Regional Snapshot

Regional Snapshot
Philippines
Faithfully Walking in the Midst of Turmoil

By Eugene Guzon, National Director,
and Rex Dela Pena

QUEZON CITY, Philippines—The Philippines are home to 85 million Filipinos, most of whom profess Catholicism as their faith. A minority are evangelical Christians and Muslims.

Medical mission

As a people, we have always struggled with political turmoil, natural or manmade disasters, and poverty. Against the backdrop of many difficulties, God has blessed his work of spreading the good news to more and more people in the Philippines, and to many others through Filipinos overseas.

Our country is hardly a conspicuous spot on the map, but it is easy to find Filipinos in the different capitals of the world. One out of 10 (eight million) work overseas.

We have more than 100,000 doctors, nurses and caregivers in many nations, and a quarter of a million seafarers manning the world’s commercial and luxury ships. We are among the software engineers in Europe and America, the construction engineers and office workers in the Middle East.

Baptism

Because of our inherent love for music and the arts, we are found in many entertainment centers and programs such as in Las Vegas and in television’s American Idol show.

Every day, about 3,000 Filipinos leave this country in search of greener pastures. For most it isn’t a matter of choice, but a difficult decision to survive—to support the basic needs of their families, such as food, education for their children, and a modest home.

The national economy is boosted by the dollar remittances of overseas workers. Once the envy of its Asian neighbors for its abundant natural resources and advancement in certain technologies, the Philippines now lags behind and grapples with an anemic economy and a burgeoning foreign debt. We barely survive with a per capita income of US$1,100. This is made even more fragile by the political turmoil that grips the country.

In the face of these realities, eking out a living for the daily survival of his family becomes topmost priority for the average Filipino. Often, this is to the neglect of more important values—spending quality time in the home, and putting God in the center of all his struggles by devoting his life and resources for the furtherance of the gospel. Where does this leave the Filipino Christian, particularly members of the WCG?

Walking forward

God’s work through us here is a testimony of his power and sustaining grace. In Hebrews 12:1, we are told to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” We cannot do this by our own might or power, but only by the Spirit of the living God (Zechariah 4:6).

We are a people with little strength, utterly powerless in the face of endless national and personal battles that confront us day after day. But God is good, and his strength is magnified in the weakness of those who trust in him.

Always, we see a silent testimony of the Lordship of Jesus Christ somewhere in the country. A new WCG church is planted every two months. Two sinners commit their lives to the Lord every day (an average of 650 a year) and two new people are deployed to the mission field as tentmakers every year.

The church in the Philippines operates on a modest financial resource. By grace however, God provides in different ways—through members locally, through sponsors, friends and sister churches here and abroad, and through volunteer workers and leadership teams. To everyone, thank you very much indeed! Your generous support made possible the nurturing of existing congregations and the birth of new churches.

Empowering training
and leadership development

The greatest assets God continues to provide us are people who are willing to be trained and to serve. The WCG has 80 churches and 44 outlying Bible studies and outreach areas. We nurture a total of 4,836 members. Only three of the 80 congregations have full-time pastors. Five part-time pastors and about 62 volunteer pastoral teams lead the rest of the churches.

In place of a salaried pastor, competent members are selected to compose the pastoral team. It is headed by a chairman who in many cases is an ordained elder. The pastoral teams are mentored and supervised by the area superintendent and ultimately, the national director.

We are also committed to disciple and equip our young people. About 32 percent of our members are young people. Our Summer Enrichment Programs (SEP) are evangelistic and designed to win young people to Christ.

This year, 375 campers attended five SEP sites. One hundred three young people committed to Christ in baptism. Joshua Generation conferences and the Clayground Youth Ministry provide for the nurture of our young converts. Here, continuous equipping is given for personal formation, spiritual leadership development and ministry.

We provide venues to mentor our women as well. This year, we have had two conventions for women. More than 271 participants from different areas of the country benefited from these activities.

We have combined worship celebrations where members from different congregations gather to enjoy extended periods of worship, learning, fellowship and quality time with the family. These worship celebrations include outreach activities to sow the seeds for church planting in the community.

Several congregations are pursuing opportunities to minister to the needs of the community in a sustained and holistic way through livelihood training, youth development, values formation seminars, prison ministries, relief and rehabilitation efforts during disasters and occasional medical missions in the poor communities. Twenty-four churches have their own outreach programs, including seven prison ministries.

We have church training for evangelism and missions. To date, we have 256 graduates of the Condensed World Missions Course, and 11 tentmakers have been commissioned to countries such as the United States, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, India and Vietnam.

Making sandwiches

Thirty-five churches are actively supporting our missions effort. This is our response to the financial constraint of sending full-time missionaries overseas. Subject to the availability of support, a number of volunteer tentmakers are willing to go on tentmaking missions overseas. We had an inspiring send-off commissioning where one elderly missionary said these poignant words: “I looked at my withered hands and said to God, if you can still use these hands in India, then I will go.”

Thrusts and challenges

Realizing that we live in perilous times and should do God’s work with greater zeal (2 Timothy 3:1-5), we realize the need for the following: greater intensity for prayer and discipleship; focused, sustained and creative strategic missions and evangelistic activities; continued leadership development and training of pastoral teams and youth leaders; strategic partnership with members, benefactors and sister churches to initiate and sustain our evangelistic and missionary efforts; and promotion of more inspiring and relevant worship experiences.

Our vision in the Worldwide Church of God Philippines remains clear: a spiritually vibrant, viable and visible church, led by Jesus Christ in making a difference for the kingdom of God. God’s work is a work of faith. It is a work in synergy with people who believe that peace and well-being can come only with God’s way of life faithfully lived and shared with others.

We thank our worldwide church family for their many expressions of love and support. Please remember the Philippines and the work that we do in your prayers.

Our nation is in dire need of God’s forgiveness, healing, renewal and national reconciliation. The Bible says clearly in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

We continue to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain our passion and to strengthen our resolve to walk with and serve alongside our Master, Jesus Christ.