Population:
108 million
Evangelical population:
13.93%
People groups:
200
Unreached people groups:
30
Philippines
A vast archipelago with 22,549 miles of coastline, the Philippines is comprised of more than 7,000 islands bordered by the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, Celebes Sea, and Taiwan—directly north of the country. Approximately 700 of the islands are inhabited, with 11 containing the vast majority of the population. Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south are the two largest islands.
Prone to devastating typhoons, the Philippine islands are covered in mountains and tropical rainforests. Around 132 people groups live in the more remote mountainous areas. Philippine culture is a mix of Eastern and Western cultures, including Spanish surnames, towns, and streets; and the widespread use of the English language.
An officially secular state, the Philippines has a democratic government with freedom of religion. The Catholic Church is highly influential, with more than 80 percent of the population identifying as Catholic. A large number of Catholics, however, practice a syncretistic blend of Catholicism, animism, and witchcraft.
The Protestant population is rapidly growing, creating a huge need for trained church leaders. Thousands of rural congregations languish without adequate leadership, falling into unbiblical teaching and moral failure. Thousands of pastors struggle to survive on the meager offerings of their congregations, and many view formal training as an unaffordable luxury.
Approximately 5 percent of the population is Islamic, as Muslims from the southern island of Mindanao, a hotbed of radicalism, move throughout the country. Muslims succeeded in obtaining an independent Islamic state in Mindanao, where Christians have long faced hostilities from Islamic militants and Muslim family members. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), comprised of five provinces, is free from the national government. BARMM is ruled under sharia law that separatist terrorists such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have long sought, with drastic reduction of rights for non-Muslims, regarded as second-class citizens.
Mindanao’s population is more than 20 percent Muslim, with most centered in the BARMM provinces, where Islamic missionaries arrived nearly 200 years before Spanish Catholic colonization began in 1565. The U.S. State Department has warned against travel to Mindanao since January 2009.
Despite the danger, a Christian Aid Mission-assisted ministry has led people to Christ among nearly all of the Muslim-majority people groups in Mindanao. Other ministries who work in dangerous regions report that some of their missionaries were martyred for the sake of the gospel. Financial support strengthens them and helps the gospel spread in the most difficult circumstances. Other needs include Bibles, motorcycles for missionary transportation, projectors to show gospel films, and funding for training, children’s programs, radio programs, free medical and dental outreaches in poor villages, and livelihood projects.
Sources: Joshua Project, CIA World Factbook, Operation World, U.S. State Department
How to Pray for the Philippines
- Pray that there would be witnesses for Christ soon among every people group in the Philippines
- Pray for courage, protection, and provision for indigenous missionaries working on the frontlines in some of the most dangerous areas of the Philippines.
- Pray that God would bring His growing Church to maturity, providing necessary resources, opportunities, and trainers to root them in the foundations of God’s Word.
More stories from the Philippines
Assist With Missionaries’ Medical Outreach in the Philippines
During a recent four-day conference for native missionaries, the 250 participants not only committed to pursue God’s calling on their lives, but they also conducted house-to-house evangelism. Those they met during this outreach who had health issues or concerns were invited to come to the conference venue for a free medical check-up, where many received medicine and eyeglasses, if needed.
Lift Up Ministries In Difficult Circumstances in the Philippines
Missionaries are disheartened by men’s lack of engagement with evangelism efforts in Muslim communities. “The demographic phenomenon of women numbering twice as high as men among churches and Christian communities has become the number one challenge for our team,” a ministry leader said. Three of the ministry’s six teams are full of young women, which poses an evangelism challenge in a culture where men will only listen to other men on spiritual issues.
Share The Grace Of Christ in Sierra Leone
When ministry workers with one ministry met a pregnant teenager who lived on the streets, they learned she had fled her home to avoid marriage and female genital mutilation. They presented the gospel to her during an outreach event, and she joyfully accepted Christ. The church became her adopted family and even helped her with her medical bills after she gave birth.
Support Missionaries’ Gospel Work in the Philippines
To establish effective church plants in new villages, native Christian workers first integrate into the communities through helping the people create sustainable economic ventures. Missionaries provide farmers with fertilizer, seeds, beans, and tools, as well as livestock such as hogs, goats, or chickens.
Assist With Community Evangelism in the Philippines
Native missionaries established a friendship with the leader of a local tribe, which enabled them to conduct door-to-door evangelism throughout the community. Many people chose to follow Christ, and the next day, the missionaries organized a fellowship with all the new believers.
Help Church Plants Disciple Their Flocks in the Philippines
A ministry leader drove more than 100 miles on dirt roads to join in celebration with the congregation of one of the ministry’s church plants, which had organized a baptismal event along the Pacific Ocean for one of its families. Together, the mother, her husband, and their daughter were baptized in the ocean.