Newsletter June 2010
Peace Building Workshops and Conferences
ACDA mobilized its facilitators’ pool to facilitate two international conferences in partnership with the Presidential Council on Values Formation (PCVF) and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC). The first was the Inter-faith Consultation on Religious Freedom held on February 16 and 17, 2010 at the Manila Hotel. The objective of the said consultation was to share positive religious freedom developments and discuss models for best practice in the Philippines and other countries. The consultation brought together local actors and experts from the Philippines and other countries.
The second was the International Workshop of Faith-Based Groups and Civil Society with the theme ‘Strengthening Partnerships with Governments on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation.’ This was in conjunction with the Senior Officials meeting of the Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and development, Manila, Philippines held on16 March 2010 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
The faith-based groups and civil society for quite sometime have been doing its share in pursuing peace and development of their respective countries. This workshop created an occasion where NAM members and guests provided a space for listening and sharing of approaches and best practices of partners in addressing global issues.
Participants came from over 25 countries included in the delegations of NAM member and guest countries who have current initiatives in interfaith dialogue and international religious non-government organizations.
Make Your Story Count
Writing to Communicate Impact
ACDA in partnership with Ms. Grace Gaston-Dousel conducted the Writers’ Workshop for development practitioners. In Manila, it was held from March 17-20 at the Sambahayan, the guesthouse of the Samaritana Transformational Ministries in Fairview, Quezon City. Ms. Grace Gaston facilitated the writeshop and provided spaces for actual writing and mentoring. Ms. Lucy Arboleda of Open Doors facilitated sessions on developing an eye for impact.
This workshop was also made available for our partners in Mindanao. This was held from April 28-30 at the TMFI Center for Culture and Development in Davao City. Manila- March 17-20, 2010.
Board Retreat and Planning
May 13-14, 2010
For two days, the ACDA Board held a retreat and planning meeting. The Board reviewed the deliverables for the coming fiscal year and provided input on how to strengthen alliance building strategies and some new areas for capacity building which the alliance can explore. Policies on Resource Mobilization (formally known as the Sustainability Policy) and some staff policies were also reviewed.
God’s Heart for Unity
Partnership and Collaboration Workshop
With most of the participants coming from different parts of Quezon City, traveling to Manila took no less than an hour to get to our workshop venue. Thanks to the train system which made it a lot simpler to commute. And it was worth the trip having co-members in the Body of Christ come together to learn from each other. The workshop was entitled God’s Heart for Unity. This was enough to catch our interests us members of an alliance working for change at different levels of our society.
This partnership and collaboration workshop aimed to bring ACDA members back towards having the passion to respond to Jesus’ prayer for us—that is, “… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” (John 17:21-23)
The whole workshop itself was a collaboration at work between ACDA and the Philippine Children’s Ministry Network (PCMN) with the CCT Group of Ministries providing the venue. Ms. Josefina Gutierrez facilitated the two day workshop that culminated with an action planning on possible collaborative initiatives which ACDA members can work on.
