Chile
Summary
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the Inca ruled northern Chile while an indigenous people, the Mapuche, inhabited central and southern Chile. Although Chile declared its independence in 1810, it did not achieve decisive victory over the Spanish until 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia to win its present northern regions. In the 1880s, the Chilean central government gained control over the central and southern regions inhabited by the Mapuche. After a series of elected governments, the three-year-old Marxist government of Salvador ALLENDE was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup led by General Augusto PINOCHET, who ruled until a democratically-elected president was inaugurated in 1990. Sound economic policies, maintained consistently since the 1980s, contributed to steady growth, reduced poverty rates by over half, and helped secure the country’s commitment to democratic and representative government. Chile has increasingly assumed regional and international leadership roles befitting its status as a stable, democratic nation.
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📷 : Wikipedia
Statistics
From the The Joshua Project [2]
In the News
📷 : Wikipedia
Prayer Guide
Less-reached peoples. Ethnic minorities, both indigenous and immigrant, find life in Chile to be difficult and are often faced with prejudice.
- The Mapuche (speaking Mapudungun) are by far the largest and most independent of Chile’s indigenous peoples. A strong nationalist movement is agitating successfully for improved land rights and cultural recognition. About 70% are nominally Catholic, but the old animistic religion is still the most influential spiritual force, along with their traditional religious shamans. The Anglican Church has a solid work among the Mapuche, with about 4,000 Christians. CMA, AoG, MTW and others have initiated work among them; SIM is developing Mapudungun TEE programmes. The Pentecostals have won many Mapuche migrants in the cities. The Mapudungun NT was completed in 1997.
- Rapa Nui (Easter Islanders) are a largely Polynesian people. Most now live on the mainland, even as ethnic Chileans become the majority in their home islands. Their society is being overrun, they are losing their culture and language and the influence of many outside forces (tourism, film industry, AIDS and alcohol) are taking their toll. Most are nominally Catholic, but there are now four congregations of evangelicals and some missionaries working among them. The Rapa Nui NT was just recently completed.
- Other Latin Americans. Chile’s stability has attracted hundreds of thousands of Peruvians, Ecuadorians and Bolivians; they come as illegal migrants, and all face discrimination and injustice.
- The Jews of Santiago can be regarded as an unevangelized people.
- The Romani (Gypsies) are neglected by Christians and by society in general. The SdA have three churches with about 400 affiliates among them. The Chilean Romani NT was completed in 2005.
- Palestinian immigrants have recently been arriving in large numbers. Santiago has over 70,000 Christian Palestinians (mostly Orthodox and Catholic), the largest concentration in the world outside of Palestine.
Student witness needs strengthening in the 54 universities and colleges and among the 500,000 students. There are now 25 GBU(IFES) groups, up from 14 in 2000. CCCI (16 full-time workers) has some impact in secondary schools and some universities. But Chile’s evangelicals need to focus much more on reaching and discipling young people. Systemic inequalities and underinvestment in education prompted massive student demonstrations in 2006, which in turn forced government reforms. Pray for students to find their identity in Christ and not in the many other alternatives they face.
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