Church Planting in the Bicol Region of the Philippines

Stimulating and Nurturing a Church Planting Movement in the Bicol Region of the Philippines Part I

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

What is a Church Planting Movement (CPM)? Do we have one in the Assemblies of God in the Bicol region of the Philippines? If not, how to we start one? If so, how do we nurture it? Some of these questions have been on my mind as I’ve studied a book by the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention entitled Stimulating and Nurturing Church Planting Movements (2001) that deals expressly with this subject, and its contents form the outline of this article. As I study, I am also reflecting on the current situation of the Assemblies of God churches in the Bicol Region of the Philippines where my wife, Debbie, and I have served since the year 2000. The assessment written below represents only my personal opinion.

            Let’s begin by defining, according to the authors of this book, what a CPM is. They contend that a CPM “is a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches with a given people group or population segment.” Generally speaking, I agree with their definition, but I have some questions about the idea of being rapid. I will deal with this in Part II. 

Before I attempt to answer the questions raised in the opening paragraph, walk with me through the ten essential elements of a CPM that the authors list as important. I will cover six of them here and the rest in Part II, which will also include an overall assessment as well as suggesting where we might want to go from here.

1. Prayer

Prayer must be an important element in all aspects. We simply cannot live without it. I cannot measure, at this point, the prayer life in our churches so I will only state that I am challenged to grow in my own walk with God.

2. Abundant Gospel Sowing

In our own ministry, we have conducted about 700 Good News Rallies over seventeen years in the Philippines, with more than 475 of them being in the Bicol region. In conjunction with these rallies, we have also spoken in some high schools and colleges, participated in Book of Hope distributions, passed out hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of tracts, have given away thousands of Bibles (mostly New Testaments) funded almost entirely by Light-for-the-Lost, and other forms outreach, including disaster relief.  Many of our churches are faithful with their own evangelistic efforts, especially evangelistic Bible studies, and mothering new churches. We thank God for every bit of seed that anyone has sown for Christ in our region. Yet many, if not most, of the 5 million people in our region have still not come to Christ.  I am also reminded that any seed that we have sown that is not faithful to the Word of God and glorifying to him will not bear the fruit we wish to see.  We must continue diligently sowing if we expect an abundant harvest, and we must ensure that the seed we plant is the Word of God shared in a manner and timing that he chooses. He is, after all, the Lord of the Harvest.

3. Intentional Church Planting

According to the authors of the book I am reading, Stimulating and Nurturing Church Planting Movements, as well as simple logic, planting churches intentionally must precede a church planting movement. The first AG church was planted in the Bicol region around 1960. Through the years pastors, with help from a few missionaries, have faithfully planted and nurtured and today we have 208 churches in the region. Probably most of them have been planted through the mother/daughter church planting concept, and we have been heavily involved in assisting them here. Many pastors have a wonderful vision for church planting, but many do not.  And, like all evangelical groups, we lose some churches that die or leave the denomination. I have no idea what our attrition rate is, but I believe that if we could cut that rate in half and couple it with aggressive church planting, the number of churches would rise dramatically. While we thank God for every person in every church, the question of whether we have a CPM, as defined above, cannot be answered yet.

4. Scriptural Authority

            The authors contend that participative Bible study and Chronological Bible Storytelling are two of the methods mentioned.  Both have the advantage of getting everyone involved, but one evangelical missionary mentioned that the Chronological Bible Storytelling, to date, has not been effective in Bicol. Most pastors are quite adept at leading Bible studies that appear to be quite interactive.  In our house church planting program an interactive Bible study is done in place of a sermon. I will explain the nature of this program and the reason for doing a Bible study in Part II. These valid methods, however, do not negate the value of traditional preaching—a biblical hallmark of Protestantism that God has used mightily in the Assemblies of God. But whatever method used, the Bible, and only the Scriptures, must be our authority.

5. Local Leadership

            The authors contend that local preachers, not missionaries, must lead the way in planting churches.  Thank God for this biblical missiology that he gave to our forefathers long before my generation came on the scene. Out of the more than 4,000 AG churches in the Philippines, only one is pastored by a missionary—and this is a special church dedicated to children. But even here his Filipino staff does a lot of the speaking. Our role is to come alongside as evangelists, mentors, teachers, and role models. Do I do this well? Only God can answer that question but in my own estimation there is a lot of room for improvement! Our goal must be, in the words of the late J. Philip Hogan, to mother, not smother the national church.

