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The global movement called the Filipino International Network (FIN)
took shape as Christians around the globe started to take notice of the
mass dispersion of Filipinos, and as they recognized the great
potential of Christian Filipinos in Diaspora to actively participate in
global missions. FIN was officially born in May of 1995 at a historical
consultation in Larnaca, Cyprus when 37 visionary men and women met to
“read the times” and to seek God’s mind. The small group committed to
“partner” in prayer for one another, and to share resources in order to
motivate, equip, and mobilize the believing Filipino diaspora – an
estimated 7% of the 7 million Filipino expatriates scattered around the
globe.
In the years that would follow, FIN would grow to become
a movement of believing Filipino expatriates living and working outside
their homeland, while at the same time being witnesses for Jesus Christ
in their host countries. FIN is modern history’s second ethnic missions
movement to be global in scope, second to the Chinese diaspora missions
movement, The Chinese Congress on World Evangelization (CCOWE) that
started in 1976.
With the mission to “motivate, equip, and
mobilize Filipinos to partner for global missions,” FIN’s task is to
initiate, organize, and coordinate strategic prayer and training events
throughout the year and throughout the globe, and to provide tentmakers
with resources for effective evangelism and discipleship. This includes
planning and organizing Prayer Advance (a prayer gathering of Filipino
Pastors and lay-leaders) in cities around the world for the purpose of
corporately praying for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and to
further expose participants to God’s work among and through the
Filipino diaspora. FIN also conducts regular training seminars
world-wide to give Filipinos and other expatriates tools to help them
effectively share their faith, and to help them continue being
“multiplying disciples.” The training is supplemented by resources made
available by FIN including the Jesus Film, the widely viewed film based
on the Lukan account of the life of Jesus Christ. FIN also sponsors and
conducts a series of Family Life conferences that invite married
couples to discover God’s wonderful plan for their lives. FIN has
played a key role in deploying career field workers in regions that
have been difficult to penetrate with traditional missionary methods.
These FIN initiatives have been effective in reaching many Filipinos
and other nationals with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they have
resulted in the training and mobilizing of a significant tentmaking
force existing in thousands globally, and present in almost every
country of the world.
FIN is guided by the following historical documents:
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