PSALM Iloilo

PSALM Iloilo

According to Wikipedia, Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo is a highly urbanized city on the Southeastern tip of Panay Island in the Philippines. It has 1,936,423 inhabitants, with a 1. 02% population annual growth rate ( August 2015 Census).

It is the regional hub of education, healthcare, tourism, culture, industry and economy in Western Visayas. The city’s population is predominant Catholic with over 95% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, other minorities such as Protestants (5%), Iglesia ni Cristo (2%) and Aglipayans (1%).

Being the center of education in Western Visayas Region, the city and the province of Iloilo has a total of ten major universities such as the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), which houses the University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo (UPHSI), Central Philippine University (CPU), University of San Agustin (USA), West Visayas State University (WVSU), Iloilo Science and Technology University (formerly WVCST) (ISAT-U), University of Iloilo (UI), St. Paul University Iloilo (SPUI), and John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University (JBLFMU).

With all the Christian campus ministries here combined, we barely penetrated 10% of the population stated above. There is an urgent need to be intentional in reaching and discipling them. We should not wait for others to be sent; instead we should send ourselves first, and eventually influence others to join us.

We need to open our eyes and look at the fields for they are ripe for harvest as John 4:35 (NIV) says, “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvests.”