Four New Buildings at MRTC Dedicated to the Lord

Above, two of the new dormitory buildings at the
Malungon Retreat and Training Center, and below,
the new meeting hall. 

Board and corporate members of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries, local government officials, Sarangani businessmen and pastors, former Visions of Hope-sponsored children, members of the B’laan community, and construction workers who helped build the facilities gathered on December 12, 2014 for the dedication of the Malungon Retreat and Training Center (MRTC) grounds and four new buildings on the property. 

In a colorful and moving event, beneficiaries of Malungon-based CCT projects and services spoke of how their lives were changed by the Lord, and construction workers told of life transformation through song.  

CCT has been ministering to the B'laan community in Malungon since 2002 through such programs and services as microfinance, children's education, livelihood training, evangelism and discipleship, and savings mobilization after it acquired 72 heavily wooded hectares of land in Sitio Lao, Barangay Nagpan, Malungon, Sarangani. Former street dwellers being ministered to by CCT's Kaibigan Ministry in Manila were brought to Malungon in 2011 to help construct a multi-purpose bamboo building, the first major building on the property. The two-story bamboo building houses a clinic, offices, and a worship hall. In April 2013, work was begun on what was to become the Malungon Retreat and Training Center. It opened in April 2014 with two dormitory buildings and a dining hall. 

MRTC is a lovely and serene setting for such activities as mission conferences, youth camps, couples' retreats and other ministry events, as well as weddings. The new buildings are three dormitories and a meeting hall.

For booking information please get in touch with Lalaine Naquita at 09258846711 or lalaine.naquita@cct.org.ph, or with Pastor Flor Soler at 09154617250 or astelflor_awp@yahoo.com.

Left to right: CCT  Corporate Member Dick Ang, 
Sarangani Governor Steve Solon, CCT Malungon
Peer Servant Lalaine Naquita,  GenSan businessman
Jan Ced, and  Architect Daniel Lim. 

CCT staff Sarah Sobrino reads the
history of the Malungon Retreat and Training
Center and tells of  changed lives among the B'laans
ministered to. Changes include  "lots 
purchased, houses built, children
 educated, and food on the table everyday."

Members of the Brigada Bata, a program of the
Visions of Hope Christian School, bring in the
colors. 

Here and in next photo:
Guests are led in praise and worship by CCT's
GenSan worship team and B'laan dancers.

Businessman Jan Ced  who
is also chairman of the CCT 
GenSan and Sarangani Regional Board  
 welcomes  guests.

The CCT GenSan Choir, led by Jun Gregorio, sings
"He Was There All the Time."

Guest speaker John Gaisano, chairman of the board of
the Davao Chamber of Commerce and chairman
of the CCT Davao Regional Board, says
MRTC is a place where God will be honored and
worshiped. 

Pastor Nerie Jomento, receives a plaque
of appreciation.  As the first worker
assigned to the Malungon property back 
in 2002, he
courageously spread God's Word
amid hostile actions of residents opposing
CCT's presence. 

Workers of the Kaibigang Maasahan Multi-purpose
Cooperative Construction Services unit sing
"Ako'y Isang Dakot ng Kanyang Himala."

Speaking on behalf of other
 Visions of Hope-sponsored children,
Gemma Almarai tearfully expresses gratitude to
parents, VOH staff, and sponsors. She said
 VOH-sponsored children now include licensed
teachers, an engineer, licensed policemen,
computer programmers, electricians,
 an agriculturist and a pharmacy graduate scheduled 
to take the board exam soon. Gemma
is a teacher at the VOH Residential School in 
Malungon which has students from 
the B'laan and Tagakaolo tribes. 

VOH scholars and parents sing the hymn
 "Standing on the Promises of God" in both
the B'laan language and English.

Ruth Callanta, CCT founder and
president, says the MRTC is to
be a blessing to indigenous people. 

An elderly member of the B'laan
community tunes his faglong, a
two-stringed traditional instrument. 

Photos courtesy of Carol Ruth Tigdo 

Newest Retreat Center in Mindanao is Training Workshop Venue

The CCT Malungon Retreat and Training Center hosted a major event even before its official opening.   

