Conversion or Acculturation? A Study of Culture Change and Its Effect on Evangelism in Mindanao Indigenous Societies

Abstract

Rapid culture change among tribal groups in Mindanao, Philippines, has produced a generation of young people who are eager to seek a new, more prestigious identity. Western missionaries, influenced by their society's obsession with the future and with youth, run counter to tribal worldviews when they consider young people the most effective target for evangelism. Targeting the youth can often prevent a tribal society's most effective communicators from a realistic hearing of the gospel and block a valid people movement. This article describes certain processes and problems of rapid culture change and urges some serious rethinking about strategies for evangelism in this area.