The Philippines and the Igorot People Groups

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Eph 3:20-21

The Philippine Islands have a republic form of government that was established after gaining its independence from US control on July 4, 1946. The celebrated date of independence though is June 12, 1898 when it declared itself free from Spanish rule. The Philippines boasts itself of over 7001 islands but that number varies depending on the tide. Throughout this paper I will refer to ranges when dealing with statistics as no two sites or books seem to agree. I give the most reference and credibility to the CIA World Factbook as the numbers are more current. Between 750 and 880 of the islands are inhabited. Some islands have millions of people and others simply are a tourist destination that houses a few staff in order to run the resort. One example would be Sumilon Island off the southern tip of Cebu.

The population of the Philippines according to the World Factbook estimate of July 2007 is 91 million people. When reading other articles from not that many years ago they were citing population in the 70’s. This population growth is due to the Catholic influence in the country which have influenced birth control, abortion and divorce to be illegal. Statistics show that 61% of the country is under 25 years old and 38% is under 14%. This must be a consideration in the strategy of missionaries going to this land. In the city areas of Cebu City and Manila, this young generation mimics more of the rebellious MTV generation of America more than it does the previous generations of devoted Catholic Filipinos who are steeped in their traditions. There are a few large cities in the Philippines. Davao City is the largest city geographically but the capital city of Manila has by far the greatest population of between 18-20 million people in the metro-Manila region. This is also known as the National Capital Region (NCR).

There are very few statistics or observations that can be made of this land that would be universal for the country because the land and people are incredibly diverse and they have never had a national unity. To give an idea of this, there are eight major dialects according to the CIA factbook - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan. Beyond this however, there are many varied lists of the unreached or least reached peoples in the Philippines. One prayer list that I found includes 83 different groups that range in population from 2000 to well over 1,000,000 people and all these people have different languages. Another research site lists 161 people groups in the Philippines but shows far fewer that are unreached. A well respected missionary mind said recently that the Philippines is one of the highest evangelized countries on earth and they (like South Korea) are now a missionary sending nation. Depending on how you view it, this is correct but I hope to draw attention to the readers that this statement may have been made with too simplistic of an overview of this country. In reading about the history, geography and people groups I have come across two ways of dividing this country into thirds. One is the regional way offered by the government. This shows the Luzon region to the north, the Visayan (primarily Cebuano speaking) region in the center and the Mindanao region to the south. The other way which I find more helpful from a Christian mission perspective is the map on the cover page which reflects the Igorot (tribal) groups that are of the highest concentration in the Cordillera and Cariballo mountains of Northern Luzon, the Filipino people that make up the majority of the population (primarily catholic) and the Moro peoples in the south which are Muslim.

When it is said that the Philippines is one of the most evangelized places in the world it should be noted that most of those statements are from the perspective of the vast amount of missionaries that are sent to the Philippines. I would argue though that the majority of those missionaries are located in the “Filipino” or Catholic, Spanish influenced regions. Another note may be made that if we could somehow refine that group of missionaries to works that are doctrinally sound and then map them out based on the areas they work in I believe we would be surprised. One of the articles I read in a missions class was about city evangelism. On my second trip to the Philippines I traveled with the missionary on two separate daylong survey trips to a corner of the Metro Manila region called San Juan. This area is populated by close to five million people that vary from wealthy to squatter hut poor and are from a vast amount of people groups that have migrated to the city for work. In these two days we did not find a single Baptist church in this large region. Some missionaries avoid cities as they are typically more expensive, more crime infested, certainly more polluted, often have unbearable traffic, contain none of the romantic jungle pioneer missionary mystique and often include a more proud and gospel hardened people. Between the overcrowded and under evangelized cities and the little or unreached tribal and Muslim areas, I would vehemently argue against the idea that the Philippines is an over evangelized country that does not need more missionaries. God does the calling and God then is the judge of that. We know our local church is hardly capable of ministering to the 100,000 people in our town yet some would argue that no church for 5,000,000 people in Manila would be a waste of God’s money and God’s servant. Before churches start disregarding a missionary because they have a tack in the map there, they might either study it out themselves or more importantly spend some time with that missionary and pray that God gives them the discernment to be able to effectively judge their heart and motives. It is not a missions board, a statistician or demographic wizard that calls a man. The Holy God of heaven who paid for the souls of men and has a plan and strategy that we can’t comprehend does (Isa. 55). It is very possible that the missionaries God would have to go to the unreached are from these “over evangelized areas.” I certainly believe that they would have an easier transition than me when reaching those peoples. I’m done preaching now.

My focus for the remainder of this study will be on the tribal people groups of Northern Luzon, collectively known as the Igorot. It is important to note that never has the Philippines been a collective, unified country. There has never been a time when the Tribal peoples, the Filipinos and the Moro people groups were unified and desirous to call these 7000 islands their country. When the Spanish took the land in the 16th century they claimed it all for themselves and influenced as many people as they could with their rule and religion. Try as they might they did not win the allegiance of the ancient tribes who in response to this intrusion moved any remaining groups from the flatlands to the mountain regions of northern Luzon. When they gained independence from Spain and were in American control the Igorot pleaded with the Americans to allow them to have their own national identity. The US felt that identifying the Mountain province would be enough and that Manila would not press for anything more after their departure. This wasn’t the case and Filipino governments of all forms since then have always sought to bring these peoples under their mandates and do with their land what they would like. It really is little difference than what we did to the Native Americans. The result is that it has been harder and harder as years go on for these tribes to remain isolated from the rest of society and to retain their ancestral land. Another factor in this eating away of the land is logging (deforestation). I read in one book that every year now the wooded areas of the Philippines are reduced by the space of ¾ the land mass of Rhode Island. Land is running out considering all the islands put together are only about the size of Nevada.

There are six provinces that contain the ancestral lands of the Igorot and there is only one city for this whole area: Baguio. Naturally this makes Baguio a key point for mission strategy, as this is the place that many of these people will come if they are seeking work, commerce or education. Baguio is second only to Manila in the Philippines for educational opportunities as there are many good universities and the cost for a quality education is far cheaper in Baguio than in Manila. The word Igorot is a Tagalog word that means “mountain people.” It is a general term that all these tribal groups are bucketed into. Outsiders originally used the word as a derogatory term that spoke of being backward or inferior but most of these people are proud to be referred to as Igorot now with the exception of the Kalinga and some of the Ifugao.

