The Tagalog word barkada is a loanword from Spanish, meaning “shipload” or “boatmates” (The Philippines was a Spanish colony for 300+ years, making it a unique spanish-asian cultural fusion). Today, the word refers to a group of friends/a clique/gang. On a superficial level, a barkada is a simple friendship group—the friends you hang out with. When you look deeper, however, a barkada has a marked influence on individuals, with long-lasting bonds that rival those of familial obligations.
We’ve only lived in the Philippines for 7 months, yet a barkada of our own seems to be already forming. This is no mere group centered around dinners and game nights (though those certainly happen, too). Our barkada is more than that. It’s our… Bible Barkada.
The Friends Network model is to first meaningfully engage in local culture and community, second to establish authentic, genuine friendships as you do so, and then third to share the gospel where God gives opportunity. Although this is an incredibly healthy approach to mission work (read more about that here), it’s also a rather slow process. Well, typically it is…
However, God was giving a whole lot of opportunity, a whole lot faster than we expected! Despite fears of degrading our relational ministry into schedules and programs, we found that we needed to create spaces to bring these opportunities together.
Consequently, our team currently conducts 3 weekly Bible studies: A Women’s Study on Saturdays, A Discipleship Study on Sundays, and an Evangelism Study on Mondays. Here’s a look into how each developed.
1. Saturday Women’s Study
What started with a few women at a coffee shop…
…has become a weekly well of refreshment for a variety of women to build each other up in the Word. Christina and Brea host this one in our apartment.
Emerging ministries are so often built on the backs of spiritual women supporting one another upon the rock of Christ, and it makes me so happy whenever I return home and see our living room full of smiles, laughs, and kiddos.
2. Sunday Discipleship Study
Actually, Sunday Study wasn’t even started by us—it was started by our friends Mikki & Bettinna as a way of digging deeper into the Word. Primarily for cultural research, we began attending to see how a small group, in-home Bible study works in the Philippines (and to spend time with our friends).
However, shortly after attending, Mikki asked if we would consider taking over teaching the group. Ever since, I (Micah) have been teaching through the Old Testament almost every week.
This study takes a little bit more time to prepare for, as the evening often looks more like a sermon than a discussion, but it has been well worth the time and keeps me sharp. So enjoying this wonderful group of people! (And as a former YouTube chef, enjoying Bettinna’s Filipino dishes each week is a nice perk!)
To prepare our hearts for Holy Week, we had the group over to our place for an interactive study that included watching portions from The Passion of the Christ.
3. Monday Evangelism Study
This one’s fun.
This study started with a couple of friends at a coffee shop simply having conversations on the book of John (See below). At the end, we said, “This was great! What if we invited a couple more friends to join us?”
A couple of weeks later, we met at a different coffee shop with a few more friends.
But it was hard to find a location that was open late enough for our lengthy hangouts and also had enough space for our growing group. That’s when Josh (far right in the last picture) suggested he host the study at his cafe/cocktail lounge, Hakid. After all, they were closed on Mondays, so we’d have the place all to ourselves!
That’s when things really got moving!
The space works perfectly. We set up a line of food on the bar, rearrange the furniture, and go! Our group features people from all different backgrounds— religious and non-religious, friends of friends, and once even someone who walked in to order a drink (not realizing they were closed) and ended up staying for the study!
Sometimes we split into smaller groups so that everyone has a voice, space to open up, and time to be ministered to.
We’re so thankful for all the ways God is at work in each of these people’s lives!
There’s a peek into our friend group. Our boatmates. Our Bible Barkada.
They have probably been a greater blessing to us than we have ever been to them. Please keep them in your prayers—many threats loom among the environments of scattered gospel seeds. We ask for wisdom and strength to shepherd them responsibly!
Let your work be seen by your servants,
and your splendor by their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
establish for us the work of our hands—
establish the work of our hands!
Psalm 90:16,17
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this! This year, I’ve really only gotten the chance to write about our missionary retreat and the health challenges we faced (Which are much, much better now, thanks to an army of prayer warriors. Christina is almost completely healed up!). I apologize for such a delay in ministry-related updates. In the near future, I plan to fill you in on the parts of our ministry from the other 4 days of the week, including: a big project we’ve been producing, the class I’m teaching, and a couple of personal testimonies from our friends, as well!
Thanks for following along and for your continued support of this ministry. We thank God for you every day.
Awesome update, dear Ottos! Praise God for the beautiful things He is cultivating in you and through you! To Him be the glory! 🥰