The Filipino
Missionary Mandate
By
Rev. Engr. LALANO D. BADOY, JR.
Director, Philippine Missions Association (PMA)
Director, Philippine Missions Mobilization Movement (PM3)
National Executive Director, Global OFW Advance Movement (GOAM)
INTRODUCTION
God has an
amazing plan for the Philippines, the Filipino people and our ― Overseas
Filipino Workers (OFWs). God has been at work in the Philippines and around the
world for hundreds of years preparing the stage for the global engagement of
the Filipinos in the end-time global harvest specially this generation of OFWs.
Our national
Christian leaders and foreign evangelists propagated the vision that the
Philippines was destined to become the launching pad of the Gospel in Asia.
They were convinced that the Global Filipino Church would become a major force
in world missions.
God is stirring
up the hearts of the Filipino people to lift up their eyes to see the final
harvest fields. And as we pray for Him to send out laborers, He often calls us
to be the answer to our prayers.
The Almighty God says,
"Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you
would not believe, even if you were told”.
Habakkuk 1:5 NIV
#1: THE AMAZING INFORMATION – THE FILIPINO CUTTING-EDGE
·
The
Philippines was named as the world’s best country in business English
proficiency, even beating the US, according to a recent study by Global English
Corporation.
·
The
Philippines is the Call Center capital of the world, overtook India. Over
400,000 Filipinos are employed in call centers (2015), roughly 50,000 more than
in India with 350,000 (February 2015), according to the study. This is
particularly interesting because the Philippines, is only one tenth of the
population of India. To date, Filipino call center agents grew to 1-million+.
·
Filipino
seafarers comprise more than 25% of the 1.5 million mariners worldwide making
the “single biggest nationality bloc” in the global shipping industry according
to the Department of Labor & Employment (DOLE) as of April 2016.
·
A
local Saudi Arabia newspaper had a headline “Imagine a world without
Filipinos”.
·
The
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) 2018 Remittances hit the all-time high US$
31.29 billion exceeding the expectation of the Central Bank of the Philipines.
·
HongKong
Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) projected
·
The
Philippines is rank #34 in world’s top economies & #19 by 2050.
·
The
Philippines from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) borrower to a lender in
2011 when it lent over US$125 million to the ailing economies in Europe through
IMF.
·
The
Benham Rise is a 13-million hectare territory. In 2012, the United Nations
Commission on Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) confirmed Benham Rise as
part of the Philippines continental shelf.
·
The
Philippine money is the only currency in the world with a Bible verse, Psalm
33:12 “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord”
#2: THE AMAZING PINOY – THE FILIPINO
MISSIONARY DESIGN
·
The
Philippines is strategically located in Asia. It’s close to the 10/40 window &
now many budget airlines flying to countries with many Unreached People Groups
(UPGs).
·
The
Philippines is the only Christian Nation in Asia.
·
The
Philippines is a blend of East and West. In the 10th century, trade
relations began between the Philippine chieftains and Chinese traders. Then in
1380 Karim Al Makhdum, the first Arabian trader to reach Sulu Archipelago and
Jolo in the Philippines and established Islam in the country through trade in
several regions of the islands. Then the colonization by the Spaniards, the
Japanese and the Americans.
·
The
Philippines is has no enemies and not even a threat.
·
Filipinos
are highly adaptable to adversity because they are used to experienced
hardships and suffering because of their socio-economic conditions.
·
Filipinos
are persevering in the midst of extreme conditions because they always
experience frequent natural calamities.
·
Filipinos
have the amazing capacity to learn new languages. Due to a history of multiple
settlements, more than 170 languages are spoken and only 2 are official in the
country: Filipino and English.
·
Filipinos
are highly literate and skillful. As per Literacy Statistics, Functional
Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) of 2013, 96.50% of Filipinos
are literate.
·
Filipinos
are dispersed worldwide. The most scattered race in the world now and in at
least 210 countries of the world as OFWs.
·
Filipinos
are cheerful and sociable.
·
Filipinos
are very friendly.
·
Filipinos
have a servant heart and hard working.
FILI PINO:
FILI
> PINILI na (Chosen/Hand picked),
PINO > PININO pa (Refined)!
#3: THE AMAZING END-TIME HARVEST - THE
FILIPINO GLOBAL IMPACT
· Middle East:
____________________________________________________
· Saudi Harvest:
__________________________________________________
· Bharain:
_______________________________________________________
· Qatar:
_________________________________________________________
· China:
_________________________________________________________
· Hongkong:
_____________________________________________________
· Singapore:
_____________________________________________________
· Japan: _________________________________________________________
· UAE:
___________________________________________________________
· Seafarers: Almost 200 Church on the
Ocean
#4: THE AMAZING POSITIONING
- THE FILIPINO GLOBAL PRESENCE
In the 90s, the
challenge of planting churches among the remaining unreached people groups
brought with it the acknowledgment of the difficulties of deploying traditional
missionaries in the most spiritually needy places in the world specially in the
10/40 window.
More than 12 million Filipinos are living and working
overseas. God has sovereignly positioned Filipinos all over the world, now in at
least 210 countries as contract workers; construction workers, electricians,
heavy equipment operators, engineers, architects, computer engineers &
programmers, English teachers, housemaids, nannies, chefs, drivers, etc. They
go as tentmakers, effectively circumventing the barriers that hinder
traditional missionaries.
The paradigm of commissioning OFWs readily addresses the 4
major issues a traditional missionary has to hurdle namely:
1. Sufficiency of support because they
have regular salaries.
2. Obtaining long-term Visa to legally
stay in the country because of their working visa.
3. Establishing credible identity & testimony
for an effective witness.
4. In the context of work, there is
natural relationship building happening.
Today, over a
million Filipino Christians are strategically poised to make a major spiritual
impact in the most unevangelized places and people groups in the 10/40 Window.
The Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has recently reported that 6,000+ are
leaving the country everyday to live and work overseas. What a tremendous and
potential missionary force that can significantly contribute to world
evangelization and the completion of the Great Commission.
CONCLUSION
The OFW
phenomenon has a missiological implication - the fulfillment of the vision of
the Global Filipino church of contributing 1-million Filipino missionaries
(intentional cross-cultural disciple-makers either career or tentmaker
missionaries) for the end-time harvest by 2020 especially through the platform
called - tentmaking.
A “tentmaker” is a full-time self-supporting Christian called by God to obey the Great Commission in a cross-cultural setting. On the
job and off the job, their objective is to bring
people of another culture into a growing
relationship with Jesus.
The OFWs are
recognized now as God’s new force in global missions.
Let us join God
in what He is already doing. Let us rise up and fulfill our God-given “Higher
Purpose” among the nations.
Mabuhay ang mga OFWs!
Mabuhay
ang mga Outstanding Filipino Witnesses!
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