6. Lay Leaders

The authors contend, and I agree, that training lay leaders is an important key to church multiplication. Ideally, they should be drawn from the same social group as the target for a new church plant and should live in that community. Full time pastors may arise from this group, but the majority will be bi-vocational lay church planters (I Corinthians 1:26-29). From where I sit the AG in general, and that includes us in the Bicol region, have not done this well in the past.  But we must focus on this in order to have a CPM. The current General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in the Philippines, Rev. Rey Calusay, has stated that the day of the expert is over and that the future of church planting is in the hands of the laity. The reason is simple.  The number of laity is much, much greater than that of the credentialed clergy. The AG as a whole is a clergy driven movement, and this must be modified if we are to have a CPM. The leadership of the AG in the Bicol region has taken notice of this and begun to act.  I will share the details in my next post.

Summary of Part I

Do we have a CPM? While we still cannot answer this question, but we can summarize what we have covered thus far. The level of prayer among the churches in the Bicol region has never been assessed, but it seems fair to say that we must continue to grow in this area. Have we sown the gospel abundantly?  To the extent that we have sown the Word of God, I believe the answer to the question is yes, although, again, we must continue to sow. Are we intentional about church planting?  We cannot answer this question just yet but a tentative answer would be that some churches are and some are not. Are we grounded in Scriptural authority? I believe that we have done well here.  Some have gone into error, but the vast majority of our pastors (and hopefully the missionaries that currently serve them) faithfully declare the Word of God. Are we using local leadership? Again, I think it’s fair to say we have done well here.  Have we mobilized the laity? In the past, I believe that we have not given this sufficient focus and have suffered for it.  However, the future might be different. This issue, as well as dealing with the four final essential elements stated by the authors, as well as some assessment and plans for the future will be the subject of Part II in my next blog. Stayed tuned.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation.  For automatic notification of future blogs please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “join this site.”

Copyright 2012 Dr. Dave Johnson 

Winter Newsletter 2011-12

Winter Newsletter 2011 - 2012

Dear Friends,

It’s almost the end of the year, so I’d better get this out quick!  Before I forget, Debbie and I would like to wish all of you a blessed Christmas and Jesus filled New Year.  He is the reason for any season and is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise.  Blessed be His wonderful name!

We’ve been busy since the last time you heard from us by official newsletter.  We arrived in Manila on September 30 and spent about 10 days in Manila before heading down to Legaspi City, our adopted hometown. We found a new house right away, thanks to Alan, our evangelistic team leader, who had been house hunting for us. It took us about a month to get unpacked and have some modifications made to the house, such as cutting holes in walls for air conditioners, which make life more comfortable for us in a tropical climate.

Once we got settled, the next step in our transition process was to reconnect with pastors throughout the Bicol region.  We also believe that God has spoken to us about reevaluating our entire ministry here with the intent of discovering areas that needed improvement.  Dave devised a couple of questionnaires that would accomplish this task and, over the last couple of months, has been travelling throughout the region to various minister’s meetings accomplish all of these goals.  We anticipate completing this process by the end of January.  We have also taken some preaching engagements along the way.

One highlights of our preaching times was Spiritual Emphasis Week at Evangel Bible College.  What a joy to minister on the baptism, the joy, and the historical waves of the Holy Spirit and to see the hunger in the students and faculty.  One lady student began speaking in tongues and was unable to stop for several days! This reminded us of the story of Agnes Ozman, a Bible School student who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in 1901 in Topeka, Kansas. She spoke Chinese for three days straight and was also unable to speak her native tongue.  The testimony afterwards of our Bible School student was that she drew so much closer to the Lord during the days she could only speak with Him in the language of the Spirit.  Praise His Name.

Another glorious moment for us was a recent celebration service to rejoice in the results of our combined evangelistic outreach and Church Planting School ministry in one church.  The building was packed full of people, mostly children, whom the church was now ministering to in various locations as a result of these ministries.  Four Church Planting School graduates stood up and testified to the grace of God now in operation in their lives and new ministires as a result of their training.  We are rejoicing in the Lord.

