Theophiel Verbist

He became the National Director in Belgium of the Association of the Holy Childhood, a charitable organization established in France to raise funds for orphans in countries with Catholic missions.

[5] On 25 August 1865 Verbist set out on his journey in the company of four companions: Father Aloïs Van Segvelt, Frans Vrankx, Ferdinand Hamer and lay helper Paul Splingaerd.

Two Chinese priests Petrus Feng and Vicent Fan who had been formed by the Lazarists assisted the newly arrived missionaries.

[6] On 10 May 1931 his mortal remains were solemnly repatriated in a Chinese coffin to Anderlecht and placed in a mausoleum established in a side chapel of the CICM church in Scheut.

The mausoleum includes a bronze statue of Verbist, dressed in Chinese garments, and kneeling with open arms before the globe, made by the sculptor Aloïs De Beule.

When the CICM church in Scheut was razed in 1974, Verbist's Chinese coffin was moved to a small crypt under the new chapel and the bronze statue was placed in the garden.