Checking Out Chile!Debbie Meroff If variety is the spice of life, South America owes a lot of its flavour to the Republic of Chile. This stringbean-shaped country lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, an astonishing 4,300 kilometres that runs all the way from the world’s driest desert in the north (the Atacama) to magnificent glaciers, pine forests, and penguins in the extreme south.
Chile can also claim to be one of the most stable and prosperous countries on the continent. But while most of its nearly 17 million people are Catholic by tradition, less than fifteen percent regularly attend church. In contrast, evangelicals have grown to an extraordinary 16% of the population.
It was the ministry of OM Ships along the coast that convinced Ramón and Silvia Yaňez in Valparaiso to get involved as OM representatives in 1989. The couple lost no time initiating training for young people interested in missionary work and had the joy of seeing dozens of them mobilized. One of their own sons, Alvaro, served on Logos II where he met and later married Harriet, the daughter of Dutch missionaries. In 1995 the couple became the first Field Leaders and moved the OM office to the capital city of Santiago.
Today OM Chile’s ten on-site staff numbers are devoted to sharing God’s Good News within the country, as well as recruiting and training Christians for missions. One-month intensive English classes (5 days/week, 4½ hours per day) are offered at the base as well as April to October twice-weekly ESL (English as a Second Language) courses for Chilean church workers and missionary candidates.
Since 2005, a nine-month Global Action “Intensive Training Team” has given international young people an immersion experience in the country and culture. This program has thrived, not only attracting “gap year” students but skilled and professional young people who want to learn basic Spanish and practical ministry skills.
While exploring their God-given strengths and weaknesses, the team joins OM staff in oureaches to the city’s homeless, emotionally-scarred children forced to live in a children’s home, and skateboarding youth. They also travel to Brazil to assist with the annual “Teen Street” conference, and spend several weeks in beautiful southern Chile. Here team members get to work alongside small churches—some of them among the indigenous Mapuche Indians—and for relaxation, try some extreme sports like mountain biking and river rafting.
OM Chile’s three-week Adventure Team is a microcosm of the above program, allowing the curious get their feet wet (in more ways than one!). The twice-a-year A-Team has proven so popular that a version for men and women aged 45 and over is being launched in 2009, called “The Next Adventure”!
Pioneers Ramon and Silvia Yaňez, meanwhile, have lost none of their missionary zeal, and each month host a breakfast for Valparaiso-area churches, serving up world updates from visiting speakers. A similar breakfast takes place in Santiago. One of the joint projects adopted by about 35 churches and many individual believers, is raising funds for Dalit Education Centres in India. Participants try to save at least 40 pesos (about 5 Euro pennies) a day and bring their small, colourful collection cans to the breakfasts each month. In this way they have succeeded in raising over $25,000 in the last four years.
In April ‘08, OM Chile Field Leaders Harriet and Alvaro Yaňez accepted a new role as Latin American representatives in Europe, moving their family to the Netherlands.
Alvaro believes it is critical to have someone on site to promote OM Latin American ministries and opportunities, recruit workers, raise finances, and encourage Latinos in Europe. He will continue as a long-distance field leader until April 2009, supervising activities in consultation with interim team leader Hal Henson.
Alvaro asks people to pray that they will find a new field leader by next year, and that team members will experience close unity as they continue with their many-faceted ministries. The church in Chile also needs prayer. As yet there is no evangelical association across denominations, and although cooperation among churches has improved, it hasn’t been enough to make a major impact in their communities. He adds, “We need to see more partnerships--groups of churches working together to send out missionaries. While individuals would like to be involved in world evangelization, pastors and leaders often lack vision and do not encourage them.”
If it’s possible you never noticed this country before, it’s time to remember that Chile and Chilenos have a lot to offer our world. Pray for OM Chile. And expect great things!
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