Exploring the challenges of single mothers in the Philippines: Empowerment as diaconal task of Evangelical church in the Philippines.

Single mothers are in need, discriminated against and marginalized in the Philippines. The issues of gender inequality affect the life of single mothers globally. In this master thesis I reflect upon and discuss the research question: “What are the challenges of single motherhood in the Philippines? And how does the Evangelical church meet the needs and empower single mothers?”. The research explores the challenges and experiences of a single motherhood in the Philippines in the extended societal context they live within and looking at the overview of how the church can be a vehicle in empowering these women. Qualitative interview was used in this study. The participant consisted of 4 single mothers and 1 local church leader. Data collection took place using open-ended interviews. Three relevant theories have been employed in this master thesis- perspectives of gender, ecclesiology and the theory of empowerment as diakonia which utilized to answer and explore my research question. The interviews with the single mothers reveal that they live under challenging conditions. The cultural norms and practices have seen to be continually discriminating and undergird inequalities to the daily life journey of the single mothers in the Philippines. The study reveals that the paternalistic and discriminatory practices influenced by the society are existing within the church, deterring the church to fully meet the needs of the single mothers. The study reveals that the church has primarily been working through traditional ways (e.g. preaching) as responding to the needs of the single mothers in the Philippines. The study found out that there is no collaboration between the church and the public states in response to the needs of single mothers. The church as diaconal agent is called to respond to the human suffering, injustice, care for creation; fostering empowerment to every individual, in family and in communities. Empowering single mothers might be best fulfilled and meet the needs of the single mothers if the civic society and church are both collaborating between programs and initiatives