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Author: CEDAR Fund

‘SHARE’ 246 – Transformational Mindset for the Change and Growth in the Community

Editor’s Note ‘How could church bless the underprivileged groups in the community?’ This is a question that elders and deacons in the church must have in mind, and so does every Christian. Living in an ever-changing generation, we need to show even more creativity to respond to the needs of beneficiaries. In the section ‘Focus’, CEDAR introduces our partner in Rwanda. We will learn how they mobilise local churches to serve and hence, empower churches to become the driving force for community development. In ‘Back to the Bible’, Dr Mok Chan Wing Yan reminds us by the Book of Matthew – why churches need to help the poor. For ‘Blessings by Offering’ and ‘Taking Action’, there are two

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‘SHARE’ 246 – Transformational Mindset for the Change and Growth in the Community

Written by: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) Two cows are eating grass in the cowshed. Mixed feelings arise when Pastor Francois sees such a scene; nevertheless, a few years ago, owning two cows was impossible for him and his family, no matter how hard they tried. To him, this is a miracle of God. Looking back upon his life, Pastor Francois finds himself a 48 years old man coming from a poor farming village. With six children and a wife to raise, his meagre income could barely support his family expenditure. When the family’s financial stress had been tremendous already, there would not be any extra savings for livestock that help sustainable agriculture. In Karongi District, located in western

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Hope of Being Generous

Sharing: Belinda Editor: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) Parents always hope that children can be generous and know how to share with others, but how? If you have this question, you can look for how Belinda and her husband do so. In March this year, Belinda and her husband planned to hold a ‘100-day party’ for their daughter Hailey, but the pandemic was severe that they had to cancel their plan. At the same time, Ukraine was invaded by Russia; she noticed the situation of the refugees on the news every day. She also has a Ukrainian friend who had worked in Hong Kong before and is now retired in Ukraine. Therefore, when the war broke out there, Belinda

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Creative Mindset in the Combat Against Poverty

Interviewee: Professor Chau Ying Editor: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) SIGHT (Student Innovation for Global Health Technology) is a platform in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) where students try to conceive of and implement solutions for a variety of medical issues in resource-deprived areas. Professor CHAU Ying is the project director who also teaches in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of the HKUST. She could have stayed in school to teach and do research like the others, but she would rather take her students to the field, into the slums and mountains of poor countries, and serve the locals with science, skills, and creativity. Why did she take this path? Photo from SIGHT

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The Poor and The Church

Written by: Dr Mok Chan Wing Yan   Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46  This is a familiar story about the Last Judgment. The criteria Lord Jesus based on to separate the righteous from the wicked are whether they cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers and the imprisoned. Those who serve the disadvantaged are deemed righteous; those who sit back and ignore the poor are condemned as the wicked. This story is an important lesson for churches today.  CEDAR partners and community members pray together. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should never stand idly by when surrounded by the poor and the oppressed. We must try to alleviate the suffering around us. The poor can be kept

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LETTER FROM CEDAR | OCT 2022

Dear Supporters,  Let me ask you, which infrastructure or building do you find most important in your community and will make you feel devastated without it? It could be the school that is the place children receive education, or it could also be the hospital because going to check-ups elsewhere is a hassle. It could also be the bus station because commuting during peak hours is crucial for work. With all the possible answers, is church one of them? If not, it means that the church and the community are not closely knit enough to care.   I once heard a sharing by a pastor from mainland China. When the cross was forcefully removed from the church, it

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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

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THE LETTER FROM CEDAR | Jul 2022

Dear supporters,  The statistic shows that more than 6 million people in Hong Kong have a smartphone. With the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst, people of all ages are accustomed to addressing daily needs using online tools. With advanced technology, many activities have switched out of a physical form: classes, bill payment, meetings, trading, making reservations and more. Technology has indeed made life a lot easier! However, as the old saying goes, ‘the water that bears the boat is the same that swallows it’, the advancement of technology has exposed the world to more crimes – during the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in cybercrimes. Amongst all the criminal activities, human trafficking is known for low

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When Human Lives are Sold Online

Written by: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) ‘I used to live with my grandparents, my father and my three younger sisters.’ At an interview with CEDAR, Banya (pseudonym) sat on a wooden chair. With a microphone in his hand, he told us about his family members with shyness and purity in his eyes. He did not look any different to other children of his age. However, this ordinary child recounted his extraordinary experience a few moments later. ‘A year after I came to Chiang Mai, I was betrayed by a friend and fell into the hands of human traffickers. I was locked in a room, forced to prostitute, and beaten.’ Every year, children in different corners of the world

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Look at Their Dreams

Written by: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) In the ‘Focus’ article, we wrote of the testimony of a child being rescued out of human trafficking in Thailand and given new life. CEDAR also has its anti-human trafficking ministry in Nepal, saving Nepalese women, who were sold to work in the red-light district of Mumbai, India, and their children. We also shelter survivors as we help them recover and reintegrate into society. Not long ago, we invited children to express their dreams by drawing pictures; now, let’s dive into this issue of ‘Join Hands Join Hearts’ to look what the sort of future they anticipate.   Adarsh (pseudonym), six years old, male I drew an aeroplane. I want to be

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