Tag: China

CONTINUALLY INSPIRED, UNCHANGING MISSION

Written by: Edward Lai (Senior Communications Officer) A Haitian woman sits on the floor beside several circular mud cakes. She rubs pieces of dust off the mud cakes, and slowly puts the cakes into her mouth, chewing slowly. To her, and to many other Haitians living in poverty, these cakes – made by mixing mud with water and salt, kneading the mixture into the shape of a cake, and setting the cakes under the sun to dry – were their daily meals; their life-saving meals. Our founders, Mr and Mrs Oliver Mark, were deeply touched by the sight of women eating mud cakes. They were in the UK at the time; after returning to Hong Kong, they were

The Letter from CEDAR | Jan 2021

Dear supporters, The new year has started in a blink of an eye. I am still puzzled about what had happened last year like everyone else. It seems that there were only “anti-pandemic”, “restricted gathering” and “number of infected people”. Every day we monitored these indicators like the weather to arrange our lives. People on the other side do not fare any better than us. Instead of being controlled, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases continued to rise. Needless to say, the pandemic has severely hit the economy. Many of the infected people, especially the poor and the elderly, not only lack care from family, but also do not receive effective medicines. Some of them even died because

The Letter from CEDAR | Oct 2020

Dear supporters, The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging around the world for more than half a year. At first, everyone could not expect that the pandemic is still not under control until this day. It seems we no longer guess when this pandemic will finally disappear. The rising number of confirmed cases and outbreaks are global challenges that everyone in the world has to face. CEDAR has always been concerned about the issue of human trafficking. Since the beginning of the global outbreak of COVID-19, multiple reports and analyses have estimated that the pandemic will increase the risks of women and children being trafficked. Let me take the situation of migrant workers at the grass-roots level as an

The Letter from CEDAR | July 2020

Dear supporters, In mid-May, I was appointed as the Acting Chief Executive to continue the work of Dr. Raymond Kwong Wai Man. Although I was not fully prepared for it, I decided to respond with a humbled heart to continue realising our mission: to live out the integral mission of the Church in partnership with Christians around the world. Indeed, I had some hesitancy in undertaking the new role. However, when I sought God through prayer and meditation, He reminded me of His promise that “I am with you”. Perhaps, that is all I need to know. The future of an organisation does not depend on a single leader, but how well we function as a team. In

Anti-Pandemic Relief Report in Mainland China

Banner image: Distributing spectacles to pandemic prevention personnel in the communities In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is raging around the world, bringing a major public health crisis to all regions. At the beginning of February this year, CEDAR saw the lack of anti-pandemic supplies in Mainland China, where the initial outbreak of the coronavirus occurred, and the people there were in worries. Hence, CEDAR urgently allocated about HK$513,000 to support two partners in China to provide anti-pandemic support in Hubei, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Part of the anti-pandemic relief work is the distribution of anti-pandemic supplies. A Chinese social worker who participated in the project expressed his gratitude and impression for receiving CEDAR’s anti-pandemic items. It filled her

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

What is the Function of a Church in the Community? – CEDAR’s Project Experience in China

“Suppose that a community that was moderately equipped with a food market or a supermarket, a hospital, a school, a police station, and a church. Now you are asked to get rid of one of these institutions, which one would it be?” Lorraine, one of our colleagues in China, posed this question to the participants during training programmes, and that one answer coincided among them was “the Church”. As the answer revealed that the market, the hospital, the school, and the police station remained a pivotal role in the operation of the community. So, where does the church stand? For the non-believers, a church that could be separated from the community was merely an accessory, apart from the