Chinese-American Pastor William Hwang Minjie is a pastor based in Putian, Fujian Province, China. Over the years, he has always been involved in charities that help children around the world, participating in relief work for the poor, and creating literary works. To realize his dream of giving away 50,000 children's books and saving children in underdeveloped countries, he has traveled to nearly 10 countries in Asia.
Currently, Pastor Hwang is involved in the following seven charity projects.
Pastor Hwang appeals to wealthy families in the United States and other countries and regions to donate their excess designer clothes, dresses, bags, shoes, and hats and send them to impoverished areas. A store will then be set up in these areas to sell these collected items; while 30% of the proceeds will be used to pay the salaries of the staff working there, the other 70% will be used to help those who are truly in need.
In 2021, Pastor Hwang established the Huang Chin Lung Memorial Library System in the United States. He has not only given away 50,000 books through the system but has also made continuous efforts in education, funding, and charity work to alleviate poverty. This is the fourth year since the project began, and this year it has brought help to 14 countries and regions. In April, Pastor Hwang just met with the chief of the indigenous Bunun tribe in Kaohsiung to discuss the establishment of an OKL (Huang Chin Lung) Memorial Library in Taiwan.
In 2013, Pastor Hwang started an academic exchange program. It started as a small event in the U.S. Then, in 2017, in order to internationalize the exchange, professors from universities in the U.S. and China were invited to share and exchange ideas. Other commemorative events were also held successively, including the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's Reformation in 2017, the 250th anniversary of the Mayflower Voyage on May 8, 2020, and the 300th anniversary of Immanuel Kant's birth in 2024, which was held in Haicheng, Liaoning.
When Pastor Hwang saw that in some countries the slums were filthy and filled with garbage, and the people living in the area had to earn their living by collecting garbage, he proposed to clean and green these places and turn them into tourist attractions. His idea is to combine local culture and politics, as well as folk heroics, with the love of Christ in media such as murals, so that tourists would be attracted to come and spend money, thereby increasing the income of the local poor. He has already started this project in the Philippines.
The pastor has also made efforts to reach out to the government, NGOs, and influential individuals to ask for support in providing vocational training for the poor so that they can get a job after learning a skill and also a place to live and stop wandering and sleeping on the streets.
Pastor Hwang has written several scripts for skits and dramas based on his experiences around the world. Topics have included the American Civil War, the relationship between whites and blacks, the relationship between masters and servants (slaves), and the stories of people living in the west of East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Pastor Hwang has also written several children's books, mainly based on conversations between him and his grandchildren, as well as poems based on children, such as The Eyes of the Children Around the World.
When asked if he would back down if he faced opposition in his ministry, Pastor Hwang replied, "If we pray to God and bow down to worship Him, He will give us the endless strength we need in life. He will send some people to provide us with what we need, whether it is the message we need to hear, materials or funds, etc."
He said that he often meditates on the life-giving love of Jesus. It is his greatest joy and motivation to help those he can help and influence, especially children in need.
(This is a guest post by a writer for the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Joyce Leung
