BY RACHAEL MA Last month, we held a fundraising mooncake-making workshop in Hong Kong in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are a rich delicacy in the Chinese culture in which a salted egg yolk is wrapped in a thick lotus seed paste to emulate the full moon. In the Chinese culture, you will find that […]
Category: Asia
Why Families Matter
It’s estimated that there are 145 million registered orphans across the world, and of these only about 9 per cent have lost both parents. Many families are unstable and millions more children are separated from one or both parents due to violence, abuse, alcoholism, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and other conflicts. Too many children are suffering […]
A simple blessing by children for children
BY RACHAEL MA “When we’re in trouble… Jesus saves!” the excited kids resounded. The Vine Church in Hong Kong hosted its half-day Vacation Bible School (VBS) programme made possible by the many volunteers who take care of the 50 children. It was so exciting watching the kids dance and knew all the action to the […]
Wrestling in prayer
BY VICTORIA PRICE Right now it feels particularly easy to be overwhelmed and stunned by the pain and darkness that the world – and too often children – seem to face in new forms every day. News headlines such as those reporting children ripped from their parents at borders, and girls exploited by those sent […]
Training changes perspectives
Hong Kong is an international city with well-developed law and education systems. However, behind the prosperity, children are not as happy as the city’s success portrays. Children are placed under tremendous pressure to succeed and have little control over their lives. As a result, many parents who genuinely believe the choices they make are the […]
Time to talk
BY SANTA SYLVIA Viva is actively promoting child protection training in schools in six cities across India. Teachers, counsellors and administrative staff learn how to recognise and respond to child abuse, and attain recognised standards. Children are taught how to protect themselves by taking part in ‘Good Touch, Bad Touch’ workshops. Santa Sylvia (pictured below), […]
Welcoming, protecting & empowering children in Nepal
BY ISSY MITCHELL “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.” Mark 9: 37 In an attempt to create a community that values and empowers children, where they would previously have been excluded from all or most church activity, 20 churches in the Nuwakot area of Nepal have now become ‘Child […]
Floating Churches & Firm Foundations
BY JUSTINE DEMMER Justine Demmer, Viva’s Network Consultant for Asia, gives us a glimpse into a recent trip to Cambodia where she visited a floating church, and the children who call it home. I step outside of our accommodation in Siem Riep, North-Western Cambodia to find an open wagon drawn by a motorcycle. Our child […]
Double Impact of Global Christmas Parties
BY ANNA COX & VICTORIA PRICE More than twice the number of children attended a Christmas Party supported by Viva in December last year than in 2016. The total number of children reached was over 9,500, and incredibly, a third of these children had never encountered a Viva partner network in any way before. These […]
Challenging a Culture of Online Abuse
The scourge of online sexual exploitation continues to attack children in nefarious ways. Philippine Children’s Ministries Network (PCMN), Viva’s partner network in the Philippines, is about to embark on a programme to combat digital abuse in Dasmariñas City, near Manila – focusing on the potential of youth advocates. Dasmariñas City has the highest number of […]