・THE ASIA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FUND

April 2023 Issue 13

ACEF
News letterTOPICS＜Foreword＞ Dignity Education （Jeffrey Mensendiek）

Introducing the ACEF community: Shunichi Ueno, Yukiko
AbeInformation on payment system change and request toresubscribe to GOEN!
We welcomed a new member! (Chizuru Uesaka)
ACEF General Assembly meeting will be held on May 21
Call for donation: Youth Education at ACEF
BDP Newsletter (March 2023)
ACEF is participating in the Tokyo Women’s University
Festival Bazaar (scenes from volunteer work)
ACEF YOUTH: third meeting was held
※The PDF version of this newsletter is available on our hp.
URL https://acef.or.jp/mail_mag_2023march/※English version available on the homepage!

▶︎↑ Sunset and river in Bangladesh(2022 Study Tour)

Thank you for your continuous support for theACEF mail news! We are happy to update you
about our activities in Japan and Bangladesh.
Today, we hope to share with you 9 articles on
our recent activities/projects and upcoming
events, along with updates on what is currently
happening in Bangladesh.

Dignity Education Jeffrey MensendiekForeword“It has been three years since ACEF started working on Dignity Education. By
understanding Hick’s “dignity model”, we have been able to grasp dignity as apersonal matter and see it as a part of our daily lives. I think there were two findings
through the study of this dignity model. First is that the understanding of dignity isconnected to our personal lives. The other finding is that the issues regarding dignity
are actually fundamental issues to all of humankind. Every time I host a workshop, I
learn more about the meaning and depth of dignity education. This is just thebeginning of our journey together to create a society where everyone’s dignity isrespected. Why does ACEF take part in dignity education though? We will need tofind the words to answer this question at some point. One answer that I can currently
give now, is that the topic of dignity is gaining more recognition in the field ofinternational cooperation. For example, we can see it in the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. The issues of dignity are also relevant in Japan.
We must first be able to see the issues of dignity at work in our own personal lives.
Also, we cannot learn about dignity without the people of Bangladesh. We havereceived such a rich connection with the people of Bangladesh. “Why does ACEF get
involved in dignity education?” I believe the answer to this question is to be foundwithin the experiences we have had through our encounters with the people of1
Bangladesh.” (Jeffrey Mensendiek)

・April 2023 Issue 13

THE ASIA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FUND

ACEF Community

Shunichi Ueno & Yukiko Abefrom the Board of Trustees

ACEF’s Dignity Education Working Group““One of ACEF’s charms is its Study Tour. Encounters with the children, BDP staff, and theBangladesh society give us a new perspective for the world. However, one thing which has
always been there yet is not easily recognised is “Dignity”. A person cannot live alone. We feelgreater happiness when we communicate with others and sometimes face struggles as wegrow. Dignity education captures the essential core of relationships. All people are born with“dignity”. Realising and understanding others’ dignity allows us to cherish our own dignity,
too. The “C” in ACEF represents its Christian characteristic, and recognises how eachindividual person is loved by God. Through Dignity education, we are made aware of thevalue and preciousness of each person’s existence- which is often not fully expressed in otherterms such as “human rights”. The Dignity Working Group hopes to provide the purpose andprogram of Dignity education in this society.”(Shunichi Ueno, board of Trustees)

On ACEF’s Mission
I came in contact with ACEF and Bangladesh
during my time in university, and that waswhen I first learned to turn my eyes towards the“world” outside of my daily life. Since then, I
have continued a rich career centered oninternational cooperation and peace building,while being in close contact with others and thesociety.
My heart greatly resonates with ACEF’s new
mission and vision which values the attitude of“working together” and protecting the “dignity”of others.
How we approach our partner, I believe, is much more important than the content of activityor the amount of money. This attitude of “togetherness” communicates itself even withoutwords. The reason why ACEF and BDP have kept its work even until now is because of thiscontinual pursuit of this attitude of “working together” and truly valuing “dignity”. I want tocontinue to treasure these two keywords at ACEF, and also in myself.
(Yukiko Abe, board of Trustees)

We welcomed a new staff at the ACEF office!
“Hello, my name is Chizuru Uesaka, and I have started working as an office staff at ACEF
headquarters. Currently I am working with the Bangladeshi handicrafts inventory, and will
also take part in the fundraising work at ACEF, too. I really want to serve to create
opportunities and connections between the energetic and hopeful youths in Japan andBangladesh. We hope that our work will lead to the bright future of Bangladesh and Japan.
Thank you and please continue to support us.” (Chizuru Uesaka)

2・April 2023 Issue 13

THE ASIA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FUND

Information on payment system change andrequest to resubscribe to GOEN!
Along with the change in our membership management system, we are changing themembership payment system from “Syncable” to “GOEN”. The new payment
system “GOEN” is directly linked to the membership system. Thus this change willallow us to reach out to our supporters even more efficiently and without any
fallouts.
For the current members who are subscribed to Syncable, we ask you to resubscribe to GOEN. Please refer to the website for detailed instructions
https://acef.or.jp/news/re-entry-and-cancel/
Please also unsubscribe from Syncable from here
https://help.syncable.biz/hc/ja/articles/115003542393
We deeply apologise for the inconvenience. Please let the ACEF office know if you
have any questions. Thank you for your understanding and your support!

