The Field
The Philippines
The Need for the Gospel
The Republic of the Philippines is in Southeast Asia with 7,641 islands and more than 120 dialects spoken with English and Tagalog as is its official languages. Among non-Filipinos, Philippines is known for its food like lumpia and pancit, and for the world champion boxer Manny Pacquio.
Philippines labels itself as the only official “Christian nation” in Asia, and it is generally considered a “reached” people group to most missionary agencies; But the country is saturated with false gospels through the teachings of many Christian cults. Over 75% of Filipinos are Roman Catholics who deny salvation by God’s grace alone; and a large number of others belong to Iglesia Ni Cristo & the Islam religion which denies that Jesus is God. Even the 5% of “evangelicals” in the country adhere mostly to the prosperity gospel.
In general, many Filipinos have a form of godliness but deny its power, they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge (2 Tim 3:5; Rom 10:2). So because they preach and believe a gospel that is not according the Scriptures, their faith is in vain (1 Cor 15:1-5).
The Calling
The vision of As Of First Importance Ministries is to restore the honor that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ in the preaching of His gospel according to the Word of God alone for the glory of God alone. Our mission is to come alongside local pastors, church planters, missionaries, and the rest of the saints by equipping and strengthening them to love Christ first and preach the truth of His gospel without shame and without compromise (Rom 1:16; 2 Tim 2:2-15). By discipling local church leaders to be focused on Christ and to be faithful preachers of the Word, our prayer is that they in turn would disciple other men to be the same (2 Tim 2:2).
As God is making for Himself a people from every nation, tribe, and tongue; our prayer is for the country of Philippines to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor 4:3-6).