Within the Igorot peoples there are eight identified ethnic groups, which are the Apayao, Tinggian, Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankanai. Some of these groups are considered the last of the “headhunters” of the Philippines; namely the Bontoc and the Kalinga. Neither is believed to still practice this but it is true that most are still involved in animal sacrifices. They are all animistic groups that believe in many gods and spirits that influence their life circumstances. Their belief that these gods have emotions and get angered lead them to different sacrificial systems and other rituals to make them happy. What differs in the groups are what they sacrifice, whether the men or women act as the priests and whether they believe the gods to be their deceased ancestors or some other spiritual beings. This also impacts whether they dury their dead or keep their bones in their homes as sacred items. There are tremendous demonic influences at work in these villages that are called upon through shaman priests, rituals, chants, magic and sacrifice. One secular observer noted that during an Ifugao canao healing ritual of sacrificing chickens and observing their entrails by a shaman that “his demeanor changed and his very appearance was transformed; the Ifugao gods seemed to take possession of his spirit.” The strongholds of Satan can and must be overcome by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

The eight primary groups above are the main tribes I found and most of them have some portions of scripture in their language although none more than the New Testament. The big questions I have in looking at this data are “what is the basis for being considered reached (by what group and doctrine)? And “what do they consider scriptures, how accurate are they?” In doing more reading as well as talking to Paul Perkins about these peoples, it seems there are many other peoples and languages represented in these mountains that perhaps are not identified or are bunched together with these eight. Groups such as First Bible International who are King James and Textus Receptus based have had to start their own translations in Mongolia for example because the “scripture” that they had was all dynamic equivalent and not a literal translation with the goal of accuracy with readability. Those people only have some type of paraphrase and not something they can call the Bible. I don’t know enough about the translations into these tribal languages to say one way or the other. Brother Paul told me firsthand that he knew of a missionary in Baguio working with one of these groups that has shared with him that there are some groups up there that are still unengaged and that have no scriptures in their dialect. In further study I have found that the Ifugao tribe, for example, are recognized by at least eight different names themselves and there are at least four distinct Ifugao dialects. The Kalinga also go by at least two names and have two different dialects, not to mention the 50+ divisions of groups within their people. It is the Ifugao who are known for the beautiful rice terraces that were been carved out of the mountains by hand approximately 2000 years ago.

The cultural obstacles faced in reaching these groups would be similar to many lands in that they have a completely different language, way of thinking, way of living and belief structure. A recent article on the worldviews (assumptions) of people opened up my thinking much further than just the language barrier. There is so much to learn and it won’t be learned in a book or in a Bible school in the US but through time, observation, immersion, interaction and prayer. These are groups that have fought off the westernization and modernization of their land for hundreds of years and are naturally on some type of defensive toward intrusion. They are steeped in pride and tradition. Many of these people are illiterate and if they can read, their languages are more spoken than written and the scriptures must be translated or finished. Many of them have no power, modern form of communication or effective sanitary or medical measures. One hope is that any missionaries who are in the area and have gone before have been a positive influence and have planted the seed which now must be watered and see God give the increase. Even the unreached and unengaged may have had some type of contact or introduction to missionaries of various groups since the people will sometimes have their daughters marry men from other tribes or through some of the people that come into Baguio for various reason and perhaps have been influenced. We must remember though that small populations of cross-cultural people within cities are often unreached as well. FBBC for example doesn’t have ministries for Spanish, Chinese or Ukrainian populations in Rochester so there needs to be ministries in those cities as well to meet such groups.

I read one of the cultural rituals that the Ifugao take part in concerning distribution of meat. They will bring a caribao into the center of town and the kids may play with it for a while until it is ready for sacrifice. They perform their idolatrous ritual, kill it and then start the meat distribution. The aggressive men will often barge in and cut away large portions instead of waiting for their priest to distribute the meat. Those men are often then chased by women and children who aren’t happy with their greed. To try to be fair, they often will use chalk to draw on the caribao to show how it will be cut and distributed prior to the sacrifice. After they split up the meat they will then boil any portion that wont be used. The last and most exciting part is they give the urinary bladder to one of the children as a toy. This and the tail are usually given by favoritism to a child of a prominent family. It is then filled with water like a baloon and tied off making it a fund toy to play ball with; that is until another jealous child stabs it with a spear.
The Ifugao also have different burial rituals depending on whether someone just dies or if they were murdered. If it is a murder then all of the men of that persons family will use a tribal dance to indicate that this murder will not go unavenged. From what I read, most of the murders take place because of disagreement over land and water ownership. During the ceremony of a murdered man, a woman will stand over the body poking it with a weaver’s sword and telling his spirit not to go to sleep but to wake up and bother the murderer so he can be identified. One man is assigned as the one responsible to take revenge. This is determined by all the men standing in a circle, they cut the head off a chicken and in front of whatever man it finally falls, he is then responsible to kill not only the murderer but all his male relatives. They determine when and by what means he is to kill them based on what animal that they catch next in a designated trap that is placed in the jungle. When it is a natural death the people will place the person in a death chair before they die and tie them in an upright position so they can be addressed by loved ones before dying. This is done in a very private ritual and then once the individual dies there is another ritual followed by burial. The most important tribal rituals that are common among the Kalinga, Bontoc and Ifugao especially are centered on birth, puberty, marriage, death, the rice harvest, rice wine fermentation and until this last generation or two – headhunting. The Kalinga have long been recognized as the most unpredictable and aggressive of the Igorot mountain peoples.

