On March 19, 2005, Rev. Leung Sin Sang of the Lutheran Philip House Church passed away at the age of 82. He had served as a pastor for the Leprosy Mission HK Auxiliary, making invaluable contributions to both believers and leprosy patients over several decades.
Born in Nankang Town, Hepu County, Beihai, Guangxi, in 1923, Leung was baptized shortly after birth, as his parents were Christians. After completing his primary and secondary education in his hometown, he studied at Hankou Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hubei in 1947. He later graduated from the Tao Fong Shan Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong and pursued further studies at a seminary in Germany. He taught in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he married a young German woman before moving to Hong Kong to work.
Fluent in English, German, Mandarin, and Hakka, he had a considerable understanding of Hebrew and Greek and continued studying French in his later years. He established the Lutheran Tin Hong Church, the Good Neighbor Lutheran Church, and the Lutheran Philip House. Deeply caring for children, he even sold his own property to fund four kindergartens.
Leung had a particular compassion for leprosy patients. As the secretary-general of the Leprosy Mission HK Auxiliary, he traveled extensively to serve in remote areas of Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Guangxi, China. In 1985, he was awarded the OBE by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Edward Youde.
Since the discovery of leprosy in Hong Kong in 1951, the disease has caused widespread fear, leading to family tragedies such as husbands abandoning their sick wives and parents abandoning their sick children. Witnessing this, Leung devoted himself to promoting leprosy prevention and treatment. In 1971, after his wife returned to Germany, he moved to a leprosy hospital on an isolated island to live with the patients. This commitment led to his appointment as the Secretary-General of the Leprosy Mission HK Auxiliary.
As his work attracted media attention, he used platforms like Tin Tin Publication Development Limited and "Oriental Daily News" to educate the public, explaining that medical advancements had made leprosy curable and that the disease only affected peripheral nerves, causing numbness but not madness. The bacteria only invaded the subcutaneous nerves in the limbs, ears, nose, etc., causing these areas to feel numb, but they did not affect the central nervous system.
Since 1983, he visited his hometown in Beihai annually, dedicating his time to visiting churches and comforting leprosy patients. In October 1986, during the 100th anniversary of Purun Leprosy Hospital, he organized international leprosy prevention experts from Germany, the UK, and the USA to participate in the service. His efforts brought international donations to support leprosy work in Beihai, Hepu, and Nanning.
In addition to his work in leprosy prevention, this pastor provided material support to leprosy patients in Beihai. During the centenary celebration, he donated medical supplies, prosthetics, and a minivan to the city's Dermatology Hospital. Later, he donated another minivan, five motorcycles, and over ten wheelchairs.
Leung returned to his birthplace, Shanzi Village in Nankang Town, every year and was very concerned about the construction of roads and schools in his hometown. About one kilometer east of the village is Saoguanlong Township. Between the village and the township, there was a large water ditch about eight meters wide. When the water levels rose, the villagers could not cross the ditch, and the children were unable to return to school. Therefore, he donated 175,000 RMB in 1995 to build a reinforced concrete bridge 12 meters long and five meters wide over the ditch. Additionally, a dam was constructed under the bridge to store water for the villagers to irrigate their farmland.
Saoguanlong Primary School had about 270 students, and one of the main school roads was a dirt road. Leung, through his church, secured a donation of 25,000 RMB. In the second half of 2004, the funds were used to pave the school road and build a toilet, which turned out to be the last charitable act of Leung's life.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times, with information provided by Elder Chen Kaosi, chairman of Beihai Municipal TSPM.)
- Edited and translated by Abigail Wu
