Philippines WMU: Supporters of Missions Education and Mission Sending

Summer camp is a highlight for many Girls in Action (GA) members. The experience at GA camp is a pivotal time for some young girls as they hear God’s call to be a missionary.

If you have ever led a group of GAs at a summer camp, the following scene may sound familiar to you.

The squeals and laughter of young girls fill the air as they play a game to learn more about the country where the missionaries they are studying serve. A little while later, the girls gather with their leaders to worship God and hear firsthand stories from a real missionary.

This scene could be from any GA camp in the US. However, the girls in this story are at a GA camp made possible by Philippines WMU (PWMU).

When WMU began 1888 to pray and raise money for missions, the leaders most likely did not anticipate the exponential growth that would follow over the years. They simply were being faithful servants of God with a desire to see the Great Commission carried out.

Presently, WMU fulfills its mission to make disciples of Jesus who live on mission across the US and in more than 30 countries worldwide. WMU is truly making a global impact.

A Faith-Filled History

PWMU is just one of the many international organizations promoting missions education, mission sending, and prayer. PWMU began in the late 1940s and 1950s, around the same time the International Mission Board (IMB) began its involvement in the Philippines. Adult WMU groups, GA, and Royal Ambassadors (RA) were established by missionaries in churches they planted.

In 1990, the local WMU groups developed into the national PWMU. Precy Caronongan, the second president of PWMU, stated the female IMB missionaries helped foster a love for missions in the hearts of Filipino women.

Prioritizing Missions Education

Like WMU in the US, PWMU equips conventions and associations as they lead and start GA and RA organizations in local churches. PWMU also provides summer camps for GAs and RAs. These camps help foster missions discipleship in the younger generation. Missionaries often share they heard the Lord call them to missionary work when they attended GA or RA camp as a young person.

The leaders of PWMU see the camps as a way to help young people hear the call of God to become a missionary. They feel compelled to offer these camps to immerse young people into missions education in the hopes they will become missions-minded in their local communities.

Pioneering Mission Sending

PWMU has been instrumental in furthering the Great Commission in the Philippines and around the world. PWMU created the mission-sending and education body called the Philippine Global Mission (PGM) to help send Filipino missionaries to other countries.

PGM helps women interested in cross-cultural missions experiences, missions education, missions promotion, financial giving, and caring for missionaries. PWMU pioneered mission sending in the Philippines and was the first to commission missionaries through PGM in 1998.

Prayerwalking Focus

Filipino Baptist women value prayer and prayerwalking as ways to further the gospel. They value it so much they have formed international prayerwalking teams so they can pray down barriers to the gospel in other countries.

Missionaries in the countries where these prayerwalking teams have been are encouraged. They are grateful for the teams’ sacrifice of time and effort to pray for the needs in the areas where the missionaries serve. The missionaries have reported many answered prayers because of the time these teams spent prayerwalking.

Carrying On a Missions Legacy

PWMU has carried on the legacy of women such as Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon, and many female missionaries who believed in missions education and mission sending. Women in the Philippines can learn how to live on mission for Christ and make disciples because of the work of PWMU. Through PWMU, women also are able to help missionaries and church planters by supporting them through finances and prayers.

PWMU is a shining example of cooperation where prayer is the driving force behind its success as an organization. Leading women to experience a missions lifestyle through missions education, financial support of missionaries, and prayer has helped PWMU promote the Great Commission in the Philippines. Because of the work of PWMU, Southern Baptists are able to take the gospel to Filipinos.