An event organized by the Hong Kong Refugee Ministry Group at the Church of Christ in China Wanchai Church in response to the 2021 World Refugee Day.

24 photos: Slideshow, Album

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May the Peace of God
brought by
the Prince of Peace
be with you
and
pacify your heart

Merry Christmas

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The cab was entering the roundabout, I pointed at a nearby spot and signalled the driver to stop there. I clumsily got off the taxi with my camera and bag and he thanked me for the little tip. “Ma’a salama,” I bade farewell to him with my broken Arabic as he began to drive away.

Those were the last words in our short time together.

Those were also probably the last words between us in this life. What’s the chance of us meeting again? A traveller from thousands of miles away, and a taxi driver among the thousands of men of the same trade in Amman.

I started walking to the church to meet Pastor Hanna Massad. It was 2011.

It was our third time to meet, and he’s as courteous as usual. He invited me to enter the church’s guesthouse, and cordially guided me to a seat in a comfortable sofa.

It was after a church service in a Friday evening when we met for the first time, we didn’t have a chance to talk for long as other brothers and sisters were eager to talk to him too. A few days later, he invited me for coffee and we spent some time together. He patiently told me his story, his views and hopes for the seemingly everlasting conflict, as a Christian Arab pastor from the Gaza Strip.

But this time we didn’t meet to talk about Gaza, but Iraq.

I still remember when we’re talking face to face the first time, a man came across to give him a manila envelope. They exchanged a few words in Arabic, the pastor opened the envelope and found some UNHCR documents in it. “Thanks,” he said, and carefully put the documents back into the envelope.

Another man from the congregation stopped by on purpose and greeted the pastor. He’s an old man whose spring of youth had left him a long time ago. I could almost see his gratitude for the pastor in his eyes.

“These are the Iraqi refugees,” Pastor Hanna told me. “Every one of them has a story which you can write a book about.”

I wasn’t fully aware of the weight of that statement back then.

In the days afterwards, I started acquainting myself with the topic. To me, Iraq was about oil; about a crazy man somehow managed to ascend to the rule of the country; about wars – Once as an aggressor and the other time as a defender; about some mysterious weapons of mass destruction that were nowhere to be found; about roadside bombs; about kidnappings…

Little did I understand and realize the extent of the suffering of the ordinary people of Iraq – Those who most often bear the blunt from the decisions made by people sitting in air-conditioned offices.

“It was 2000 when I obtained a PhD in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, and there was a crossroad ahead of me – I could stay in the US, or go back to Gaza.” The Pastor said with a claim voice, “So I prayed and asked for God’s guidance. At last, I decided to go back to Gaza to serve.”

He was the pastor of the Gaza Baptist Church before leaving the entangled land in 2007. The Christians in Gaza had been receiving regular death threats from extremists. Suhad, his wife, worked at the Bible Society and once there was a bomb exploding in front of the office, which damaged the building and shattered the windows.

“Thank God she wasn’t hurt.”

The last straw came when the threat finally materialized – Brother Rami of the Christian bookstore was kidnapped and executed. Upon the government’s urge, his family left the Strip and settled in Jordan, where he began to teach at the Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary.

In 2010, the former pastor of the Amman’s Alliance Church emigrated to Canada, and he took over the responsibility of ministering the Iraqi refugees.

The exodus started since the Gulf War. In the beginning, the people who left Iraq were usually the richer ones who sought a safer place to live. The safety problem was made worse by the Iraq War, and the people who left in recent years often came with little or no property at all. After all, most of us probably aren’t keen on leaving our homes for an unfamiliar place faraway, even more so when one knows that he won’t be able to make a living there. However, when physical violence and kidnappings become the usual, and threats become deaths, what can one do?

“When they arrive, most of them have very little possessions. And they’re not allowed to work here, unless they pay a huge sum to obtain a business visa.”

The Jordanian government does not consider most of these Iraqis “refugees” but “visitors”, who’re supposed to go back to their home country soon.

It’s hard to blame the Hashmites though. The number of Iraqi refugees had once become so big that they consisted about a tenth of the Jordanian population, and the desert country had already accommodated two waves of refugees from Palestine in the past 60 years.

Syria was another major receiver of the Iraqi refugees, until the muddy civil war turned her into a breeding ground for even more refugees. But even before that, the life of the Iraqi refugees there wasn’t by any means better. It has been claimed that as many as 50,000 Iraqi women and girls have been forced into prostitution to make a living.

As the war in Syria gathered stream, the number of Syrian refugees in Jordan soon outnumbered that of the Iraqi. Naturally, Pastor Hanna’s ministry began serving them as well.

