Sprouting Dream | Sponsor a Child in Taiwan

Due to family financial difficulties, 10-year-old Hulk has been receiving subsidy through the Mustard Seed Mission's Sponsor-A-Child program. To support him and his little sister, his mother has been working day and night. As a result of years of such physical strain, the warning bell to her health began to ring.  Coupled with the impact of the pandemic which reduced her working hours, her monthly salary has been adjusted to daily wage. This sudden and drastic reduction of working hours made the family unable to make ends meet and eventually she was laid off. On the suggestion of a friend, Hulk's mother decided to relocate the whole family to southern Taiwan and started afresh which on one hand could reduce their daily expenses slightly and on the other hand, to give her a chance to recuperate.

Before moving to the south, Hulk was a child easy to smile. Losing his former classmates and friends all of a sudden, he couldn't cope with the change and smiled less and less. His sister was still very young and needed lots of adult attention. As such, slowly but surely, he started to display signs of behavioral disorders because of the combination of several factors: the loss of focus in his daily life, the lack of the attention from his mother, and the limited play-time options available to him of either staying at home or going to nearby convenient stores after school.

On the phone, the social worker heard Hulk's mother saying worriedly, "Hulk recently stole toys from a convenience store, and the manager called me to warn...".

She went on "Hulk wasn't like this before. He didn't say anything when I asked him why. I don't know what to do with him...".

The social worker comforted her and said, "Hulk may not know how to express his emotions because of his young age. So, he tried to misbehave in order to attract adults' attention. I remember you once said that Hulk liked participating in MSM community service center activities. If you permit, I would like to bring teacher Chen from our community service center to visit you. They offer a lot of activities there. I think it would be worth trying to let Hulk participate, to divert his attention and make new friends. There might be some changes."

On the day of the visit, Teacher Chen took the initiative to talk with Hulk, learned about his hobbies and praised his academic performance in a timely manner. Soon Hulk opened his heart. Teacher Chen seized this opportunity and asked him "Hulk, we have a children's camp every Saturday. Would you like to join us? You can make many friends of your age." Without hesitation, Hulk agreed to accept Teacher Chen's invitation.

By participating in the children's camp, Hulk gradually displayed smiles one hadn't seen for a long time. After making new friends, every weekend is his happiest time. He eagerly looks forward to seeing friends and participating in many activities. The teachers in the community service center inquire about Hulk's life every week. As time goes by, Hulk has become more and more mature and well-behaved, and he received recognition and praise from the teachers. In addition to learning to play drums for free, he also recently performed on stage at events to build self-confidence. The love, care and companionship from the teachers not only helped correcting Hulk's misbehavior and bringing out his smile again, it also warms his heart and turns an original "foreign place" into a real sweet home for Hulk after the move.