Those who hope in the Lord will regain their strength

Thoughts and breakthroughs on hiring foreign catering for Harbin Dumpling Restaurant

Interview/Zheng Qiongyu

Picture provided/Zheng Qiongyu, Liu Guoxing

During meal time, when you push open the European-style white-framed glass door, a smiling face immediately greets you from behind the counter. The elegant and clean dining room is almost full. In the company of beautiful and soft poetry, diners enjoy a meal of healthy dumplings that are as delicately crafted as works of art, brightly colored, and rich in nutrients from skin to filling, subverting traditional impressions. . As the aroma lingers, compliments of joy and satisfaction such as "It's delicious!" and "Wow!" are heard from time to time.

Provide food that is good for the body, mind and soul

This is a Ha Dumpling restaurant located on Sanmin Road, Xindian District, New Taipei City, run by husband and wife Song Zhongkui and Zhang Tongning. Zhang Tongning was born and raised in Harbin. After graduating from medicine, she stayed in her hometown to practice medicine. She is a true Northeastern girl. For her, dumplings are not only food, but also contain the warm and difficult memories of growing up. After marrying Song Zhongkui and settling in Taiwan, she taught her dumpling-making skills to newly released prisoners and inmates who were still serving prison sentences. She also won the first prize in a New Year's dish competition.

In order to promote nutritious and delicious food, the couple decided to open a restaurant after prayer. In addition to providing food that is good for the body, the two also hope that Ha Dumplings will become a channel to spread the gospel and feed people's bodies, minds and souls.

▲A wonderful painting of colorful dumplings hangs in the Ha Dumpling Shop. Above the painting is a cross with Jesus written on it. Zhongkui and Tongning relied on God’s power and led the restaurant to become a precious vessel in God’s hands.

Give them a "natal home" in Taiwan

In recent years, the number of foreign spouses (referred to as foreign spouses) in Taiwan has been increasing day by day. In order to improve their lives in poverty and with no future in their hometown, many young girls come to Taiwan from Southeast Asia and mainland China with dreams of marrying. After moving to Taiwan, I faced insurmountable problems such as cultural differences, language barriers, huge educational gaps, discrimination, and low status in my husband's family.

More than 20 years ago, Zhang Tongning met and fell in love with Song Zhongkui when his luggage was robbed while helping him go to the mainland from Taiwan to do business. Zhang Tongning gave up her respected job as a doctor, said goodbye to her familiar hometown, relatives and friends, and married in Taiwan for love. Although she is an intellectual with medical training, in Taiwan, a place she is unfamiliar with, not only can she no longer practice medicine, but she also has to endure people's suspicion and discrimination. These bitter experiences made her very sympathetic to the plight of foreign partners.

Running a restaurant requires a lot of manpower, so Zhang Tongning and Song Zhongkui decided to hire foreign workers as much as possible to help them learn skills, improve their lives, and enhance their status in their husband's family. And use interactions at work to build relationships, leading them to know God and obtain the most beautiful blessings in life.

Hiring outside catering makes restaurant operations more difficult. For example, most of them couldn't read Chinese, so Zhang Tongning spent a lot of effort designing code names and drawing schematic diagrams of the workflow and posting them on the wall. These difficulties did not stop them from helping their foreign spouses.

▲To make crystal clear and nutritionally balanced dumplings, every step must be taken care of.

▲Even every delicious side dish that goes with the dumplings is exquisitely made and requires employees to work together according to the process to complete it smoothly.

Zhang Tongning takes care of her employees like a mother and eldest sister, caring about their daily life, giving them gifts during holidays, and leading them to sing hymns, pray, and read the Bible. She and Zhongkui hope that the store can become a warm "parental home" for these girls from overseas backgrounds in Taiwan.

The cultural gap has become a huge chasm

The store has employed foreign spouses from South Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, mainland China and other places. Although Zhang Tongning and Song Zhongkui led their efforts, unexpected difficulties gradually emerged.

They found that the barriers of writing and language can still be overcome by ingenious ideas such as using pictures instead of text, but the gaps in culture and living habits form a gap that is difficult to cross.

Ha Dumplings provides exquisite meals, including washing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mixing stuffing, wrapping ingredients, and putting them into the pot. Each step has a standardized process. To ensure food hygiene, employees must wear masks, headscarves, and aprons when preparing meals, and keep the kitchen and store clean and tidy at all times.

However, many foreign employees are accustomed to the traditional food culture of their hometowns and do not understand Zhang Tongning's ideals of promoting healthy eating, let alone why he must handle ingredients with a meticulous attitude. After working for a period of time, some employees began to make their own decisions and were unwilling to comply with Zhang Tongning's requirements. For example, they took off their masks and headscarves because of the hot weather.

