First, on behalf of Hope of the City, I just want to say thank you to the congregation of Island ECC for your incredible generosity. Because of your generosity, we’ve been able to help more people than we could have imagined during this 5th wave of Covid-19. Hope is currently focused on helping two main groups of people. One group includes those who have to isolate at home after testing positive for Covid-19, who couldn’t get anyone to help them to get supplies, including medication. To date, we’ve been able to give out over 2,000 Covid-19 support kits, each with a value of no less than $500. Each kit contains food items like rice, packaged and canned food, as well as rapid antigen testing kits, Vitamin C and basic medicines such as Panadol. During this time, we’re not just serving the families within the usual service area of the Hope Centre in Sham Shui Po, but we’ve also been reaching out to other NGOs and other local churches. So far, we’ve partnered with 8 NGOs and 10 small, local churches to help them meet their needs. We really thank God for His faithfulness in providing everything we need - and more - to support those in need. All the items that we’ve been able to distribute have been made available through many, many donations of funds and products, and we are so grateful to all of those who have contributed.
Let me share one amazing story of God’s provision with you. One day we received a request
from a local NGO, asking if we could provide them with some children’s cooling gel packs, a kind of adhesive strip that is placed on children’s foreheads to help alleviate fever. This is something we had never thought of providing and, to be honest, before receiving this request I didn’t even know what these gel packs were, far less where to find them. Later that day, as my colleague and I were discussing how to source this item, out of nowhere a congregant from Island ECC sent someone to deliver two cartons of children’s cooling gel packs to us, without any request ever being made by us! As a result, the next day we were able to meet the need of this NGO. We really praise God for His goodness in working through the goodness of His people to exceed our expectations in providing above and beyond what we pray for. All glory be to God!
The second group of people we’re focused on supporting during this time are those who have lost jobs or had their work hours cut, leaving them really struggling to pay their basic expenses like rent. So far, we’ve been able to help 34 families by contributing towards their rent payments, helping to relieve some of their stress and concern over the possibility of being evicted by their landlords. As the restrictions during this 5th wave continue to impact people’s livelihoods, we’re continuing to walk with these families to ensure that their families’ most basic needs are provided for.
Looking ahead to the coming weeks, Hope of the City is making plans for ways in which to honor the healthcare workers in elderly homes. We all know how hard these caregivers are working under extremely challenging conditions. For some who are working in a closed-loop system, they tell us that they can’t even go home between their work shifts. We feel strongly that they deserve to be recognized and honored for their dedication, so our plan is to prepare up to 1,000 Blessing Bags for these hard-working, dedicated healthcare workers.
None of us can foresee what lies ahead, but what we do know is that there are many, many people in our society who are in need, not just of material help but in need of emotional and spiritual support. As we pray and seek God’s direction in supporting the marginalized communities within our city, let’s remain committed to heeding God’s call to uplift those in need, and seek ways to share Christ’s love with them through word and deed.