We are pleased to announce we have made a $1 million gift to establish a medical research and training fund in honor of our beloved Toa Lung and Yu Ying Sung.

Income from this endowment will support research, training and patient care in pediatric neurology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. Specifically, the programs supported by the Fund will pertain to neurodevelopmental disorders that are relevant to Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that leads to severe impairments, affecting the ability to speak, walk, eat and breathe easily. Patients typically also have intellectual disabilities. Presently, there is no cure; clinicians can only treat symptoms and provide supportive care.

Vanderbilt’s Rett syndrome clinic has been named a Clinical Research Center of Excellence by Rettsyndrome.org, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families and supporting research. We are proud that Cary Fu, M.D. is devoting his career to caring for patients with Rett syndrome and collaborating with colleagues to seek a cure.

If you wish to join us in supporting this important work, you may make a gift online at give.vanderbilthealth.org/neurology fund.

宋鐸榮與劉玉英夫婦

Introduction to Mr. Toa-Lung Sung

Mr. Toa-Lung Sung was born on January 4, 1914 at Laiwu County, Shandong Province, China and returned to the Lord at his home in Saint Louis, Missouri on January 31, 2014. He lived a total of one hundred blessed years.

Mr. Sung went to military service for China when he was a young scholar, carrying arms to defend his country against Japanese aggression. After the victory of the War, he became a senior member of the National Party in Qingdao City and later moved to Taiwan with the National Army. He then changed his career to education, and successively worked in Kaohsiung Industrial Vocational School, Kaohsiung Polytechnic College, and Kaohsiung Shengguang Theological Seminary of the China Free Methodist Church. He devoted forty years in education and enjoyed working with and teaching many young men and women. During that time, his co-worker was James Hudson Taylor II, the grandson of the founder of China Inland mission, James Hudson Taylor, and great-grandson James Hudson Taylor III. They often had to travel to preach in remote mountainous areas by hiking and dangerous river crossings. Today there are many indigenous people in southern Taiwan led to believe in Christ due to the efforts and dedication of Mr. Sung and his colleagues.

Mr. Sung was very accomplished in Chinese literature studies. He was particularly good at poetry and calligraphy. He mastered a regular script of Yan Zhenqing. His work in the United States was heavily influenced by his desire to share his inheritance of Chinese culture and Christianity within his community. As a Christian, he dedicated his service to the Lord. He was still preaching when he was ninety-two years old with superb memory. He was able to recite the chapters without any manuscripts, because all the Bible verses were deeply ingrained in his mind. He was a true Christian chosen by God.

Mr. Sung was honest and upright in all positions he served, in the army, in the party headquarters, or in the education sector. He was strict with himself and treated others with leniency and care especially for the younger and vulnerable groups. He lived his life following the words of the Bible and fulfilling all kinds of righteousness and set an example for future Christians. He was a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, teacher and an elder in his church. Mr. Sung will always be loved, admired and remembered by his family, friends and those who were blessed to know him.