| Pastor Calbert G. Latham comes from Saint Vincent. Fifteen years ago, Pastor Latham came to Taiwan to preach. He then met Ms. Siao Han-yu and the two fell into love. However, Ms. Siao's family did not approve of her marrying a man of African descent, so the heart broken Pastor returned to Saint Vincent, with the belief that perhaps he and Ms. Siao were just not meant to be. Ms. Siao however, had plans of her own and flew to Saint Vincent where they married shortly thereafter. Pastor Latham says his wife travelling to Saint Vincent to save their relationship, was probably the most adventurous thing she had ever done. After they were married, the couple moved back to Taiwan. The couple's love story was recently published in a local newspaper. The shy pastor stated humorously, that he and his wife have become famous because of it! After the couple married, Pastor Latham worked as a volunteer preacher for eight years. Two years ago, Pastor Latham was relocated to Kaohsiung to become the English speaking Pastor for Kaohsiung's Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Currently, there are approximately twenty English speaking members that attend the church. He also preaches to thirty members at a church in the Nanzih Export Processing Zone. The English speaking church members come from all over the world. "It feels like a mini UN", says Pastor Latham. The job of a Pastor is more than just that of a preacher, sometimes he must serve as a spiritual or marriage counsellor and at other times he is asked to just go to the homes of sick church members and their families to pray for them. Pastor Latham is always willing to serve the church. Pastor Latham says that the weather in Kaohsiung is similar to Saint Vincent's. He has also become very familiar with Taiwanese culture. In Saint Vincent he would eat a lot of root and stem vegetables, so he misses the food from home. In Taiwan he cooks a lot of taro and his favorite, and Taiwanese roasted sweet potatoes are his favorite. The Pastor and his wife have two children and when he is not working, he takes them for walks or to play badminton in the park. The children attend a local Taiwanese school and therefore speak fluent Chinese. At home, they speak English, as Saint Vincent is an English speaking country. Pastor Latham hopes the children will also get to know the values and culture of his home country. Sometimes, he takes the children to Saint Vincent to have the opportunity to experience life there and visit family and friends. |
| 攤開報紙看見自己和太太蕭涵予的愛情故事披露在媒體上，聖文森籍基督教牧師旭日(Calbert G. Latham) 有些難為情的幽自己一默說，看來我們出名啦！15年前，Calbert到台灣傳教 ，結識台灣籍的蕭涵予，但2人的愛情卻因為女方家人不放心將女兒嫁給非洲裔的Calbert，他黯然返回聖文森，心想也許這不是命中注定的緣份，沒想到蕭涵予竟獨自一人飛到聖文森嫁給Calbert，Calbert說太太個性冷靜，挽救2人的愛情，這大概是太太這輩子做過最冒險的事了。倆人在婚後返台定居，Calbert持續8年擔任傳教志工，2年前，高雄「復臨安息日會」沒有牧師牧養，於是他被奉派到高雄擔任牧師，負責英文傳教。 Calbert負責的高雄教會英文傳教超過20位教友，他也會至楠梓加工區教會英文傳教，服務超過30位教友，教友們來自世界各地，每回聚會都有如小型聯合國。他談起他的工作有如教友們的心靈醫師一般，有些重病患者會請他上門祈禱，或是幫民眾解決家庭紛爭，他隨時都得做好服務教友的準備。 Calbert說台灣海島型的氣候與聖文森相似，讓他感覺有如家鄉的生活環境，他也早已習慣台灣文化，因為在家鄉常吃根莖類植物，當他想念家鄉味道時，他自己會下廚烹煮芋頭之類的食物，台式烤蕃薯尤其是他的最愛。Calbert 談起，空閒時會帶孩子們到戶外走走，到公園打羽毛球或者是散步。 由於Calbert的孩子擁有聖文森和台灣兩種文化背景，Calbert說目前2個孩子在台接受教育，因為平日課堂和生活上都已置身中文環境，所以他在家時會用英文與孩子們交談，讓他們嫻熟使用英文，這也是聖文森的官方語言。重視文化傳統的Calbert也會帶著孩子們返回聖文森探訪親友，讓孩子們有更多機會接觸聖文森文化。 |
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