One of our areas of research has been these Church Planting Schools that Debbie helped pioneer back in 2007. The goal has been to mobilize lay people to plant house churches.  Our research has confirmed that we now have around 208 house churches and continue to grow at a healthy rate. Added to the 200 or so traditional churches in the region, we now have around 400 churches altogether.  We praise God for each and every one of them, but we also cry out for more.  We need tens of thousands of them to achieve the goal of planting a church within walking distance of every person in our region.

Thank you for the prayers and financial support that make all of this possible. 

As we close the year, we are still about $400 a month short in monthly support.  If you can help us with a monthly pledge or even a one time, end of the year gift, we would deeply appreciate it.  You can give through our website, http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/ or send your check to AGWM 1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield MO 65802, marked for acct number 225600 Dave and Debbie Johnson—Philippines.  Thank you so much.

Prayer Points

1. Wisdom from God to understand the challenges facing us.

2. Open ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying.

3. For God to release the financial resources we need to carry on the work.

 

May the Lord give you His peace and joy and a great anticipation of His coming Kingdom, whatever 2012 brings us.  We so appreciate you all and we close this year with our love,

Dave and Debbie Johnson

New Facebook Group

Dear Friends,

 

I just started a new Facebook group for posting my sermons and devotionals in Tagalog for the spiritual benefit and use of any who would like them. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone who would benefit from it.  The link is www.facebook.com/davejohnson, then click on "Mga Mensahe sa Wikang Tagalog" and send a request to join.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Dave

A Biblical Perspective on the Filipino Celebration of All-Saint's Day

A Biblical Perspective on All-Saint’s Day

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

On November 1, millions of Filipinos, most of them nominal Roman Catholics, will go to the cemeteries to visit the graves of their departed loved ones.  They believe that on this day every year the spirits of the dead return to the gravesite.  In this sense, the dead remain alive in the consciousness of their families and are what anthropologists have aptly called the “living dead.” My purpose here is to offer a biblical perspective on both the conviction that the spirits return to the gravesites and the worldview that fosters this belief.

While at the gravesite, the family will clean the graves, have a family reunion, light candles, and leave offerings for the dead. Some also offer prayers for the dead, presumably to get them out of Purgatory and into Heaven.  The need to clean the graves is obvious and the opportunity for a family reunion is certainly understandable but, in order to understand the need for candles and offerings, we need to probe a little deeper into the Filipino psyche.  After all, few people do things for no reason, so what’s the point?

The point, simply stated, is that Filipinos have a deep awareness and fear of the spirit world.  The Filipino worldview abounds with spirit beings that are either benevolent, malevolent, or both.  Filipinos also believe that these spirits can and must be controlled through candles and offerings.  They believe that if the ancestors are not appeased, they can wreak havoc on the living by causing misfortune.  If, however, the ancestors are happy, they will at least not bother the living and may even bring them a blessing through success in business, a wonderful marriage, or general good luck.  Keeping the ancestors happy, then, is believed to be an important task.

Three important observations can be made here.  First, this is one of many examples that could be given where Catholicism and Filipino traditional religious practices intermix. Second, these traditional religious practices are self centered.  The goal is to get the spirits of the ancestors to either leave the living alone or bring them good luck. In other words, people leave offerings for the dead for the ultimate benefit of the living, not the dead.  Man, then, is the center of the universe, not God or even the spirits. Third, underlying all of this is a deep fear of what the spirits might do if not appeased. It may be that this fear, more than any other motive, is what drives Filipinos to the graveyards every year. 

What does the Bible say about all this?  In a word, plenty!  First, from Genesis to Revelation, God is the focus of the universe.  He stands uncreated and without equal. He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and He alone rules the universe with his almighty hand.

Second, the Bible affirms the existence of the spirit world, suggesting that the Filipino worldview, which is shared by other cultures in varying forms throughout the world, is much closer to the biblical worldview than is the worldview of those of us from Western nations.  The New Testament and, to a lesser extent, the Old Testament, is replete with examples of spirit beings known as angels, Satan himself, and demons. A critical difference, however, between the biblical and Filipino worldviews, is that in the Filipino mindset, God is not totally in control.  If he were, the ancestors would not need to be appeased.  The Bible, however, shows a God who is in complete control of his creation. While numerous passages could be given, Philippians 2:9-11 will suffice here.  The name of Jesus is superior to every other name.  He outranks all others.  Verse 10 is clear that every knee will bow to him whether they are in heaven, on earth, or under the earth—which could be a reference either to dead people or demons, and all shall acknowledge his lordship.

