July 2007 Pacific Rim Prayer Emphasis:
The Chavacano of the Philippines

“‘And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.’” Daniel 7:14, NASB.

Over 400,000 Chavacano people live throughout the Philippines, and are specifically concentrated around Zamboanga City on the island of Mindanao. While they are not significantly culturally different from their Cebuano neighbors, they are a distinctly different linguistically. The Chavacano dialect is a creole language, meaning that it formed through the combination of several existing languages.

The three primary contributors to the development of this dialect are Cebuano laborers, Spanish soldiers, and Jesuit priests. These groups came together to impact the local Visayan people as they battled to control the peninsula in the early 17th century. The Moro pirates had long controlled the area and were known for their cruelty and violence. The Visayan people welcomed the Spanish conquest when it came.

The Chavacano are proud of their history and their distinctive language. Another impact of the Spanish and Jesuit influence is the Roman Catholic religion. Most Chavacano are Catholic, but there are a small but growing number of born-again believers among this group. The Catholic Church does not currently hold mass in Chavacano, but the New Testament is available in the Chavacano language. In addition, the Chavacano love music and one great need is for Christian songs to be written and produced in the Chavacano dialect.

Pray that:

God will inspire Chavacano believers to write music and songs to touch the hearts of their people.

Chavacano Christians will be burdened to witness to their friends, family and business associates.

Chavacano believers will forsake their animistic practices to follow the LORD.

God will call out many believers to prayerwalk among the Chavacano to determine where God is working and how to join Him.

Creative avenues will be discovered to broadly distribute scriptures and Gospel songs to the Chavacano.

Chavacano leaders will grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD and will be able to train other believers to grow and mature as Christ followers.

A rapidly multiplying church planting movement will be initiated among the Chavacano.