Churches in Gengma Yunnan care for the Marginalised Communities

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for the ministry in Gengma, Yunnan]

Deputy Director of Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Health expressed his appreciation to the staff of Gengma County Christian Council (Social Service) after attending the training session, commenting it’s practical and “down-to-earth” HIV/AIDS prevention training.

A grandfather residing in the rural village of Gengma, Yunnan lost his wife last year, leaving him and his little granddaughter alone. All these years his life is troubled by problems causing by his drug-addicted son, and now, he has an additional worry if he can raise his little granddaughter till she is grown-up. ‘I can no longer cut down the sugar cane by myself. I obtain some income from renting out my farm to others and also from being a watchman in an orange grove. I also plant some maze and rear chicken for living.’

Since 2007, CEDAR has organized ‘Integral Mission’ training for the Yunnan churches, encouraging them to walk with the poor and respond to the need of the impoverished people. Many churches then started to set up their “social service team” and regularly paid visits to the poor, orphan and widows, and the elderly in the communities. A lot of these marginalised families suffer from drug addict and HIV/AIDS problem. The grandfather mentioned above is among those that the Gengma church visit regularly. They listen to him, share his burdens and provide emotional and spiritual support. The church even arranges him to join a training on rearing chicken and hope such techniques can help him to earn a better living.

Besides visiting the impoverished households, CEDAR’s partner “Christian Council (Social Service) of Gengma Dai & Va Nationality Autonomous County” also organise HIV/AIDS prevention training at different churches and provide support for the youth migrant workers.

Pray for the ministry in Gengma, Yunnan:

  • Thank God for the meaningful service by the Gengma churches, that through them many impoverished people and marginalised families receive care and support;
  • Pray for the work in supporting the HIV/AIDS affected families and youth migrant workers, and that a lot more impoverished families will be blessed though the services of the local churches.

Donate Now! Click here.

Other Methods of Payment

  1. Cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’
  2. Deposit to HSBC A/C No. 600-385678-001, enclosing with the Pay-in slip
  3. Autopay (only applicable to regular fixed donations), enclosing with a completed Autopay Authorisation Form (Download: WORD or PDF)
  4. Visa/ Master Card

Download Donation Form

Please send a completed Donation Form, enclosing with cheque or pay-in slip, to CEDAR FUND, G.P.O. BOX 3212, HONG KONG.

Donation Form: WORD or PDF

[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.

Pray for the Post-Conflicts Rehabilitation Work in Myanmar

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for the post-war development in Myanmar]

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The prolonged conflicts lasted for 60 years between Karen armed groups and the Myanmar Government finally came to an end and this indeed symbolizes hope and unity for the people and the country.  It is encouraging to see different groups of entities, including state officials, village leaders and church members putting effort together to rebuild their community.  What is more exciting is to see displaced orphans and youths returning to their hometowns.  Yet, the children will continue to experience the damaging effects brought by the conflicts. Due to limited skillsets, the children and their families feel unsecured and live a future with uncertainty.

CEDAR FUND supported our partner Full Moon in launching their reintegration programmed in the Mon State.  Apart from improving the infrastructure and facilities to deliver a better and safer environment in the compound, education and trainings are provided to the youth and women’s groups.  Full Moon wishes to see that the youths after acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills, particularly in agricultural and vocational aspects, are then empowered to make contributions to their home community.  Full Moon also witnesses the change in the women, that they become more confident after receiving trainings in farming, health and environment preservation.  Some of the youths are able to complete their tertiary education due to tuition fee sponsorship from Full Moon.  In 2013, Full Moon arranged two trips for their kids to return to their communities.  Many of them reunited with their families and their stories touch many people’s hearts.

Thanks Lord for His blessings on this project.  Full Moon’s achievements created a ripple effect; not only the children affected by the conflicts are benefited, the volunteers and workers are also blessed from their involvement and many joined the Christian fellowship and started to know God. The government officials also recognized the achievements and invited CEDAR FUND and Full Moon to continue the community work in Mon State.

“The children are excited about the school life but what is most precious is due to the community rebuilt programme, the kids now have dreams and visions for the future.” Lydia, the teacher in TWT village, told us

Pray for the post-war development in Myanmar:

  1. Pray for the work of partner Full Moon as they are now engaging their youth facilitators in 5 target villages in Mon State to bring about unity and meaningful development.  These are newly settled villagers in which many are returning from different areas including the jungles.
  2. Pray for the 10 college youths who are receiving trainings in the fields of education, community health and agriculture. May God grant them wisdom in their studies and sustainable positive experience in their exchange with the Community Based Organizations. May God also lead their spiritual development and give them determination to serve the needy.
  3. Pray for unity and harmony in Myanmar. Our partner is acting like a bridge between the different ex-armed groups, Government and villagers, and may the Lord give them wisdom to handle complex issues and negotiate with different parties.

