ANABAPTISM IN THE PHILIPPINES

Around the same time that the Anabaptist movement was beginning in Europe, the Philippine islands once had a civilization of its own. It was later discovered by Spain, which explored the earth to expand its territory. Since then, Christianity came to the Philippines, with the cross being used as a symbol of power and authority. Protestantism later came to the Philippines when America acquired the country from Spain in the 1898 Treaty of Paris. The Philippine history has then been about foreign conquests, battles fought and won, and an ongoing struggle for independence and self identity.

Anabaptism, which originated in Europe, only came to the Philippine shores in recent years. After the World War II, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) sent volunteers to assist war victims in the northern islands of the country. It was the first recorded entrance of Anabaptists in the Philippines. A hospital was founded by MCC in 1948, and is still existing up to this day, owned by Protestant doctors.

In the 1950s, several Filipino pastors were convicted to serve people not only spiritually, but also to provide for their physical needs. They used their own resources to provide livelihood assistance to the communities they serve. This was then organized as Missions Now, Inc. In the 1970s, one of the Filipino pastors went to the United States to share the ministry that he was doing in the Philippines. He met some Mennonites and was attracted to their conviction of peace and holistic ministry. Later, the Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) formerly the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (EMBC) sent missionaries to the Philippines to plant churches and provide educational and livelihood assistance, especially to the poorest among Filipino society.

In the 1990s, the church suffered some conflict and division after the death of the pastor who started Missions Now, Inc. His son continued the leadership of the organization, but did not embrace the Mennonite doctrine. Thus, the Integrated Mennonite Church (IMC) was born in 1991 out of the rest of the members who still embraced the Anabaptist Mennonite conviction.

Today, the Integrated Mennonite Church of the Philippines still strive to be faithful in its calling. There are 21 small congregations affiliated to the IMC, majority located in the Northern Provinces of Luzon, in the far-flung areas of the mountains. There are also existing Church of God in Christ Churches around the country, and also conservative plain fellowships of Mennonites but there is no existing communication lines between the IMC and the other Anabaptist-embracing churches present in the country.