Mission Church: Fundamental Baptist Church Field: Jardin, Dumangas, Iloilo, Philippines Marital Status: Married
	Partner: Rick Martin, Pastor of Iloilo Baptist Church, Iloilo City, Philippines

Conversion Experience  

My uncle invited me to attend services with him at Pastor Lecerio Rubio’s church. I was touched by the message he preached, and when the invitation was given, I decided to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal Saviour on April 12, 1991. After the service, a member explained baptism to me, and I was baptized in the ocean one week later.

Calling and Preparation  

After the Lord called me to preach, Pastor Rubio encouraged me to attend Iloilo Baptist College. I learned the importance of serving God while attending college. I got involved in home Bible studies, home church services, Saturday extension classes for children, and soul winning. The Lord allowed me to help start the pier preaching ministry. As boats came across the island, we would preach to those waiting to cross to the other side. After four years of training, I felt prepared to work in His vineyard.

I began to feel burdened for the people in Dumangas. My wife had been praying for someone to be sent to this village, because she is a native.

The Field

Ninety-five percent of the people in Dumangas are Catholic and the others are Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, or Baptists. The population is approximately 56,000 and Dumangas is surrounded with forty-five smaller villages. The village we live in has vast rice lands. People are fishermen, construction workers, cab drivers, or work in other manual labor jobs.

We began house-to-house soulwinning, and God gave us one family that got saved. He also provided a place for us to meet for Bible study. At first, there were only a few people coming. We continued being faithful, and in six months our attendance increased! Our young church began praying for a permanent place to meet. We were holding Sunday church services under a tree, and the Lord increased our attendance to over seventy adults, teens, and children. One Sunday, as we were attending services, the Lord sent a man who visited. He offered us the use of his garage as a temporary meeting place. We met for one year in the garage, and the Lord helped us build our new church. It is a great blessing!

Republic of the Philippines

The Republic of the Philippines, in the western Pacific Ocean, comprising the Philippine Islands and forming part of the Malay Archipelago, is an island grouping that extends southward to include Indonesia and Malaysia. The Philippines includes more than 7,100 islands, but most of the land area is shared among the 11 largest islands. The terrain is mountainous and includes many active volcanoes. Manila, located on east central Luzon Island, is the national capital and largest city.

The people of the Philippines are called Filipinos. Most Filipinos are of Malay descent. Filipinos of mixed descent (through various combinations of Malay, Chinese, and Spanish intermarriage) have traditionally formed the country’s elite in business and politics. Nearly 83 million people live in the Philippines. The population is growing by about 2 percent a year, giving the Philippines one of the world’s highest population-growth rates. The republic has one of the highest population-growth rates in the world. About 40 percent of the population lives in poverty while a wealthy minority holds most political power. The official languages are English and Filipino (formerly spelled Pilipino), which is based on the indigenous Tagalog language. More than 80 other indigenous languages and dialects are also spoken.

Filipinos are generally divided along linguistic, geographic, and religious lines. Different linguistic groups developed as a result of the original settlement patterns. As the Malayan peoples spread throughout the archipelago, they dispersed into separate groups that each developed a distinct vernacular, or regional language. About 84 percent of all Filipinos are Roman Catholic, about 5 percent are Muslims, and the remainder are Buddhists, animists, or nonbelievers.

Family relationships are the basic building block of Philippine society. Each Filipino is at the center of a large circle of relatives, usually extending to third cousins. In rural areas the barangays (villages) contain sitios, or clusters of households, of an extended family. The social support provided by these close-knit communities is reflected in the absence of such institutions as retirement homes and orphanages. In Philippine villages, houses are traditionally constructed of bamboo and nipa palm thatching and raised above the ground on poles. Simple wooden houses with galvanized iron roofs are also common. Except in the remotest areas, rural houses are equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing. More services and modern facilities are available in towns and cities. The influence of Western culture is more evident in urban areas, where lifestyles tend to be more modern.

Farming, fishing, and forestry are the primary occupations in rural areas. Many of the rural poor are employed as tenant farmers and landless agricultural workers. Most urban residents are employed in the service sector or in manufacturing. There is a growing middle class of government employees, teachers, and small-business owners. The Philippine diet usually consists of boiled rice or ground corn, vegetables, fresh or salted fish, and fruits. The unit of currency is the Philippine peso, which is divided into 100 centavos (51.60 pesos equal U.S.$1; 2002 average).

Pilot American missionaries, with established works, are training nationals in the ministry of the Gospel. National missionaries are sent out by the hundreds each year to win souls in cities, towns, and villages. Thousands are saved each year as Bible-believing preachers tell Filipinos of the love of Christ.

Global Church Planters desires to financially help these national missionaries (we call them Pioneers) start thousands of churches in the Philippines.