It was the venue for a six-day  refresher course for  team servants from Mindanao in the micro finance program of the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries in March. (A team servant is the equivalent of a branch manager in other organizations that offer micro finance.)  It will also be the training venue for another group of  25 team servants from the Visayas and Mindanao in April. 

The retreat center facilities are built on a 72-piece of property in Malungon, Sarangani where CCT has been ministering to B'laan families for more than a decade. Services offered are in children's education, skills training, micro finance, savings, and spiritual development.  

The retreat center, which will officially open on March 29, 2014, will be able to comfortably house 144 guests when finished.  So far, two of its planned four dormitory buildings are complete.  

 CCT also owns the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center (ccttagaytay.blogspot.com) in Tagaytay, Cavite.  

Photos: Philip Agot

New Conference Site to Rise Soon in Malungon

Malungon Mayor Reynaldo Constantino lowers into the ground a time capsule containing
  copies of the Malungon development plan and of the CCT Mission and Vision.  
Also in photo are Michael Chiongbian, Jan Ced, Emerson Tan, Arch. Chris Celeste (members of the 
General Santos / Sarangani CCT local advisory board),  and CCT Regional Peer Servants 
Romelie Nicolas and Jun Castillo.

A new venue for conferences, spiritual retreats, and similar activities for a  large number of participants will soon rise in Malungon, Sarangani province.  The conference site is being developed by the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries on a 72-hectare piece of land it owns in Sitio Lao, Barangay Nagpan.

A groundbreaking ceremony held on April 6, 2013 was attended by municipal and barangay officials, Christian businessmen from General Santos City who do volunteer work with CCT, and CCT staff  in General Santos City and Sarangani province.

In his message, Mayor Constantino said, “I am glad that CCT is my partner in making the lives of Nagpan people rise from less to better. CCT’s name speaks for itself -- transformation from less fortunate to better lives.” He also advised the people of Nagpan not to take for granted the help given by CCT, and that they should also help CCT as a manifestation of their transformed lives.

CCT’s community center on the Sitio Lao property ministers to B’laan and Tagakaolo people through micro finance, savings, and spiritual development programs, and through a boarding school for children.    

Malungon is one of seven towns of Sarangani province.  It shares boundaries with Davao del Sur in the northeast and with General Santos City in the south.

Lalaine Naquita, CCT's national coordinator for its Savings and Credit Association, 
 gives the welcome remarks on behalf of Ruth Callanta, CCT president and founder. She
 expressed thanks to the Lord for His work among the B'laan and Tagakaolo people since
 CCT began operations in Malungon.  

Arch. Christopher Celeste discusses plans for the site which includes five two-story buildings, an amphitheatre,
a swimming pool, basketball court, soccer field, prayer cottages, and an aviary. 

Pastor Berdin Allado shares God's message based on Deuteronomy 7 and 8.  

Malungon Mayor Reynaldo Constantino, Brgy. Captain Mario Legania, Mike Chiongbian, and Lalaine Naquita.

Arch. Chris Celeste and GenSan businessman Jan Ced.

Off-grid B'laan Families Receive Solar Lamps

Boyax Enriquez of Hybrid Social
Solutions (HSS)
shows Malungon community center 
staff how to maintain
a solar lamp. HSS educates users of
 solar energy systems on how 
to use these for development. 

The homes of twelve B'laan families living off-grid are now better lit at night with solar lamps from Stiftung Solarenergie (StS) Solar Energy Foundation-Philippines.

Recipients of the lamps are involved with the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) as micro finance partners, as members of savings circles, as preschool students, or as members of the CCT Community Church in Malungon, Saranggani.

The lamps were brought to the CCT community center in Malungon, Sarangani in May 2011 by motorcycle enthusiasts  involved in the foundation's  Ride for Light  campaign, an effort to bring solar-powered energy systems to rural communities that still do not enjoy the convenience of electricity.

According to the StS website, one out of four Filipinos lives without electricity, mostly using kerosene lamps at night.  Aside from posing a fire hazard, kerosene lamps shed dim light and give off toxic fumes that harm the lungs.

