BCM Philippines: Making a Difference for Jesus
An ambulant vendor from a Metro Manila slum, Naldo was both a drunkard and violent husband and father when he came in contact with a BCM Philippines area pastor. Through him, Naldo met a personal Savior, Jesus Christ. Today Naldo is a BCM cell group leader, his wife and children all involved in the praise and worship team of their local church. A transformed life has led as well to a transformed economic situation. Naldo now has his own business, a motor-driven tricycle for hire, and a home in the suburbs. His wife is employed, his children also all employed or students.
When Rose came to Christ at a BCM Philippines church, she began praying for her husband Jun, known well for his foul language and heavy smoking—two packs a day. When Rose's pastor and cell group reached out to Jun, he came to Christ. Three years later swearing and smoking are now both in Jun's past, and he is training to become a cell leader.
From a traditional Muslim family, 19-year-old Rashid Abdul felt purposeless and restless in his soul when a friend invited him to a youth event at a BCM Philippines church. That same day he responded to an altar call and accepted Christ as Savior. Now he knows well his purpose in life as he shares his faith through the church's Creative Arts Ministry.
BCM Philippine's vision statement is "Let's Make A Difference for Jesus Christ," and that is just what they are doing in life after transformed life.
An island nation in the western Pacific Ocean near Indonesia, the Philippines is made up of more than 7000 islands with an estimated population of about 92 million people. The largest island, Luzon, contains the capital city of Manila. Reflective of several centuries as a Spanish colony, the Philippines' religious heritage is predominantly Roman Catholic. But its second largest island, Mindanao, has a large Muslim minority, especially in the south adjacent to the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia.
BCM ministry in the Philippines originated in the Metro Manila area when two missionaries of what was then the Bible Club Movement, Rev. Sonny Acocoro and his wife Ruthy, began home Bible studies and children's Bible Clubs in their district. They were joined by Rev. Mauricio "Mars" Fuerte, son of a pastor and grandson of a tribal chieftain in Mindanao. Under his leadership, the home Bible studies developed into three organized churches along with numerous cell group outreaches. In 1988, the three main churches were incorporated as Bible Centered Fellowship Inc, or BCF.
But Mars Fuerte's heart was back with the tribal people of his native Mindanao. In 1991, he passed on the shepherding of BCF's three founding Metro Manila churches and their outreach ministries to pastors Mers Driz, Roman Vecino and Vernon Wayne de Jesus and headed with his family back to Mindanao.
Mindanao is home to more than 40 different tribal groups, mostly scattered among rugged mountain ranges inaccessible to modern transport. By horseback, hiking steep mountain trails, on motorcycle, Rev. Fuerte and a growing number of BCF pastors and lay leaders have made tribal ministry their focus in Mindanao.
Today BCM Philippines, known locally as BCF, is an association of 93 churches with 109 full-time church workers as well as hundreds of volunteer lay-leaders and 3 training centers. Of the BCF churches, 63 are in Mindanao, only four of these in urban locations. In April, 2005, Rev. Mars Fuerte turned over leadership of BCF to Pastor Vernon de Jesus, but he remains active in BCM's Mindanao outreach.
This includes church planting, children and youth ministry, and evangelistic outreach to Muslims through a sister organization, Love Your Neighbor Foundation (LYN). Youth outreach involves a radio ministry, conducting "True Love Waits" seminars, and the Kahayag Team, which is a tribal group advocating redemption of tribal culture and arts.
Rev. Fuerte, who himself delights in showcasing ethnic tribal outfits, explains why he feels it is so important to encourage tribal youth to express their faith through their own unique ethnic arts and music:
"In BCM we are in the process of restoration. And so we believe that our culture and the special things that are part of our culture are God-given, and we shouldn't forsake it. Our art, for instance, is a God-given ability that should be appreciated and redeemed for the sake of the kingdom of God."
Mindanao is also home to BCM Camp Espanola, a three-hectare compound used by BCF churches for conferences, training events, retreats, as well as children and youth camps. Camp Espanola houses as well the Short Term Bible Institute , BCF's training school for tribal and rural church workers. STBI Students must be at least 17 years of age and are mostly elementary and/or high school graduates from BCF churches across Mindanao. The training, including lodging and food, is free, but students contribute by helping with camp upkeep.
Mindanao has long been a hotbed of civil war with both Islamic separatist and communist guerrilla groups, and BCM's ministry there has not gone untouched [see accompanying article]. At least two BCF pastors have been murdered. Mocsin Hassim was doing evangelistic outreach in a strongly Muslim region when he was waylaid, ordered to recant and shot a dozen times. His daughter was also murdered. Villalon Moralo, a BCF district overseer as well as pastor, was entitled as a tribal chieftain to more than a hundred hectares of land, part of a government peace accord. When that land was discovered to be rich in mineral deposits, Pastor Moralo was murdered by land-grabbers. Because BCM outreach in Mindanao involves isolated regions, bandits and guerrillas as well as political unrest are a constant danger.
BCM ministry leaders haven't allowed themselves to be intimidated. In fact across the Philippines, BCF leadership has come together to commit themselves to an action plan dedicated to accelerated church growth and leadership development. BCM Philippines field director Vernon de Jesus explains that the core of BCF strategy is a cell group model of church planting and evangelism along with an intensive discipleship and leadership program to consolidate Kingdom gains.
Appropriately for a mission founded on reaching the 4-14 Window, one exciting area of BCF growth is children's ministry. All BCF churches have ministry outreach among children, including VBS, Sunday school, Bible Clubs and weekly meetings on different sites. So far this year 563 children have prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior.
Gerlyn De Jesus, wife of Rev. Vernon De Jesus, is children's ministry coordinator for BCM Philippines. She attributes the effectiveness of children's outreach to the implementation of BCM's In Step with the Master Teacher training program. This year alone, 157 children's minister leaders have finished ISMT training and are now putting it into practice in their home districts.
One graduate expressed her gratitude to the ISMT trainers: "We were like the paralytic [Mark 2:1-8] before ISMT, while you are like the four friends who sacrificed to bring us where the Lord wants us to be as children's workers. Now, like the paralytic, we are ready to stand up, take what we have learned and go to where the children are, teaching and discipling them for Jesus."
In recent months BCF children's ministry volunteers have taken what they learned to almost 2500 children. Since the only place to hold VBS and Bible Clubs is often outdoors, this leads to its own adventures. One VBS team arrived on-site to find the creek in full flood with their pupils trapped on the other side. Unwilling to miss out, the children simply waded the creek each day, attending VBS wet from the waist down. Holding classes in the rain is a regular prospect, which makes the Philippines' warm tropical climate come in handy.
VBS students wrote in to express how much they appreciated BCF volunteers coming to their communities. Eleven-year-old Nikko Pearl Suna sums it up best: "I accepted Jesus to be my Savior because you cared enough to tell me about Him and His love."
"Faithfulness" is the theme BCM Philippines leadership chose for their ten-year action plan. Field director Vernon de Jesus explains that choice:
"Much has to be accomplished. But with God's enabling we will endeavor to keep on being faithful – doing and obeying the Great Commission until Jesus our Lord will come again for His church and usher in His eternal kingdom."
