Kung Ho Sun Hei!  Happy New Year of the Tiger!
It’s time for family reunions! However, due to the epidemic, many families especially cross-border families, refugees and some migrant domestic workers living in our shelters will experience emotional stress as they cannot be with their loved ones during the festive season. May they be personally comforted by God’s presence. Amen!
 

Please continue to pray for our Season of Love Charity Drive – Healthy Nuts and Dried Fruits Sale from December 2021 to the end of March 2022. May God uplift our marketing team, and may we harvest abundantly to support part of our ministries in both Hong Kong and Qinghai.

Praise the Lord!
For the safety of attendees and the closing ceremony of our 7th Batch Child Development Fund (CDF) which went online last month. Over 300 people attended, including guests, mentees, mentors, parents, representatives from various churches and others. Pray for His continuous inspiration and guidance that the mentor-and-mentee relationship will thrive well beyond the programme and the kids will strive hard to achieve their dreams. 

To curb the spread of Omicron and the Delta variant, Christian Action teamed with Aloestree to disinfect the headquarters and all our centres using Nano Photocatalyst technology to kill germs with light since last month. Pray that as we prioritize protecting our staff, clients, and visitors through this effort, that no one will be infected in our centres.

Praise God!  Christian Action Asia (USA) has recently received donations from 8 supporters of its Fall Campaign. May He continue to shower His blessings and sustain our ministry for the needy children on the Tibetan Plateau.

All face-to-face classes under our Training Services Division have gone virtual due to socializing guidelines. Let’s pray earnestly for His continuous protection and provision for all our clients, partners, and staff of Christian Action; that our physical training sessions would resume very soon.

The head of the Corporate Advancement Division joined us in mid-January. Pray for His divine guidance and strength when he and his team strategize the upcoming communications and fundraising initiatives as one team; and more people would embrace our mission and vision. Amen!

Hooray!
Our CDF team has been granted a new round of the Mentorship Programme-CDF Batch 9. Please pray for God’s wisdom and guidance for its promotion and recruitment that will start this February. Together we strive to deliver light and hope to our young generation from the disadvantaged families in Hong Kong.

Kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong have changed to online before the Chinese New Year holidays as the city battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus variant. Pray that all beneficiary children under the care of CDF, the New Arrivals Service Programme and others would return to school this week, God willing. Amen!

Today our Training Services Division will conduct a workshop on commercial photography to promote our training courses under the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) if the pandemic situation becomes stable. Pray that our trainees will be well equipped to realize their dreams through our service.

Many cross-border families under the CDF and other children’s support programmes are adversely affected by the travel & quarantine restrictions due to the pandemic. Life has become harder for those with family members, including seniors and children stranded alone on either side of the border, who need care. Pray that the border will be reopened soon before more families are torn apart. May God’s love bond the families together. 

A group of our mentees and their parents from the Long Ping Service Centre will participate in a volunteer activity collecting rubbish at a beach on Lamma Island this morning, God willing. Pray that through this initiative they would personally learn how precious God’s creation is, and the importance of environmental conservation.

Our Information Technology Department is now recruiting a replacement for a staff member who has been transferred to our Digital Learning Centre. Let’s pray for a passionate and devoted person to join the staff at CA who use the talents and gifts to serve the needy and adapt to the work very quickly.

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Pray that more people will be called to embrace the message of love from our Lord to live a purposeful life through serving and giving. We strive to share Jesus Christ’s love as “We love because He first loved us”. 1 John 4:19

This February, our EM Ambassador team is running a series of on-line Henna classes for 10 EM youth residing mainly in On Tai Estate. Pray that the beneficiary children will love themselves and feel loved and cherished by the community through our efforts during the epidemic.

Due to the pandemic situation, we offer our after-school care service and free daily Blessing meal programme with varying adjustments and precautions.  Pray that we keep filling up the service gap for the vulnerable during this difficult time.

Subject to social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus, many of our service centres have to postpone or cancel all face-to-face trainings/workshops or change to online.  Pray for His continuous protection and providence for our clients and staff; and that our services would resume very soon.

Our China Programme team is recruiting 2 local social workers at the Qinghai office to improve our services in the children’s homes in Qinghai. Pray that dedicated and competent candidates will join us to serve in this ministry.

This month, our Social Enterprise Department has launched several Green Collection Charity Drives in different housing estates in Kowloon.  Pray that lots of good quality used/new items will be collected and sold through our charity outlets which contributes to our charity work in Hong Kong.

A nearly 50% jump in the number of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance cases due to unemployment was recorded in the past 2 years since the pandemic started. Considering this, our Employment Support Services On Tai Service Centre has tried to keep up the physical meetings with new clients for their first interviews upon registration and subsequent job-related counselling sessions. Pray that they secure a permanent job soon through our services.

Give thanks! Our service proposal previously submitted by our China Programme team for the medical care of handicapped children in Qinghai has been approved. May our ministry be blessed to send warmth and care for the needy on the Tibetan Plateau.

The recurrent infectious wave buoyed by the surge of the Omicron variant has badly impacted the health and socio-economic situation of Hong Kong. Some of our services/activities have either shifted to virtual, or suspended due to the pandemic, which has greatly affected our services to the community. Pray for our steadfast faith in God’s healing and protection. Amen!     

Amidst the pandemic crisis, our Centre for Refugees has been proactively serving the most marginalized sector in the community. Pray that the regular programmes such as English classes and computer coding for our clients will restart smoothly as scheduled.

As a member of the Executive Committee of the HK Church Network for the Poor, Mrs. Cheung-Ang Siew Mei JP, our Executive Director, will attend a meeting this morning to plan for the initiatives ahead with different partner churches or Christian agencies to extend our helping hand to the poor at this difficult time.

Today marks the start of the 1st class of a series of training programmes on the employment ordinance in HK stressing the rights of migrant workers during the epidemic, co-organized with the International Organization for Migration. Pray for His inner peace and mercy for these ladies working far away from their hometowns to earn a living.

During the epidemic, we encounter lots of difficulties in running fundraising events. Please intercede with us especially for our direct dialogue team who carry out on-street fundraising activities. May His strength, protection, and presence be with us to raise enough funding for our charity work in Hong Kong and Qinghai.  Amen!

Pray for all-rounded protection and healing from Our Heavenly Father for all supporters of Christian Action UK, especially amidst the outbreak of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the country and beyond.

Today is the last day of our one-month-long Chinese New Year Green Collection Drive in collaboration with the Sino Property Management Group covering 144 locations across the city. Pray that the public will understand that their conventional ritual of decluttering is also an indirect contribution that partly sustains our charity services.