school and they replied, "There was no one at home." Their eyes said, I am thirsting for home! But "going home" was something these children could only wish for.

At first, Mrs. Tsai prepared meals for only one child, then the children shared news about this special mealtime with friends, and there were at most 20 children eating together at a time. Mrs. Tsai learned that most children were born into a family of single-parent household or grandparenting, and their caregivers were long-hours workers (typically working until 10 p.m.), such as formworkers, rebar workers and temps. Consequently, these children were home alone or roaming the streets much of the time. 

To ensure the children got proper care, Pastor Tsai and Mrs. Tsai went to the children's guardians and got permission from them to host children in church on weekends, which gave the children opportunities to enjoy each other's company and learn positive character and good behavior from Pastor Tsai and Mrs. Tsai.

At its very beginning, the gathering was to keep children from wandering the neighborhood on holidays. As time went on, it was this care and company that created a sense of belonging for the kids and helped them feel at home. When the kids grew up and entered the workforce, they still went back to visit Pastor Tsai and Mrs. Tsaion weekends or holidays.