CFS Year End Report 2008

What a year 2008 was! It will be remembered for all time. For the Center For Sharing, 2008 was also a year of firsts…in opportunities, miracles, and with them, new challenges. This report will high-light the achievements of programs and major initiatives of CFS during 2008. In every program or initiative we take on, there is a common, overarching goal: to assist and aid in the development and advancement of servant leadership development among all touched by the endeavor.  We place our hope for the empowerment and peaceful co-existence of peoples all over the world ever more strongly in this movement, which is nothing more than the place-based practice of those values and principles that Jesus taught and lived.

Programs

Centro De Compartimiento:

This program was started in 2004. Lupe Perez, then CFS board member, was able to seed the vision of offering academic and personal leadership development opportunities for under-privileged girls in a residential setting, among several local leaders in the city of Juchitán, in the state of Oaxaca Mexico. Over the next year property was purchased, a home was built, a house mother hired, and college age girls recruited. In 2006 Kristin Lietz, who was also feeling called to work with girls in a similar environment, was able to rent a separate house, by doing some initial fund raising, and recruited some middle school aged girls to move in.

The last two years have focused on fine-tuning an organizational structure that engages the spiritual, social and academic needs and aspirations of our students. During this time, CFS U.S.A. has carried the financial responsibility for operating C.D.C. At the same time, our Mexican board staff colleagues have been trying to think of ways they could raise funds within Mexico. One of our board members, Dr. Jorge Lopez, owns a radio station. During 2008, he allowed the staff and students from CDC to host their own talk show on a weekly basis. This has increased awareness of the program throughout the Isthmus.  However, due to the fact that in Mexico, a non-profit organization must not only achieve non-profit status, but then also apply for the permit to legally solicit funds from the public, CDC was not able to provide donation receipts for any would-be donors. That challenge has finally been hurdled, when, two months ago, CDC finally received notification of its permit to solicit funds, praise to the Lord! We look for an increase of local participation in 2009.  

Brother's Keeper:

Marcus Parks came to us in March of 2008, in need of a place to live, and a path to pursue. Fred Escalera was living in our duplex at that time. As the year moved on, Fred was finally hired by the Pasco School District as a Para-pro. He moved out of the duplex. Carlos Reed moved in. Over the year Marcus has developed a growing passion to reach out to other guys who are feeling stuck in life. Currently we have 7 young men (the maximum possible) living in our duplex. Five are enrolled in CBC, and two are working.  In the coming year, we would like to find someone to work more closely with this program in the area of mentoring and coaching while continuing to increase their life-skills in areas from financial management to nutritional health for example. Through this program we have become more aware of how many young people in our community are stuck due to issues such as high debt coupled with un or underemployment, lack of supportive community, low self esteem due to baggage from the past that constantly threatens their preferred futures, etc.  

Servant Leadership Courses

Philippines:

We spent the month of April on Mindoro Island, an island south of Manila, at Mindoro Bible College. Their entire staff and student body participated in the course, along with 3 of us from U.S., and Dan Ballast. Dan works with the Marshall Christiansen Foundation teaching servant leadership internationally in academic institutions, lives in Philippines, and is married to a Filipina woman. Wilson Dumelod, minister of Theological Training, from Manila also participated in the course. A result of that course, 8 people are feeling called to birth a Philippine Servant Leadership School! This group has asked CFS to return in April 2009 to assist them in co-leading the course, as they look for ways to bring materials more relevant to the Philippine context where it would enhance the curriculum. The ‘students’ this year will be made up of the governing board of ministerial elders of the overseeing group, ABBCOP, which has a membership of some 600 churches. (And this year, Glenn says he will try to be more careful about staying out of the scorching sun!)

India:

CFS was invited to Hyderabad, India during October to present an overview of servant leadership and a couple of courses, for a group of marketplace leaders, all Christians. They were a very lively, intelligent, committed group. They kept trying to get us to stand up, use the microphone, and keep more control of the group.  We kept politely declining, except when the guru (who was seated on the top of several chairs stacked on top of each other) who was teaching next door got too loud…then we needed help a few times! Notes that we have received since returning home, are full of thank you's for the way that we included them as “teaching staff” in our interactive way of teaching. We are currently waiting for a formal evaluation by this group, and any recommendations they may have for future involvement with CFS. 

Transformation Sunnyside:

This is a new non-profit organization birthed in 2008 by a bi-cultural, bi-lingual coalition of Christian business people and church members. In a community made up of 76% Latinos, with 29% of students dropping out of their high-school, this is indeed gospel good news! There are huge challenges as they learn how to build trusting relationships among themselves, let alone how to draw in the greater community. But they are committed to the vision of making Sunnyside an inclusive, peaceful environment dedicated to the growth and empowerment of all its people.CFS was asked to assist during their formation period, as they recognized that CFS has been birthing small and larger communities around the practice of servant leadership principles for many years now, especially among the   marginalized and minorities. Currently CFS is serving as the fiscal agent for T.S. Roberto Matus as their executive director this year, has become a good friend to CFS. He co-led a plenary speech with Cheryl in Indiana in October, and is currently very busy leading introductory classes for small groups of farmers, police, education and social service sector owners, managers and employees between Yakima and Sunnyside. We are continuing to explore opportunities for collaboration around how to expand the promotion and practice of servant leadership in this region.

Gather 4 Him’s Corban College Intern Program:

Corban College has entered into an agreement with Gather 4 Him, a local youth ministry association made up of area churches to reach young people for Christ, and prepare them for Christian service. Interns may attend classes locally and receive credit through Corban College, an Oregon based institution. Bob Nash, Gather 4 Him director, asked CFS to teach a course on servant leadership starting January 2009. This course, which will be held on Fridays, winter term, grew out of a 4 week class Bob Nash and several youth ministers took with us on Servant As Leader.  Subsequently Bob invited CFS to hold a session in November at their fall conference for youth ministers and youth participants.

 The Collegium

This project took the entire year of 2008. However, we have finally moved in, and are preparing for a whole roster of activities to take place in 2009.  Many of the activities will be through CASA, the entity that sells lots at Tierra Vida, and provides a community organizer in the person of Janette Garcia. Janette, is bi-lingual, bi-cultural, and working on her masters in social work. A homeowners association has been formed, and as such, this group will be assisting the community to come up with ideas for activities.  CFS is the lessee for the building from Jubilee Foundation who owns the land and provided the funds to build the facility. As such, CFS is looking for a Café manager, including someone who can make coffees. We have had a few leads, but no commitments. Our hope for the café space is that it can provide a gathering place for conversation around good ideas to benefit the common good!       

     

To date, one gathering has been held there, in response to the tragic murder of Mr. Garcia, father of one of the families here at Tierra Vida. We were grateful to be able to provide a comfortable space for the community to come together, share their fears and hopes for a better future, which they did so beautifully.

All Done!