↓↓

ACEF General Assembly will be held on May 21
The 2023 ACEF member meeting will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2023. TheMembers Meeting (Kaiin no tsudoi) will also be hosted on the same day! Please lookforward to this special occasion. We will have a special guest, Mitu, a graduate from
BDP school to speak at the Members Meeting!
14:00-15:00 Members Meeting Kaiin no tsudoi(15:00-15:30 preparation for member meeting)
15:30-17:00 General Assembly▶︎General Assembly/ Members meeting sign up
https://forms.gle/KvijHrSkXWtQUPgSA

Announcement: BDP magazine (March 2023 issued)
BDP began the issue of their magazine to share more about their activities with theworld. The next issue is planned to be in April. This month’s magazine is available inJapanese as well! We hope to share about the situation at BDP, and am hoping for
you to feel more connected with the staff and students at BDP. Please check the HPfor the PDF file.

▶︎PDF is available on our HP: https://acef.or.jp/mail-magazine/
3

・April 2023 Issue 13

THE ASIA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FUND

Call for donation: Youth Education at ACEF
One of ACEF’s goals this year is to focus on supporting Youth Education/activities.
We have supported the connection building between the children in Bangladesh andyouths in Japan through our study tours and various activities. Now as we face therapid globalisation of the world, we have become more aware of the need for thepeople in Bangladesh and Japan to “live together”. We will continue to support theeducation of the youths in Bangladesh and Japan, and we ask for your support anddonations to make it happen.

Please help the Japanese youth grow throughtheir encounter with the children in Bangladesh
Call for donation for Youth Activities"I want to join the Study Tour but the fees are too expensive"
The Study Tour which used to cost 200,000 yen, has now increased to280,000. We ask for your help, so that we can support the youths who havethe passion to join the study tour, but are unable to due to financial
reasons. We hope to be able to support approx. 50,000 yen per participant.
We leave the amount of donation up to you, so please consider. This
donation will also be eligible for donation deduction.
Raising the youth is a part of ACEF’s mission
ACEF, as stated in our new vision statement, hopes and prays that theJapanese youths grow into people who are passionate about “being besidethe marginalised”. You may not be able to meet the children in Bangladesh
in person. However, you could share your passion with the youths who wish
to participate in our study tour through this Youth Education donation.
Raising youths who share the goal of facing the issues in Bangladesh andchoosing to “live together”, is an important part of ACEF’s vision. Please
donate! Please access the donation site via QR code:3

・April 2023 Issue 13

THE ASIA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FUND

ACEF is participating in the Tokyo Women’s
University Festival Bazaar

On Saturday, April 29th, ACEF is participatingin the Tokyo Women’s University Festival
Bazaar (Enyuukai, hosted by alumni) andcontributing with our Bangladesh handicrafts
shop. The Handicraft working group member
and ACEF Youth volunteers will be at the standselling our goods so please come by! (the event
will be held from 11:00-16:00)

ACEF Youth ACEF YOUTH：third meeting→

What is ACEF Youth?
At ACEF, many youths from a wide age range of youths are
participating in their field of interest. For example education, development, resolving
poverty, etc.. ACEF Youth is a group consisting of such members. We had our firstmeeting with the student volunteers. We are planning an online event on Saturday,
June 3, 16:00-17:30, so please mark your calendar and stay tuned for the details via
our social media!
At ACEF Youth, everyone's
passion and skills are used,
whether it is updatingsocial media, working withhandicrafts from
Bangladesh, etc... If you areinterested in taking part atACEF, please feel free tocontact us at the email
below!
email: public@acef.or.jp

find us onsocialmedia!

follow us→ https://linktr.ee/acef.ngo（Specified NPO）The Asia Christian Education Fund (ACEF)〒169-0051 Room 26, Nihon Kirisutokyou Kaikan, 2-3-18 Nishi Waseda, Shinjuku ku, Tokyo
tel 03-3208-1925 fax 03-6278-9180
Contact：Dedachi // Unsubscribe? Please contact: public@acef.or.jp

4