Prince of Peace shines for the Lord "Mei Lei Dish for You" Episode 15 - Ken Yeung - TV Version

When you see Mei Lei present you with a dish, do you ever wonder what it tastes like? Well, now we have an opportunity for you! The Media Evangelism Limited and Bene Media are holding a cooking competition. We invite you to use the recipes we provide, cook the dishes, and participate in the competition. Each person can participate more than once. You can make five or ten dishes! The deadline for registration is January 5th. We very much welcome you to sign up and participate. Hello everyone, and welcome to "Mei Lei's Dishes for You." I am Mei Lei. The Bible says in Romans 12:13, "Practice hospitality." Therefore, in our program, we invite a guest each time to bring a dish. From the dish brought by this guest, we can learn about their flavorful life. So, what dish will this guest bring? Does this dish have a connection to a Bible story? "Mei Lei's Dishes for You" will bring you the answers and introduce you to a series of exquisite foods and life stories. Today, in our program, we have invited Mr. Ken Yeung, whom we usually call Ken. He is the founder of Prince of Peace Enterprises in the United States and Prince of Peace’s Children’s Home in China. We are very happy to have Ken come to our program today. Ken, hello. Mei Lei: Hello, we are so happy to have you on our program today. Prince of Peace is actually known to many people. When we talk about Prince of Peace, I think of the emperors and princes in Chinese history, which were very honorable positions. So, I wonder if you had a very distinguished family or if you inherited your father's business that gave you the opportunity to start Prince of Peace Enterprises. Ken: Actually, it was not like that at all. I was born very poor. We were born in Shantou, Chaozhou, China, in the countryside. There were my parents and four sons and four daughters in the family. However, my father was a landlord and built houses, and my mother was unable to take care of us eight children, so I was sent to Hong Kong to be taken care of by my grandparents. So, I left home at a very young age. I also had a very difficult time in Hong Kong. It just so happened that when I was in about fifth grade in Hong Kong and transferred to a school, the teacher taught English in Cantonese. I didn't understand either language, as I only knew Chaozhou dialect. So, what could I do? It was very difficult. Fortunately, other young people in the neighborhood were very kind and helped me, played with me, taught me Cantonese, and taught me English. They didn't bully me at that time. They even helped me change my English name. My name Ken was also given to me by an older sister. You will be very grateful and remember the help others give you. After finishing that year, I went to San Francisco to study social work. I hoped that this kind of work could also help other people. One very important thing was that in that era, we helped nearly 100 Vietnamese refugee families settle down in San Francisco. This was a very good testimony, a Christian testimony. Mei Lei: So, you spent a lot of time helping these Vietnamese refugees, with language, finances, and all aspects of learning to live in the United States. So, you paid a great price. Ken: The whole church, even other Chinese churches in San Francisco, participated. Many people saw this, so we helped them find jobs, schools for their children, and housing, among other things. It was very meaningful. Mei Lei: But this can also be said to be related to your studies in social work at the University of Hawaii. Ken: Yes, I didn't expect it to be useful. Mei Lei: So how did you go from that social work to really starting this business? It seems that this process had nothing to do with business. Ken: Yes, it didn't matter, except that when I was in college, I worked part-time in a herbal store, so I was quite interested in Chinese herbal and tea. When I finished working with the church for those three years, I was already married and I also had to help my father and younger siblings, so the church's salary was quite low. So, the pastor said, "Ken, you have to go out and do other things. I encourage you to do business." He felt that I had this gift and this talent. Mei Lei: This pastor was very insightful and discovered your talent in this area. Ken: Yes, few pastors would do this. I also had a question for him. I said, "Can Christians do business? Can they go into this commercial industry? There are many temptations and many kinds of enticements." But he said, "Ken, you are a Christian. A Christian needs to be a Christian 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not just when you come to church." So, I felt that what he said was very reasonable, that is to say, in the future, in the business platform, if I have a good testimony, if I can shine for it and become a blessing to others, then it is also a good thing. Mei Lei: Yes, that's right, so you really started to do business. When you were doing business, what did you start with? Ken: At that time, I didn't have confidence myself, so I asked God for this "contract." I said, "God, I know that many people do business and it is not necessarily profitable, and I don't want to do business for my own purposes. I hope that you will really be the boss of this business, and I am just here to serve you and be a manager. In the future, this business will belong to you." So, the English name of my company was set as Prince of Peace, and we translated it into Chinese as TaiZiHong, because it is easier for people to remember. TaiZi means the Prince of Peace, which also refers to the Lord Jesus. Mei Lei: Yes, everyone is very familiar with Prince of Peace, and we all feel that if you give a gift, receive a gift from someone, or