Chile - South America

Nestled between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific coast lies the 2,700-mile-long ribbon shaped country known as Chile that is home to just over 18 million residents. A warmhearted people who are generally open to the Gospel, Chileans, like their neighbors in Argentina, are mostly of European decent. Chile has one of South America's strongest and fastest growing economies. The country is home to the world's largest copper reserves, and numerous multi-national companies have operations in Chile.

If you like geographical variety, Chile has plenty to offer. Averaging only about 110 miles in width, Chile’s natural borders create seemingly never-ending majestic vistas of God's handiwork. Chile's Atacama Desert in the north of the country is one of the driest places in the world, while the southern region's Patagonian Rainforest is likely to experience in excess of 150 inches of rainfall annually! When one contrasts all that to the extreme southern tip of the country with its freezing cold of the Antarctic and its glacier-encrusted volcanoes, it becomes evident that Chile is a land of unparalleled diversity.

The majority of Chile's population live in the central costal region of the country whose temperate climate and flourishing economy make it much more appealing than the country's more extreme regions. The city of Santiago boasts a population of more than five million residents. The bustling and quite modern capital city's material prosperity is evident but so is the lack of spiritual prosperity. Approximately 70 percent of the Chilean people profess Catholicism, and 15 percent claim to be Protestants. However, in reality, many, if not most Chileans, are leading fast-paced lives that allows little time or space for God.

We are grateful to have two missionary families currently serving in Chile. Cliff and Tiffany Booth have been serving in Santiago since 2002 and have established a growing local church with a strong emphasis on discipleship. Nathan and Christine Saint arrived in Chile just after Christmas 2016. Nathan (a.k.a. Nate) is the great nephew of the Nate Saint who was speared to death in 1956 on the shores of the Curaray River in Ecuador by the Huaorani Indians. That Nate Saint, along with four of his fellow missionaries who were also martyred, was attempting to reach the primitive Indian tribe for Christ. Now, more than six decades later, Nathan and Christine are establishing a local, independent Baptist church in Chile.

Please consider the following facts: Chile has 12 cities with populations of 50,000 to 100,000; 15 cities of 100,000 to 200,000 residents; and another 12 cities whose populations range between 250,000 and 500,000. The most perilous fact is that at the present time, there are far too few missionaries who have answered the call to preach the Gospel and plant churches in this acutely under evangelized country.

Chile is in desperate need of someone to bring the message of eternal life to its people. Could it be that God wants you to go to this materially prosperous but spiritually deprived nation and show them how they may obtain eternal riches through eternal life in Christ Jesus?

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