Newsletter January 2010
January 2010
Desiring the Greater Gift— Loving
Jo’s Passion, Legacy and Challenge
(Jo Lamigo’s* thoughts on unity are summed up in this paper. This was distilled from his reflection on 1 Corinthians 12 through a message he delivered during ACDA’s General Assembly on August, 2006.)
Our struggle is not in learning together or in serving together but in loving together and we have to acknowledge this.
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This passage greatly resonates to many of us as we strive to collaborate towards the vision of making the Kingdom of God felt in our communities. The vision of the Kingdom of God can be realized through the body and not as single individuals. Collaboration is essential in community transformation. It would require the sharing of gifts and services to bring about Shalom.
Partnership as Obedience
Working together in partnership is an act of obedience. It is our obedience that compel us to share with others the gifts God gave us. The work of transformation is God’s work and because of this, it is sure to happen. Our corporate gifts are our contribution in this work of God. The concept of the Body of Christ is not new. However, we need to re-discover it. We need to re- discover how we can work together.
Recovering the meaning of Collaboration: Collaboration for the common good
Collaboration used to be a bad word in the context of the Philippine-Japanese War. But it has now found a new meaning. We have recovered the meaning of collaboration and that is, working together for the common good. As an alliance, we put high value on helping other organizations in whatever struggle we are experiencing. Panghawakan nating ito (Let us claim this truth). True partnership should benefit us and the broader community we are serving.
*Jose “Jotique” Lamigo was one of the founding members of the Alliance of Christian Development Agencies (ACDA) and served as Chairman until 2006. He was instrumental in introducing transformational development perspectives and tools in ACDA. His firm advocacy on partnership building has led to the formation of various alliances and convergences all over the country. Joetique passed away on November 9, 2009.
One Body, Many Parts
The apostle Paul used the body as a metaphor. For our context, we can make use of the Philippine Islands to symbolize unity and collaboration. No man is an island. The significance of having an alliance is that it keeps us from being islands on our own. If we do not exercise togetherness, we cannot optimize the benefits of the body.
Our ACDA Experience: learning and serving together
ACDA puts premium on learning together. Learning is an equalizer. The technologies of Appreciative Inquiry and Dialogue Education attest to this. AI is a shift from a paradigm of problem solving to a paradigm of possibilities. Dialogue Education, on the other hand, is a movement from top-down and monologue education to learning through real participation.
ACDA puts premium on serving together. The Mindanao Peace Making Process is an experience in serving together. It started as a collaborative work of 7 relief agencies. More organizations later joined to form the Mindanao Convergence which has now evolved into MINPEACE, an alliance engaged in direct community transformation in different regions in Mindanao .
The Challenge
Desire the greater gift, which is loving. Our struggle is not in learning together or in serving together but in loving together and we have to acknowledge this. We have a model community through the Holy Trinity. The Trinity collaborates to transform us. When many collaborate, God’s purposes are accomplished. My highest hope for ACDA is that we may love one another.#
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Reframing life into the inverse of the negative
Some will simply call it positive thinking, but more than just a mantra, Asset-based planning challenges us to reframe our realities by focusing on things that work rather than on the problems besetting us. This is a perspective that ACDA advocates. In November 2009, ACDA, in partnership with iEmerge and My People International, offered the four-day course Asset-Based Planning and Design for Community Development.
This course is focused on three (3) globally practiced techniques for creating a positive planning environment, namely Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space Technology and Future Search. Participants benefited much from the rich experience of the facilitator and resource person, Mr. Terry Leblanc. Terry is director of the Canadian-based NGO, My People International, a holistic, training-focused ministry program with and for Native North Americans. He works with indigenous communities and facilitates asset-based planning and development workshops on holistic, sustainable community development methodologies for indigenous peoples. The focus is on positive community growth and change. He mentors others in the same process.
We look forward to disseminating this transformational development tool among our member organizations through workshops or actual strategic planning and evaluation processes.
Dialogue Education at the Philippine National Police Academy
We have our own experience of the Splash and Ripple Effect when participants of the Dialogue Education Workshop in Davao City recommended the same training to Col. Ramon Sawan, Dean of the Philippine National Police Academy. Col. Sawan then requested for the Basic Dialogue Education for the faculty of the Police Academy .
The faculty shared that it is a challenge to get the cadets engaged in their academics. The rigid physical training that they undergo takes its toll on their ability to focus and stay awake in class. The training enabled the faculty to experience a more effective approach to learning and teaching through dialogue and participation versus monologue and lecturing.
Micah Challenge Philippines Reconvened
After two years of dormancy, with a vacuum in the leadership of the Secretariat, Micah Challenge Philippines is finally reconvened. ACDA, the Christian Convergence on Good Governance (CCGG) and World Vision Development Foundation initiated a meeting with the members of the Micah Challenge Philippines Steering Committee to help restart it. The meeting was held on December 8, 2009.
The groups decided to propose Climate change as the most urgent issue that MCP should be advocating and responding to for the coming years. Many members are already engaged in poverty alleviation initiatives but none of the groups were doing direct work on environmental awareness and stewardship. Given our recent experience of flooding and the lack of preparedness to respond to disaster provides impetus for work towards environmental protection and disaster preparedness.#
