Stories and ideas about being in harmony and at peace with Others.
I am humbled by this embrace by Bae Jerlina Owok who adopted me as her daughter. This gift of relationship with the Tagabawa Bagobo people became possible only by the Creator’s grace. I pray that this connection would help bridge the Indigenous Peoples of the North and of the South towards a solidarity of all the aboriginal peoples in this whole archipelago. May my life be one of the funnels of this blessing that would unify our multicultural peoples in this rich and beautiful land.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/09/as-a-native-of-banao-tribe-i-was-embraced-by-the-tagabawa-bagobo-tribe/
Last 15-17 August 2019, our Ina, Joji ‘Lakambini’ Pantoja, represented the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP) at a social enterprise policy forum held at the Office of the Chief Minister, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Cotabato City. Ina made a presentation before key members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), other social enterprise practitioners, and academicians.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/08/pbci-cfp-includev-consultant-participates-in-fostering-social-enterprise-in-barmm/
The Tagabawa Tribal Council of Barangay Alegre welcomed the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee For Peace (CFP) to establish a model coffee farm in their area. We went through the process of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) as required by law. The municipal, provincial, and national authorities protecting the Indigenous Peoples’ rights gave their respective affirmations and blessings to this project.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/08/barangay-alegre-tribal-leaders-welcome-pbci-cfp-includev-team/
Wanay S. Baluyan, a native of Banao Indigenous People from Kalinga Province, is defending her final paper to conclude a two-year internship under the PeaceBuilders School of Leadership (PBSL) program. She’s a Registered Nurse and chose to serve her community and the Cordillera People in their journey towards genuine autonomy and self-determination.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/08/woman-from-banao-indigenous-people-in-kalinga-province-graduates-from-pbsl/
Our teams at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee For Peace (CFP) are being led, spiritually, to work with the leaders of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) who seek The Creator’s heart and who walk with what we mutually understand as The Creator’s just and peaceful statutes as they serve as stewards of their ancestral domains and as they struggle to realize their right to self-determination. This spiritual perspective of partnership govern the inclusive development strategies we practice in the field.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/08/the-partnership-between-the-talaandig-indigenous-people-and-pbci-cfp-is-renewed-and-enhanced/
This 2nd Global Mennonite Peacebuilding (2GMP) Conference and Festival was truly a pilgrimage of sorts. We all affirmed that we are on a common journey seeking to be faithful witnesses of the Kingdom of God and embodying Jesus’ way of Peace as we engage many challenges in bringing about Just-Peace in our different contexts.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/07/a-pilgrimage-of-justice-and-peace-my-personal-reflection-on-2gmp/
Third Way communities are usually called to be mediators and must be faithful to provide a safe space and a neutral team of facilitators for both sides of the parties-in-conflict to engage in authentic dialogue. Please do not shoot the bridge-builders! Please respect the calling of the bridge-building Third Way communities.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/07/please-respect-third-way-bridge-builders-in-our-divided-societies/
As we plan through the second half of 2019, our leadership team at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) continues to explore the possibility of partnership with Energy Development Corporation (EDC). I believe that EDC’s mission — “to provide present and future generations a better life with clean and renewable energy” — is in line with our economic-ecological transformation principles at PBCI.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/07/pbci-and-edc-explore-partnership-based-on-economic-ecological-transformation-principles/
Lakambini (aka Joji Pantoja) travelled to Amsterdam from 23 June to 02 July 2019 as part of her duties as Chair of the Peace Commission of the Mennonite World Conference. In that capacity, she welcomed the participants at the 2nd Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference and Festival.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/07/lakambini-represents-pbci-at-a-global-peacebuilding-conference-and-festival-in-amsterdam/
At the 2019 Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP), Dr. Gordon Zerbe and Lakan Sumulong teamed up in teaching “Justice, Peacebuilding, and a Theology of Struggle.” Dr. Zerbe provided the theological and theoretical frameworks and analyses. Lakan shared his peacebuilding field stories. Their 12 students, who came from 8 countries, gathered in Winnipeg last 17-21 June.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/06/the-canadian-school-of-peacebuilding-invites-lakan-to-share-pbci-cfp-stories/
Nonviolence is not a fluffy ideal full of rainbows and happily ever afters. It is also not a beautiful dream of the oppressors and oppressed singing Kumbaya together. It is a science that is carefully planned as much as an art that listens deeply to the Kairos moments. It digs deep into a sacredness bigger than myself.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/06/to-love-our-enemies-choosing-nonviolence-while-wailing-out-against-injustice/
Last year, we were invited to listen to local folks from a coffee farming community in Central Mindanao. They expressed their desire for a long-term inclusive development initiative. We shared our social entrepreneurial approach framed in Peace and Reconciliation (PAR). Soon, more coffee farming communities have invited us to work with them.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/06/par-seeds-are-well-planted-among-coffee-farmers-in-central-mindanao/
Together with Mennonite Church Canada Witness and our international peacebuilding partners, we journey in companionship, nurturing relationships that strengthen our collective commitment to justice, reconciliation, and lasting peace.
