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Tag: Anti-human Trafficking

‘Let’s Go Barefoot, NOW!’

Written by: Ethel Sha (Participant of CEDAR Barefoot Walk 2017) A year ago, the chief executive of CEDAR commenced the event by sending out this command. Everybody in the hall took off their shoes and got ready to step out of their comfort zones to walk around Tseung Kwan O barefoot. Since then, I have never bared my feet to walk in the city, but to learn and be aware of the issue of human trafficking with a “barefoot” spirit. My memories of the Barefoot Walk last year are still vivid. From the moment I “applied” to work as a domestic helper overseas, to “being exploited” in labour, I discovered that I would lose power over my life

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Divine Intervention in Broken Livest

Written by: Maylin Hartwick (Leader of Harmony Baptist Church) When one wants to reconcile with oneself, God’s intervention is indispensable as God transforms the life of a person. In the past few years, CEDAR has witnessed many encouraging testimonies of its partners. We saw how God healed the brokenness in the lives of the poor and exploited. Harmony Baptist Church (HBC) is a friend of CEDAR. Like CEDAR, HBC is active in mobilising local believers to care for refugees, asylum seekers, domestic workers, and victims of human trafficking here in Hong Kong. Maylin, a leader of HBC, is going to share with us stories of women they have served and how God has intervened in their lives. At Harmony Baptist Church,

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Human Trafficking

Author: Jojo Poon Martha (obscured) spent her early years with her mother who worked as a sex worker in the red-light district of Mumbai, India. “At the age of 16, my mother met a guy when she was in Nepal. He said he could refer her to work at better places in the cities, and she ended up being sold to work at the red-light district in Mumbai.” With the help of a generous woman from her hometown, Martha was spared from having to suffer the same fate as her mother’s. “Every one of us could fall prey to human traffickers with a tiny change of situation,” as expressed time and again by the frontline workers serving sex

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Joseph: Human Trafficking Survivor

Author: Roger Seth The Bible was written thousands of years ago but it has much to say about what we might see as a modern problem: human trafficking. We will look specifically at the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, chapters 37–50. Make sure you are familiar with the story before reading this reflection or discussing it with a group. Sold by relatives  Like so many victims of trafficking today, Joseph was sold by his own family. The fact that the Midianite caravan was ready to buy a slave to sell in Egypt (Genesis 37:26–28) tells us that the trade in people was already happening in the region at that time. Today, we are told, trafficking happens

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Children Are Priceless

Barla (obscured), 12, was a student in Pastor Thomas’ tutorial class. She missed classes a few times, and Pastor Thomas started searching for her to no avail. He feared for the worst that she might be caught by traffickers, so he filed a case at the police station. The investigators soon found out that Barla’s parents had sold her to a pimp at the price of less than HK$16. This is the story of one of the trafficked children told by CEDAR’s partner, EFIC@R, located in northern India where human trafficking is prevalent. EFIC@R started serving in the Jharkhand State, Orissa State, and West Bengal in 2012, establishing support networks with local churches to protect vulnerable children and

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This is Hong Kong

Author: Tsun Wan Yan It appears that Hong Kong has nothing to do with human trafficking, and our government did not sign the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking In Persons. In fact, Hong Kong is a port and destination of sold human commodities, and it has been placed on the Tier 2 watch list (same ranking as Afghanistan, Cuba, and Tunisia) for two consecutive years in the Trafficking in Persons Report by the U.S. Department of State. The ranking describes a country that is experiencing a significant increase in human trafficking victims, and that no tangible measures were established by the authorities. The Hong Kong government denies it has a human trafficking problem, but the Erwiana abuse case in

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Overcoming the Obstacles of Sin and Pain

Author: Jojo Poon When we said we should respond to the grand problem of human trafficking, we often think of serving the victimised. However, the experience of frontline workers reminds us that the traffickers, though evil, also possess God’s image and are as deprived of care and love as the victims. In March, Harmony Baptist Church, a long-time force in serving minorities and human trafficking victims in Hong Kong, hosted a seminar featuring Kevin Pettit, a counseling tutor, who shared about ways to walk alongside those who are struggling with sins and those who have been hurt deeply by others’ sins. Walking with “Sinners” To serve those who are struggling with sins, we need to first understand how

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The Dwelling of God is with Men

Written: Lincoln Chong, Jojo Poon In September 2015, the image of the body of the Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on the shores of Mediterranean Sea, drew the attention of the globe to the European refugee crisis and the wars in Middle East. Just a month ago in April, the equally disheartening image of a Syrian father holding the bodies of his little twins died from chemical attacks has once again stirred people’s sentiments. “Now the dwelling of God is with men,” (Revelation 21:3) This promise was not only applicable to the early Christians under Roman suppression, but also to the victims today who seem to have suffered an unending stretch of tortures and hidings because of

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The Letter from CEDAR | April 2013

Banner image: Yunnan pastors map out the progress and achievement to evaluators on their social ministries in the past six years.  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: In early March, CEDAR invited several experienced development workers to evaluate our six-year Church Mobilisation programme in Yunnan, China. Their findings and appreciation give us great encouragement. This project was started as we move from rural community development to church mobilisation on Integral Mission. Apparently it may seem an easy task with training only and without any hardware construction; however, it is more difficult to change one’s soul and mind. To the Chinese government, the Christian approach to drug detox, HIV/AIDS prevention and caring work are sensitive and knotty issues. Thank

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