The Chavacano of Philippines

The Chavacano of Philippines, numbering approximately 825,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a creole-speaking people associated with Chavacano, Asia's only Spanish-based creole language. Their culture emerged through interaction between Spanish colonial society and indigenous Philippine communities, especially in Zamboanga. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Chavacano is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Chabakano Creole

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino, Central
Primary Language(s): Chavacano (cbk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 825,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007661
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Pray for the Chavacano of Philippines

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

69%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chavacano
Language Family: Indo-European

65%
%
Chavacano Speakers

Media Resources in Chavacano:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Chavacano:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Chavacano bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Chavacano are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Chavacano:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Chavacano of Philippines

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

The LORD bless you and keep you.
readNumbers 6:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with God's grace, trusting that He will never abandon them.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Chabakano Creole Across Countries (ROP3 - 101951) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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