REGION V: BICOL
TRUST GOD AND THE WORK CAN BE DONE
Bicol region consists of six provinces
– Albay, Camarines Provinces,
Sorsogon, Masbate and Catanduanes.
The region is mainly agricultural. The Bicol dialect is spoken by 76% of the
population although there are variations in tone and world meanings.
Masbateño is tone and world meanings. Masbateño is another common language
used by 9% of the people mostly in Masbate.
Tagalog (8%) and Cebuano (6%) are used in some parts of the world region.
HARVEST
FIELD:
Bicol is predominantly Catholic region.
Only about 3% of the region is evangelical. Catholicism is embraced by 95%
of the population. Iglesia ni Kristo and Jehovah Witness came out strong in
the provinces of Bicol. There 2,782 barangays in Bicol that do not have a
church. In these barangays 4.5 million people do not have an access to a
Bible believing church. Bicol is one of the highest regions in church to
population ratio in the country (1:4,333). The need is greatest in Camarines
Norte.
HARVEST FORCE:
In 1990, there were only 800 churches
in Bicol. After 10 years, the harvest force added 279 new churches. The
church is small. The average number of people is 49 with Catanduanes which
has the least number (37 members per church). Most of the new church plants
belong to the Independent and Full Gospel groups.
THE REMAINING TASK:
Only 20% of the barangays has a church.
There are 2,782 villages that do not have church. The task in Bicol is great
but the churches can trust God that the work can be done. In order to impact
97% of the unsaved population, the work needs to rely on the power of God.
The need to triple the number of churches (4,000) demands trusting God that
the big work can be done.
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