Category: CEDAR Blog

They are always there

Writer: Ness Ma (Communications officer) With the exacerbating situation of the human tracking issue in Southeast Asia, more and more victims are surfacing, and so are the pictures and videos that show how the traffickers torture the victims. More horrifyingly, there is also a suspecting price list of the victims’ organs. Little can we imagine tragedies like this happening to the people of our city. The issue of human trafficking has always been there. People from developing and poorer regions are being trafficked every day; news like this just goes unnoticed as the media thinks they are not ‘eye-catching’ enough. With this disheartening issue, what can we do as believers? CEDAR is bringing more attention to our anti-human

Teaching Your Children The Heart of Love From An Early Age – picture book sharing: ‘小希的月亮’

Writer: Ness Ma (Communications officer) ‘What is Myanmar?’ In a lively Sunday school classroom, children raised their hands for questions as soon as they saw the word ‘Myanmar’ on the screen. As the Cedar staff switched to the next slide, in which a map of Southeast Asia is shown, she told the children that it takes around 3 hours to go from Hong Kong to Myanmar by plane. The children waited for the next parts of the story while they were fixing their gaze on the map. The staff members from Cedar were invited to go to Tai Wai Peace Evangelical Centre on 26th June to share the picture book published by Cedar –‘小希的月亮’, which was based

Intern Sharing – Meticulousness in Minute Details

Written by: Chun WingEdited by: Ma Shun Wing (Communications Officer) When we think of an internship, we expect students to select roles with good relevance to the subjects they study as such working experience shall add credits to their future studies and career. This early June, an intern student joined CEDAR Fund, and his name is Chun Wing. He is studying medicine at the university, he chose to serve in our communications work. Medical care is totally unrelated to communications. Let’s read his sharing of how he became used to the internship: I have joined an internship at CEDAR Fund for a month, three days per week. During this period, I was part of the Partnership and Development

Forgotten pain

In the past year, the political situation in the world has undergone some unprecedented changes. Just as we are witnessing the recent war between Russia and Ukraine, many people in other parts of the world also suffer from war and homelessness. Therefore, in addition to serving the immediate needs of the refugees in various places, CEDAR’s partners also assist in community development so that traumatised groups can rebuild their lives. The Myanmar military authority overthrew the democratically elected government on 1 February 2021. After the establishment of the military government, the military was mobilised to suppress opposition demonstrations and to conduct arrests. Al Jazeera, citing a monitoring group, said 1,700 people died as of March this year. The

Keeping watch on the unquenchable fires of war

At the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, CEDAR responded immediately and allocated HK$240,000 to support an overseas partner in providing medical assistance to the refugees. CEDAR’s partner arrived at the Polish-Ukrainian border on 1 March 2022 to provide refugees with humanitarian aid, health services and psychological and emotional support. In Poland, our partner also provided support to local families hosting refugees, such as distributing daily necessities to them, setting up information stations in shelters and providing services and financial assistance for Ukrainians who had fled to the area. On the evening of 1 April, we invited friends who are concerned about this tragedy to join a prayer meeting online via Zoom. In the meeting, we explained the needs

Cultivating peace by listening

Written by Ness Ma (Communications Officer) We had all wished for peace in the world when we were young, but as we grew up, we let go of this thought, and it began to fade out. We all experience how brutal reality is and realise how powerless we are. As a result, we could only watch relationships break when people cannot mutually understand each other. Tony, our colleague, encountered these issues as he participated in the Cultivating Peace scheme collaborated by CEDAR Fund and the Centre for Sino-Christian Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. ‘Cultivating peace’ is an act of exploring the best way to make peace in Hong Kong through active listening, emotional caring, and non-violent methods.

When Trust is Exploited: The story of Mitra

Trust is a good thing to have in any relationship. However, there are times when trust could be exploited, and that is when tragedy happens. Mitra came from a poor family and lived an impoverished life. When she reached 15 years old, the sister of her stepmother said to her, I have a job for you. Although you will have to move to another country, you will earn a lot more to provide for your family. Mitra completely trusted her aunt, given that she was a close relative to her family. As a result, Mitra listened to her and moved to a neighbouring country for work. Unbeknownst to Mitra, her aunt owned and managed a brothel. When Mitra

Report on Emergency Response in Afghanistan

Ever since the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization both decided to withdraw forces from Afghanistan earlier in the year, Afghanistan has been in the spotlight for media and news reports worldwide. As the Taliban swept through Afghanistan and entered the capital Kabul, the world is shocked by the scenes of thousands of Afghans fleeing from the airport. It is heart-breaking to witness Afghanistan turning into a battlefield raining in bullets. As a response to the recent situation in Afghanistan, CEDAR began its rescue work in June to provide relief to the people of conflict-affected areas. Through our close-knit relationship with the local partner, we have efficiently delivered emergency food and hygiene items to 320 families,

MINISTRY REPORT OF WINTER ASSISTANCE TO VULNERABLE SYRIAN FAMILIES

Banner photo: Syrian children use electric heaters to keep warm. The ten-year war in Syria has caused nearly 500,000 deaths so far. Over the past ten years, more than half of the country’s population have fled their homes. There are also more than 6 million internal-displaced people who are unable to leave and have to live in refugee camps. Many of them live in crude makeshift tents, and when winter comes, they have to endure the harsh wind every night under such poor condition. Seriously damaged by the war, no one can foresee when peace will emerge in this ancient civilised country, since the war has already caused 80% of the population across the country into poverty. In

The Invisible Victims of COVID-19 In India

When people in Hong Kong think of the pandemic, several terms come to mind: the safety of vaccines, the economic downturn, restricted gatherings and travel bubbles. To religious people, there are the added “religious gatherings”. Such events are undoubtedly the concerns of many of us in Hong Kong. However, for the poor living overseas, their main concern is not contracting the virus, but surviving. The safety of vaccines and travel restrictions are the least of their concerns. Take India as an example. In late April, tens of thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported daily. The number even rose to more than 400,000 confirmed cases in a day. News reports show civilians crying out in anguish in the