The Charles Kendall Scholarship Fund

The good we do in this life continues on to help others long after we are gone. Rev. Dr. Charles Shilling Kendall lived a life helping others, and even after passing away in 1973, his namesake endowment, the Charles Kendall Scholarship Fund, continues to help those in need.

Established in June 1974, the scholarship was created to help students who plan to enter the Christian Ministry or become Christian workers within the United Methodist Church. Kendall's scholarship fund was born from a memorial gift made by church members, friends and those among the more than 50 whom he helped guide into ministry.

Helping people has always been Kendall's practice, and the difference that he made lives on through those already touched by his kindness. Simon Kyaw Myint, a retired general surgeon, came to The United States from Burma in 1946 at the age of 18 to study at Phoenix College. With help from his father, who was a United Methodist pastor and District Superintendent in Burma, Myint was able to secure passage to The United States. Crossing two oceans and half a world, he arrived in Savannah, Georgia after a 48-day long trip on an American freighter.

Receiving help from the United Methodist Church, Myint made his way to Phoenix, and there he met Kendall, the then minister of Central United Methodist Church. Kendall befriended Myint, helping him in any way he needed, including providing school supplies, clothes and other necessities. Myint spent much of his time with Kendall and his family and often accompanied them on their outings.

Insisting that Myint spend dinner at a different family's home from the congregation each Sunday, Kendall helped Myint to learn about American customs and assisted him in becoming more immersed in the church community.

Myint graduated from Phoenix College with his associate degree and went on to receive his bachelor's from the University of Arizona and then his medical degree from Northwestern University in Illinois. In the late '50s, Myint became the first person to perform open-heart surgery in Burma.

Kendall acted as an advisor when Myint was in need, and even helped Myint's two younger brothers when they too arrived in The United States some years later.

Myint has spent much of his life traveling to parts of the world in need of volunteer surgeons, including remote Chaujahari, Nepal, but regardless of location, he remained close friends with Kendall until Kendall's death.

Now at the age of 85, Myint has established scholarships of his own and is an acting contributor to the Charles Kendall Scholarship Fund, a continuing kindness inspired in part by Kendall's influence and friendship.

Living now in Newall, California, Myint writes in his short autobiography My Journey, "I will always be grateful to [Kendall]...who befriended me when I most needed a friend."