Faced with these situations, Zhang Tongning had no choice but to correct him. Zhang Tongning, who comes from the Northeast, has a cheerful personality and speaks directly. As the store is busy, her tone is inevitably urgent. Some employees became dissatisfied and even said emotionally that they would not do it if they did not do it. This caught Zhang Tongning and Song Zhongkui off guard and made them anxious. In addition, due to different cultural backgrounds, misunderstandings or conflicts often occur between employees in their work and interactions.

There was a Vietnamese girl who lost her mother when she was young and lived a poor life, and she was very close to Zhang Tongning. Zhang Tongning felt pity for her and took great care of her. Unexpectedly, the girl was so arrogant that she gradually became unwilling to obey Zhang Tongning and other colleagues. On several occasions, she even argued loudly with her colleagues while customers were dining, causing work in the store to come to a halt. Zhang Tongning's repeated persuasion failed, and he had to reluctantly ask her to leave. The two broke up on bad terms. This incident made Zhang Tongning very sad and disappointed.

▲Many young girls from Southeast Asia, mainland China and other places have married in Taiwan in order to improve their lives. They face difficulties such as cultural differences, language barriers, discrimination, and loneliness.

Play the role, respect and care

Looking back afterwards, Zhang Tongning thought that maybe she had not grasped the role well.

When dealing with these employees on a daily basis, she is a gentle and kind mother and sister. When working, Zhang Tongning, who insists on quality, must strictly demand employees with a professional attitude. Some employees were unable to understand her different roles. Not only were they unwilling to obey her requests as a boss, they even questioned whether her gentle treatment was sincere, which deeply affected Zhang Tongning.

Zhang Tongning discovered that perhaps she often faces strange looks and discrimination in life, and her foreign partner is often very sensitive and has low self-esteem. What sounds like a reasonable correction to the locals may become a harsh accusation to them. Zhang Tongning's straightforward personality makes it easy for people to get close to her, but it also causes misunderstanding and dissatisfaction among some foreign employees.

In addition to providing job opportunities, Zhang Tongning and Song Zhongkui also hope to lead these employees to know God. Foreign spouses usually have no autonomy in the family, and it is almost impossible to attend church unless the in-laws agree. In addition, most foreigners have other faiths in their place of origin and are not enthusiastic about the gospel. Even if you participate in a fellowship meeting, the soil in your heart is often hard and difficult to sow. It requires long-term hard work by many co-workers with evangelistic gifts, experience and enthusiasm.

Zhang Tongning reminded that when engaging in ministry of caring for foreign spouses, one must start with respect. Be friends with them on an equal footing, care about the problems and needs they face, and occasionally give them small, free gifts, such as burnt grass jelly, fruits, etc., which will bring them indescribable warmth.

Turn your eyes to the Lord

After experiencing difficulties working together, several Southeast Asian employees left. At present, most of the store's working team are from mainland China, and they agree with the business philosophy of Ha Dumplings, and their performance is stable and outstanding. Zhang Tongning and Song Zhongkui are also slowly getting out of their service slump.

In response to God's love, they were willing to offer Ha dumplings as an altar and enthusiastically helped foreign spouses. Who knew that this road would be so frustrating? They couldn’t help but wonder: What is God’s will?

For them, opening a restaurant is not only a living, but also a calling and God’s grace. The couple tried their best to manage the business, but their hearts gradually grew tired and hesitant.

In the past, Zhang Tongning spent three hours every morning reading the Bible, praying, and getting close to God. Although there were difficulties in life, the words and power given by God made her run strong and walk well. After founding Ha Dumplings, due to the complicated affairs and the pursuit of perfection, Zhang Tongning was busy with endless things every day, and had less and less time for spiritual practice. She found that she unconsciously relied more on her own abilities than on God's guidance.

Life can't go down like this! She is determined to adjust her priorities in life and put spiritual practice at the forefront of every day, because God is the real boss of Ha Dumplings.

Recently, Zhang Tongning started to use the work team as a team to hold fellowship in the store once a week during the afternoon break. Guided by the teachings of the Bible, we talk about matters of the heart and topics closely related to life, care about the difficulties and needs of participants, pray for each family, and encourage everyone to build life and live well. If God provides a way, she hopes to open the gathering to the community as well as store customers.

Adjust the direction of service and the focus of life, and look up to the Lord in a blink of an eye. May Song Zhongkui and Zhang Tongning lead Ha Dumpling to regain strength and soar like an eagle with wings!

Further reading:
For the touching story of Ha Dumplings, please read "The Story of Ha Dumplings" interviewed by Lin Minwen in the 23rd issue of "The Kingdom of God" (March 2011). (Online magazine:http://www.e-krc.org/tcn/magapdf/23C/Default.html)