ABWE - Association of Baptists for World Evangelism

Date Entered: 1927

Major Ministries: Church planting, medical evangelism, theological education, urban evangelism, student work, and cross-cultural training.

The Philippine Republic, with her heritage of 350 years of Spanish rule, has become a promising democracy since 1946. Her population has exploded, even though only 700 of her 7,100 islands are inhabited, and vast areas of lush tropical lowlands await development. The centuries old, ingeniously engineered rice terraces still scallop the mountainous horizons of northern Luzon and are a symbol of great economic aspirations.

Long-term evangelism and related ministries have been used effectively, and through the efforts of Filipino pastors, laymen and missionaries, more than 1,500 indigenous churches have been started. The Filipino believers have organized their own local and national organizations, started their own home and foreign mission boards and many Christian schools.

ABWE established two training schools to prepare local citizens for church leadership. The Doane Baptist Bible Seminary is located in Iloilo, and the Baptist Bible Seminary and Institute is just outside Manila. These schools are autonomous with Filipino leadership, but both career and short-term missionaries assist with some teaching. Several other Bible schools have been started throughout the country. ABWE also works in partnership with Cornerstone University to provide graduate level degree programs for pastors and Christian workers through the Asia Baptist Theological Seminary. ABWE has made a commitment to continue to assist the national church with leadership education and development on all levels in both formal and non-formal modes.

Medicine has been a tool of evangelism in resistant and remote areas. Medical outreach began on the island of Mindanao in the Bethel Baptist Clinic, which has major surgical facilities. This medical ministry proved so effective that the islands of Leyte, Palawan and Panay now reap the dividends of established medical evangelistic facilities.

Millions of Filipinos have broken provincial family ties and moved to the cities. To reach these teeming masses of unevangelized Filipinos, ABWE missionaries have partnered with Filipino church-planters to help to establish churches in key urban centers.

The Philippines Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (PABWE) has been sending Filipino missionaries since 1964. And because the Philippines is strategically situated near many other unreached Southeast Asian countries, ABWE has encouraged a Filipino-led agency that is equipping professionals to become involved in missions to their Asian neighbors. ABWE missionaries continue to encourage and to train Filipinos for cross-cultural ministry.

All Protestant groups combined total only 6 million adherents. The country is 78% Catholic, 10% Protestant, and 5% Muslim, with the remainder embracing various other cults, sects, and Eastern religions.

The Philippines is a country open to the gospel, with a fruitful past and a promising future. This should be a challenge to well-trained, ambitious servants of Christ.