Repair Work on Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center Begun

Repair and clean-up work has begun at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center which  is temporarily closed after suffering damage due to Typhoon Glenda (international name Rammasun).

Glenda battered Southern Luzon where Tagaytay City is situated during the early hours of July 16, damaging the roofs and ceilings of the retreat center's dormitory buildings, shattering windows and glass doors, and toppling trees.

CCT President Ruth Callanta said, "Through all this we rely on God's grace and heed his command in I Thessalonians 5:16 - 18 that we are to 'Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will  in Christ Jesus'."

"We will build back better, making TRTC a more comfortable and welcoming venue for a wide range of functions and activities."

Native Crafts Sold at TRTC Pasalubong Center

Native crafts made by community partners of the CCT Savings and Credit Cooperative are sold at the Pasalubong Center of the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center (TRTC). Items for sale include inaul cloth woven by Maguindanao women, pandan fiber ladies' bags from Calatrava, Negros Occidental,  B'laan blouses with beadwork, and coconut byproduct knickknacks.  The items are  made or sold by recipients of microfinance loans.  Tagaytay souvenir t-shirts printed by former street dwellers assisted by the  Kaibigan Ministry are also available .

TRTC offers a cool, peaceful, and spacious setting for conferences, retreats, association meetings, workshops, seminars, and the like.  Church and ministry groups, schools, and corporate teams are welcome.  

For inquiries and booking information, please get in touch with Eva Lope, CCT partners development officer / CCT servant, at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, and 8066912.

Solar Energy Lights Retreat Center Huts

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center has several grass-roofed bamboo huts that may be used as additional space for  activities such as  small group devotions, prayer, sharing, or discussions or camp staff meetings. The huts are illuminated by solar lamps at night.

Each hut is equipped with a solar panel...

...that recharges the battery in this lamp. 

Some of the buildings at the retreat center were built by former street dwellers being ministered to by Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries.  Read the heartwarming story of one changed life HERE and HERE. 

For information on the CCT Group of Ministries, its programs, and target beneficiaries,  please visit  cct.org.ph.

Photos by Ciara Tan

Retreat Center Has New Building, Features

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center has a brand new building and several new exciting outdoor features for both children and adults.

The new building, an octagonal structure nicknamed Pabilyon, houses a snack bar on the ground floor and a game room on the second floor.

Recently-added outdoor facilities are two basketball / volleyball courts, amphitheater-style seating, a children's play area (http://ccttagaytay.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post.html), exercise machines, and a trampoline.  An obstacle course will also soon be completed.

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center is run by the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of  Ministries and is ideal for conferences, workshops, seminars, and similar activities.

The Pabilyon and a few other buildings at the retreat center were built by former street dwellers being ministered to by CCT.  Read the heartwarming story of one changed life here:  http://cctsikhay.blogspot.com/2012/04/weve-been-blessed-say-former-street.html

For rates and booking information, please contact Eva Lope, CCT partners development officer / CCT servant, at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, 806-6912, and 654-2536. For information on the CCT Group of Ministries, its programs, and target beneficiaries,  please visit  cct.org.ph.

In keeping with the CCT aim of preserving Filipino arts and traditions, the snack bar features
 Vigan-inspired design, low tables, and native mats.   The low tables are called dulang which were used
 by Filipino families during pre-colonial periods.

The capiz paneling of the counter is another feature that reminds one of Filipino ancestral homes.
http://365greatpinoystuff.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/101-capiz-windows/  

Guests may write prayer requests on Post-It notes and stick them on this
prayer wall.  Prayer items will be prayed about by the retreat center staff and
construction workers during their daily morning devotions. 

Games to be enjoyed on the second floor include table tennis, darts, billiards, air hockey, table football (foosball),
x-box, and board games.   

The trampoline. Beyond providing lots of fun, trampolining strengthens muscles and enhances coordination
and flexibility.

This set of  amphitheater-style seats adjacent to the Pabilyon  is an excellent area
 for an early morning worship service.   

Photos by Ciara Tan

Retreat Center Has New Play Area for Children

Young visitors to the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center can pretend to be Tarzan swinging through the jungle or the captain of a ship or an explorer climbing a rope ladder or  Queen Esther or whatever exciting role their young minds can imagine... when they're playing at the Rainbow playground.

A recently-installed swing set has a colorful canopy and flags, a slide, a tire swing, two belt swings, several ladders, a ship captain's wheel, a climbing wall, a knotted rope with disc, and a pair of binoculars -- all ensuring hours and hours of outdoor fun for the younger set.

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center, run by the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries,  is an ideal venue for church- and school-related activities.  For rates and booking information, please get in touch with  Eva Lope, CCT partners development officer / CCT servant, at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, 806-6912, and 654-2536.

 For information on CCT's programs and target beneficiaries, please visit  cct.org.ph.