Not only is God in complete control, his character, love, and trustworthiness, is absolutely consistent.  His is not only able to keep spirit beings from harming humans; he is also willing to do so.  Psalm 91 is an excellent example of God’s willingness to keep those who trust in him from spiritual predators. Therefore, we do not need to fear the ancestors or any other spirit!  Offerings to them are not necessary because, in biblical perspective, they can neither harm nor bless us.  All of the blessings we need come from God and even the adversities in life that God allows have purpose.  This is great news to Filipinos!

But the question must still be answered as to whether the dead can return to earth.  Most Christians would likely say no, but the biblical evidence is not that simple. Hebrews 9:27 does clearly imply that when people die, they are finished with life on earth.  The apostle Paul also hints at this in 2 Corinthians 5:8 when he writes that, for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Therefore, we can conclude that, generally speaking, the dead do not return to earth. There are, however, a few striking exceptions. Four examples will suffice.  In 1 Samuel 28, the witch at Endor did succeed in bringing Samuel up from the dead but, in reality, it was God sending him to deliver a message to King Saul.  In the New Testament, Jesus raised many from the dead, the story of Lazarus in John 11:38-44 being only one example.  Jesus did these things and commanded his disciples to do likewise as a declaration that the Kingdom of God had come (Matthew 10:8). Another example was the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13 and Luke 9:28-36) where both Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus to discuss his upcoming crucifixion.  The Transfiguration, which occurred at about the midpoint of Jesus’ ministry, was a watershed.  From that time on, he prepared his disciples for his departure. And obviously, the ultimate return from the dead was Christ’s own resurrection. 

A couple of observations can be made from these examples. First, these events were random.  The dead did not return en masse yearly on a specific date, nor did they do so of their own volition.  Second, in all cases God was in control of what happened.  Third, in each situation the dead returned as a part of God’s purpose, not their own or, as in the case of Saul at Endor, the will of the one who summoned them.

The Bible does affirm the existence of the spirit world and the existence of spirit beings, known as Satan and his demons, who would wish to harm people.  Therefore, the Filipino’s fear of the spirits is understandable.  The good news, however, is that God is in control of the spirit world, and he alone is worthy of our offerings, praise, worship, and adoration.  He alone is trustworthy and can liberate us from all of our fears.       

 

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation.  For automatic notification of future blogs please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “join this site.”

Copyright 2011 Dr. Dave Johnson 

October Update

October Update

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to provide you with a quick update on our situation here.

We have nearly completed the moving in process.  It took longer than I had hoped but we had a lot to do to get the house the way we need it, and we have both been sick.  Fortunately, we made the decision not to accept ministry invitations until after we are settled.  This has really helped to keep the stress manageable.  The price for overworking last term, among other things, was depression, burnout, and a year long sabbatical from the ministry to deal with it.  We learned our lesson and do not wish to walk that road again.

The next phase of our transition back into ministry here is to reconnect with friends, colleagues, and the district leadership team, and reestablish our relationships after being in the States for 27 months.  This has already begun.  As we reconnect, we will also be re-evaluating our ministry here to see where we fit and where we don’t.  Since Filipinos have a face-to-face culture, such things are better done in person than by other forms of communication such as email or even telephone.

For example, the Church Planting Schools that Debbie was instrumental in launching four years ago were ably led by the Filipinos themselves while we were gone.  Since our goal is to empower them and see this ministry expand, we want to be very careful about how we get involved.  Getting their input is critical—and we expect this to happen as we reconnect with them.  We will also evaluate the effectiveness of our evangelistic team and make changes as the Lord leads.

Also, over the next couple of weeks, for the first time ever, I will be writing my philosophy of ministry, reflecting both on becoming the man of God that he wants me to become and the work which he has called us to do. I will then write some short and long term goals. I believe that God has spoken to us to be slow, deliberate, and intentional about what we are doing on this time.  We are not at all timid or afraid of the future, just cautious.  We are, in fact, quite excited about what the Lord is doing in our hearts and lives.

