Earlier this year, Viva’s partner network CarNet Nepal co-hosted a three-day conference aimed at envisioning pastors from 48 churches in the Nuwakot district to respond to the issues of human trafficking in their communities. As many as 10,000 Nepali women and girls are trafficked across the border to India each year with an estimated 100,000-200,000 …
Thousands of children in the Philippines are affected by the murky world of online sexual exploitation. Andrew Dubock travels to the country to find the light and hope that our partner network is offering. A teddy bear. A symbol of childhood, of innocence, of security. However, for Angela, a 12-year-old from the Philippines, her favourite …
BY ANNA BARKER “Not all church leaders are trained about how to manage organisations. We work on a programme called QIS where we go right through the entire organisation – their sustainability, governance, registration and compliance – so that they don’t have any gaps and are absolutely compliant with the laws of the country.” (Gary …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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), …
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 …