Calvin College
Faith & International Development Conference
From February 5-7, 2009 over four hundred and fifty people from the United States, Canada, and overseas joined together for the fourth annual Faith and International Development Conference at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan to learn about the topic of partnership, a simple, vitally important practice in international development, but one that has many faces and is difficult to achieve. Attendees met with representatives of eighteen faith-based NGOs, including the four main sponsors of the conference, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Food for the Hungry, Partners Worldwide, and World Vision to hear what they have learned about partnership and how they practice it. Each organization shared with students its unique way of living out the call to love our neighbors and end poverty. Keynote speakers Daniel Rickett of Sisters in Service, Abikok Riak of World Vision, Moises Moraga Amador of Diakonia of Sweden, and Katherine Marshall of World Faiths Development Dialogue, discussed diverse aspects of partnership as they have experienced it in their own organizations and their own lives. The relationships between Northern and Southern organizations, international and grassroots organizations, donors and recipients, and Christians and non-Christians were issues each speaker sought to explain and clarify for the next generation of development leaders.
Partnering in service to others around the world takes many forms, and conference attendees could choose from more than fifty different breakout session presentations that focused on such topics as HIV/AIDS, agronomy, community development, peacebuilding, micro-finance, government advocacy, human rights, short-term missions, and environmental preservation. Plenary and breakout sessions were followed by plenty of ongoing conversations at mealtimes, around organizational tables and in the coffee house. A creative activism meal highlighting the reality of hunger and the food crisis also generated lots of food for thought and discussion. In addition, this conference was complimented by two nights of energetic concerts where musical guests K’naan and The Psalters performed.
A team of Calvin students comprised of two directors, twenty committee members, and twenty other volunteers invested time and energy behind the scenes all weekend to make this important gathering a reality. Co-director Isaac Fuchs said, “Although we only had three days together, the point of this conference was to help students explore the field of international development, find an issue they can be passionate about, and then make a connection with organizations who share that vision and goals. We may not know how this weekend influenced everyone who came, but I am confident it led many to recognize our responsibilities as citizens of the world along with our potential to collectively overcome challenges presently faced by the international community."