DAWN Fridayfax 1996 #8

DAWN News from Philippines (Special issue)

Philippines: 20 percent of the population are evangelical Christians

Leading church-growth researchers and Christian leaders agree that one of the longest and most fruitful Christian awakenings is happening in the Philippines. Even though the evangelical president Ramos has been unable to solve many of the problems, the country is experiencing encouraging economic growth. Even more encouraging, though, is the growth of Christianity among the 70 million inhabitants of the nation's 7,100 islands.

In 1974, the country's Christian leaders joined together in the "DAWN 2000" movement, with the aim of growing from 5,000 evangelical churches at that time to 50,000 in the year 2000, which means that there will then be an evangelical church in every village and district (Barrangay). The heads of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) believe that 20 percent of the inhabitants are now evangelical Christians.

29,000 evangelical churches

The number of evangelical Christians has grown at a consistent rate of 8 to 10 percent per year over the last 22 years, and the number of evangelical churches is now estimated at 29,000. Chito Navarro, one of the PCEC's leaders, points out that currently only 33% of the Philippine villages have an evangelical church. A new national survey is being prepared in order to determine the current state of the churches to enable further strategic decisions on the way to reaching the goal of bringing the gospel to the whole population.

Bible readings in the daily papers

The presence of Christian churches is felt everywhere: from public transport, where there are colourful posters declaring "Jesus is Lord", "God is love" to the innumerable fellowships ranging from simple churches in small huts to large air-conditioned complexes. One of the secular daily papers, "The Truth", regularly prints reports and headlines about Biblical themes and even includes an edition of the widely-known Bible reading "The Daily Bread".

The largest evangelical church is currently the "Jesus is Lord" fellowship, led by Eddie Villanueva, an ex-politician. In only 15 years, the fellowship has grown from 8 to 200,000 members meeting in 400 churches throughout the country.

"Evangelical Catholics": up to 300,000 visitors per week

In the last 5 years, "El Shaddai", a Catholic laypeople's movement with a strong evangelical tendency has sprung up in Manila. The movement meets in a park for open-air services attended by between 200,000 and 300,000 people each week. Many people arrive on Saturday evening in order to reserve a good spot. The services are broadcast on national television and include many personal testimonies about Jesus. The missionary Wolfgang Fernandez reports that on the day he saw one of the broadcasts, a teenager testified about a bodily healing and an army major spoke of his relationship to Jesus. According to evangelical leaders in Manila, the Cardinal tolerates the movement even though he does not completely agree with it.

Mandaluyong: how to win a city

The pastors of this district of Manila are convinced that the best way to be salt and light in their area is to involve the body of Christ in every aspect of life. Their aim is clearly to win every one of the city's inhabitants for Christ. It all started in February 1979, when a normal Christian had a vision in which he felt called to reach his city for Jesus. He started a church, which grew to 300 members by 1987, at which time, he says, Jesus again spoke to him calling the church "to reach the city for Christ." The first local pastors' meeting took place in 1990, which rapidly became an "Interchurch Servanthood" after the pastors, together with their wives, pledged to be partners in service and to serve one another. They invited the city mayor to a meal and offered to pray for him, which he gladly accepted. Following prayer, he asked the pastors to come to his offices every Thursday morning to pray for the governing body.

Christians control the traffic

In 1992, following the local March for Jesus, the city was expressly dedicated to Christ in a public ceremony, and the mayor symbolically gave Jesus the key to the city. Members of the city's Christian churches now volunteer to assist at the city's crossroads, guiding the traffic in the overloaded streets and helping the stressed drivers to relax by creating more order. In addition, some Christians have set up a project to plant and care for trees along the city's most important streets. In 1994, pastors were invited to gives lectures about morality and ethics to the city's police officials, and in July of that year, the mayor and his wife decided to follow Jesus.

Source: various, Wolfgang Fernandez, and Mandaluyong Pastors Association, Manila, Tel. 5331099

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