Strange food is always a culture shock and the Ifugao are no different; they enjoy frying up large quantities of flying termites – delicious. There are a vast amount of villages in these mountains as might be expected. Rough estimates say there are more than two hundred villages for each of the Bontoc, Ifugao and Kalinga peoples that will range from fifty to one hundred or more people in each. Many of these villages have divisions among them because of land, family issues, beliefs and even because some feel that others have conformed to the outside world pressures by welcoming advancements in dress, communication, power and technology. There are known to be at least 55 divisions in the Kalinga region alone according to one source. Over the years these secluded mountains have been used for more profitable cash crops like tobacco and now the growth and use of marijuana is prevalent. The Kalinga province is the biggest producer of the drug in this region and therefore the military sets up checkpoints at most main roads to try to hinder drug runners.

Strategically I believe that it would take first and foremost a great deal of study about their land, beliefs, culture, languages, heritage and the current influence (or lack thereof) of the gospel. I believe the city is the key and that Baguio is the primary point for learning about these groups and for having a work that will train men to go to these groups. It is a good center for learning the various languages and to focus on translation of the scriptures. I believe youth are also a key and that showing love to youth will often impact the hearts of adults. Youth have such potential for Christ when trained up effectively and need for love is so great in the Philippines as most children work significantly, play very little and only 40% will ever go to high school (nationally- 1993 statistic). I would look into starting extension classes (like Sunday Schools) that adults are invited to in their village. It could be with picture cards or something at first and progress from there as the language and cultural barriers start to break down. It may be that the best and only way to impact them is to train a Filipino or one of their own that you reach in the city to go back to them rather than going yourself. There are other physical needs like medical assistance and other practical helps that could help bridge the gap. I believe this is something the Lord will make clear and direct in as He is sought. One thing is clear, there is a need, there are unreached people in this area and Jesus deserves for them to hear of His great love. Here am I, Lord, send me…

Goals for Deputation

Our desire in the process of raising missionary support is

To grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
To bring Him glory through trusting in Him for our needs in His timing and by being an example in word and deed as a family

To share our burden for the Philippines and wait on the Lord to provide those that He will have to partner with us
To be a blessing to the churches we visit in any way possible through service, encouragement, prayer, evangelism or preaching
To pray that God will allow us to have an impact on others to be more involved in missions. What a blessing it would be to see some people yield to God’s call for them during this time.

To enjoy the fellowship of other brothers and sisters around the country and rejoice with them in the greatness of our God

To gain wisdom from the knowledge and experience of pastors and others and therefore further prepare us for the field.
To continue the study of language and culture both from language software as well as from our Pastor who spent twelve years on this field

Ministry and Deputation Approch

We want to be sure to document our approach to ministry as we find it supported through God’s word. We are not interested in using man’s reasoning and strategies but to bring God glory by ministering His way for His names sake.

1Co 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The great commission as recorded in the four gospels and Acts 1 apply to every Christian and it includes evangelism to all as well as baptism, discipleship and establishing of local churches among the believers.

Evangelism

God makes it clear that He came to seek and to save and we are now His ambassadors to preach of His resurrection and gift of eternal life through repentance and faith. Mk. 16:15

We desire to be obedient to any opportunity to present the gospel. From door to door, schools, jails, public ministry and more; there is a great need and many possibilities.

Discipleship

We have been trained by a strong discipleship church. It is imperative that we multiply people to go preach the gospel and this will be done by teaching them the word of God, good doctrine and disciplines as well as encouraging them to identify and exercise the spiritual gifts that God has given them for His glory. 2 Tim. 2:2

Church Planting

New churches that are planted within any culture should be appropriate for that area while not worldly or conforming. The responsibility of a missionary is not to westernize the people but to bring them the gospel, teach them the Bible and trust the Holy Spirit to work in their lives as the church is established. In this we desire to adapt to their culture through language learning and practices that do not violate the holiness of God. The churches should be fitting for their location and class and should be self sustaining. The missionary should be perceived as a church planter rather than a long term pastor or administrator. It is God’s church that is put in their care. The church is to be taught the principles of the Bible and the people must then be responsible as stewards of God to administrate and build the church as God provides. They also must exercise their God given gifts to form the body of Christ in that area that is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, under the headship of Jesus Christ. It should be Filipinos that support and lead the church enabling them to then reproduce their churches on their own upon the departure of the missionary to another area.

Source of power

Not a single thing will be accomplished by our might, power, talents or wisdom but by the Spirit of God through the weapon of prayer. God has promised to hear and answer what is asked in faith according to His will. We desire nothing more than to see God receive glory for changed lives and souls that only He can bring about. It is a blessing to know that we are equipped with the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the power of God unto salvation and the perfect words of God in the King James Bible.

Humanistic Endeavours

Depending on the location you can easily find many poor, hungry, homeless and sick in the Philippines. These range from very young children that are orphans on the streets and surviving in any way they can through begging, stealing or worse up to the elderly that can no longer provide for themselves and have no one to look after them. There is certainly biblical support for helping the fatherless, widows, poor and hungry meaning we will not deny the opportunity to help as the Lord leads and provides. This being said, our primary goal is not one of meeting physical needs but rather offering a hope that has far greater benefit than a supply of food - the salvation offered through the shed blood of our loving Saviour, Jesus Christ. With this as the primary focus, we will present the gospel in sincerity and truth to all that will listen.

Summary
The souls of men are of utmost importance to God. A man’s soul is worth more than all the wealth of the world according to God. Souls are so important that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer and die at the hands of His own creation while we were yet sinners because of His great love. The resurrection of Jesus Christ then brought victory over death and hell and completion of the redemptive plan for mankind. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, He is not willing that any should perish, He would have all men to be saved and there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. God receives His due glory when a soul is saved, the Lamb of God receives the reward of His suffering and an unworthy sinner receives not only a merciful pardon from hell but a place in the family of God for all eternity through His grace. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts nor are His ways our ways. God ordained that these redeemed individuals should then be His ambassadors to every creature throughout the world. We are to take the warning of the righteous judgment of God and the good news of His redeeming grace unashamedly to any and all. Beyond this commission to all who are saved, God calls and equips His children for specific tasks and gifts them according to their call. He orders our steps in His word and directs us to what He would have us to do. While we have nothing to offer of ourselves, we can be confident in our Saviour to equip and empower us to fulfill His call for our lives. That call for the Putney family is to the Philippine Islands.