receive a gift yourself that is Prince of Peace ginseng tea, you feel that this is a guarantee of quality and trustworthiness. Ken: Thank you for your introduction. Actually, for Prince of Peace, no matter who does business, this product, this good product, this quality is very important. We Chinese people especially talk about integrity. What kind of ginseng you put inside, what quality of ginseng you use, people will know this in the long run. You can't deceive people once or twice. Integrity is very important. Mei Lei: Are you going to bring us a dish today? Ken: Today we are making this sweet soup, American Ginseng Red Date Snow Fungus Sweet Soup. We first soak it in water for about an hour, then these lotus seeds, this is lily, these are red dates. The red dates also need to be soaked in ice water for about 20 minutes first, then cut them open and remove the seeds inside. Then put this in the already boiling water, these ingredients you now have one, two, three, four, five, and this wolfberry, put this in, this is probably cooked for 40 minutes. However, you have already cooked it, right? Now cook it for another 40 minutes. That was the earliest time, when preparing, because the Tremella is very hard, you soak it in water for 40 minutes, then it becomes like this now, so soft. When the water boils later, cook it for 40 minutes. In 40 minutes, everything will be inside. At that time, we can add rock sugar and American ginseng tea bags. Now we will put these things in first. Mei Lei: So you are adding American ginseng tea bags, not real American ginseng. Ken: Speaking of this, when I started Prince of Peace Enterprises, I had a wish, that is, American ginseng, this thing, is actually quite expensive, very precious. In the past, not ordinary people could enjoy it and afford it. So, we developed Prince of Peace Enterprises and made it into tea bags, which made it affordable for ordinary people, not too expensive. And another very important thing is that it is convenient and fast, and the taste comes out very quickly. So we let this cook, cook for 40 minutes. At the beginning, you can use high heat, but once it boils, use low heat and cook for about 40 minutes. At that time, we will add rock sugar and tea bags. So it is a very simple dessert, although it is very simple, but it is very precious. I think we Chinese people like to eat this dessert very much. Mei Lei: Yes, another thing is that this American ginseng is for reducing heat and clearing heat, and this soup is for moisturizing the throat and lungs. So it becomes that this is not just a dessert, it is actually a good thing for maintaining health. Ken: Yes, that's right. Mei Lei: We have already put the rock sugar and two bags of Prince of Peace American Ginseng Tea in it. Now there is already the taste of ginseng and rock sugar in it. Ken: Let me help you, okay? Mei Lei: Great, we can't wait to eat it. Ken: I hope you like it. It's wonderful! Mei Lei: It makes me think of what you just said about how in life we sometimes have difficulties and suffering, just like the bitter core inside the lotus seed. But if you remove the bitterness, and put the other ingredients together, you no longer feel the bitterness. They complement each other. So I think in God's kingdom, everyone's situation is different, but when we come together, we can all testify to God's beauty. Everyone has different gifts, and when we all come together, we can do greater work for God. Hallelujah! Just like you, at the beginning, you seemed to make a covenant with God, hoping that your Prince of Peace business could glorify God. Praise be to God! Would you like to share with us whether you have encountered any difficulties in your business from the beginning until now? Ken: Yes, especially as my business grew bigger, I had more difficulties with cash flow. At that time, I felt it was very difficult, especially during the economic recession in 2008. But thankfully, God opened a way for me. Some ginseng farmers said, "Ken, I believe in you. You can take my ginseng and sell it, and pay me a year later." So this gave me the cash flow I needed. In addition, some Vietnamese refugees I helped in the past, who had started their own businesses, opening grocery stores, pharmacies, and supermarkets, knew that I had started a business, and they all helped me by selling and promoting my products. So I felt that there would be difficulties, but I relied on God with faith. The most important thing is to maintain your integrity and persevere. Amen. God really wants us to have integrity, and the God we believe in is a faithful God. I also see that you are willing to help others, so you give back, willing to give back to God's grace, and God also responds to you through these people. Hallelujah, praise be to God! These are all mutual effects. At the same time, Prince of Peace, with God's blessing, when we earn money, we also learn how to use this money, how to better serve God on the Prince of Peace, such as helping orphans and helping many different works. So you have done a lot of charity work. I know you have also received many awards, the Chinese Philanthropist Award, the Chinese Business Philanthropist Award, and many others. But you just mentioned, at the very beginning, that Ken not only has this Prince of Peace Ent Inc, but you also have the "Prince of Peace Children's Home” in China. So how did you start this Institute? Ken: During the time when China began to allow people to adopt orphans from China, many American adoption agencies did not know how to help people adopt children in China. So all my colleagues and I helped them translate many documents, and we also went to the consulate and the Sacramento state government to do a lot of this work, helping more than 100 families adopt children