PURPOSE

CORE VALUES

The program seeks to catalyze action among local churches, NGOs and systems in complex societies within Asia and beyond, working with all known resources (especially and including the identified poor) to improve the quality of life and to transform society’s structures and institutions in order to demonstrate God’s love to all.

• We intend to treat students as adult learners
• We intend to create classroom environments that empower learners, providing a safe open space for dialogue that is not dominated by teacher-talk
• We intend to tie theory to practice both within and outside the classroom walls.
• We intend to seek student participation and ownership of the program
• We will seek strategic and intentional partnerships with seminaries, NGOs and churches
• We desire to form long-term sustainability
• We will engage Christian Philippine nationals who are eminently qualified to participate
• We will engage team-leadership not individual focus.

OBJECTIVES

• Training of a cadre of new leaders who see holistically both problems and solutions to the matters of dysfunctional and distressed neighborhoods.
• Changing the orientation of church leaders, church communities, and denominations from band-aid approaches of compassionate ministry initiatives, to community development and community organizing.
• Changing the orientation of service providers, and NGOs from seeing dysfunctional and distressed neighborhoods as social pariahs to vibrant, creative communities.
• Changing the mindset of dysfunctional and distressed communities from seeing themselves as takers, to recognizing and employing their own assets in their own programs of well-being.
• Developing communities of scholars and practitioners throughout Asia who mutually are accountable, are a brotherhood and sisterhood of mutual support and stimulation under the common themes of transformation development.
• Developing a body of research and literature that can inform other social movements around the world.