Our Approach to Deputation
Should we visit your church, our practical objectives are to be punctual, prepared, orderly in our family presence, considerate of the time allotted to our ministry and endeavour to bless others.
Thank you for your consideration

Stewardship and Accountability
God has called all Christians to be wise stewards and to be missions minded. There is additional responsibility and accountability required of the foreign missionary and of the local church as they are entrusted to be stewards of money given for the work of the ministry. When God’s people give God’s money for the work of the ministry, both the supporting churches and the family sent should be certain that good stewardship is being exercised. Galatians 2:20 speaks of being crucified with Christ and crucifixion denotes death. Yielding to God and dying to self means that no reserves are kept as “untouchable” in the service of God as it all belongs to Him in the first place. We pray that we will never take lightly what the Lord provides to be used through us for His service. We are to be stewards in all respects and never take for granted or abuse the privilege to be entrusted with the gospel (1 Thes. 2:4), the gifts of God’s people as they obey God’s commission through support (Phi. 4:10-17) and the time that God allows us to serve both in the US and the Philippines (Eph. 5:16-16; 1 Cor. 15:58). For this reason we are open in our communication and accountability, knowing that no person or church could ever hold an individual accountable to the extent that we will ultimately answer for to our Lord Jesus Christ concerning our stewardship. We know that time on deputation will also require the support of God’s people and of course we intend to be active in God’s work wherever we may be. This time is a testing ground for missionaries that if accompanied with the faith and desire to learn and grow that it needs, can be invaluable on the field.

Biblical Support for Deputation?

Although there is no clear model for deputation in the Bible we do know that Paul did receive support from various churches like those in Philippi and Macedonia during his travels and that they met his needs often times while he was ministering in a place that was not willing or able to at the time (2 Cor. 11:8). More importantly than the financial aspect was the prayer that was exchanged for each other and the encouragement and investment in one another as Paul often spoke of his prayer for the churches as well as their support and encouragement of him. It is a delight to consider the relationships and prayer support that can be built up in this process. Our motive must be the glory of God alone. Deputation is representing Jesus Christ and His commission to various churches. In that process we also represent our sending church and need to take that seriously. If our motive is anything but glorifying God and representing Christ, missions and our sending church, there is a problem.

Differences

Our desire is to share the burden God has given us to make His glory and gospel known in the Philippine Islands (Isa. 42:12). God has worked in our hearts over the years and led us to standards of separation that we now hold in our family to draw a line against the subtle devices of the enemy (2 Cor. 2:11) and to be salt and light to the world around us. The standards of separation that we hold will never be the same as every family or church that we have the privilege to visit. While we stand firm on the importance of standard and are established with them for our family, our objective is not to press our standards on others nor change what God has directed us to personally as we travel church to church. Our desire is to educate those that we meet about the need in the Philippines and our intentions for service there. We are happy to fellowship with our brothers in Christ that are likeminded in the key doctrines of the faith although they may stand differently than we do in some areas. As far as on the field, too often a missionary will attempt to duplicate the western church and practices to mimic almost to a tee what is done in the churches that send or support them. To teach that the church must be western in tradition and custom would be to indict the culture and customs of the people in that land as being the problem. Sin is the problem and it is as prevalent in the west as it is in the east. Holiness and separation are commanded in the Bible and that is what should be taught, being American in your dress, décor and services is not.

Objectives for the Field

1. Evangelize - we are called to preach the gospel to every creature and this will be our first priority. We desire to reach all that we can by God's grace through door to door, public ministry, schools, extension classes and any other venue God allows. We will endeavour to adapt to the culture through language training as well as understanding their history, worldview and traditions in order to show them we love them and reach them as effectively as possible while never conforming from the godliness we are called to.

2. Plant autonomous mission minded churches with the tools needed for healthy discipleship programs. They need to be planted with the intent of training a national to take over that work and move on. They must be doctrinally sound and self sustaining. They should not be established based on demographics but with a zeal to reach every member of their community, regardless of age, class etc.

3. Disciple, Train and Send. We understand that solid Bible schools can be the tool for training faithful laborers in the local churches as well as training and sending our church planters, foreign missionaries and those who would yield to minister to the little and unreached tribal groups in the region. In any way that we can encourage, educate and equip existing works around the country we would love to be a part. We are from a strong discipleship background and have seen the impact of Pastors refresher training, Pastor's school of discipleship and other tools that stregthen and encourage the body of Christ.

We pray for God's wisdom and provision for ministering to the poor, widows, and fatherless, which are not to be ignored. There is a large population of street kids as well that have great value to Jesus, certainly as much as any doctor, lawyer or anyone else. Many are orphaned, others are sold for wicked purposes, abuse drugs or get involved in crime. These kids are found in bigger cities and have incredible potential for Christ if only they are reached. As God wills and we are sensitive to respond, we expect the direction will be clear and the provision abundant for the task. The love of Christ and hope provided through Him is too wonderful not to bring to these souls.

We are confident that this is what God has seen fit to call us to and that other ministry opportunities are not to lose sight of these objectives. We realize our inability to accomplish these things ourselves but we see Jesus, able to accomplish anything. Ephesians 3:20-21 teaches me that any objective that is set in life is limiting to God as He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. We are trusting His direction and praying that His will would be done for His glory.

Gateway to Asia

As a result of US involvement in the Philippines during WWII, it became obvious that the Islands proved to be a vital link to the rest of Asia. At that times, as is the case now, the advantages have been for the sake of money, trade, and workforce labor. We have no doubt that the Philippine Islands now are prepared to be the Gateway to Asia with the gospel of Jesus Christ. As God orchestrated a common language, developed roads, unified government and so much more for the dispersion of the gospel in the days of Christ and the disciples, so the tools of modern transportation and communication mixed with the Philippines record of sending people to countries all over Asia to work have paved the way for what I believe can be a major missionary sending movement to the unreached in the 10/40 window. The Philippines more than any other country in the world exports it people. Every day in the papers there are large articles about the labor deficiencies in other countries (i.e. Thousands of teachers needed in the US). There are so many Filipinos in other countries that it would be natural to send them equipped with the gospel knowing that they will be more readily accepted into closed or restricted countries than Americans would. The country has a great need for further church planting efforts and discipleship implementation. If done effectively, it could become a powerful sending agent to the rest of Asia within a short time.
With man this is impossible, but not with God...

