[ ‘SHARE’ Jan-Feb 2015 ] JOIN HANDS JOIN HEARTS
Viji Keren has joined the children ministry of CEDAR’s partner, Christian Missions Charitable Trust (CMCT), for ten years and CEDAR’s staffs have been keeping close contact with Viji regarding the children in India. Today we get to know this frontline worker better through her sharing.
“Though I don’t know how to write, I would like to say thanks to CEDAR for helping me to grow up in Full Moon. I wish one day I can help those who have similar experiences as mine,” said Sau (alias) who is only 3 years old. Like any other ordinary girls, Sau is innocent and cheerful. She has been staying in Full Moon for nearly one year and the staff praised her for being bright and smart. Sau’s parents were both political prisoners in Myanmar, sadly they both died in prison, leaving Sau orphaned. Afterwards, she was supposed to be taken care of by her aunt who had intended to sell her, fortunately someone saved her and brought her to Full Moon. Thanks God for saving Sau’s life and keeping her in a safe place where she is given love and care.
Continue reading Pray for the Myanmar Children as They Regain Hope
[ ‘SHARE’ Nov-Dec 2014 ] JOIN HANDS JOIN HEARTS
Those who have met the beneficiaries of the ‘Join Hands Join Hearts’ Children Ministry Scheme will discovered that regardless of where they live, children have their own dreams, and all cherish any learning opportunities. Perhaps such is the result of being honed by the harshness of life.
[ ‘SHARE’ Sept-Oct 2014 ] JOIN HANDS JOIN HEARTS
Myanmar’s Mon State suffered civil war for 60 years resulting in many broken up families. As they fled, parents were separated from their children and hid themselves in deep forests for years in order to stay safe. They feared for the lives of their missing young children.
[ ‘SHARE’ May-Jun 2014 – Loving Care Passing On from One Generation to Another ] JOIN HANDS JOIN HEARTS
Interviewed and arranged by>Jojo Poon
Last November CEDAR staff Chik Tsan-ming (‘Chik’) visited our partners Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) and Trinity Project Trust (‘Trinity’) in Zimbabwe and met some of the children and families under their assistance program. To Chik, Zimbabwe is rich in natural resources, has good infrastructure and a high adult literacy of over 90%, but at the same time many vacant shopping malls and factories, an 80% unemployment rate and the typical day of having no lunch for most people.
Zimbabwe became independent and the white minority rule ended in 1980. The country then elected its first democratic president Robert Mugabe and he has been ruling Zimbabwe since then. After coming to power, Mugabe evicted the white landowners and confiscated all their lands, ruining Zimbabwe’s agricultural production and development, causing a sharp fall in the nation’s economy. Facing a weak economy and long-term debt, the Zimbabwean government printed banknotes in an attempt to cover the deficit but that only resulted in inflation in terms of millions and currency devaluation. High inflation, high unemployment rate and a high AIDS population all contributed to Zimbabwe’s poverty today.
‘I believe what the Zimbabwean children need most is an “identity”, legally and psychologically.’ Chik visited a local primary school in which two-thirds of the pupils do not have any identity document, without which they can neither continue their education nor inherit their parents’ possessions.
A staff member of FACT told Chik that her wish is these orphans could feel loved like other normal children. This touched Chik deeply. Yes, love is not restricted by blood relations, and although these orphans no longer have their parents’ love and protection, they are still loved by the church and the local community. We pray that the AIDS-orphans in Zimbabwe will truly know and experience that they are also being loved.
Chik was saddened with what he saw in Zimbabwe but he also witnessed how God trained the local churches to respond to the community needs according to the bible’s teaching, that the churches take part in nurturing and training the Zimbabwean children for the nation’s future development. Chik believes this is the ultimate objective of children ministry in poverty relief.
‘Join Hands Join Hearts’ Children Ministry Scheme
[ePrayer – Pray for Children’s ministry in Zimbabwe]
In Zimbabwe, many children suffer from the loss of parents and feel unrooted in their young age. AIDS is severely impacting the country and many children have become orphans after one or both of their parents died from this fatal disease. According to the official figures from UNAIDS, 15% of the overall population is HIV infected. The frontier NGOs even estimated that the actual infected figures probably hit 30%. Among the HIV/AIDS orphans, some live with their grandparents or relatives, some are looked after by their teenage brothers or sisters, and some even are left abandoned so their childhood is absent of love and care.
Many Zimbabwe children feel unrooted because they do not have any identity documents. CEDAR visited a school in Zimebabwe last November and 2/3 of the 350 students there do not have birth certificates. Indeed, this phenomenon is prevalent in the country. Many parents will not let their babies out of their homes because of traditional beliefs. They believe there is ‘Evil Eye’ on the streets and their babies will be in danger once they are exposed to the outside. Thus many children have become unregistered and cannot be promoted to high school education. The HIV/AIDS orphans even feel more helpless because they cannot inherit their parents’ processions without identity documents.
CEDAR’s Partner ‘Trinity’ is committed to the education on the parents about the importance of birth certificates so as to change their rooted traditional beliefs. Yet, with a limited number of government offices in the country, some parents have to take a one-day trip for registration if they live in remote areas. A lot of them are unable to register because they do not have money to travel. Trinity is planning to fund their trips in the near future so more children will be able to enjoy higher education and the other benefits that they are entitled to.
Another CEDAR partner ‘Family AIDS Caring Trust’ (FACT) recently launched a programme called Buddy System. The main idea is to pair up a HIV+ orphan with a buddy who is not HIV infected. FACT encourages mutual support between the buddies, such as the healthy buddy can remind his/her counterpart to take medication on time. FACT hope that with this programme, the HIV infected orphans will feel cared and supported even though they do not have their own families.
An executive of FACT said, ‘I wish that the orphans will feel that they are normal and are no different that the others, that they are loved.’ CEDAR supports the both partners through the ‘Join Hands Join Hearts’ Children Ministry Scheme. ‘And most of all be warm in your love for one another; because in love there is forgiveness for sins without number.’ (1 Peter 4:8). We hope all the kids in Zimbabwe will access to the basic needs and experience God’s love in their lives, that the AIDS orphans will be relieved from the pain of loss and unroot.
Pray for Children’s ministry in Zimbabwe:
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