For three weeks, young leaders from across Asia stepped beyond the classroom and into communities in the southern Philippines, turning formation into encounter, faith into service, and hope into action.
Held from September 17 to October 4 across Zamboanga City, Basilan Province, and Zamboanga Sibugay, the Mission Project carried “Hope in Action: Go, Inspire” and the theme “Pilgrims of Hope. Walk with Christ in Love and Service.” The 16-member delegation comprised 12 participants, one intern, and three staff members from South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
“Hope is not only something we proclaim. It is something we live. Mission is not only something we do. It is something we share. Formation becomes meaningful when it leads us to encounter and service.”
The project was undertaken in partnership with the Claretian Missionaries of the Fr. Rhoel Gallardo Province and the provincial SOMI Team, with Fr. Arvin B. Bellen, CMF, and Br. Joseph Roy D. Villarin, CMF, accompanying the delegation.
Hope Becomes Encounter
The journey began on September 17 with a courtesy visit to the Zamboanga City government, where Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary Celso Lobregat shared about the city’s heritage, culture, history, branding, and language traditions.
As they began their Mission Project journey, the participants also paid a courtesy visit to Most Rev. Julius S. Tonel, Archbishop of Zamboanga. His warm welcome and sharing offered an encounter with a Church that walks with its people and serves with love.
The encounters continued on September 18 at Claret School of Zamboanga City, where a campus tour and cultural exchange created spaces for friendship, faith, and fellowship. That evening, the 12 IFFAsia participants gathered with the Claret Youth Ministry (CYM) to reflect on Matthew 20:1–16, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
Coming from different countries, cultures, and experiences, they reflected on how easily people compare their journeys with others and on grace freely given. The evening brought the Mission Project back to a simple but important invitation: to listen and have the courage to answer when God calls.
Encounter Becomes Formation
From Zamboanga, the journey continued to Basilan, where encounter took on a more personal and intercultural character.
At San Vicente Ferrer Parish in Tumahubong, the delegation spent September 19 and 20 with the Claretian Youth Ministry–Tumahubong (CYM-Tumahubong). Personal sharing, games, challenges, and an “Asia Tour” brought together young people from different cultural backgrounds, creating opportunities for intercultural dialogue, friendship, and solidarity.
The participants also entered young people’s everyday spaces through their encounters with local schools. At Claret School of Tumahubong on September 21, Principal Agnes B. Rabaca welcomed the delegation, while IFFAsia Director Florence Alexius shared a message on becoming good youth leaders and keeping hope alive. Classroom visits, personal sharing, music, and dance allowed students and participants to connect beyond differences in language and nationality.
The mission later continued at Claret School of Maluso, Inc., where the delegation joined students and teachers through the SciMath Slogan and Painting Contest and a friendly soccer activity. An encounter with the local Claret Youth Ministry also gave the missionaries a chance to present a short skit showing how hope calls people toward love and service.
Across these encounters, the Mission Project became more than movement from one community to another. Each meeting created another opportunity to listen, share, and build relationships with the people who welcomed the participants into their schools, parishes, and communities.
Hope Meets Peace and Responsibility
The immersion also brought the participants into conversations about realities that called for deeper listening and responsibility.
On September 20, the delegation visited the headquarters of the 32nd Infantry (Daredevil) Battalion, 11th Infantry (Alakdan) Division, Philippine Army, in Barangay Tumahubong, Sumisip. The encounter introduced them to Basilan’s peace and security situation and the roles of communities, government, civil society, and other sectors in peacebuilding and community development.
LTC Gerwin T. Maghuyop, Commanding Officer of the 32nd Infantry Battalion, welcomed the encounter as an opportunity to share experiences and learn from one another, while helping visitors better understand the people of Basilan, their aspirations for peace, and the continuing efforts of different sectors to build stronger, more peaceful communities.
The journey later brought the delegation to the People’s Capitol, Basilan Government Center in Sta. Clara, Lamitan City, on September 24 for a courtesy visit with Governor Mujiv Hataman. The meeting created another space for engagement, knowledge exchange, and appreciation of different cultures and experiences.
Back in Zamboanga City, the Mission Project moved from conversations about peace and community toward the responsibility of creating safe spaces. On September 26, IFFAsia Batch 17 joined members of the Claret Youth Ministry of San Antonio Maria Claret Parish, along with young people and guidance advocates from Claret School of Zamboanga City, for a seminar-workshop on child protection and the safeguarding of minors and vulnerable persons.
The sessions explored child protection and safeguarding, including the protection of children, vulnerable adults, and elderly persons. Participants discussed the responsibility to respond to abuse and maltreatment and to refer cases requiring intervention to the appropriate authorities.
Through workshops, they identified rights bearers and duty holders within their communities and developed action plans to bring back to their parishes and dioceses. The concluding “River of Life” activity invited them to consider how what they had learned could become concrete action in their own communities.
Formation Becomes Mission
As the journey continued through Zamboanga City, Basilan, and Zamboanga Sibugay, the experiences widened beyond individual encounters. IFFAsia’s concluding reflection identified youth leadership, community immersion, cultural exchange, environmental action, service and outreach, safeguarding awareness, faith formation, interfaith dialogue, and encounters with local and indigenous communities among the dimensions of the Mission Project.
Together, these experiences brought Batch 17 back to the purpose of formation itself. What they had explored through learning and reflection they now encountered through people, communities, relationships, and different realities.
“May the hope we encountered in Zamboanga City, Basilan, and Zamboanga Sibugay continue to live in our hearts and move us to walk with Christ in love and service, wherever we are sent. Hope in Action. Go Inspire. Go Serve. Go Witness.”
At the close of the Mission Project, IFFAsia expressed gratitude to the communities, families, partners, missionaries, leaders, local government units, and friends who welcomed the participants, walked with them, shared with them, and opened their communities throughout the journey. Special thanks were extended to Rev. Fr. Arvin Bellen, CMF, and Rev. Br. Joseph Roy Villarin, CMF, for their welcome, accompaniment, presence, and dedication.
For IFFAsia Batch 17, the Mission Project brought the journey back to where it began: “Formation becomes meaningful when it leads us to encounter and service.”