The need for the Gospel in the Philippines

God has shown me some things very clearly in trips to the Philippines. There are incredible doors open here at this time. The harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few. Some will say that the Philippines is one of the most evangelized countries in the world and it is now a missionary sending nation. This may be in some areas or based on certain measurements like how many missionaries from evangelical circles have been sent there compared to other countries but the reality of it is not that obvious. The country is 81% Roman Catholic, 5% Muslim and much of the rest are either indiginous beliefs, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3% and other cults. As you might expect, spending time there is what helps a person understand how great the need really is. There are more than 91 million people in this country with a high birth rate. Those people are spread over 880 of the 7,107 islands. Without going into detail in this document, there are three primary groupings of people in these islands – the Tribal peoples (Northern Luzon – Mountainous), the Filipinos (the bulk of the population – dominantly Catholic) and the Moro peoples (Muslim – southernmost islands). There are between 8 and 12 major tribes in the north but within that there are perhaps hundreds of divisions by different dialects, beliefs and differences from past conflicts that are maintained from generation to generation. I have included a map of just the Northern Philippines that shows the various language families just on Luzon to give an idea of the diversity of peoples. It is taken from http://www.ethnologue.com/. Even among the highest population groups where most missionaries would be found (Tagalogs in the Manila region and the Cebuanos in the Visayan island group) there are millions and millions who are not evangelized let alone an effective means of discipling those who are. The open doors are endless in schools, jails, prisons, hut to hut evangelism, street ministry and so much more. We are eager to be involved in these areas while not losing focus of training believers to go tell others in the mountain regions and to the uttermost.

Destination

An extended testimony would have to be told about just how gradually yet specifically God pointed us to to Northern Luzon where we will minister. Starting in 2002 God started shaping us through His word and preaching. Within a few months I knew that I was to be going to Bible Institute but I did not know why. The following April (2004) God made it clear that He was calling me to preach. The following March God broke my heart for missions and then in November (2005) He started directing us to the Philippines. In early 2006 God was working on my heart about the vast unreached people groups in the world, most of them residing of course in the 10/40 window. At this time I started to study out and see that the unreached and least reached groups of the Philippines reside in the tribal groups of the Northern Mountainous regions as well as on some of the southern islands that are predominantly muslim. One thing that I learned from the trip to Manila in 2005 was that the Philippines has incredible potential to be a gateway to all of Asia. I will expound on this further in another post. Later in 2006 before I returned for the second trip I had a conversation with Dr. Charles Keen - Director of First Bible International. The way God put that unplanned meeting together was amazing and it became more obvious that whatever God was going to do with us in the Philippines, it was going to involve training and mobilizing Filipinos to plant churches among the little or unreached both in the Philippines and Lord-willing, beyond. That trip in November was outstanding and a strong bond was solidified with my friend and now pastor, Paul Perkins of Grace Independent Baptist Church. At that time it seemed that God was directing us to begin our time in the Philippines in Baguio. A few months later I traveled for the third trip and upon return our family drove to Tennessee to meet with Dr. Keen more purposefully. Dr. Keen gave me a great education in a short time about basing out of a city close to the groups that you hope to engage for survey purposes and the possibility that some people will come from these groups for commerce, work, education etc. This led us to think that perhaps Baguio or another nearby city would be ideal.
Baguio City is one of the larger cities in the northern part of Luzon Island. There are many opportunities to spread the gospel in many venues in Baguio. In January of 2009 I took my fifth trip to the Philippines and first to the Baguio area. On the same survey trip we went to San Fernando La Union and one of its large suburbs, Bauang. It is here I was introduced to this densely populated area with very little gospel work going on. In addition, there are seemingly dozens of small towns and communities of people with likely little witness all around. The city of San Fernando has 59 barangays in its district. As we continue to pray, we believe this also is an excellent location to begin planting churches and for a solid Bible school to train others to do the same all throughout northern Luzon and beyond. The population of the La Union Province a number of years ago was almost 700,000 souls. There are colleges and universties as well as technical and trade schools. The city also draws tourists especially during the surfing season and for charter fishing. There is an ocean port located in San Fernando as well as a small airport making it more accessible to many and bringing in more people regularly. We look forward to seeing how God orchestrated the details as we all continue to pray and prepare. Although it is on the coast and Baguio in the mountains, both are fairly centralized when it comes to having access to the mountain region for understanding the needs among the tribal peoples.

Stephanie’s Testimony and Call

I was raised in an unsaved home and lost my father as a child. The only exposure I had to any Bible was through occasional visits to my grandparents church. Through meeting Aaron and his family I was exposed to solid Bible preaching and witness. I made a profession of faith when being taught a discipleship lesson on salvation in the late 90's but I had not repented of my sin. God began to chip away at Aaron and I in amazing ways in the fall of 2002. The Holy Spirit was working and we eagerly started studying God’s word, attending church, serving and removing the sinful influences and practices in our lives. I desired the things of God and wanted God to use us but I had never truly repented of my sin. On July 20th of 2003 I heard a message on hypocrisy and false prophets and realized then that I had not been truly saved. It was our 8th wedding anniversary when I heard that message, repented of my sins and the Lord Jesus Christ changed me forever!

We consider it a privilege that God has called us to serve Him in the Philippines. We are excited about seeing God do great things for His glory. He has been directing Aaron for years now toward ministry and it is very clear that the direction is to missions. We have an excitement about this work of faith and we trust in Him to continue to be faithful to His word in our lives. God has blessed us with four wonderful children and I am grateful for the role God has given me as a helpmate, wife and mother. I look forward to assisting my husband in ministry and raising our children to be the next generation of soldiers for Christ. We are confident that Christ will continue His work in our lives and provide and equip us for this work.

