How we got our start

Reverend Hsu Yang and his wife, Fung-Yin adopted their first child, a deaf and mute girl, in 1952 soon after they were married in Taipei, Taiwan. Mr. Yang had just graduated from seminary in Taipei, and the couple felt a calling to move to Liu Kwei in Kaohsiung county to work in the church and help the needy children there. While living in the local church, they continued to take in children into their care so that by 1964, the church building had become too crowded.

One of the couple's four biological children, Joseph Yang, recalls those early days. "The church was so full that we had to start looking for room elsewhere. Besides, the children liked lots of space where they could dance and sing."

Hsu Yang went out in search of a new home for the growing family and was quickly successful in finding land that the Taiwan Sugar co-operative was selling, but not everyone would have thought it was such a sweet deal. In fact, few other people really wanted the desolate side of a mountain that God seemed to be pointing Reverend Yang and his family to. There was no running water, no electricity, no roads, no buildings, and as Joseph recalls, the land wasn't even suitable for farming because of the abundance of rocks and lack of fertile soil.

Still, the couple remained undaunted. Borrowing three tents from the local junior high, they set up their new home on the present-day location of Christian Mountain Children's home and set about raising twenty-four kids (and two dogs) with little more than faith, hope and love.

In addition to the lack of what we consider basic necessities today, like electricity and TV, nature itself from time to time refused to cooperate. The Lao Knung river, which runs in front of CMCH flooded occasionally during the rainy season, and in the early days, there was no bridge that travelers could take to the nearest town of Liu Kwei to buy food and supplies. Mrs. Yang, a member of the native Atayal tribe, used her knowledge of local plants that she had gleaned from her parents and ancestors to feed the children. And even though times were hard, Joseph says that they never went hungry. Food as well as spiritual nourishment were the top priorities of Reverend and Mrs. Yang.

While Mrs. Yang held down the fort holding such varied titles as nanny, mommy, janitor, secretary, receptionist, and even president, Reverend Yang worked in town as a teacher and preacher. From the reverend's two incomes, the family managed to grow and thrive. The first permanent structure was erected in the mid-1960s, out of the numerous stones that the land held. Running water and electricity then reached the home, and a suspension bridge was put up to make walking into town a bit easier.

In the 1970s, president Jiang Chin-Kuo visited the orphanage and requested that a two-lane bridge and road be built to lead up to CMCH. While at the orphanage, the president posed for a picture holding a little girl (the painter pictured to the right) and that picture was turned into one of the most popular postage stamps in the R.O.C.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Lord continued to bless Christian Mountain, protecting the children and giving them a warm and stable environment in which to grow. Part of that meant new erecting new buildings, a chapel, and most recently, a large and luxurious log home which serves as a visitor's center. The first floor is a virtual museum of the history of CMCH, with pictures of the many people who have visited the home and the children who have grown up there. The choir sometimes sings in the large gathering room on the second floor where several guest rooms await visitors.

God's love is still being made known to children and the community around CMCH in the new millineum. The choir often drives to aboriginal churches in southern Taiwan to offer words of encouragement in their songs. Reverend and Mrs. Hsu Yang, are still actively involved in the work that goes on at CMCH, and they are loved by all for their blessed example of Jesus' love for children. They were recognized in the year 2000 by President Chen Shui-Bien and awarded one of the highest medals bestowed on citizens by the R.O.C. government, the "Da Ai" or "Great Love" award. Though it was a great honor, those of us who have been blessed to know this couple smile when we think of the greater rewards the Father has prepared for them and for the many they have brought to Christ.

CMCH Founders Rev. and Mrs. Hsu Yang have helped to raise around 700 children over the past 50 years.

Grace grew up at Christian Mountain Children's Home and has become a well-known foot painter in Taiwan.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
-Philipians 4:6