Photos by Ciara Tan

Night Sky Watching Event Held at Retreat Center

Jupiter and its  moons.
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/34486353@N07/6123875554/in/photostream

More than 350 teachers got a chance to view Jupiter and its four moons, as well as a star cluster in the constellation Sagittarius during the first ever night sky watching event at the CCT Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center. 

The activity and was led by Mr. Roland Beard,   author of Astronomical Observing from a Biblical View, a practical curriculum for observing the heavens, during the Institute for Foundational Learning's (IFL) Third National Educators' Conference

“The heavens were created by God to be seen.  They display His power and attention to detail,” says Mr. Beard who earlier this year trained several IFL staff and teachers on how to reach people with the Gospel by leading them in observing the heavens from a Biblical view.

Pairs of trained staff set up five telescopes all the while explaining their basic features and rules for use. The teachers then lined up to take turns looking at planet Jupiter and at star cluster M22 through the scopes and through binoculars.

M22 is a globular star cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It is made up of more than half a million
stars. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1
Photo source: http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/330838/view

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center is managed by the Center for Community Transformation. Some of the buildings here were built by former street dwellers being ministered to by CCT.   Read the heartwarming story of one changed life here:  http://cctsikhay.blogspot.com/2012/04/weve-been-blessed-say-former-street.html

For information on the CCT Group of Ministries, its programs, and target beneficiaries,  please visit cct.org.ph.

Center Hosts First Teleteaching Session

Rob Martin in Seattle, Washington speaking to Cross Philippine Partners' Conference attendees
in Tagaytay.

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center hosted its first teleteaching session on September 6, 2011 during the Cross Philippine Partners' Conference held on September 3 to 7 .  The lecturer was Rob Martin of First Fruit Inc.(http://www.firstfruit.org/institute) who spoke on The Communion of Giving and Receiving and The 10 Principles of Biblical Fundraising from his home in Seattle, Washington.

In the audience were 46 delegates from organizations ministering to micro entrepreneurs, orphans, out-of-school youth,  lepers, and the poorest of the poor. The organizations represented were:

• Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
• Gawad Kalinga
• Daughters of Wisdom 
• Friendship Home 
• Franciscan Missionaries of Mary
• Kamama Foundation
• International Care Ministries 
• Cross International
• Center for Community Transformation  

The conference was hosted by Center for Community Transformation and convened by Dave Larson, Cross International's international projects manager-Asia and Near East. .

Brother Luis Ortiz of Friendship Home...

...Brother Buboy who ministers to members of the Tala
Leprosarium...

...Mother Joan of  the Compassionate Franciscan
Sisters of the Poor...

....and Max Fabrecante of International Care Ministries
ask Rob Martin a question.  

Attentive audience.

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center is managed by the Center for Community Transformation. Some of the buildings here were built by former street dwellers being ministered to by CCT.   Read the heartwarming story of one changed life here:  http://cctsikhay.blogspot.com/2012/04/weve-been-blessed-say-former-street.html

For rates and booking information, please contact Eva Lope, CCT partners development officer / CCT servant at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, 806-6912, and 654-0536. For information on CCT'  programs and target beneficiaries, please visit www.cct.org.ph.

Photos by Myra Gaculais del Rosario 

Center for Community Transformation (CCT)

The Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries is an organized Christian response against poverty and social injustice.  This is carried out through the fusion of social development initiatives and evangelical mission in a uniquely Filipino context.  It serves urban and rural poor communities throughout the Philippines in pursuit of its desire to see changed lives, strong families, and transformed communities centered on the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  

It was founded in 1992 by development practitioners who believe that development strategies could best be achieved by enriching the spirituality of a person.  Over the years, the Lord has enabled the organization to deliver wholistic, sustainable, and integrated community-based programs and services that cater to the needs of the whole family.  These services have opened opportunities for the community partners to grow and reach their full potentials as individuals created in the image and likeness of God. 

VISION

We hope to see Christ-centered faith communities where Jesus Christ is honored and worshiped and where people live in dignity and sufficiency in accordance with God's plan for a just, humane, and caring society. 

MISSION

As followers of Jesus Christ, we join the Holy Spirit in God's work of transforming lives and communities. 

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

• Provision of wholistic and integrated services
• Training of servant leaders who will act as agents of transformation
• Establishment of community-based organizations/institutions composed of the poor themselves which will serve as instruments for action and change

DISTINCTIVE

• We are Christian. We do everything for the glory of God, according to Biblical principles.
• We are Filipino. The Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries was organized and is funded, governed, and managed by Filipinos.
• We are a Prayerful, Worshiping, Serving, Witnessing, Discipling, Learning and Teaching group

TARGET GROUPS

• Micro-entrepreneurs
• Informal Service Workers
• Street dwellers
• Children and Youth
• B'laans