Aaron's Testimony and Call

I was fortunate to be raised in a Christian home and part of an independent Baptist church. I was exposed to God’s word, great preaching and good examples throughout my childhood. In April of 1982, while I was a boy, an evangelist preached on Romans 3:18 … no fear of God before their eyes. That night I realized my sinful state and through repentance and faith received the gift of eternal life through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In those early years of being saved I made many commitments to God that He is now calling on me to fulfill. In my teens I became slack in areas of my Christian walk and allowed peer influence and other temptations to lure me from the close communion He desires. In 2001, God began to chip away at my hardened heart. In October of that year I fell to my knees with a broken heart and finally surrendered my life fully to His will. It is a joy and privilege to serve our great Saviour.

Within a number of months I began started attending North Star Bible Institute where I graduated in May of 2007. During those years of school God placed the call on my life first to preaching, then more specifically to missions and the Philippines.

From a child I looked up to pastors and missionaries. I was taught to have a great respect for this most important work. I can recall telling God that I would go anywhere or do anything for Him. I told God that I would surrender to His will but at that time I was not willing to count the cost and stand by that commitment. Many years later, God, in His grace called me on that vow to Him. God worked in my heart through a missions conference in 2002 and subsequently began opening many doors of opportunity to teach, preach and be more involved in missions. A short term trip to Zambia in 2005 is when God confirmed in my heart the call to missions. I was sent later that year on a work trip to the Philippines where I was able to work with a missionary preaching and teaching in jails, schools and churches. God started to break my heart for those people and confirmed our calling there through a number of other circumstances. Since then He has sent me back to the Philippines on two more work/missions trips. It is humbling to think that the Lord would allow us to be entrusted with His gospel to take to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Thanksgiving in the Philippine Islands

Just a brief testimony about last thanksgiving (don't laugh just because I said brief - it could be)

As most readers here know, I was introduced to the Philippines because I work for a company that has tech support call centers there and I have been sent there 3x by them to train and coach the agents. Last year at Thanksgiving I was in Manila with Brother Paul Perkins. They spent each thanksgiving on the field by driving to Batongas (~2hrs away) and having a traditional thanksgiving dinner with another missionary. So, I had the privilege of joining them. I cant tell you what a blessing that was. I had not missed a holiday with my wife before since we have been married and to be away from her and the kids was tough enough. It was nice to be with some people that love Jesus and to share a bit of the traditional experiences that I would have enjoyed at home.
I cant say though that it was a normal thanksgiving. We did have a big meal but then we all had this great idea of going to pick up some of the men from Missionary Avery's church and play basketball. For the next couple hours we played basketball in 85 and humid weather on an outdoor court at the foot of a beautiful mountain after eating a big meal. When we were finished I was exhausted and was becoming dehydrated. I had already been there a week and a half working all night and being part of ro. Paul's ministry during the days. I recognize now that it was foolish for me to have played since I had to train the new agents that entire night.
Since it was the holiday in the states but not over there the agents would come in but it was the night that I had the entire shift to train them...
As we were driving back toward Manila I tried to catch some sleep but the roads and vehicle are not always conducive for a guy my size to rest. I got back to the hotel in time to clean up and rest for about 30 minutes. When I got to the 37 story skyscraper the call center is in I was quite sick.
HERES THE TESTIMONY
I called my wife almost immediately upon arriving and let her know that I needed to be prayed through the shift because I was miserable. I then said goodbye and headed up to the training room to set up. Within 30 minutes the Lord showed tremendous mercy on mercy by answering the prayer of my precious wife.

I am thankful to be able to spend thanksgiving today with my wife and family. I am thankful for my God that hears and answers prayer, I am thankful for a wife that prays for me and I am thankful that I can eat well today, will not be asked to play basketball today and do not have to train all night tonight, AMEN!

ON A SEPARATE NOTE -
The Philippines and the US have shared the same independence day of July fourth for a number of years.

As I was considering thanksgiving I remember how I was in the Philippines just a couple weeks before thanksgiving in '05 and I was also there on thanksgiving last year - '06. I remember distinctly that the Filipinos did not consider our day of thanksgiving as a holiday and so I thought I would look into whether they have one etc.

I found this blog post that gives you a touch of history if interested. (I did not verify the validity of the information on this post and we know we should not believe everything we read - except in the King James Bible!)

In reading the article though I learned first that it seems that the recognized date for independence day has since been changed for the Philippines.

I see that the official date for thankgiving for them is September 21.
It turns out that they don't make all that big of a deal of their thanksgiving. There was no famous speech given at its inception, the date is nothing to commemorate like the survival of the pilgrims etc.

In fact, it seems like how we might treat a Presidents day or something. The banks are off, maybe some other businesses etc but the rest of us work and no one pays much attention to it.

Christmas in the Philippines is a different story though. That I will leave for another post.

Tear up your Script - Part 2!

Well, it has been a busy but productive last few months. Since Mid-october I had the privilege to be a part of a great men's conference, fly to mississippi and preach a number of times there, continue preparation for deputation, meet with with my pastor, work on language learning with my family, a whole lot of house cleaning and preparation for our new baby girl and then of course her arrival! We have had a wonderful Christmas and are excited about what God is doing and what we trust the New Year has in store if the Lord tarries.

The very first post that I put on this blog was about how God had already made a change in what we were expecting upon arriving to the field. We anticipated teaming with a veteran missionary as we got settled. We started planning with that expectation until the Lord saw fit to change that.

Praise the Lord that sometimes we get to see God's infinite wisdom played all the way through in its perfection, revealing His will and how he has accomplished it in ways we never would have predicted (Isa. 55:6-11). That just happened with us. God has given us some great answers to prayer of late and now God has made something very clear about preparing us for the field.

We anticipated originally working in Baguio with Brother Paul Perkins and family. They spent 10 years in the Philippines and took me in on my trips. He became a great friend and mentor very quickly. Over the summer they were on furlough and he was asked to act as the interim pastor of their sending church in Ocean Springs, MS - Grace Independent Baptist Church. Over the next few months God worked powerfully in his heart about staying in MS to pastor the church full time. In the mean time God confirmed that as He closed the door on the work he intended to take over in Baguio upon return. His burden for missions and the Philippines had not wavered at all and as he yielded to God changing his direction, he wondered about his continued burden for the Philippines and also about this young missionary family (us) that was planning on joining him on the field early on.

