12/10/2007

From: Chris McKinney

In 1989, veteran missionaries Dennis and Lorrita McKinney and Mike and Liz Carman began working together as church planters in the Baguio area of northern Luzon. In 1990, four years after Carole and I began working as missionaries, we joined the Baguio team. In 1991, Dennis, Mike, and I spent a couple of days at a beach resort in northern Luzon to agree on some measurable goals to help us focus our efforts and prioritize our time and resources. The vision we agreed upon then has remained constant through a number of later team strategy summits, and as our team evolved to include such missionaries as Steve Hong and Dr. Jim Huckaba and Filipino leader Arnold Pasion-to name three who continue to lead the evangelism, church planting, and leadership training efforts in the Baguio area.

We envisioned a network of at least 15 healthy new churches working together not only to be salt and light to their communities, but also to plant new churches and send out missionaries of their own. We envisioned these churches being cared for by capable Christian leaders. We wanted to see any church more than five years old being able to maintain her staff, programs, and meeting place through the stewardship of her own members.

Our mission team's methods, programs, and institutions changed as we gained experience and adjusted to available resources. We launched several leadership development programs and established Philippine College of Ministry in response to a shortage of leaders for new congregations. We missionaries began planting fewer churches and coaching more Filipino church planters. We moved away from hiring church planters, and began offering grants to church planters who could present us with an inspiring proposal (and we helped them get their vision down in writing in proposal form). When the opportunities exceeded our resources, we helped link up local church planters with churches in other countries who could provide needed support. My own decision to pursue a Ph.D. and my current position as a professor of New Testament at a graduate school in Manila is a response to the special challenges we faced when planting urban churches and when trying to secure qualified Filipino faculty for our Bible college.

I mention all this so you can understand what a thrill it was for me to attend the 2nd convention of churches of Christ and Christian churches in Baguio and Benguet, held at Philippine College of Ministry this past December 1. Over 300 church members participated, representing 11 of the 14 churches of Christ and Christian churches in the province of Benguet, including Baguio City.

Only three of the Baguio churches still rely on Philippine Christian Mission for financial support. Four more churches are capable of paying their preachers and paying their rent entirely from their own giving, but the mission still partners with them financially for strategic reasons so they can run programs or employ additional staff members beyond would they could otherwise afford.

These Baguio churches are missionary-sending churches. Even while our family was still living in Baguio, at least one of the churches was sending regular financial support to a Filipino serving in Indonesia. At the convention last week, I spoke with a young Filipina lady from another Baguio church who had just returned from a mission trip to Korea. Later I learned that one of the smallest and newest of the Baguio churches sent one of their leaders as a missionary to Thailand in 2005-where he remains serving today.

The Christians in Baguio are church planters. Seven of the Baguio churches were established directly by our Philippine Christian Mission team. Three of those churches now have daughter churches to their credit. Roy Badongen and Jonathan Retuya, graduates of Philippine College of Ministry, have each independently started churches. The Student Body Organization of Philippine College of Ministry itself ended up starting a church when they set out to bring relief to a community devastated by landslides. And one church in Baguio was already going strong when our team arrived in 1989.

Everywhere I turned, I saw or heard of graduates and students of Philippine College of Ministry serving as preachers, Bible college professors, church planters, and missionaries. In fact, every single one of the 14 churches in the Baguio has a PCM graduate in some kind of leadership position, and all but four of the churches have as paid staff leaders who graduated from PCM.

How satisfying, how fulfilling, to see how God has privileged a team of American missionaries and Filipino church leaders to participate in his plan to make disciples of Jesus from all peoples! Thank you for the vital role you've played in making this all happen. There were times when it was hard for us to believe that the vision God's Spirit gave us might bring us to this place today where we can see 700 Christians worshipping every Sunday in the Baguio area, planting churches in nearby communities, and sending missionaries to such places as Korea and Indonesia. But the accumulation of a few dollars sent-month after month for years-and a sermon preached or a class taught or a Bible study held or a prayer whispered-week after week for years-has resulted in something beautiful.

Chris taught on the principles of the Restoration Movement at the convention.

Chris with Conrad Garcia. Conrad was already a Christian when many in his family came to the Lord as a result of the new church Philippine Christian Mission established in Camp 7, Baguio City. Subsequently he established the MidCity Church under the sponsorship of PCM; Conrad continues serving there as pastor. Since then, the MidCity Church began supporting a Filipino missionary to Indonesia, and helped establish the Valley Country Church in La Trinidad and the San Carlos Heights Church of Christ in Baguio.

Philippine Christian Mission
8159 Woodland Dr.
Buena Park, CA 90620
USA Telephone: (714) 484-6675

Philippines Telephone: 011-63-927-889-5343
Skype: chris_mckinney