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Tag: Peace and Reconciliation

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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Week 4: When The Drought Hits…

In the past two weeks, we have examined two farming methods that could help restore the land. However, the nature is not always men’s ally. When abnormal weather happens, what could impoverished farmers do to help themselves? Drought is a frequent occurrence in central India where climate changes have caused great damages to the local farmers due to scarcity of rains. Climate change is one of the factors that drives farmers into a corner. In 2015 alone, there were over 12,000 farmer suicide cases due to severe financial difficulties in India [1]. Our partner in India, EFICOR, said countless farmers and their families suffered from hunger, and were forced to sell their livestock, or leave their hometowns in the hope

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Week 3: Every Creeping Things on Earth

Did you know that the tiny creatures living in the soil are beneficial to plants?   We learned about the ecosystem within the soil from our partner in Zimbabwe, Foundations for Farming (FfF).   FfF has been teaching impoverished and marginalised farmers to look at the God’s creation at a micro level—there are lots of organic matter in soil, such as snails, ants, earthworms, and bacterium that improve soil fertility, and as they move, they help create channels for better infiltration of water and air. However, ploughing and digging in conventional farming often hamper their growth, which in turn hardens the soil over time and ultimately leads to the loss of water and nutrients.   Mulching is the

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Sow in Tears Reap in Joy

Written by: Lisa Chai (Former CEDAR colleague, currently involved in community development work in Myanmar) We are in the midst of a global refugee crisis. From Syria to Iraq, DR Congo to Yemen, and today we are witnessing the world’s largest growing refugee influx across the border of Bangladesh after violence broke out at northern part of Myanmar in Rakhine State in late August last year. As of 12 November 2017, the UN estimated that over 610,000 people have fled to Myanmar and the number is still growing. How do we react to all the violence and suffering in the world when their impact comes so strong and destructive? In the book of Lamentation we read of the

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CEDAR Supporting the Refugees from South Sudan

Ever since the declaration of independence of South Sudan, the South African country was never free of ethnic and political conflicts. South Sudan’s President, Vice President, and the House Chair came from the tribe of Dinka, Bari, and Nuer—three of the largest ethnic groups of the country—respectively. The Vice President raised a coup against the President in 2013, and the political conflict quickly turned into a nation-wide civil war, involving over 20 military groups, and causing the deaths of tens of thousands of countrymen. An increasing number of regions were damaged by the violence exerted by both the government and the anti-government forces. The armed conflicts sent more and more Sudanese refugees to the neighboring Uganda, which accepted

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Myanmar Lisu Churches’ Journeying with War-ridden Ethnic Group

Banner image: A 72-year-old pastor partnering with a younger pastor to visit the refugees The Myanmar government and the anti-government forces were at war for the past 10 years. As the conflict was reinitiated in 2016, the estimated number of internally displaced population has reached 660,000. The conflicts in Kachin State alone forced close to 100,000 to flee to Yunnan, China. The peace-loving Lisu in Kachin State never took up arms, but their crops, livestock, even villagers, became resources targeted by both the Myanmar government forces and the opposing Kachin forces. The great unrest drove the Lisu away from home who became refugees in Thailand, Malaysia, India, etc.; a lot of them fled to other regions of the

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The Letter from CEDAR | April 2017

Dear Friends of CEDAR, I’ve been asked “What does CEDAR do” a lot, to which I have prepared two pitches depending on the time allowed—The short and sweet, yet encompassing “Helping the poor and providing disaster relief,” and the “Reconciliation works” which is the actual personal choice if time permits. We can categorize the 70 something poverty alleviation and disaster relief projects of CEDAR into 9 categories—Humanitarian, Urban Development, Children at Risk, Anti-human Trafficking, Health, Church and Community Mobilization, Income Generation, Creation Care, and Advocacy and Education. We could all describe the specific challenges within each field, but ultimately, they are all the symptoms of our sins that broke us away from the harmony we once had, which

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The Letter from CEDAR | October 2015

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, After watching the Indian movie “PK”, many of my friends (whether Christian or not) praised it for being realistic and emotionally engaging.  It set a new record in Indian box office and was highly controversial in India.  Those who liked the movie enjoyed it immensely, some hated it enough to sue.  It is rumored that another Indian movie “OMG” (Oh My God!) is even better than “PK”: the shop of an Atheist shopkeeper was destroyed in an earthquake and the insurance company refused to pay.  He therefore came up with an idea to sue God, but no lawyer would take up the case.  Then he recalled that people from various religions claim

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The Letter from CEDAR | August 2015

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 3rd September this year has been made a holiday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan, what a surprise holiday for Hong Kong citizen! 70 years after, do you think the world has learnt to live harmoniously with each other? What about the relationship between China and Japan? Whether it is between countries, or between people groups, conflict has been escalating.  It’s all about profits and power. Where do we find true friendship? There was an ancient Indian military saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. We have seen all the corrupted and wicked politics.The ones who suffer the most are often the innocent citizens and teenagers sent

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The Letter from CEDAR | Who can Change a Country?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Last Christmas, my wife and I, along with three volunteers, went to Myanmar to visit CEDAR’s partner organisation, Full Moon. During this trip we had the rare opportunity of traveling to the mountainous areas in Mon State. Last year, CEDAR received a designated fund that supported the post-conflict rebuilding project in this restricted area, and the first programme of the project was to build a new school. In the past few decades, there were continuous conflicts between the Karen and Burmese government army in those mountainous areas, causing countless deaths and injuries. Not all have access to this area; even the Burmese people do not dare to enter this mountain. The ‘peace leader’

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