Our next destination was Purok Nanon. For me, this was more than another stop on the itinerary. It was the community I had longed to visit for years. Several times in the past, I came so close to visiting Purok Nanon, yet every opportunity somehow slipped away. There was always another responsibility, another assignment, or another reason the trip could not happen. So as Kuya Sal, Bibom, and I climbed back onto our motorcycles, my heart quietly thanked the Lord.

Datal Salvan holds a special place in the story of these missional communities. It was the first missional community established in the area—a place where leaders have been discipled, equipped, and sent to strengthen other communities. Men like Bibom and Kuya Sal were shaped there before being entrusted with leadership in other villages.

Before there were missional communities hidden among the mountains of Mindanao, there were prayers. Before there were worship gatherings echoing through the hills of Third Gate, Purok Lahak, Datal Salvan, and Purok Nanon, there were two missionaries carrying a burden from the Lord. Years ago, I remember listening to Ptr. Jeffrey Dapanas and his wife, Malen, shared what God had been stirring in their hearts. Heart Message from an Immersion Trip to the Missional Communities

The cry of the unreached is not a future cry. It is a present one. They are already praying. God is already moving. The harvest is already ripe. But heaven is waiting for one more thing: Will the Church go? Will we answer the cry?

According to missional data, around 72% of global mission efforts are focused on the 29% of the world that already has access to the Gospel, while only 3% of missionaries are serving among the unreached—the ones with no Bible, no church, and often no Christian nearby.

Caleb Byerly is ministering to the local leaders who are reaching out and ministering to their own tribes. A quiet revolution is taking place in world missions today — and it’s changing the way the Gospel reaches the nations. For years, Western missionaries blazed the trail, crossing oceans and cultures to share the Good News. But in recent decades, a new wave of missionaries has emerged — not from the West, but from within the nations themselves. These are indigenous mis