Peer Learning Group's Impact Goes Web-Wide!

Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen
April 2006

Peer-learning group coordinators in the CRC share their accomplishments at an annual meeting each November, but at least one peer-learning group is looking to the Internet to communicate what they’ve learned with an even wider audience.

Pastor Fernando del Rosario is the peer group coordinator for the Asian American Pastoral Ministry (AAPM) peer learning group. He’s been spearheading AAPM’s efforts to get their new web site (www.asiancrc.org) up and running. “We want our web site to be a simple and useful tool to help connect, strengthen, engage, and sustain more healthy and informed Asian CRCs today and in the future,” del Rosario says. The site includes:

  • Updates: What’s happening in Asian CRCs and among the members of the AAPM peer learning group.
  • Helpful Links to other web sites with information and resources on peer learning, mentoring, worship, ministry, and leadership.
  • A beautiful photo gallery featuring images from AAPM’sfour semi-annual meetings as well as photos from various Asian CRCs.
  • A file cabinet with more detailed information about the AAPM – for members and others interested in the group – featuring online access to the group’s minutes, learnings, and future plans.

Del Rosario wants the site to keep improving and is constantly gathering feedback on how it can be improved. “We want to format the site so it will be accessible and easy to navigate—a real help to busy pastors needing a quick and easy 'one-stop' source of information.”

 

But del Rosario and his peers also believe the impact of their site will reach well beyond the Asian CRC community. “We hope, and have been praying, that this website will be a good way to increase intercultural awareness among Asians and non-Asians in the CRC. We pray that it will lead to mutual encouragement, fellowship, and ministry support in our denomination,” he says. The 10 members of the AAPM, who represent six Southeast Asian people groups, hope the site will facilitate information sharing with denominational leaders, potential donors, and other funders of Asian ministry in North America.

Peer learning works, says del Rosario, and his group wants others to experience the power of peer learning in their lives and ministries. “God gave us the vision and mission to share the benefits of belonging to a peer learning group with others in the denomination,” he says. “Our group wants to be heard and known not only by the other Asian CRCs but also by non-Asian CRCs, classes, and denominational leaders and agencies. This is crucial if we’re to continue to nurture a strong and vibrant Asian community and raise greater awareness of our place and influence within the denomination as a whole,” del Rosario says.

 

One of the best things about the web site the AAPM has created, says del Rosario, is that it is sustainable long term. “Our site features a cheap but powerful web hosting service,” he says, noting that the hosting fee is less than $100 a year. “The site is simple and minimal in design, so there's no need for a costly web designer or tech expert.” In fact, del Rosario, a self-proclaimed web neophyte, manages the site updates himself.

Del Rosario knows the AAPM’s goals are ambitious, but he thanks God for all they’ve been able to accomplish so far. “In the future, we want to begin to collect and share stories, photos, and ministry best practices,” del Rosario says.