1st September 2018

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

Hope you had a blessed summer.

 

My wife and I were invited to share on the handling of conflict in parenting at a fellowship group in our church few days ago. We shared about the struggle parents are facing. In Hong Kong, we do all we can to prepare our children for a successful life. This often means completion of higher education, successful career, better living environment, etc. However, less attention is paid to prepare the little ones for transforming the world.

 

In June and July, other than the World Cup, the world’s attention was captured by the Tham Luang cave rescue. We were thankful that all 12 boys and their coach had finally been rescued. Our prayer goes to the family of the Thai diver who lost his life in the rescue effort.

 

Among the missing 13, there was a boy named Adun. Being a stateless person (which is common among the ethnic minorities on the Thai border), Adun was not entitled to the social benefits offered to normal Thai citizens. However, with the support from an international Christian organisation, a local church started serving Adun and other similar children some years ago. They received holistic training, including languages education. This makes Adun the only one who can communicate with the rescue team at the initial stage. Like King David killing Goliath, Adun is a modern story of how marginalised children can be used by God in a great way, when given with development opportunities.

 

Children are often voiceless in the adult world. To protect children’s rights to survive, to learn, to develop, and to be respected, we need to take concrete measures to speak up for them. A simple first step is to acquaintance ourselves with the needs of the children in developing countries. I want to invite you to join our Barefoot Walk on 24th November 2018 (Saturday). This year’s theme is about the children’s rights of development. Please visit our website (cedarwalk.org) for more details.

 

Thanks to the local Thai church’s faithful ministry, Adun received Christ as his saviour and was also the only Christian in the missing group. In a thanksgiving service, he testified how his faith had sustained him during the crisis. Let’s join hands to raise up many more Aduns in different parts of the world, empowering them to be a transformational generation!

 

Blessings,

Raymond Kwong