Developing a contextually sensitive ministry among the Subanen in Sindangan, Zamboanga Del Norte

Abstract

Developing a Contextually Sensitive Ministry among the Subanen People is a study that attempted to present a method of doing ministry to the Subanen people in a unique way. This study intended to develop a contextually sensitive ministry among the Subanen. Specifically, this study aimed to determine similarities and differences between Christianity and Subanen beliefs; determine whether the Christian teaching has positive or negative effect on their tradition and culture; determine the problems of the Subanen Christian (political, economic, social, spiritual); and propose a contextually sensitive ministry among the Subanen. This study is a qualitative research and also used both theories and experience. Findings show that the local language had been eroded by the assimilation of another culture; the eldership model of leadership has been gradually eradicated and has been replaced by a leadership which is highly structural and political; the highly communal lifestyle among the tribe in the spirit of interdependency and reciprocity and symbiotic relationship has been replaced with individualism, privacy, space, and boundaries which resulted in alienation and segregation of one family from the other; the art and static beauty distinctive among the culture had been disregarded by the surge of modem trends brought by infiltration of the dominant group; and the worship devotion and solitude of the Subanen towards the Creator of the Universe had been adversely affected because they are taught by Christians that it is totally wrong.