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Author: CEDAR Fund

‘Our Bodies and Our Land’

Written by: Dr. Bernard Wong (Assistant Professor (Theological Studies) and Associate Dean of China Graduate School of Theology, Board Member of CEDAR Fund) During Joseph’s tenure as Egypt’s prime minister, he managed to keep his country fed while all the other lands experience famine from the great drought. People were buying food from Joseph, and with their livestock when they ran out of money. When they finally ran out of things to offer, they told Joseph, We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our

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Me as An Ordinary Person

Amongst the children ministries of CEDAR and its partners, post-war children ministry in Myanmar must be the most well-known one. You may ask, “Why do we still support this particular children ministry after two decades?” The answer is simple: Because it is worth it. We saw how God worked amazingly on these children, and we hope that they will become ambassadors for reconciliation. “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies.”(Luke 6:27a) This verse can well describe our Burmese partner, Full Moon. Some thought they are just a children’s home, taking care of children separated from families due to internal conflicts, but Full Moon’s core ministry is to repair relationships and heal wounds. The children’s home

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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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‘SHARE’ 228 – Reconciliation

Articles of this issue Will You Make Things Right? Written by: Jady Sit “Where are you?” “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” The above scene (Genesis 3:9-12), well-known by every Christian, documents the event when men and God’s relationship went from perfect intimacy to complete distant. As Adam accused “the woman you put here with me”, relationship among humans had also become distorted. Then, men and

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The Letter from CEDAR | March 2018

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters in Christ! It was rather cold in Hong Kong in early February. “Severe winter” and “high summer” are used to describe different seasons, and it is likewise applicable in international relief and development work. Governments and Non-government organisations (NGOs) are often key players in disaster relief and development work. To NGOs, the 80s and 90s of last century could be considered as the golden days. At that time, growth in geographic coverage as well as development theories and effectiveness had experienced a period of “high summer”. But, the situation has changed in recent years. Economic progress of some developing countries allow their governments to assume a more active role, and in turn, narrowing down

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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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From Desolation to Community

Written and edited by: Jady Sit, Jojo Poon At noon on 25 April 2015, Nepal was hit by the strongest earthquake in 80 years. Countless families lost their loved ones, homes, and properties. Approximately one third of Nepal’s population, 8 million, was affected by the quake. In the midst of ruthless disaster, people responded with love. Shortly after the earthquake, the world quickly pooled their resources to help. Yet, when global news coverage died down and emergency relief phased out, this was when we began to walk with the affected communities, helping them to rebuild and recover their communities sustainably for the long run. In the last decade, CEDAR has been supporting partners’ community development work in mountainous

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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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Bringing Light to the Youths Living in Darkness

“Left-behind Children”, a term describing over 60 million children in China who stayed behind with their grandparents in rural areas while their parents are working in the cities. While not all left-behind children suffer from poverty as their parents work far away from home, they all suffer the lack of parental care and love, and bear emotional burdens due to this long-term void. CEDAR’s partner in Sichuan, Chengdu Fuyi Community Services Centre, began supporting youths in quake-affected communities through caring and training programmes after the 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan. Two more earthquakes happened in Ya’an, Sichuan and Zhaotong, Yunnan in 2013 and 2014 respectively, leading to the expansion of our partner’s service to the youths in those

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