Chin Chu Pao

My mother, Mrs. Chin Chu Pao, was born in 1924 in the countryside of a small city of Dinghai, Zhejiang. She has a younger sister and a younger brother. In 1948, my father, Mr. Chao Hai Pao, moved the family to and then settled in Taiwan via Hong Kong. My parents have three children, two girls and one boy (Nancy, Betty, Jerry). Although she did not receive much education when she was a young girl due to her living environment then, yet she always treated others with humility and courtesy. She was always positive, optimistic, diligent and thrifty in housekeeping. Further, she taught us that we should not take advantage of others since we were young. She set a good example to us and was a good wife and mother.

In 1973, the whole family immigrated to New York City. Because of the language barrier, she endured hardships and went through a lot of hard work. She had worked in a garment factory and a watch factory, helping the family and supporting three children in school. In 1986, my father died of liver cancer in New York. All three children got married later on. My mother lived with my brother Jerry's family in Long Island, New York, taking care of the grandchildren. During this period, she often visited me, Betty, in Cincinnati every year, and also visited my elder sister (Nancy) who lived in a nursing home there. Since she visited Cincinnati every year, Franky and I had the opportunity of bringing her to attend the church and leading her to know and accept the Lord as her personal savior. Although my mother is illiterate, she likes the warmth and love from the brothers and sisters in the church very much. She enjoyed going to church on Sunday morning to listen to the pastor's sermon. In March 2000, she was baptized at a local church in Long Island, New York, and became a child of God. She then started to participate in church gathering and fellowship, and learned more about God’s words.

In 2014 due to a job transfer, my brother Jerry and the whole family moved to Melbourne, Florida. Unfortunately, in March 2016, she accidentally fell and broke her hip bone one morning, which led to subsequent mobility problems. My brother's family couldn't take care of her due to heavy workload. As a result, she moved to San Diego in May 2016 to live with us. She missed her son's family in 2018, and returned to visit them in Florida on Christmas, and lived there for about three months. Unfortunately again, she accidentally fell again in January 2019 and underwent hip replacement surgery. At that time, she was 94 years old. With God’s grace, the surgery went well, but she couldn't take care of herself and had to sit on a wheelchair since then. My brother and I decided to use long-distance ambulance to drive across the country to bring her back from Florida to San Diego. She has been living in a nursing home since 2/2019.

My mother has gone through many hardships over the years in her life, but God has also given her a abundant life. Psalm 90:10 "The days of our life are seventy years old, but if we are strong, we may reach eighty years old..." It is God's grace, my mother is 98 years old, she is a blessed person. My mother has been blessed with five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She loves each of them dearly. In her nursing home room, the wall is covered with photos of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She talks to them every day and enjoys their company! My mother gave her full love and entire dedication to her family, friends, neighbors and brothers and sisters in church. She has left with us wonderful memories of what she has done for the family and she will live in our heart forever. Psalm 31:10 says “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies”.

Thank you all for taking the time to come. May God receive all the glory!