Category: CEDAR Blog

How did CEDAR Select and Manage Overseas Projects?

CEDAR has been collaborating with 53 Christian organizations and churches worldwide from 2018 to 2019, to support 80 relief and development projects all over Asia, Middle East and Africa. With an enormous amount of projects and great needs in poor regions, how did CEDAR select and manage the projects? Let’s hear what our Programme Officer Hollace say. Hollace noted that CEDAR’s support to a poverty alleviation project took into account of the project’s community involvement and mobilization, which included the following aspects: 1. How to enhance project’s endeavor to mobilise targeted community’s own resources? 2. How to assure better transparency and fairness in beneficiary selection? 3. Any feedback and response mechanisms? 4. Is local volunteers mobilized? 5. How

Faith, Hope, Love, and the Creation

Source: Unsplash/Bonnie Kittle Written by: Raymond Kwong (Chief Executive of CEDAR Fund) Christianity is about the pursuit of faith, hope and love. As we ponder upon the teaching of these virtues, we often limit it to only between God and man (ourselves), yet the teaching of Colossians 1:15-20 reiterates that the salvation of God through Jesus Christ is for all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by

The Poor Amidst the Drought in Zimbabwe

This July, the world experienced perhaps the hottest month in over a century. It is true that the climate crisis can produce very divergent impacts on the rich and the poor. As UN expert pointed out recently, the rich have money to find ways to mitigate the threats of global warming, but the poor are powerless to protect themselves. They are left to bear the resulting heat, famine and diseases. CEDAR has had an insight into the great affliction that the poor in Zimbabwe in southern Africa have to endure. Recently, El Nino caused a drought in Zimbabwe. The World Food Programme warned that over 2.3 million farmers in the country are on the verge of starvation. Yield of maize, the

Fear Not the Slander and Shadow, but to Break the Silence – Interview with Indian Anti-Child Trafficking Activist

Banner image: Aashima Samuel, the National Director of EFIC@R, interviewed by CEDAR “In Indian villages, when we and church pastors advocated anti-child trafficking, some Hindi nationalists accused us of, or even attacked us for ‘brainwashing’ villagers to convert them into Christians. In fact, among them, there were traffickers slandering us to extinguish our anti-trafficking voice,” said Aashima Samuel, the National Director of Evangelical Fellowship of India Children At Risk (EFIC@R), CEDAR’s partner. Samuel experienced obstruction at the entry into villages, unreasonable accusations, being tailed many times, and not being helped by the police, and more. She has experienced all these at work. Although the risk of and resistance against anti-child trafficking ministry are gigantic, Samuel perseveres to break

Flooding in South Asia Displaced over 10 Million People CEDAR Calls for Donations to Help Victims in 3 Countries

(Updated on 30th August, 2019) Many countries in South Asia have been inundated during the monsoon season this year. Although the rain has eased up in some of the hardest stricken areas and water levels have subsided, up to 22 July, over 650 people had been killed and over 10 million had been displaced. In light of the severity of the disaster, CEDAR provided a grant of US$60,000 (around HK$470,000) to our Christian partners in India, Bangladesh and Nepal to provide emergency relief to the victims in the region. CEDAR would like to ask all of you for donations to support disaster victims to overcome the adversity. From June to October every year, monsoon rains bring widespread calamities

CEDAR’s Second Phase of Relief Assists 2,500 Burmese in Western Myanmar

Banner image: Villagers who fled conflicts are temporarily living in an abandoned government office building The conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an armed group fighting for greater autonomy in western Rakhine, has not ceased since December 2018. In June 2019, the Myanmar Government ordered telecommunications companies to shut down mobile internet service across local townships, hindering external access of updated information which the safety of civilians are of concern. [1] CEDAR Fund and our partner in Myanmar, Full Moon Children Development Family, began the first phase of relief work in the conflict-affected region in February 2019. Collaborating with us in relief distribution was a local team led by Pastor Aung Din, who had rich experience

CEDAR’s Emergency Relief to 2,100 Displaced People while Conflict Continues in Western Myanmar

Banner image: People in western Myanmar evacuated due to conflicts The Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an armed group fighting for greater autonomy in western Rakhine, has been in conflict in Rakhine and Chin states since December of 2018. The conflict has caused over 30,000 people to flee from their homes [1]. The Myanmar military oppressed the rebels by bombing villages and executing extrajudicial murder, which resulted in heavy injuries and deaths of the innocent. In May this year, Amnesty International gathered evidence and said that the military is committing war crimes and other human rights violations. Noticing a vast group of displaced people, CEDAR and its partner Full Moon Children Development Ministry distributed food and blankets

CEDAR Staff Revisited the Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami Region to Witness the Revival of Livelihood

Cynthia (left) and mother, residents of the Boladangko Village In January this year, CEDAR commenced phase two of its relief and recovery work in central Sulawesi of Indonesia. Our partner PESAT has been working with six post-disaster communities and its people by providing assistance on livelihood, education, and psychosocial support. http://www.CEDARfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20190619-video.mp4Thank You from Indonesia (video in Chinese) As a response to the previous visit of the affected area, CEDAR initiated a phase two work proposal with PESAT which aimed to benefit more than 770 families, including two of the piscatorial communities, Bamba and Talise. We observed that remains could be found along the sea from earlier damage, and a large residential area was razed to the ground and

Winter Assistance Brings Warmth to over 10,000 Displaced People in Syria

The conflict in Syria begins its ninth year with no sign of ending at the moment. As global attention drifts away, more than 6.2 million internally displaced people are still struggling to shelter and feed themselves. The most critical time for these refugees is to live through the brisk winter every year. Between December last year and January this year, it was reported that at least 29 children and newborns died, mainly from hypothermia, while fleeing to refugee camp in the eastern region of the country or shortly after arrival [1]. Child in Syria The survival of the harsh winter is yet another challenge on top of the issues of poverty and internal conflicts that have brought immense

Refugees get Schooling through TV — The Cries of Middle Eastern and Northern African Children

Banner image: Youtube screen capture of a SAT-7 ACADEMY programme, City of Stars “Through satellite TV, we can reach out to 450 million people in this part (Middle East and North Africa) of the world, where most people have never met a Christian, seen a church or had a Bible in their own hands, but they can see the Gospel at home. They can watch our programmes in their language 24 hours a day — our production crew knows their problems and difficulties, and also their source of happiness.” —Kurt Johansen, executive director of SAT-7 Europe, Asia and Pacific The conflict in Syria has already been 8 years. Although extremist group ISIS was reported driven out of the