In comparison, solar lamps are smoke-free. School children can use them for reading and studying at night. They can be hung like lanterns to light family meals, community meetings or social events. They may be used as flashlights and as cell phone chargers.  They are waterproof and can be used in rainy weather and on boats.

Solar panels charge the lamps during the day.  When fully charged, a lamp on a low setting can light a hut or a small room for 100 hours.

This solar lamp gives light for 100 hours
 on a low setting,  21 hours on medium,
and nine hours on high. It comes with eight
plugs for charging common types of
mobile phones. Photo courtesy of 
Boyax Enriquez.

The lamps were distributed by CCT staff to the B'laan families during a Father's Day activity in June 2012.  

The Malungon community is the second of two CCT communities to receive solar lamps from StS.  The first community visited by the 'Light Riders' was the Kaibigan Village  for former street dwellers in Nueva Ecija.  The 'Light Riders' visited 39 other communities nationwide in their 19-day trip in April and May 2011.

Other solar lamp distribution activities of the StS include Hike for Light where mountain climbers brought solar lamps to families living on Mt. Apo and five other mountains, and  Sail for Light in which sailors brought solar lamps to fishing communities in Coron, El Nido, and  Culion in Palawan.  Run for Light  at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig which raised funds for more solar lamps.

B'laan Boy Saves Up for Shoes

Alexander Kingkong is just three but he already knows what it's like to buy 'something big'  using money  saved. In his case, 'something big' is a pair of shoes he kept reminding his parents to save up for.

Alexander belongs to a B'laan family.  He and his young parents are members of a savings group or savings circle composed of  B'laan families who attend the CCT Community Church in Malungon, Sarangani on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

The savings circle program is one of several services run by the Center for Community Transformation  to provide marginalized people with pathways out of poverty.  Aside from giving people in the hinterlands  the means and motivation to save up for such basic needs as a pair of shoes,  for a life event such as a wedding,  or to have a safety net for hard times,  CCT hopes the circles will pool their savings to start a micro enterprise. As of this writing there are 19 savings circle in Malungon with a total of 457 members.

CCT's programs, including micro finance, preschool education, and feeding and nutrition, are aimed at meeting both physical and spiritual needs. Weekly meetings of all beneficiaries include prayer and study of the Bible.

In a year Alexander will be old enough to enroll in the preschool also run by CCT. Will his shoes still fit him then?  Probably.  But if not,  he'll know exactly what to do: keep reminding his parents to save up for another pair.

B'laan Beadwork Taught at VOH Christian School

Kinsay Tagnaan displays a traditional B'laan blouse intricately decorated 

with beads.  According to Sarah Sobrino, Malungon community

center coordinator of the Center for Community 
Transformation,  the bead work 

on  albongs like this is so durable that not a single bead falls off even

when the blouse is handed down to the next generation. 

Sarah is herself a member of the B'laan tribe.

Will B'laan beadwork ever become a vanishing art? No, not as long as women like Flanék (sister in B'laan) Kinsay Tagnaan faithfully teach younger female members of the tribe this skill. 

The B'laan, indigenous people of Mindanao, are known for the intricate beadwork worn by their womenfolk.  Flanék Kinsay helps preserve B'laan tradition by teaching beadwork to children and staff at the Visions of Hope Christian School in Malungon, Saranggani Province. The pupils worked on bead projects in the previous school year and beadwork will be part of the curriculum in school year 2012-2013.  

The Visions of Hope Christian School is run by the Center for Community Transformation, a non-government organization. 

Sarah Sobrino (right) gets one-on-one lessons on B'laan
beadwork from Flanék Kinsay Tagnaan.

Allan Sobrino, property custodian at the Malungon
Retreat and Resource Center and pastor of the Kerith Ravine
Community Church, tries his hand at some beadwork.

Tiny white beads adorn the neckline of an albong, a blouse
worn by B'laan women. 

Flanék Kinsay doing beadwork on the sleeve of an albong.

Ulél – B'laan earrings

A swăt, B'laan headdress of beads attached

to a wooden comb.

B'laan children wearing albongs decorated with bead designs
they themselves helped sew on.