Washington State Senate passed the Resolution 8651 on April 24, honoring the life and achievements of Doris Brougham, who spent 62 years in Taiwan for missionary and educational work.
The resolution praises Broughama as a native daughter of Washington State has brought honor and prestige to the state and the nation. She is a vivid testimony to the good bilateral relations between Washington State and Taiwan. Her unselfish and lifelong achievements and dedication to the well-being, education, and progress of all students young and old in Taiwan is also honored.
A copy of the resolution is being sent to Ma Ying-jeou, President of Taiwan and also Barack Obama, President of the United States.
Doris Brougham's story
Born in August 5, 1926 Seattle, Washington, Brougham came from a typical Christian family. She was raised with the love of her parents and God. When she was 12, she responded to God's call to share the gospel when she heard about millions of people in China who had never heard about Jesus.
Brougham earned a B.A. in Far East Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle in 1948. She then declined a scholarship from the Eastman School of Music and traveled by ship to China.
At the age of 21, Brougham arrived China and was eager to start her missionary work, however, the civil war broke out and she was forced to leave. At that time, her father in the US passed away, so the church asked her if she wanted to go home, with tears in her eyes and she said she would go to Taiwan.
This decision made her story in Taiwan last till today. Doris arrived at Taiwan in 1951 and chose rural Hauling to do her missionary work. She travelled over mountains and valleys for five whole years to visit aboriginal people there.
In the 60s, the economy of Taiwan was beginning to boom and Brougham found that young people in Taiwan could not speak or write English very well. She decided to devote herself in English teaching, and “Studio classroom” was on air since August of 1962.
In addition, Doris also founded the magazine "Let's Talk English", and Overseas Radio And Television Inc., a Taiwanese Christian media outlet.
In 1994, she established the Doris Brougham Scholarship to provide financial assistance to high school students with good grades in English, as well as college and graduate students majoring in English or Mass Communications.
Brougham was awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon—the nation's highest non-military decoration—and was made an honorary civil servant of the highest level by then-President Chen Shui-bian in 2002. Brougham was one of the first four foreigners to receive Permanent Resident Status in the ROC.
The missionary endless love to Taiwan
Brougham not only devoted her whole self to Taiwan, she also donated most of her salary. She could not go home for the funerals of her parents because she could not afford the airplane ticket. Moreover, she turned down the marriage proposal offered by her beloved due to her unwillingness to leave Taiwan, for that, she has remained single. In order to do the missionary work, she even sold the Saxophone which she had kept for almost 30 years since her deceased father gave to her as a legacy.
Today, "Studio Classroom" and "Let's Talk in English" have grown and become the most popular English teaching program in Taiwan. Brougham has taught English to hundreds of thousands of native Chinese speakers throughout the world. It is not unusual for some families to involve grand-parents to grand-children to listen to Studio Classroom in a roll.
Brougham is loved and respected by many Taiwanese, but she humbly shares, "I don't think I am anybody special. I had a willing heart, and God has used me."
Doris Brougham Testimony Video