in China. Seeing that they were very happy to adopt children, and that the orphans had a permanent home and their whole lives were changed, I felt it was very meaningful. Because of this situation, I found that the conditions of some orphanages in China were not very good. Healthy children were easily adopted, but those with disabilities were left there and were not easily adopted. So we talked to the Chinese government and asked if they could give us a chance to do an example, a model, of how to help these children with disabilities. The orphanage is to help orphans with disabilities, which is even more difficult. We helped more than 200 children with disabilities at a time, with different disabilities, and we also had to perform surgery on them. So some of them, after we helped them with surgery, were able to be adopted, and more than fifty of them went to the United States, Canada, and some European places. Recently, this summer vacation, we took some of them back to Tianjin to visit. Some of them are now middle school students, and some are college students. Seeing that their whole lives have been changed, I am very happy and it is very meaningful. Mei Lei: You said that these children, who grew up in the orphanage, came here and now go back? Ken: Yes, we took them back during the summer vacation for ten days. It was wonderful and very meaningful. Mei Lei: I heard that you yourself have also adopted children. Was it because you adopted children that you thought of helping Americans adopt children? Ken: It was the other way around. It was such a coincidence that many people came to us for help with translating documents, and we also had a very good relationship with the consulate. They specifically asked us to help these families. When we started helping, I didn't think that we ourselves would adopt children. At that time, we were in our 30s, and my wife and I were both very busy. Mei Lei: So you didn't think about having children? Ken: No, I didn't think about it at that time. Later, I said that so many people, so many children need to be adopted, so we happened to be in Tianjin Hospital at that time, and there was such a child. At that time, our own children's welfare institution had not yet opened, but we adopted a girl. Because we had a lot of business dealings with Tianjin at that time, and also because Tianjin is close to Beijing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that this would make it easier for him to help us establish this children's welfare institution. So until now, we are still the only children's welfare institution in China that cooperates with the government standards. Mei Lei: It's so grateful that God has been opening up paths for you. Ken: So we use love to care for these children and help them with surgery. We are not allowed to talk to them about religious matters, but these children see the people in our loving community and know that we really care for them with love. It's been almost 20 years. Mei Lei: Wow, it's been 20 years! Praise be to God! Mei Lei: You have a lot of love, a lot of love. I think that in helping others, we must have sincere love, genuine love, and compassionate love in our hearts, so that we can truly turn a person's life around. So your whole life is really a life influencing another life. Ken: The eyes of the people are discerning. They can see if you are just doing it for your own benefit in the short term, but we are investing in this for the long term, and we genuinely love these children and take care of them. So people know. Life influences life. Sometimes you don't need to say too much. People will ask you. Mei Lei: So in your whole life, you have seen that you are like a sower, investing those seeds in those who are in need, those who are in difficulty, and you have also seen that because you are willing to sow those seeds, God has also blessed you because you have a heart of reverence for God, and you are willing to glorify God's name, so God has also given you more seeds to sow, so that you can do more good deeds, just like this dish. Ken: Many people buy our Prince of Peace products, which is actually helping us financially. Some people do this, others do that, and when many people come together, we can help many orphans and change their lives, and do some good things for society. Mei Lei: Praise be to God! So it's been 20 years, and I believe God will use your life for another 20 years. Ken: Thanks be to God, it's all God's grace. Yes, it's all God's grace. Mei Lei: Our program "Mei Lei's Dishes for You" will come to an end here today. We are very grateful to God for having such a wonderful brother, Ken Yeung, among us to share the story of his life. Now it seems that he is very successful, very honorable, and very glorious, but he also shared that in his whole life, it started from the most ordinary person, as if from the simplest life, but because he knew God and saw God, God gave him such a heart to give back to God's grace to him, and also to give back to everyone who has helped him. So we see that this seems to be grace upon grace, strength upon strength, to continue to let God's grace on them be given out. Hallelujah, Christians can do business, but it is to glorify God. Ken: Yes, that's right. Mei Lei: That's great! Thank you for your interview. Thank you. When you see Mei Lei present you with a dish, do you ever wonder what it tastes like? Well, now we have an opportunity for you! The Media Evangelism Limited and Bene Media are holding a cooking competition. We invite you to use the recipes we provide, cook the dishes, and participate in the competition. Each person can participate more than once. You can make five or ten dishes! The deadline for registration is January 5th. We very much welcome you to sign up and participate.