I feel very lucky to have been part of the Diocese of New Westminster’s delegation (DNW) to visit the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines (EDNP), our partner diocese. We left in the wee hours of July 31, touching down 14 hours later in Manila. After a day in Manila, we drove north to Bontoc and back again 7 days later (Bontoc is 10 hours from Manila along mostly zig-zagging roads). On the way there and in and around Bontoc we visited many churches and their congregations, weaveries, a museum and one seminary.
The delegation also included Nick Pang (Archdeacon of the DNW), Kaili Chiang (St. Francis in the Woods, West Vancouver), Shannon Muir (St. Agnes, North Vancouver), Rev. Arvin Amayag (St. Mary’s Sapperton), Rev. Simbarashe Basvi (St. David’s in Tsawwassen) as well as Archbishop John Stephens and his wife, Ruth.
A high point for us, of course, was meeting the Filipino people. They were delighted that we were visiting their country and wanted to show us around, feed us at every opportunity and ply us with gifts! They also wanted to hear all about our lives in Vancouver.
The Prime Bishop of the Philippines, Nestor Poltic, met with us in Manila. He spoke of life as “boring”—his word!—when there are no visitors. When we are surrounded by familiar people who think and see things much as we do, life can become stagnant. The arrival of a visitor shakes us up, bringing something new into our experience and opening the possibility for change.
Another highlight was the few days we spent at the Cathedral of All Saints, our Cathedral’s sister-church in Bontoc. All Saints is adjacent to an elementary and high school with neighbouring gardens. Many children stopped playing in their playground and approached us, wanting to talk!
In Bontoc we met Bishop Benny Lang-akan. He and his family have a continuing warm friendship with Archbishop John starting when he and Ruth first visited Bontoc in 2022 with the previous DNW delegation.
Bishop Benny visited Vancouver in December, 2024 when he preached at Christ Church Cathedral as well as meeting with students and faculty at the Vancouver School of Theology.
Another key person we met was Floyd Lalwet, a respected lawyer. Known throughout the Episcopal Diocese of the Philippines as “Attorney Floyd,” he is the Provincial Secretary and, among other things, provides legal counsel for all church matters.
He described at length a program within the Episcopal Church in the Philippines called Asset-Based Congregational Development (ABCD). This was a start-up program designed to help Indigenous and local communities grow and flourish by drawing on their own strengths and resources.
Local groups would first take stock of what they already had: the skills and abilities of individuals and the community, as well as the natural and material resources available in their environment. In other words, they began with their strengths rather than their deficiencies.
Next, community members would conduct feasibility studies to determine how these strengths could be put to their best possible use. A project might require a grant to get started, but the community would also develop a plan to "grant back" what it had received. Those funds could then be passed on to another project in need of support. In this way, the process became a continual cycle of receiving and giving back—hence the program's name: Receivers-to-Givers Policy.
Communities and associations managed their own funds. Attorney Floyd explained that this approach builds self-reliance rather than dependence. Instead of simply providing handouts, communities are given the opportunity to develop their own resources, manage their own projects, and eventually help others.
What kinds of businesses might emerge from the ABCD program? They could include weaveries, of which there were many, as well as businesses selling farm equipment or projects that brought solar power or clean water to communities.
The underlying idea was simple but powerful: start with what people already have and help them develop it; this enables them to become givers as well as receivers.
It was Attorney Floyd’s birthday the day we met him. With typical Filipino hospitality, he took our delegation and a few others out for dinner to celebrate.
All members of our DNW delegation agreed it was an amazing trip. The warmth from meeting the Filipino priests and congregations will stay with us. In the final days of our trip each of us was billeted with a smaller parish where we could share with its members something of our lives in Vancouver.
We are grateful for all the arrangements that Archdeacon Nick made with his Filipino counterparts so that everything went smoothly. Vans or cars had to be scrupulously organized for our travel along the rural mountain roads especially in the last days when we were all going back and forth to different places at different times.
On top of all this a typhoon blew through the area bringing strong winds and heavy rain, causing wash-outs to some of the roads. All members of the organizing group kept in the close contact so that alternative roads could be identified and used. Despite the bad weather we were transported safely to all our destinations and mostly on time!
We will never forget the hospitality and good will of our new friends in the EDNP and we hope that they will not forget us!
Images:
1:00 AM at the airport in Vancouver on July 31. From L to R: Nick, Susan, Rev. Arvin, Kaili, Shannon, Rev. Simba (we met up with Archbishop John and Ruth in Manila).
Archbishop John with Prime Bishop Nestor.
All Saints Cathedral in Bontoc.
Susan Koppersmith presenting Bishop Benny with a rosary made especially for him by Hannah Lupton of Christ Church’s Anglican Rosary Ministry (ARM).
Archbishop John and Attorney Floyd.