About
This is the story of my mother, Chang Chien. Her nickname (milk name) was Ju Hua Chang, or Chrysanthemum. She was born in Lunan City, the county seat of Lunan County, Yu Nan (Yunnan) Province. This area is famous for the Stone Forest, Shr Lin in Chinese.
She would later be known as Sophie. This name was given to her by the French medical personnel who cared for the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang war refugees who streamed over the river from Yunnan province as they fled from their Communist oppressors.
Mom’s story is like that of a planet rotating around the central axis of God’s love, light and sovereignty. The story of God’s providential care began in the 1880s when a French Jesuit priest called by God to go as a missionary to China. This priest went to Yu Nan Province and brought my mother’s grandmother to Christ. Without the influence of these missionaries who introduced God to my great-grandmother, my mother would not have come to know Christ.
Listen with your ear, understand with your mind, soak it in with your heart. And may her message to you be as enduring as a precious stone. She lived faithfully and most importantly, she persevered. Like my mother, may you fight, fight, fight! Keep going, and never give up …
I feel deeply emotional when I think of all the years of struggle my mother endured. Like Maria Von Trapp, one of my mother’s favorite movie characters, my mother had to “climb every mountain” to seek freedom from Communism, make her life in Taiwan and to meet a Godly man. She would be grateful to know that her grandchildren are being raised to understand the depth of pain that Communism has and continues to cause. As we present this exquisite story of my mother’s suffering, quest for love, and ultimate triumph, I invite you to keep in mind this poem my mother wrote, inspired by a Chinese character which combines precious stone, ear, mind, eye, endurance, and heart.
With your ear, may you hear each word as something very precious.
With your mind, may you humbly search to understand.
With your eye, may you note the nonverbal message.
With your heart, may you listen with real love.
And may your hearing, understanding, and loving be lasting, as enduring as a precious stone.
Listen with your ear, understand with your mind, soak it in with your heart. And may her message to you be as enduring as a precious stone. She lived faithfully and most importantly, she persevered. Like my mother, may you fight, fight, fight! Keep going, and never give up …
Benjamin C. Seymore, (Chang Khan Rai)
Son of Sophie C. Seymore
July 2024