“Our ministry is focused on three tasks – First, to bring the refugees here. Second, to share the gospel with them and provide discipleship. Third, send them out with the precious gift of the gospel with them. Indeed, a few of them has already planted churches in their new host countries.”

Besides providing spiritual support and guidance, the ministry, which was started 30 years ago, also supports them materially – Coupons for purchasing basic necessities are dispersed to each family a few times per year. They can also obtain free medicine at clinics operated by the church, and English courses are available for a nominal fee.

It’s easy to become numb and indifferent when you keep hearing about the refugees’ personal stories, one after another. It seems that almost every one of them has received death threats, was kidnapped, or has experienced life threatening attacks at least once. They are the fortunate ones – In many cases their family members and friends had already perished, and never had the chance anymore to tell others about it.

Or maybe they’re actually the unfortunate ones? Being alive and forced to carry with them their traumas into a pale future.

During one of my visits, an enthusiastic young man welcomed me, told me about the congregation, showed me the “Jesus Christ” tattoo on his arm, and tried his best to translate the Arabic service into English for me.

His enthusiasm was abruptly quenched when I asked him why he left Iraq, his big smile disappeared and his head sank – There was a bomb exploding outside the church, and then some. His eyes strayed as if there was a fathomless abyss ahead of him.

The story of a man particularly struck with me – He was the driver for a priest, and almost always travelled with him. One day, the priest had another errand for him, the vehicle was attacked on that particular day. The priest and the people accompanying him were killed, but the driver’s life was spared.

And they surely won’t get to talk to each other again in this life.

How can one maintain his sanity, let alone preach the gospel, among these people?

“I think we’re somehow connected because we both went through the fire of persecution.”

Still, Gaza remains an important part of the pastor’s ministry. He started the Christian Mission to Gaza in 2009 which, besides providing humanitarian support to the Gazans, strive to encourage and support the dwindling but resilient Christian community there.

“I go back there 3 times a year to serve in the church, to do relief work, and to teach in home bible studies.”

As those who’re familiar with the situations in Gaza can imagine, it’s not easy spiritually, physically, and financially. But God’s grace is always sufficient.

In 2018, Pastor Hanna published an autobiography, his own book – Pastor from Gaza to critical acclaims.

To many people, it seems only human that someone like him will forgo any compassion for the people who ultimately caused the suffering of him and his people, isn’t it?

“I’ve learnt to forgive the Israelis, because I’m also forgiven by God,” Pastor Hanna told me, “Still, I keep in the safe the deeds to prove the ownership of my family’s land, which they took. And I’m hoping that they will compensate for the loss of us someday.”

Article in Chinese on Chinese Christians for Peace in the Holy Land

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When God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful in Genesis, the land was still virgin and undefiled. Adherents of the three major monotheistic faiths have since taken this commandment literally, populating the earth and multiplying descendants, as with other peoples on this blue planet.

Today, the earth is on the verge of destruction. To be more precise, it’s fast becoming a place that may no longer be habitable to many of us and other creatures because of environmental pollution and global warming. The planet will stay, but those who claim to know it and give meanings may be no longer.

Talks of wars, conflicts, terrorism occupy the minds of many, and graphic Biblical images of Daniel and Revelation capture the minds of the Christian faithful. Perhaps, however, we have overlooked the most prominent and imminent danger of our age – Human greed and carelessness leading to the wanton destruction of the environment.

As citizens of the planet earth, let us be mindful of what and how we use and consume, let us till the land and manage it well, doing it ourselves and encourage those around us to do likewise, so that we can be at Peace with the earth.

Adapted from the transcript of my Reflections on Peace on RTHK Radio 4 in 2016. The above photo shows the then growing rift in Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica.

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Before the Holocaust there was the Merchant of Venice, before the Merchant of Venice there was the Spanish Inquisition, before the Spanish Inquisition there was the Simon of Trent, and before the Simon of Trent there was the Black Death, before the Black Death there were the Crusaders…

The book Trent 1475 documents the proceedings of a blood libel case in Trento, Italy in the year 1475. A Christian boy was found dead and his Jewish neighbours were framed for it. This child, Simon, was once considered a martyr being killed in a ritual murder. His case contributed to anti-Semitism in the European history, which reached its apex in the Holocaust – six million Jews were murdered in that horrific genocide. Eventually, in 1965, Pope Paul VI removed Simon from the Roman Martyrology.

Perhaps it’s only fitting and reassuring that the Chinese edition is published by the Centre for Catholic Studies.

History doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We do not exist in a vacuum. To understand the present we have to consult the past. And history is not just ink printed on dead trees, it is about real living human beings and all that surround them. Nor it just one subject in the school curriculum, for it may lend itself to the betterment of us as individuals and as a species, if we are to pay attention. Paraphrasing George Santayana, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

The question is, have we started learning?

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Below are links to the initial work reports of several NGOs and online donation forms:

• Oxfam
• Red Cross
• The Salvation Army
• UNICEF
• World Vision

Do not withhold good from those who need it, when you have the ability to help.
– Proverbs 3:27

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At 10-month, it may be one of the longest continuously running Occupy movements in the world. Many others had been put to stop, gone into hibernation from time to time, or become protests that are being held at regular intervals instead.

The community members had vowed to stay, and the landlord had made clear that they’d not evict them from the public passageway, at least until a latter time.

Regardless, the movement seems to be running out of steam.

An act of civil disobedience, in my opinions, needs to be interfering with the public order, in other words, causes troubles for non-participants, in particular those in power, to get its message across. [*] Granted, they’re still occupying a section under the HSBC building, but I’m not sure if people are still paying much attention to them, except for the eviction order and the eventual act of eviction itself.

Besides, it’s been 10-month since the movement started, another question arises, if it’s indeed coming to an end—was it successful in getting its message across the public? Or, what was the message?

With the Lehman victims getting back part or most of their savings, have the Hong Kong people forgotten what started the global Occupy movement? Are we satisfied with the changes? Have we had adequate reflection and discussions on the laissez-faire style, both as individuals and as a society? Are we to continue on the neoliberalism pathway?

The question remains, what’s next for the 99%…?

Note: Although, technically, they might not have interfered with the public order until the arrival of the deadline of the eviction order, since it’s a public space after all, but it’s nonetheless seen as one.

Also available in Chinese on inmediahk.net.

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The documentary was produced by a female reporter (Thananuch Sanguansak) from Thailand and focuses on the Rohingya people, practically a “stateless” people living primarily in Burma/Myanmar, and also in nearby countries like Thailand and Bangladesh.

The hour-long video is also available on YouTube, but the version shown last night was provided by the local UNHCR office and came with Chinese subtitles.

What drew me to the event was the repeated mentioning of the recent atrocities being done unto the Rohingya people, which are largely ignored by the mainstream media, by a few friends.

According to a quick search on Ming Pao, it’s been reported exactly once (twice if a very short quote is to be counted), on 12-Jun, in the past 3 months. In contrast, a search on “Syria” yielded 73 results, “Iran”, 80 results, even (Aung San) “Suu Kyi” produced 25 results.

Also, I’d like to take it as a measurement, in general, of the Hong Kong people’s concern for human rights issue and international matters. There were more than 50 people, about half of them were internationals and a few of them were Burmese. According to the hostess, the attendance was larger than usual for an event like this, that’s, not a protest.

The film painted a grim picture for the Rohingya people—they’re not recognized as citizens by any of the governments, and few, if any, NGO are able to help them.Perhaps one can imagine what follows, as a minority group in a country not renowned for its human rights history.

With the recent election and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, one would expect the situations in Burma/Myanmar improve. But it’s definitely marred by this ongoing sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims. According to official figures, 78 people have died and 70,000 displaced, while Human Rights Watch considered them to be grossly underestimated.

There was a discussion/Q&A following the film, of which several Burmese participated. One of them expressed that she didn’t even know the Rohingya before seeing this documentary, but those who spoke could attest that minority groups were systematically discriminated and denied citizenship by the state.

While having citizenship does not automatically guarantee one’s rights will be fully respected (just ask the Palestinians living in Israel proper), residing in a country where one’s born but without citizenship (or even refugee status) is probably something that stretches the imagination of many people.

The topic of the border issue arose from the raise of nation-states in the past century was also touched upon. It may sound strange to some, but the borders in many parts of the world are not as clear cut as denoted on the map.

A candlelight vigil will also be held in Tsim Sha Tsui tonight, in part to commemorate the 8888 uprising.

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When I was in Amman, Jordan, a Japanese student once asked me, “What do you think about the situation in Tibet?”

I was totally dumbfounded.

In the past week, there were two public memorial services for Tibet in Hong Kong. So I grabbed the opportunity to educate myself…

Apparently, it’s a place where blatant oppression has become a norm—forced replacement of Tibetan textbooks with Chinese ones; prohibition of the display of Dalai Lama’s portrait inside one’s home; political beatings and/or imprisonments; violent suppression of popular uprisings…

Which reminds me of this graffiti in Gaza…

Insha’Allah, I’ll have the chance to learn more about it.

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Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
​than a fattened ox where there is hatred.
– Proverbs 15:17

Garbage City (17 photos)

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