Mr Gary Stephens and his wife, Helen, came to Hong Kong in 1979 with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a multinational trans-denominational service organisation. Their team provided relief and aid for Vietnamese refugees. This work continued for ten years in various refugee camps across Hong Kong. In addition, the YWAM team founded and operated the street sleeper-feeding programme, which helped many of Hong Kong's homeless people. In the late 1980s the Stephens were concerned about the plight of teenage girls with crisis pregnancies, many of whom were crossing the border for late trimester terminations. In co-operation with Ranjan and Phyllis Marwah, they founded Mother's Choice, which started as a home for young girls facing crisis pregnancies, and providing counselling services for the girls and their families. Since that time, Gary and Helen have orchestrated and directed the growth of Mother's Choice. In 1991 Mother's Love, a joint venture with Guangxi Autonomous Region, China was launched. During the past eight years more than 1500 children have been adopted through Mother's Choice and Mother's Love.
In recognition of his contributions, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.
