CCT Hosts TEE Plus/Pagdiriwang

The Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries recently hosted Pagdiriwang, an international gathering of Christians ministering to the poor.  The event brought together leaders, staff, volunteer workers and friends of Christian micro-finance organizations to celebrate God and His kingdom agenda of extending heaven to earth, through inspiring messages, eye-opening exposure visits, best practices sharing, worship and wonderful fellowship.  

Pagdiriwang is the Filipino word for celebration.  The conference is the fourth in a series of quadrennial worldwide gatherings organized by PEER Servants, a non-profit organization based in the US and a ministry partner of CCT. 

The conference coincided with the 4th Transformative Economic Empowerment (TEE), an annual training conference jointly organized by CCT and the Ka-Partner Network composed of PEER Servants, Hope International, endPoverty.org, Five Talents and CCT.  It brings in micro-finance practitioners from around the world to identify and discuss sound practices in micro-finance.

The organizations represented and their countries of origin or operation were:

• Action Contre La Misère (ACLAM), Haiti
• Assist Community Initiatives (ACI), Uganda
• Christian Action for Empowering Church and Community (CAFECC), Uganda
• Christian Empowerment Micro-finance (CEMFIN), Zambia
• Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, Egypt
• Christian Service Society (CSS), India 
• endPoverty.org,  South Africa, USA;
• Hope International, Congo, China, Rwanda, USA
• Integrity Foundation, India
• Invest Credit, Moldova 
• Iris Philippines Ministries, Philippines
• Kallarisunchis, Peru 
• Peer Servants, Burundi, Haiti, Uganda, USA 
• Potter’s House, Guatemala
• Urwego Opportunity Bank, Rwanda
• The Wesleyan Church-Global Partners, Philippines
• Women's Initiative for Health Education and Economic Development, Cameroon
• Y Gro HEED, Sri Lanka

Other participants were friends or individuals working with these organizations from Mexico, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, and South Sudan.

The main speakers were David and Kathi Cohen, founders of Moringa Associates based in Australia; Reverend Calisto Odede, senior pastor of Nairobi Baptist Church, Kenya; and David Lim, a co-founder of CCT and currently president of China Ministries International-Philippines,    

Plenary speakers were Ruth Callanta, president and founder of CCT, Ron Chua, professor at the Asian Institute of Management, and Peter Lees, founder of Sharpening Stone Enterprises, an Australian organization. 

For their exposure trips the participants visited street dwellers, micro entrepreneurs and children ministered to by CCT.  

PEER Servants is a volunteer-based organization that partners with indigenous, autonomous micro-finance institutions in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean to empower the materially poor through micro-enterprise development.  Its first three worldwide conferences were Kopano, held in South Africa in 2004, Ricchari, held in Peru in 2007, and Reciprocity, held in the US in 2011.      

Pagdiriwang was held at the CCT Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center from November 8 – 14, 2015.

    

Dr. David Lim speaks on Experiencing God's Kingdom based
on Isaiah 58:1 - 14.

David and Kathi Cohen leading a morning devotion during the
eight-day conference. 

(Above) TEE attendees meet a group of micro-entrepreneurs during an
exposure trip, and (below) learn about the entries in a passbook
in which micro finance loans are recorded. 

A lechon (roast pig), centerpiece of the Filipino buffet,
intrigues guests..