Written by Edward Lai (Senior Communications Officer)
‘I hope that my little donation will help you and can make a change to your life!’
‘I pray that you will be joyful, that the Lord will help you and that you will have a prosperous life!’
These are the words of primary school students in Hong Kong when they wrote words of blessing to our beneficiaries overseas. Though most of them have never seen the beneficiaries of CEDAR’s projects. They have realised, through our activities, that there are people living in poverty: these people only want a simple, happy life; they do not want extravagance.
There is a popular saying in Zimbabwe, ‘Hungry men are angry men.’ When one of our co-workers visited local families in a poor village in Zimbabwe, a middle-aged man named Paul said to us, ‘I am my children’s father. When I am unable to feed them, I feel extremely stressed.’ On top of practical difficulties, the father’s stress stems from self-blame and his inherent guilt of not being a competent father.
In reality, the problem is not that Paul is lazy or unwilling to earn a living for his family. It is because as a farmer, his land has been greatly impacted by global warming. Seeing his family go hungry, Paul feels annoyed and unsettled, causing more quarrels at home.
Bringing warmth and positive change to the poor has been a mission of CEDAR’s since its establishment. This mission stems from empathising with the poor and understanding what the Gospel means to them. The Lord wants people to have sufficient food and clothing, but He also wants His children to live with dignity, because these people are His beloved children.
We thank the Lord that through our partners’ training, farmers like Paul have learnt new ways to farm while conserving the environment and have successfully improved their livelihoods. Their joy is apparent on all of their faces. When our colleagues see their happiness, they inevitably think: isn’t this exactly what transforming a life looks like?
As we celebrate CEDAR’s 30th birthday, we hope to pass on the blessings you have given to us. Therefore, we have organised our ‘Beyond Feeding the Poor’ Campaign to encourage everyone to donate HK$30 or more and write a blessing to our friends in need in the birthday card. We will pass these cards on to those in poverty to encourage and support them. Please don’t underestimate your impact!
