Bohol: A Changing Island
For generations Bohol has been an island of fishing and farming communities. Within the last two years, however, things have begun a dramatic change. The island is quickly becoming urbanized with dense pockets of population. As people begin to migrate, our goal is to equip church planters and church leaders to meet the rising ministry opportunities of the changing culture and demographics.
In 2003 a family sent funds to take a widow and her children from Bohol to Cebu, a major metropolis on an island three-hours away, where they could shop for new clothes, household items, and food. One of the stores had an escalator. All five children, the eldest being 12 at the time, were terrified by the moving stairs. When the Propps visited Bohol in October of 2004 the market where this family lived had a brand-new two-story mini-mall with escalators! This is a great example of how fast things are changing in Bohol. Mike and Jean have been greatly burdened with the need for the churches to be equipped to rise to the challenges of reaching a rapidly changing culture. Unless something is done now, there is a real danger of the church in Bohol becoming irrelevant and unsuccessfull in reaching the community.
Population: More than 1,000,000
Area: 1,608 square miles
Village of Hope will be built in Talibon
Maranatha Bible College is located in Trinidad
Population: 85,000,000
The Philippines is located in the 10/40 window.