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Author: CEDAR Fund

I Decided to Return and “Give”

Written by: Gloria Li (Pastor, Western District Evangelical Church) Evening, Friday 7th February I had just one box of masks left at home, which was to be shared between my domestic helper and I. We were counting down the number of our masks and mentally preparing ourselves to reuse them when our stock ran out. The two batches of masks that I had ordered in early January, as shown on the computer, left Japan a long time ago, which meant that they must have already arrived in Hong Kong. Did that mean they had been “hijacked”? While waiting for the delivery, there were rumours that masks were banned from entering Hong Kong due to the anti-extradition law protests.

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“Journey through Pandemic Crisis – Short-Term Food Assistance” Funding Scheme Open for Application by Hong Kong Christian Churches

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting every industry, and the underprivileged such as the low-income families are bearing the biggest brunt. Since the outbreak, some businesses have closed down while others are facing insolvency. Many manual labourers have lost their jobs and income streams and the poor are under a lot of financial pressure. In view of the situation in Hong Kong, CEDAR Fund allocated a total of HK$500,000 to set up the “Journey through Pandemic Crisis – Short-term Food Assistance” Fund (hereinafter referred to as “the fund”), for the purpose of encouraging local Christian churches to offer help to the needy who have difficulties in coping with their daily food expenditure in the short term. All eligible churches

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‘SHARE’ 236 – Love in the Time of COVID-19

On the Sunday before Lent this year, like many Christians in Hong Kong, I participated in church’s worship by watching the live webcast. The sermon delivered by the preacher impressed me a lot. The preacher said, “The peace we have in our faith does not come by owning, but by remembering the need of the others.” At the time of writing (i.e. the early March), the outbreak of novel coronavirus has spread to many countries across the globe. The situation has been most severe in China, where the epidemic first occurred. In Hong Kong, with the increasing number of infected people, the shortages of surgical masks and hand sanitisers caused a great panic in society. This difficult period

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The Letter from CEDAR | April 2020

Banner image: Collection of face masks, photo taken at CEDAR’s office Dear Supporters, Shalom! Not long prior to the crucifixion of Jesus, He taught a parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). It was about staying alert and preparing well for the return of the Lord. Just looking at this parable literally, I wonder why the five foolish virgins did not bring along a little more oil. Certainly, parable is a parable, the key is the main message and not the details.  In reality, waiting can be an almost endless thing. Taking the recent global spread of the novel coronavirus as an example, at the time of writing, it is still not clear when it is likely to

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An Urgent Expectation & Appeal from Frontline Service Organisations to the Government

Below are the fronline service organisations’ demands to the HKSAR Government, as stated in press release on 18th February: Delivering masks to every student Cracking down on price-gouging vendors Creating short-term and part-time job opportunities Issued by: 1. The Industrial Evangelical Fellowship (工業福音圑契)2. The Society for Truth and Light (明光社)3. The Urban Peacemaker Evangelistic Fellowship (城市睦福團契)4. CEDAR Fund (施達基金會)5. China Alliance Press (宣道出版社)6. Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement (香港教會更新運動)7. Mission to New Arrivals (新福事工協會)8. Family Value Foundation of Hong Kong (維護家庭基金) 　 Full text of press release in Chinese: 【新聞稿】前線服務機構對政府的逼切期望及呼籲

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The Letter from CEDAR | December 2019

Dear CEDAR Fans, Peace be with you! I would like to share with you a little reflection of mine during this season of Christmas. From birth to death, the life of Jesus was full of times when He had or was being forced to compromise on His dignity. He was laid in a manger after His humble birth, He was ignored and attacked by His people, betrayed by one of His beloved disciples, and died in the most insulting way of His time. Though He didn’t need to, He entered into all these solely because of His love for us. In our world, the poor and marginalised are often the ones who are least respected. Their powerlessness forces

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Refugees Get Schooling through TV – Cries of the Middle Eastern and Northern African Children

Written by: Edward Lai (Senior Communications Officer) The Syrian War has already been 8 years and it is still far from over. Chronic warfare resulted in uncountable casualties and destruction. More than 11 millions of civilians lost their homes, and were either displaced within the country or have fled to countries in the Middle East and North Africa to seek asylum, such as Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan [1]. When their homelands are still devastated by conflicts, rebuilding their country seems impossible. How do these refugees live in neighbouring countries? Why are their children and other Middle Eastern and North African children described as the “lost generation”? While facing multifaceted challenges, how does this younger generation bear hope for

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A Spiritual Response to Structural Oppression: Paul’s Reminder

Written by: Professor Ip Hon Ho Alex (Assistant Professor, Divinity School of Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) The economy of the Roman Empire was founded upon oppression and exploitation. In the early period, one third of the Empire’s population were slaves; while another third were freed slaves. There were also many people who owned no land and served no masters. These people were often employed as casual workers or day labourers. To put it simply, the relatively high economic growth during the early period of the Roman Empire was a result of exploiting manual labourers who did not have much power to fight for their own interests. However, structural evil did not arise from

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‘SHARE’ 235 – Refugees Get Schooling through TV

The night always seems longer when you are looking forward to dawn. The bombs and gunfire in the warzone, the ruined houses and the perilous escape have been deeply imprinted on the minds of each refugee. Today, the world is experiencing the biggest refugee crisis since the World War II. In Syria alone, over half of the pre-war population has been forced to leave their homes. In this issue of SHARE, we will focus on Syrian refugee children, known as the “lost generation”, and how CEDAR’s partner utilises satellite television to help them improve their psychological health and advance their personal development. In “Back to the Bible”, Professor Ip Hon Ho Alex shared how structural sins can twist our

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CEDAR Aided 14,640 Families Affected by the Flood in Maharashtra, India

Banner image: Jagganath, flood survivor in Maharashtra, received our emergency aid Since this July, India has been impacted by monsoon. This disaster was the most severe flood in recent 25 years. By the end of October, over 2,100 people died, 2.6 million people were inflicted and more than 400,000 houses were destroyed. [1] And Maharashtra, the major cane production area in India, was most severely impacted, where 22 districts were devastated, 430 people died, and over 700,000 residents were forced to seek shelter. [2] After donating HK$195,000 to EFICOR, our Indian partner, to help 1,500 flood survivors in July, CEDAR Fund received a grant of HK$4.81 million from the Disaster Relief Fund of the Government of the Hong

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