TRANSFORMATION BEGINS IN SPIRITS

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
Mahatma Gandhi

Companions In Grace Foundation believes that many of us are receiving many blessings from God, as well as supports from the generosity of the people of the United States. Our way of showing gratitude is to learn to share what we have. How could we enlarge our heart with love in every day? Some of us provide support to local communities, charities, and nonprofit organizations. All are great, and we continue asking you to support whatever you can.

But there is the uniqueness of Companions In Grace Foundation that might help you to discern if this foundation would be a great asset for you to make real differences.

The uniqueness about Companions In Grace Foundation would be that:

• We pay special attention to long term approach, and strategic planning as the foundation for deciding which projects to pursue. For example, we prefer justice over charity.
• We look for potential, good leaders, and groups in Vietnam to nourish and support. These will then may be able to lead future growths and transform progressive visions to their local communities.
• We challenge the internal structures, organizations in Vietnam to encourage new way of behaving, thinking for process improvement.
• We based our missions on the Scripture, discern carefully which projects to support.
• We encourage professional development , as well as project management based on Project Management Institute in our Vietnam projects.
• We support the connection between the giver and the receiver. We do believe that this approach would be a win-win situation.

Our past projects in Vietnam include:

• Provide financial supports to novices of two religious orders the chances to reach their God-given potential. With our financial supports, the novices would be able to pursue college educations, and had time to discern God's call for their vocations. In the long run, when these novices would become nuns, their well training formations would be able to help the poor, and bring good news of hope to many.
• Provide financial supports to an old complex that provided missionary works to the poor, and shelters to rural students that came to town to study at nearby colleges. By providing this basic human need, we strengthened a religious order in effective missions, provided better physical conditions for poor students to study, and created jobs for some. Our hope will be that all will become role models for future generations, and find stable jobs to support families.
• Provide financial supports to buy precious lands so that future house or office could be build to serve as a center to the poor. Also, these places could be utilized later on to evangelize, or for the economic self-sufficiency of the religious order.
• Provide financial support to nuns for co-discernment of how to best served their needs. We believed in the empowerment of women, and have the flexibility to listen to their concerns and needs in changing our original plan.
• Provide financial support to conduct business analysis and project management before building a new church. By doing so, we encouraged and set up new standards in professional development and management.
• Provide spiritual directions, guide retreats. We updated spiritual development in Vietnam with latest approach. Our hope would be that retreatants as well as directees would experience some things new, would appreciate progressive elaboration, would learn better leadership style, and would allow the Holy Spirit to work in them. In the long term, our objective would be a commitment to help young people develop a social consciousness that is rooted in Jesus Christ, scripture and Christian social teaching, to foster in them a greater awareness of all peoples as one human family, and to provide the skills and resources that lead them to use their unique gifts as agents of change in Vietnam.

The companions in Grace Foundation has great dreams in helping Vietnam. However, our dreams might be challenged by some underlying issues:

1. State Intervention and government ownership that lead to inequality.
2. Difficulty of getting recourse through law.
3. Internal structures that are afraid to reform.

If you have experienced or researched on these issues, and found peaceful solutions, we would like to listen.

Companions of Grace Foundation is a professional group that always looks for creative approach, bold action and sound reform.

Please contact us if you would have any suggestions.

For donation please click the following button.

Our sincere thanks.

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