{"id":17634,"date":"2025-04-16T18:05:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T10:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/?page_id=17634"},"modified":"2025-04-30T11:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T03:10:11","slug":"founder-miss-ruth-sundquist","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/about-us\/founder-miss-ruth-sundquist\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder – Miss Ruth Sundquist"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A Lady From Foreign Land Afar<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>

Those years, World War II had not yet ended. Miss Ruth Sundquist, who grew up in Michigan, USA, received a calling from God to serve orphans in China. After the war ended, she set out for Guangzhou, where she taught English to children in an orphanage while learning Chinese herself. Later, due to political changes in China, she and other missionaries moved south to Hong Kong in 1949.<\/p>

At that time, since the Evangelical Free Church of China had not yet started any charitable work, she went to schools to teach Bible classes and devoted herself to children\u2019s ministry passionately. In a letter she wrote to the children, she mentioned, \u201cIn 1955, Hong Kong was filled with homeless refugees, orphans, and widows. Recognizing this, the Social Welfare Department requested the Evangelical Free Church to establish a children’s home to help shelter orphans.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiss Sundquist \u2013 at her young age\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiss Sundquist (left) \u2013 when she graduated\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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However, it turned out to be very difficult to find a place to shelter the children. Miss Sundquist prayed continuously for this matter. Three months later, someone called her, saying they were leaving Hong Kong temporarily and could rent their house to her. And so, the preliminary work for the Evangel Children\u2019s Home began.<\/p>

In 1956, God prepared a small building in Tsz Wan Shan for them, where she officially founded the Evangelical Children’s Home (later renamed as Evangel Children’s Home). \u00a0She served as the Superintendent, providing shelter for over twenty children under the age of five who had lost either their father or mother.<\/p>

But, problems like lack of food, necessities, manpower, etc. never ends – Miss Sundquist would need to face all these problems every day, yet God prepared abundantly for her. \u201cWe need to pay rent, buy food, clothes, daily necessities as well as to hire staff to take care of the children\u2014where would this money come from?\u201d she wrote. The next day, God’s answer arrived. \u00a0\u201cWe have received a letter from Reverend Wilbur Nelson (pastor of Grace Church of Huntington Park, California), of the Bible Broadcasting Network in the United States, stating his willingness to take care of all the financial needs of the Evangel Children\u2019s Home.\u201d<\/p>

It turned out that God had already moved Rev. Nelson, prompting him to take on the responsibility of supporting the work of the children’s home. Initially, he did not know which children’s home to assist until someone informed him that the Evangelical Free Church of China in Hong Kong had established a children’s home. Rev. Nelson supported the needs of Evangel Children\u2019s Home and sponsored the building through the money and gifts sent in by interested friends via The Morning Chapel Hour radio broadcast.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiss Sundquist and 3 first-generation babies\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiss Sundquist having teaching class with children \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShe kept smiling when children came to her office\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Later, as Miss Sundquist saw there was increasing number of children in needs, she considered developing a larger children\u2019s home. In 1961, the government allocated a piece of land for building home. Rev. Nelson fund-raised for building fee in the United States. In 1963, the building was completed at its current location and officially opened. For the first time, the home accommodated more than 80 children ranging from infants to teenagers. It was expanded from two small homes to six homes.<\/p>

Miss Sundquist and Rev. Nelson hoped that the Children’s Home would truly become a ‘home’ for the children, together with first-generation children (who were brought up by Miss Sundquist in 50-70\u2019s), they even created a new Chinese word\u2014the character of ‘\"\"‘ (pronounced ‘jia’). It stood for a place where people and the Lord can live together under one roof \u2013 this \u2018home\u2019 meant with a house, ‘people’ and the ‘Lord’ together. To foster a closer bond with the children in this \u201cbig family\u2019, Ms. Sundquist asked everyone to call her ‘Auntie Sun’, while other staff members were addressed with affectionate titles like ‘Elder Sister\u2019 or \u201cElder Brother\u2019.<\/p>

Until the late 1970\u2019s, Ms. Sundquist transitioned from being the Superintendent to serving as a consultant, and other local colleagues to handle the affairs of ECH. \u00a0By the time she retired in 1982, she witnessed Chan Man Yiu (David Chan), who had been brought up in the Evangel Children\u2019s Home, succeed Miss Sundquist as the Superintendent. \u00a0Then, she returned back to the United States.\u00a0 After settled down, she continued to participate in missionary and children’s ministry work there afterwards.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiss Sunquist wore the Qun Kua (traditional Chinese wedding gown) when the girl was going to wed\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiss Sundquist and her successor of Superintendent, Mr. David Chan (right)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2005, Ms. Sundquist was hospitalized due to a cold and pneumonia. Her sister, seven ex-residents of the children’s home, and their family members were by her side in hospital. \u00a0Finally, she passed away on 29th<\/sup> of March. Auntie Sun, being devoted and loyal to God\u00a0 throughout her life, had fulfilled the mission entrusted to her by God, shined brightly with the love of Christ.<\/p>

Those were the years when a lady from afar traveled to Hong Kong and became ‘Auntie Sun’ to many children. Today, in the Evangel Children’s Home, there are elder brothers and sisters only, because there is only one \u2018Auntie\u2019 \u2013 Miss Ruth Sunquist. The great love spirit of \u2018Auntie Sun\u2019 has been passed on.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Miss Sundquist \u2013 our forever Auntie Sun in ECH<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Lady From Foreign Land Afar Those years, World War II had not yet ended. Miss Ruth Sundquist, who grew up in Michigan, USA, received a calling from God to serve orphans in China. After the war ended, she set out for Guangzhou, where she taught English to children in an orphanage while learning Chinese … <\/p>\n

Read More “Founder – Miss Ruth Sundquist”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17667,"parent":3224,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17634"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17833,"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17634\/revisions\/17833"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ech.org.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}