Busy in Taiwan
The Rev. Charles Gilson '21, Episcopal minister, and his wife Dorothy have just completed their first six months on Taiwan, an island of about 14,000 square miles, one third the size of Pennsylvania, with the same population, 10,000,000. Fewer than 4% are Christians.
This is the program of the Gilsons. From Monday through Friday their day starts at 6 a.m. They go to Chinese language school from 7:30 to 10:00. Charles uses the rest of his day trying to meet the needs and demands upon the time of a mission vicar, a parish priest, a diocesan bishop, or the president of General Motors Corporation. Dorothy not only fills the role of wifehousekeeper of all these people but also runs and works in several "departments" of her own: Bible classes, Altar Guilds, Women's Auxiliaries.
On Saturdays the Gilsons do not rise until 7. Sundays they have three services at St. John's in Taipei.
They live in the center of the city in a Japanese style house with sliding doors and windows. The doors are five feet eight inches high; Charles is five feet eleven and a half inches. They eat mostly Chinese food prepared by a middle-aged Chinese ex-soldier, who speaks only Chinese, shops for them, cooks, and housecleans.
Left to right are: Rev. C. P. Gilson '21, Chen Chang, Vice President and Premier of Nationalist China, and the Rt. Rev. H. S. Kennedy, Episcopal Bishop of Honolulu.
