New Strategy for the Philippines
By Kent Craig
In September 1999 the ABWE-Philippines team met for three days
of prayer and strategic planning to chart a course for the next
decade. The driving force for their work in the future will be to
encourage and equip Asians to Reach Asia in cross-cultural ministries,
starting with local ethnic groups such as Chinese and Muslims, and
extending to nations throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. The Philippines,
perhaps more than other Asian nations, represents a tremendous pool
of potential Christian workers.
The Filipino Association of Baptist Churches has 1,500 member churches,
one-third of which were started in the past decade. The Philippine
church has demonstrated an ability to plant churches in their home
culture but needs to translate that capability to evangelize, disciple,
and start churches in cross-cultural contexts.
The Philippine Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (PABWE)
now in its fifth decade, has 20 missionaries serving in Thailand
and Cambodia. Today there is a need to supplement the traditional
approach to missions by equipping Christian workers to go to Creative
Access Countries. For seven decades ABWE missionaries have done
church planting IN the Philippines. Now they are trusting the Lord
to use multi-national teams FROM the Philippines to plant churches
in the new millennium.
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