We stayed in contact and prayer for each other as God was working us both through our respective preparations/transitions. Before long, God began a new work in both of our hearts. God started directing me in prayer regarding deputation and how Brother Paul and I could continue that mentoring relationship. God started to show Paul as he took over this church that his burden for the Philippines was not going anywhere. There is a young family in the church that has yielded to the call to the Philippines themselves and others that go over on a yearly basis. Brother Paul recently took some of his men over for about a month and the church is also planning a trip for their teens to the islands next year.

Without me saying anything to him about it, he started discussing ways that he could help me, the burden God has given that church for this land, the couple who is also preparing for that field, the revival that God has been doing in peoples lives there etc. He suggested that we both continue to pray and asked if I would go down there to visit and preach. So I did at the end of October. The church has a wonderful group of people, very warm and kind. I felt like part of the family right away, everyone knows each other and I quickly learned that southern hospitality is alive and well. It was clear that God has been working there mightily. As we discussed deputation and ministry, God made it clear that access to this family, their local church and the burden they have for Asia would be monumental in my preparation, development and ministry once on the field.

Back in March my family traveled to TN to meet with Dr. Charles Keen. He told us at that time how beneficial it would be to spend a year at a missions language and training facility. We prayed about the school that he was referring to but never saw God leading us there. The reason became obvious as Paul Perkins went to Mississippi. Here we have access to a training center, acocuntability point, language school and more - all specifically catered to the Philippines. Praise the Lord for the way He clarifies His intentions and orchestrates the lighted path for our feet to walk down through His word.

So I met with my Pastor here in Rochester and shared with him this incredible opportunity. As we discussed how many missionaries will spend a year at a missionary training school or in language training prior to departure it was obvious that I had access to all this and more from this Mississippi church and pastor not to mention the long term benefit of communication from the field. We prayed together and both agreed that taking advantage of these great resources would be the most effective stewardship of our time and allow us to be sent as equipped as possible for what lies ahead. We agreed that it would be wiser for those reasons for us to transition to Grace then to base in Rochester and not avail ourselves of what God has given us access to.

It also provides many other benefits:

• Language training


• Culture, government and history preparation


• Practical help with things like visas, licences, insurance, cost of living, contacts etc


• Anticipation of short term groups coming over in the future


• A high level of accountability from a Pastor that is a veteran to that field


• Ready access to a pastor eager to mentor more preachers and missionaries


• The prayer of a congregation that has a special connection with and burden for that land


• Another brother and sister also going to this field (different area) to pray and learn with


• To help establish this growing church as a complete sending agency for homegrown missionaries
  
• Common bond and friendship between my wife and sister Monessa Perkins - she has been a great blessing and resource to Steph already!


• It is a solid, doctrinal church with a passion for God, a fire for souls and missions, a love for families, solid standards, great music, great preaching, a firm stand on the KJV, many great brothers and sisters in Christ and a shared burden to see the Philippines become a Gateway to the unreached of Asia
  

In a way this is a bittersweet thing for us. Our best friends, our family and so many that have invested in us spiritually are in Rochester. The call, though, is to a land 12k miles away so separation is part of the call. We have incredible support and encouragement from everyone in Rochester as they see God's hand on this transition.

To redeem the time is to go through this process of deputation with prayer and willing hearts - learning, witnessing, preaching, sharing our burden and trying to be a blessing to others. Between our meetings though, this trainsition will allow us a base at which we can make incredible strides in learning all that we can about ministry and our field from a man of God that desires to be a mentor, trainer and sender.

Naturally it will take some time to be able to transition away from work, sell our home etc. In the meantime we will begin setting up meetings up north and continue to enjoy the wonderful friendships and ministries that God has given us up here.


Praise the Lord for his sovereignty in all this, truly it was no coincidence that Paul Perkins replied to an email about a bible student coming to the Philippines on a business trip two years ago.


Praise the Lord for our Christian family and church here in Rochester that are so loving, supportive and understanding of how God is moving. We look forward to a continued wealth of friendships that we cherish here.



Praise the Lord for the lessons learned while waiting on Him.


Praise the Lord for His burden for souls in the Philippines.


Praise the Lord for allowing us the privilege to serve Him

We appreciate your prayer - for the sake of God's glory, for the reputation of His name, for the reward of His suffering, for the salvation of souls and for the use of us your fellowservants
- Aaron, Stephanie, Autumn, Anna, Sarah and Emma Joy Putney

Facts about the Islands

There are 7,107 Islands in the Philippines. The common saying associated with this is "depending on the tide." This means that what is accepted as an island is often very liberal and as the tide rises - some of these small, sea level islands become submerged thereby changing the number.

There are 880 of the Islands that are actually inhabited and some of them have few people living on them as they are used primarily as tourist destinations rather than inhabited dwelling places.

Nevertheless, population is not sparse. With varied reports, it is believed that over 89 million people now live on these islands, and considering that if you were to put all the land mass of the islands together it would only be about the size of Arizona, there are areas of very dense population.

Manila for example is one of the most largely populated cities in the world - #7 to be exact

http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-population-125.html

This site says there are 14 million people in the city, I have heard as many as 18 million. I dont know how much it matters with that many. The density of people in that city is overwhelming. I remember being in Cebu City in February (where there is ONLY 4 million people) and standing on a street corner with about about 1500 tracts if I remember correctly. Me and Missionary Travis Lewis gave them all away in less than an hour. Swarms and swarms of souls heading to an eternal destination.

Many Islands, many people, few missionaries per capita, a powerful stronghold binding them with catholicism and now westernization with all the materialism and humanism that it carries.

pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth more labourers...

