From China, With Love
In the summer of 2016, Wendy Tian moved to Swarthmore from her home in China to pursue a six-month fellowship in education at the University of Pennsylvania. Soon after arriving, she began to attend Sunday-morning worship services at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, as well as evening bible study.
Tien and members of the congregation got to know one another. Tien let her fellow SPC members know that, for at least 20 years, many visiting Chinese scholars studying in the United States had chosen to live in Swarthmore. And a number of them were eager to meet with English-speaking Swarthmore residents, both to practice their English and to become better acquainted with American culture. In response, long-time Swarthmorean and active SPC member Jane McGarity joined with Tien to organize Chinese-English conversation groups, which continue today.
Tien and her family returned to China over three years ago. But in March of this year, SPC pastor Rev. Joyce Shin received an email from her.
Hi Joyce,
This is Wendy Tian. How are you? My family left Swarthmore in early 2017 and hasn’t been back ever since. This time the coronavirus broke out in China, but fortunately we are all fine and the situation in the whole country is well-controlled.
To my grief, it is spreading very fast in other places in the world now and has caused some deaths and infections. I heard that some cases have been confirmed around Swarthmore, including that of a doctor. Some of my old neighbors are a little worried since it’s hard for them to get some masks. They are good people and followed the instructions of the government not to buy up masks and to spare them for the hospitals. The situation is becoming worse. This morning I got this information and conveyed this to my fellows. Then I thought of the church.
You have so much to care about. And you have done so much for the Chinese people in Swarthmore. We would like to do something for the Swarthmore community. It’s time for us to repay the good you Swarthmoreans have done for us, especially the Presbyterian Church who has been helping us learn English and get involved in the local community life. Could you tell us what we can do for you at this special time? If possible, we can raise some funds among us visiting scholars and buy the masks in China and then mail the parcel to you there.
Best!
Wendy
A carton of masks sent by former Swarthmorean Wendy Tian arrives at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. Photo: John Hoing
After Rev. Shin received this email, Tien and other Chinese people who had once lived in Swarthmore did in fact raise funds and purchase masks from a factory in China. They sent these masks to Swarthmore Presbyterian Church so that the church could distribute them to those in need of them. SPC donated them to local hospitals, the Swarthmore police department, and members of the Swarthmore community who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
According to Rev. Shin, she and Marilyn Henkelman wanted the community not only to receive the masks, but also to hear this story. “None of us could have ever anticipated this pandemic, but I have no doubt that, in envisioning the Chinese-English conversation groups, Wendy Tien had a vision of the good that could be generated from these person-to-person relationships.”