Donate Now! Click here.

Other Methods of Payment

  1. Cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’
  2. Deposit to HSBC A/C No. 600-385678-001, enclosing with the Pay-in slip
  3. Autopay (only applicable to regular fixed donations), enclosing with a completed Autopay Authorisation Form (Download: WORD or PDF)
  4. Visa/ Master Card

Download Donation Form

Please send a completed Donation Form, enclosing with cheque or pay-in slip, to CEDAR FUND, G.P.O. BOX 3212, HONG KONG.

Donation Form: WORD or PDF

[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.

Walk with Myanmar Students Being in Storms

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for Children Ministry in Myanmar]

Hot summer is soon approaching. The children living in the compound of CEDAR’s partner Full Moon were excited one day and expressed their wish to their teacher: ‘We really want to go and play in Chung Thar Beach…’ The teacher is puzzled because it’s a long way journey from Full Moon to Chung Thar Beach and accommodation will be required on the way. Full Moon is operating on tight financial resources and who can afford to pay for all these expenses?

Though the dream of these children cannot be realized, those in grade 8 to 11 will have the opportunity to learn English from the Bible stories during this summer vacation. They will also learn how to grow Roselle, green beans and corns in farms. Part of the harvest will serve as food, and the rest be sold in market. The children will learn how to make a living with their own hands, and also enjoy the fun in farming.

Teachers in Full Moon told us, ‘Each student here has his/her own story that touches people’s hearts…’ The three children in the photo are brothers and sisters of one single family, and are the cyclone victims in 2008. They lost contact with their family and have stayed in Full Moon Compound for six years since then. Only recently that they learnt that their mother is still alive and our partner’s staff is now making all the necessary arrangements so they can see each other at the end of this April. However the mother works in farms and can barely support herself. She is also in the recovery phase of her mental health issues. Thus the 3 children will continue to stay in the compound until fully grown up.

Full Moon experiences God’s providence in spite of their financial constraints all these years. The children in Full Moon Compound also experience God’s healing and comfort in spite of their suffering during childhood. Are you willing to walk with them and experience God’s amazing work together?

‘He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.’ (Deuteronomy 10:18-19) God summoned the Israelites to care for the poor communities with empathy. This is because the Israelites should understand how the poor feel since they were once foreigners in Egypt and thus should know how to walk with the poor. May we learn from them and be willing to walk with those in less advantage than us, give them more of our love and pray harder for them.

CEDAR’s local partner Full Moon, founded in 1997, looks after children and orphans from conflict areas, as well as committed to giving them training so they can become church leaders after grown up and effect changes in their communities. Today many of these children have become teachers, nurses, skilled farmers, technicians and community workers, contributing to the societies using their skills given by their Heavenly Father. 

Pray for Children Ministry in Myanmar:

  • May God provide the hostel with enough uniforms, water-resistance materials and cabinets since there is an increase in the number of students when the new school term starts;
  • Pray for the erection of a door or protection wall in front of the hostel’s library as the library is always badly affected when there are torrential rains;
  • All those volunteers in Full Moon have served for over 15 years and may our Lord continue to strengthen them in the coming days so their commitment will not die off. Also pray for more volunteers in Full Moon so the team will be more resourceful in serving the increasing needs.

Donate Now! Click here.

Other Methods of Payment

  1. Cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’
  2. Deposit to HSBC A/C No. 600-385678-001, enclosing with the Pay-in slip
  3. Autopay (only applicable to regular fixed donations), enclosing with a completed Autopay Authorisation Form (Download: WORD or PDF)
  4. Visa/ Master Card

Download Donation Form

Please send a completed Donation Form, enclosing with cheque or pay-in slip, to CEDAR FUND, G.P.O. BOX 3212, HONG KONG.

Donation Form: WORD or PDF

[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.

Thai Political Turbulence and Cold Weather in Northern Area

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for the instability and cold weather in Thailand]

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The anti-government strike has been lasting for two months in Thailand and the situation is becoming more intense, whether in terms of participants, scale or violence. Last November when the strike was at its preliminary stage, CEDAR staff and five supporters visited Northern Thailand. It was not difficult to recognize that local people are tired of the ongoing battle between political parties. They do not want to see people from the same country to start fighting each other and they long for peace and stability.