Visit From a Friend

Steph and the girls are home drawing pictures and making cards in anticipation of the Lewis family (http://www.lewisinthephilippines.com/) coming in tonight. They are missionaries on the Island of Cebu in the Philippines and have been a great blessing in my life as they took me in on my last trip back in February. I was able to see so many different aspects of the culture and opportunities there. From mountain tops to the ocean shores we covered much of that island in two weeks (when I wasnt working that is). We went hut to hut, balanced on bamboo stalks 10 feet above some pretty filthy areas we would not have wanted to fall in, stood at an overlook that allowed a view of the whole island, spent time in the schools and churches, held extension classes outside in the rural areas and gave the gospel on the very crowded streets. It was an experience I will treasure always. This family has a heart for God that has been passed on to the faithful that God has allowed them to reap in since being on the field this past 4 years. Their church is overfilled and has a different population at the morning service as at the evening to accomodate everyone - praise the Lord for such a dilemna. The Lord is providing the means to increase their capacity and a second church in a town called Carcar is also in the works for the near future.

They are coming in tonight for just a couple of days and will be meeting out at Old Paths Bible Baptist Church on Wednesday evening. We look forward to talking about all that God has done in and through them on this furlough as well as gleaning wisdom as we prepare to begin deputation. Take some time to pray for this family and the work that God has called them to in Cebu.

A Great and Unexpected Blessing

A friend of ours invited me to come preach at his church in Mississippi in October. So two days ago I started shopping the airfares. I need to fly since my vacation days are reserved for our baby being born.
On wednesday the lowest price I could find for a round trip flight was X dollars. I gave the expense over to the Lord and said here is the first travelling expense that is related to deputation.
Then yesterday two things happened. First, the same flight (on the same site) was $44 dollars cheaper than it was one day prior! The second thing that happened was that it was payday (therefore billday) and I went to my online bill notification for our electric and gas service. I use a budget billing system for consistency in billing throughout the year. When I opened it up I found out that they had audited my usage to my billing and in fact I was to be credited hundreds of dollars! Since I was expecting to pay my normal budgeted amount I added that normal amount that I now did not have to pay to the $44 I was saving from the previous day on the flight and the TOTAL of the two was the price of the plane ticket - within $2!

By no means do I expect such smooth sailing with every expense or meeting on this journey to the field but what a tremendous encouragement it was to see the way that God was in it and that He knows everything we have need of before we ask Him. What I do expect is that what God has called us to, He will provide the way for - in His way and timing.

As God puts us all through the various proving grounds we face, lets be sure to recognize all the wonderful displays of His goodness and reminders that He is with us every step of the way. Count your blessings and allow it to ever build your confidence, faith and boldness in our Great God!

His love was demonstrated no greater than at the cross. That alone is way more than enough, the God of glory bore my sins and took my punishment - what a wonderful Saviour is He!

Tear up your script!

Welcome to Declaring His Glory! This is the blog of Aaron and Stephanie Putney, privileged servants of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Republic of the Philippines.
Who would anticipate that the very first post of a deputation blog would be one of a very surprising change in the way we anticipated beginning the ministry God called us to? Although some recent news is something that caught us by suprise, it didn't surprise God! God never said we have to understand, just be willing and obedient (Pr. 3:5-6; Isa. 1:19). Someday, God's plan in all areas of our lives will be clear and then it will be evident that all aspects of it were working toward the most important primary end - the greatest glorification of God possible in every situation.
Further, it is just like God to tear up the script once in a while to set the odds less in our favor (by our rational reasoning) and more in favor of God alone being glorified when He does what only He can do! We decrease, He increases; we get amazed by His wondrous works and He gets glorified! Praise the LORD!
Missionary Jeff Basset to the Ivory Coast preached a message that God used in a mighty way on April 23rd of 2003. This was within months of God doing a lifechanging work in our lives that we haven't recovered from yet, nor ever will! It was just weeks after I committed to God to go to Bible Institute full time but as of yet I had no call to ministry. At this time of brokenness and sensitivity to every word uttered from the pulpit, God sent a man to preach one of those messages that immediately becomes burned on your heart and stored on the permanent hard drive of your soul. The message was titled What is God's script for your life? (click the title to listen). That night the missionary used God's word to illustrate through Joseph and others how God can take what you think is supposed to be the script that leads to God's promised end for your life and tear it up. God has ways of getting people and circumstances into perfect order that He may be magnified the most. In doing this, His servants often wonder and many times doubt out of little faith, yet again and again He shows Himself victorious. I remember vividly how he gave account of his wife surrendering to God to go anywhere - that is, anywhere but Africa...you can figure out the rest. The road and terrain is frequently different that we envision - but He lets us know in advance that this is to be expected (Isa. 55) because His ways are not our ways neither are His thoughts, our thoughts.
God used circumstances that He arranged, prayer, godly counsel and assurance from scripture to call us to the Philippines. Further, He used a wonderful missionary family to show us more closely the needs, the culture, the opportunities and so much more regarding this land. Time went by and God started to put some other pieces together. God had been working on this family about moving to Baguio, a city in the northern mountain region of Luzon to assist a church that had experienced some hardship and get a Bible school going there again. At the same time He had been dealing with us about unreached peoples and the tribal groups also in the norther regions of Luzon Island

It appeared that God was orchestrating our families to work together there in the early stages of our reaching the field that we might learn from their experience of 10 years in the Philippines. This dear brother in Christ that we were to partner with in the initial stages of our time in the Philippines will not be in Baguio when we arrive after all. He let me know of that direction God has moved them in and that His marching orders have changed. God filled every gap and raised up a man for the work in Baguio to get them back on their feet. We love him and pray the best for his family and change in ministry. God gave us a special blessing when this brother came into my life on my first business trip to Manila. We have become good friends and his family is dear to our hearts. Selfishly we have some sadness and Baguio is now without one of the greatest missionary examples that I have ever met. Yet the Lord is good, He has a will and He has the means to accomplish His will. We also know that God will use them mightily where He has directed them to. We are excited that He would afford us any part in spreading His redemptive gospel to this area of the world. God has great things in store for His glory and we look forward to serving our worthy Saviour in the Philippines where there are nearly 90 million people that need Jesus Christ. He is not willing that any of them should perish, but that all should come to repentance! Our focus is clear, our path is straight, our God is reliable! We appreciate your support in prayer. I think it was Oswald Chambers that said, "prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work." God allows prayer (with faith) to be a vehicle to give us access to His power, grace and wisdom - and we need this desperately for anything worthwhile to happen during our preparation, deputation and in the Philippines. We desire and anticipate seeing God do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think!