The 'Li Tim-Oi Foundation' exists to empower Christian women as agents of change. It provides grants to suitable candidates in the Two-Thirds World to train for Christian mission and ministry. Their stories are an encouragement globally.
When Li Tim-Oi wanted to study for the ministry, her family could not afford the cost of the course at Union Theological College in Guangzhou [then Canton]. Others provided the resources for her to do so. In her memory her sister Rita primed the pump of the Foundation, so that other Christian women in the 'Two-Thirds World' could, like her, be trained to fulfil their vocations. They call themselves the 'Daughters of Li Tim-Oi'. Donations and legacies are sought to enable this work to continue.
The Foundation commemorates the life and ministry of the Rev Dr Florence Li Tim-Oi who was made a 'Priest in the Church of God' on 25 January 1944. This made her the first woman to be ordained within the Anglican communion.
The Ordination in the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong and South China took place in the Free China village of Shui Hing during the Sino-Japanese War. It was conducted by Bishop R O Hall in order that Anglican Christians in Tim-Oi's parish of Macao, the Portuguese island colony, could receive the sacrament of Holy Communion properly authorised.
It was not until 1971 that the Anglican Communion agreed that further women might be ordained priest, and not until 1994 that women were priested in the Church of England. In that same year the 'Li Tim-Oi Foundation' was launched.
