How Hot? What to Wear?

We're just days away from our fantastic time together in the Philippines. What should you expect for weather? Whenever we are in Manila or neighboring areas, expect daytime highs of 85-90F/30-32C and quite humid. It will be a bit cooler when we're in Tagaytay, and evenings can get down to 65-70F/20C. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, so good to have an umbrella.

We encourage respectful attire for conference events, especially when visits are being made to the Filipino people. Shorts for women or men are discouraged for such visits. There will be at least two events for wearing national attire, so please bring something special to represent your part of the world!

See you in the Philippines!

Soccer Coaches?

They look presidential, reverend, warm, and happy, but do they look like soccer coaches? Time will tell! It's with great pleasure that we introduce you to our Pagdiriwang Kopano Cup soccer coaches!

#1 Seed Team Asia Coach - Elizabeth Venegas (upper right). Don't let the smile fool you! "Ate" Beth is determined to keep the Kopano Cup in Asian hands, especially playing on home soil.

#2 Seed Team Africa Coach - Reverend Calisto Odede (lower right). He's got quite a psychological attack - claiming Kenyans only know how to do well in athletics, but Africa wants the Kopano Cup back on African soil and they may even turn to divine intervention to get it there.

#3 Seed Team Latin America/Caribbean Coaches - David and Kathi Cohen (lower left): The Dynamic Duo from Down Under, David and Kathi may have just what it takes to awaken a Latin American/Caribbean squad that has been runner up twice.

#4 Seed Team North America/Europe Coach - Ramon Rocha (upper left): Leave it to the North Americans to recruit the executive, presidential Rocha from his native Philippines to lead them to their first-ever Kopano Cup final and strongly-desired victory.

Stay tuned for live coverage on Wednesday, November 11 to see who takes home the coveted Kopano Cup!

Make Your Region's Day Special!

Can you believe we are just days away from Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus? It is going to be a very special time together!

Virtually every day at Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus will have a regional theme to it - Africa, Asia, Latin America/Caribbean, and North America/Europe. We need YOU to help make the day for your region of the world a very special one.

What can you do?

• Help us lead worship that day! If you love to sing and have some simple choruses you can teach everyone from your part of the world, please sign up!
• Lead us in prayer that day! Evening plenaries will open and close with someone from the region praying for us.
• Tell us what God is doing to extend His kingdom! You know best how God has been at work to extend His kingdom to your part of the world. Prepare and share a 10-minute testimony to give credit to God for His work.

Interested in signing up for any of these? Email us at pagdiriwang@peerservants.org and we'll be in touch with further details. Thanks!

Get Ready for the Kopano Cup!

"Kopano" ("unity" in a couple of the South African languages) and "football" may not be obvious compatriots anywhere but at Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus (and even there, the relationship can be a bit strained!), but the Kopano Cup is certain to be one of many highlights at Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus. Reigning Champ Team Eurasia is now on home soil after winning in both the Peruvian Andes and the New England Lakes Region, but always-talented and deeply-disappointed Team Africa is hungry to take back the inaugural Kopano Cup they won on African soil. Teams Latin America/Caribbean and North America are "in it to win it" as well!

The Kopano Cup will take place Wednesday morning of our Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus week, leaving an optimal time for recruiting top teams before the event and walking with a little swag after the event. Many of the young boys and men in which CCT invests itself will be joining us. It will be the last Cup! May God grant us Kopano as we pursue the ultimate goal!

Submitting Your TEE Application

Many of the microfinance practitioners attending Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus will enjoy TEE (Transformative Economic Empowerment) as their central experience within the week. TEE offers three tracks for further microfinance learning - Microfinance Operations, Governance, and Beyond Microfinance. If you are planning to participate in one of these three TEE tracks, you need to submit an additional application that should have been sent to you shortly after registering. If you are planning to attend one of the TEE tracks and did not receive your TEE application, please contact your sponsoring organization.

Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus Agenda Now Available

We are going to have a fantastic week together at Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus! Click here to check out the current agenda. There will still likely be some small changes, but you'll get a good sense of what our wonderful week together is going to look like. May God's Spirit join us in a powerful way so that we will not only experience much of His kingdom during our time together, but be well-equipped to extend it to others as well.

Meet David and Kathi Cohen

We are so excited to announce that David and Kathi Cohen will be joining us at Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus as our "Pastors in Residence". In that role, they will be leading us in our morning devotions, morning and afternoon prayers, and be available to all Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus attendees for time to pray, seek counsel, and just offer a listening ear.

David and Kathi are co-founders of Moringa Associates, Inc. (see www.moringa.org.au for more info) with a mission to prayerfully serve the church in leadership and peacemaking. They bring a rich history effectively serving churches and organizations around the world. David hails from Australia and Kathi from California and when they are not traveling the world, home finds them in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia.

David and Kathi are good friends to CCT and PEER Servants, joining Ate Ruth Callanta as the keynote speakers at the 2007 Ricchari conference in Peru. They are looking forward to meeting many new Christ followers at Pagdiriwang while renewing some old friendships.

100 Days to Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus!

100 days from today will be opening night of Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus! It will be a great kickoff to our week-long celebration of experiencing and extending the kingdom of heaven on earth!

That great day will be here before you know it! What do you need to be doing now?

• Register. You have until September 30 to do so.
• Arrange your travel. Check if you need a visa to the Philippines (click here for a good website to do so). We will provide you with official invitation/support letters if you need them. Contact the Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus rep within your sponsoring organization to work with you to arrange your flights. (If you are associated with PEER Servants, email travel@peerservants.org.)
• Pray. Pray for a powerful outpouring of God's Spirit as we gather. Prayer groups will be forming by time zone around the world to prepare for the event, so if you'd like to join in with others to pray, email Todd Engelsen at prayer@peerservants.org and we'll get you in the right group.

Pagdiriwang/TEE plus is going to be a great event! Taking these steps now will make it even better!

Pagdiriwang = TEE "Plus"

What's a synonym for Pagdiriwang? TEE Plus!

TEE stands for Transformative Economic Empowerment. It is an annual training program sponsored by CCT that brings in microfinance practitioners from around the world to identify and discuss sound practices in microfinance. MFIs from Africa, the Americas, Eastern Europe, and other parts of Asia have attended TEE over the years.

This year, TEE will take place concurrently with Pagdiriwang, so we're calling it "TEE Plus" and leading to the weeklong event being called "Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus". If you've been thinking you're coming to Pagdiriwang, you'll also be able to take part in TEE Plus! If you've been thinking you're coming to TEE, you'll be able to participate in Pagdiriwang. TEE Plus will include all of the good exposure, teaching, and discussion of past TEE training sessions. The "Plus" is that you'll be able to be encouraged by top-notch speakers in your commitment to experience and extend the kingdom, have more time to enjoy what makes it "more fun in the Philippines", and join with a wider and larger group of attendees from all over the planet.

If you're planning to attend Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus this year, you need to register first here. Then you'll receive a separate TEE application that will help make the most of your TEE experience.

Imagine - two events for the price of one in Pagdiriwang/TEE Plus! Just one more example of how much we have to "Celebrate the Kingdom." 

Meet Reverend Calisto Odede

Our evenings at Pagdiriwang will open with a challenge to experience and extend the kingdom of heaven on earth from a Southeast Asian perspective; through the Holy Spirit leading Reverend Calisto Odede, we will end the week from an African perspective.

Reverend Odede became a follower of Jesus in 1980 while a high school student. He proceeded to study Education at Kenyatta University (Kenya) and read Biblical Studies at Trinity International University (SA) and Intercultural Education from Bethany International University (Singapore).

His professional and ministry career has included many university-focused organizations and churches, including FOCUS (Fellowship of Christian Unions), IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students), CITAM (Christ is the Answer Ministries), and currently Senior Pastor at Nairobi Baptist Church (Kenya). While working with FOCUS, he pioneered and directed the Commission Conference, a major students' mission conference in Africa.