I start preaching again on November 6 at an anniversary celebration for a church pastored by our district treasurer.  This is consistent with our goal of reconnecting with the district leadership.  At some point in November I will rejoin the evangelistic team for some of the outreaches. Other events will be scheduled according to the priorities I have listed above, but we will keep light in order to do the writing mentioned.

Prayer Points

1. Please pray for our continued transition.  I’d prefer to let the Holy Spirit guide you regarding the details.

2. Also, we are still about $350.00 a month short in our pledges.  Please pray for this and, if possible, let us hear from you. A pledge form can be downloaded at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

Many thanks,

Dave

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation.  For automatic notification of future blogs please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “join this site.”

Copyright 2011 Dr. Dave Johnson 

Thrills and Spills of Moving Into a House in the Philippines

Healing Through Pain

Healing Through Pain

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

We argued for four hours.  For months my wife, Debbie, had been saying that we needed counseling, but I disagreed.  Denial is a dangerous word with potentially dire consequences.  We had just returned home from our third term of missionary service in the Philippines and were attending a series of missionary renewal services sponsored by our mission sending agency, the Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM). While there, we had been invited to attend a caregiver’s seminar immediately following the meetings.  Thinking it might help us, Debbie wanted to stay.  I did not. The argument was intense. I won the skirmish but, in retrospect, nearly lost the war.

The upshot of the argument was that I finally realized that Debbie was right.  We needed help and began to search for a place to go. Within a couple of months the Lord led us to the Missionary Renewal Asia Pacific (MRAP) ministry, also known as Ministry Resources International, an Assemblies of God missionary care ministry in Kirkland, Washington. AGWM graciously granted us a three month sabbatical, and we packed our bags.  Three months ultimately became a year.  Had we not dealt with the issues when we did, I am convinced that within a short time we would have emotionally crashed and perhaps have been permanently been lost to the ministry.

At MRAP, our counselors, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, began to push and probe into the issues that brought us there.  A physiatrist that works in partnership with them diagnosed me as depressed, and Debbie was dealing with a more moderate case of depression but also had burned out.  Not surprisingly, we had some marriage issues as well. Dealing with these kinds of things, some of which required deep repentance on my part, is like peeling an onion.  The problems we faced, which were far too many to enumerate here, had multiple levels that had to be exposed and dealt with in order to be healed. Like peeling onions, they also provoked a lot of tears, and I experienced more personal pain than I have ever known.  I had to make a choice of facing my pain or running from it.  Facing pain is hard, but it is the path to healing.  God chose to heal me through the pain, not from it.

For me, some of my issues stemmed from my mother, a wonderful Christian lady who suffered from being manic-depressive.  Over the course of 31 years I estimate that she was hospitalized in mental institutions at least fifty times, lasting anywhere from two weeks to ten months at a time.  I had no idea at the time how deeply this affected me.  Somehow my family managed to cope.  Under Spirit led counseling during the sabbatical, however, I discovered that the disruption to our lives caused by her absence bred in me a subconscious sense of abandonment since we never knew if Mom would be there when we needed her.  This fear led to a felt need to control circumstances and people around me—an understandable but unhealthy emotional defense mechanism. For years Debbie and I have known that I have had an anger problem and prayed that God would reveal its source and bring healing.  While it would be far too simplistic to say that my fear of abandonment was the sole cause of my anger, I do believe that the roots of the problem stem from there.  As God has healed my emotions, the level of my anger and my sense of abandonment has been greatly reduced. We’re still praying for the completion of my healing!!

As God brought healing to Debbie and me as individuals, he also began to heal our marriage.  As a Christian, I have hope.  2 Corinthians 5:17 is clear that my past doesn’t have to define my future.  I cannot change what has happened, but I also needn’t be enslaved to the past—especially the things regarding my mom, over which I had no control. As the Holy Spirit, my counselors, and I confronted the issues (so did Debbie, but her story is not mine to tell), God began to heal my inner being.  It didn’t happen overnight, and it still isn’t complete.  After a year of full time counseling, Debbie and I were able to return to missionary service, which in this case meant visiting our supporting churches in the States.  We still maintain regular contact with MRAP and made two return visits.  God has continued to heal us even as we have now just returned to the Philippines.  We still have our disagreements as a couple and are still people in process, but God has brought much healing through our pain.  Glory to his name!! 

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation.  For automatic notification of future blogs please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

Copyright 2011 Dr. Dave Johnson