Ethnic minority groups living in Northern Thailand mostly are not registered and without land property. Even though they have lived here for tens years and bought the land they live and farm from local people, they have no legal security. As local government officers changed frequently, they will be posted away after taking office for only six months or one year.  The additional problem of corruption has set back effort made in the land and residential registration by ethnic minority groups.

Besides the political turbulence, Northern Thailand is affected by cold weather recently.  In some border areas temperatures are only 11°C in day time and below 10°C at night. However local families are used to warm weather and have little thick clothes. Some households lived in hut made by bamboos and wood which are not strong enough to resist the cold wind. Local Christian groups are now collecting blankets and thick clothes to give to impoverished families and new migrant families from Myanmar.

Meditate on Hymn:

“Prepare the Banquet”, a Chinese Hymn | Lyrics by Sanson Lau

How to prepare the banquet? For whom? For those who are poor? Destitute? Powerless? Painful?
Will you care for them? Or express your sympathy? Will you prepare a hot meal for them? Or give them a cup of cold water? Will you bandage their wound? …

“Whatever you did for one of the least, you did for me!” The Lord Of All said clearly and surely!
Present the best to the most powerless; receive them with hospitality.

Many ethnic minority families from Myanmar and Laos have moved to Northern Thailand to earn a living and find security.  The way Christians in Northern Thailand served these migrant communities is echoing the teaching of this hymn: receiving the powerless and destitute with hospitality. May God teach and prepare us to present our caring, hot meal and medicines to the poor, the migrants, the least, the helpless.

Pray for the instability and cold weather in Thailand:

  • May God make an end to current strife and open a new way for Thailand to move towards peace and stability. Pray for upcoming election to be just, fair and peaceful.
  • Pray for God’s mercy to people affected by the cold weather in Northern Thailand, especially for the impoverished and migrant families. Pray that they can have enough thick clothes and blankets to resist the cold weather. Also pray for God’s protection to the elders, the weak and the young and infants.

 

Labour Strike Resulting in Deaths in Cambodia

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for the labour strike in Cambodia]

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The Cambodia government recently announced to increase the minimum wage of garment industry to USD 95. However, this amount is way lower than the amount of USD 160 insisted by workers and thus sparked off the current labour strike. There are over 500 garment factories in Cambodia. About 300,000 garment workers go on strike, seriously affecting the local garment industry.

In the past, labour strikes usually ended peacefully in Cambodia. This time however, is in a very huge scale and seems to become more and more intense. Many factories go into a stall. Police is called to quiet the demonstrators using armed force, resulting in bloody conflicts leading to at least 4 dead.

The manufacturers of many multinational garment corporations are involved in this strike. According to the study of “Labour Behind the Label” and the news report of “The Independent” last September, these multinationals offer about a GBP50 monthly salary to their workers in Cambodia. One quarter of their workers however are found to be seriously malnutrition. It is reported that if a worker need to acquire energy of 3,000 Kcal per day as suggested by doctor, he/she will have to spend GBP47 monthly in food, which is almost their whole monthly salary!

Cambodia ended its civil war in 1997 and since then, many industries have embarked into recovery phase. Due to the huge labour force from the young adults, many foreign-invested enterprises came and set up factories in Cambodia. One third of them are from China. In recent years, the production cost in China is escalating quickly due to high salaries and complex labour benefits and welfare legal regulations. Investors in China have determined that it’s no longer cost effective to produce in China. Consequently many of them move to other countries with lower labour cost, such as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. [The Independent, BBC, HK Daily News, the House News]

Meditate on Scripture:

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. …The workers who were hired first grumble against the landowner. “These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.” But the landowner answered one of them, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”’ Matthew 20:1-16

At that time, a denarius was the daily wage of a laborer, and was enough to buy one-day food supply for a household. In those days, the landowner considered what is the amount that a worker’s family would need to survive and paid him what we say today the ‘Family Wage’. It is indeed a challenge to balance the different benefits and wants from foreign investors, factory owners, government and labourers. However, as Christians, it is worth to reflect on such practical issue, which is under the globalized world today that is largely dominated by capitalism, how one can fairly allocate the profits and resources among different social stratum practising the teaching of Christian faith on justice and mercy.

Pray for the labour strike in Cambodia:

  • The Cambodian government will soon meet with GMAC to discuss about the minimum wage for the garment industry. Pray for good communications between the two parties and a consensus reached to all satisfaction;
  • Pray for an effective and secured platform/ channel for workers to express their opinions without facing any threats;
  • Pray for a fair wage to workers which can meet their daily needs.