Reverend Odede has had many doors opened to conduct Bible exposition and leadership training. He has been a featured speaker and Bible expositor at the Lausanne III Congress (South Africa), Urbana (USA), NIFES (Nigeria), Keswick Convention (UK), and Mission Korea (South Korea). He has contributed chapters in Going the Distance (Keswick, 2012) and Christ Our Reconciler (IVP, 2010).

Reverend Odede is married to Elizabeth and they have three sons.

Meet Dr. David S. Lim

Our evenings at Pagdiriwang will be blessed with excellent communicators challenging us from God's Word to experience and extend more of the kingdom of heaven to earth.

Our week will open with Dr. David S. Lim encouraging us from a Southeast Asian perspective. Dr. Lim may be best known within CCT circles as one of the CCT co-founders, but God has since led him to extend the kingdom in many capacities.  He serves as the President of the Asian School for Development and Cross-cultural Studies (ASDECS), which provides doctoral, masteral, and certificate level training programs for transformational development and missions. He is also the President of China Ministries International-Philippines (CMI) that recruits Filipino missionaries for China. He had previously served as Academic Dean at Asian Theological Seminary (Philippines) and Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (U.K.). He earned his Th.M. (New Testament) from the Asian Centre for Theological Studies in Seoul, Korea, and his Ph.D. Theology (New Testament) from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (USA).

Dr. Lim has authored four books, including Transforming Communities (OMF Publishers) and has co-edited four additional books relating to extending the kingdom to the Buddhist World. He is married to Marie Lim and they have two adult children.

Meet Ate Ruth Callanta

"Ate" (pronounced ah-TAY for anyone waiting to step on Filipino soil for the first time!) Ruth Callanta is first and foremost a humble servant of Christ. It is from this position that God has been able to raise her up to have global influence. Ate Ruth is the Founder, CEO, and President of The Center for Community Transformation (CCT), our host for Pagdiriwang. God has led and blessed her to oversee a group of 12 ministries serving hundreds of thousands of the materially poor throughout the Philippines, but it wasn't always that way! In fact, CCT started as a small, struggling microfinance organization and it wasn't until they made Christ and His Kingdom central to all they do that God chose to raise them up to the organization of global influence that they are today. Ate Ruth will be our morning plenary speaker on Thursday and Friday of Pagdiriwang. She will speak humbly from the experiences she has been through to oversee a group of ministries which God is using to help the last become first and allow even the most disenfranchised to experience a bit more of heaven on earth. Join us in praying for Ate Ruth as she listens to what God would have her say to us.

Registration is Open!

Now is the time to register for Pagdiriwang! Whether you are a microfinance practitioner, a volunteer associated with a microfinance organization, or a guest planning to attend the best celebration on the planet, you need to register.  Registration remains open until September 15, 2015.  Click here to register - it takes just a few minutes. See you in the Philippines!

Get Ready to Celebrate!

"The kingdom is near."  What great news!  And followers of Jesus from around the world will be gathering at Pagdiriwang in the Philippines in November 2015 to celebrate.

The Center for Community Transformation (CCT) has been used by God as a global leader in pushing back the gates of hell and extending the kingdom of heaven to the poorest of the poor.  As God leads and strengthens them, the last are becoming first.  Perhaps as an even greater sign of the kingdom of heaven being near, many of the first are becoming willing to become last.

CCT has many partnering organizations (endPoverty, Five Talents, HOPE International, PEER Servants, and more) who, in turn, partner and oversee Christian microfinance programs around the world.  This global family has seen God do great things while yearning with Him for even greater things in the years ahead.

Pagdiriwang is an event to celebrate what we have seen and experienced, while gathering to be encouraged and equipped to eventually see what we have not yet seen.

Future posts will capture the developments pre- and post-celebration.  Get ready to see God do great things in our midst.  Get ready to celebrate!