The Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center celebrated 55 years of ministry September 8, 2026. The center, founded by Southern Baptist missionaries Harold and Joyce Watson, has established a legacy of loving their community by meeting spiritual and physical needs since opening in 1971. During that time, center leaders taught villagers how to farm on sloped land and provided the resources needed to successfully escape poverty and malnourishment.  

The longevity of the ministry, in a place often known for activism, floods and earthquakes, has been challenged over time, but God has been faithful. The staff of the MBRLC all agree that everything that has happened in the last  55 years is a result of prayer and dependence upon the Lord.  

Southern Baptists continue their support of the center through giving to the Cooperative Program and International Mission Board to sustain missionary presence and through Send Relief, which provides funding for specific projects. 

The Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center is home to agricultural training, spiritual formation and 55 years of agricultural innovation that has transformed the lives within local and global communities. IMB Photo

One of the most successful outreach programs established at the MBRLC is called, “Baptist Out of School Training,” more commonly called “BOOST.” The program was started to elevate the farmer from poverty by utilizing the Sloped Agriculture Land Technology method. The SALT method was first introduced in the Philippines by the Watsons, who served for 55 years. BOOST graduates are trained to grow vegetables, fruit trees, raise livestock, fish, and ducks to sell at the market for their daily needs.  

“We offer a holistic approach,” explained Greg Calnantok, the agricultural trainer for the BOOST program. “During every training, the BOOST attendees learn about agriculture, Bible and healthcare.

“The majority of our trainees accept Christ and decide to be baptized,” Calnantok said. “Some of them become our evangelistic partners and 90% of our churches have pastors that came from the BOOST program.”

Pastor Tiddy Dalunan, the training coordinator, reported that “thousands of people” have come to believe in Christ during these BOOST trainings, and hundreds of churches have been planted throughout the Philippines since the MBRLC first opened.  

“We share with them that farming without God is terrible because the author of farming and the original agriculturalist is God, Himself,” Dalunan explained. “He created the soil and everything we use in agriculture. We cannot separate God from agriculture because God is our source in doing things and is the source of wisdom.” 

The valleys are full of life, as this beautiful, bright green rice field provides a needed food resource to people in the Philippines. IMB Photo

Zuriel Manguiat, the youth leader for the convention in Visayas and Mindanao of Southern Baptist Churches, is very familiar with the center. As a boy, he watched his parents work on staff and witnessed the center impact countless lives, especially the lives of the people who were seen by society as being less fortunate.

“I have met a lot of people, especially in the province of my mother, who were helped by the BOOST training. They became pastors and led people to Christ,” Manguiat explained. “I think these types of movements and projects are what makes missions and all of the efforts of the missionaries really worth it.” 

A livestock breeding program that includes goats, pigs and cows has introduced key sources of protein and milk into the local community. IMB Photo

Manguiat has seen the legacy of “loving your neighbor” lead to a legacy of Christ-centered families, pastors and churches.

“What we really are proud of is that it has helped bi-vocational pastors and workers do an effective job of pastoring churches, leading people to Christ, but at the same time taking care of the families and their congregations,” he said.

In addition to the national and international agricultural training, the center hosts Christian events like camps, women’s conferences and short-term mission teams.

As the community looks to the future, they know that much is still needed to continue reaching the community’s physical and spiritual needs.

“I think the MBRLC is here and available, but the people no longer know that they need it,” Manguiat said.  “The farm would really benefit from missionaries who are innovative and could communicate the needs of the people.”

Who Will Answer the Call?
Jess Jennings, an IMB missionary who serves in the Philippines, said there are jobs on the books right now for people with experience in farming or healthcare. 

“We are really praying that God will raise up a generation of missionaries that can bring the farming, innovation, and the gospel” he said. “Who will spend their whole lives among the poor sharing the gospel and bringing practical ways that they can be lifted out of poverty?”  

Learn more about serving overseas and about specific job opportunities.