Our field

The Land

Chile’s pencil-thin stretch of land is neatly wedged inside of an explosive variety of terrains spanning three continents! Chile has its eastern backbone on the South American continent from the beautiful Andes mountains, forming a natural border between Chile and Argentina. To the north lies the Atacama Desert that lies near Chile’s borders with Peru and Bolivia. As you travel south, temperatures drop as you reach the world’s closest bit of land to Antarctica. In fact, Chile even lays claim to a portion of Antarctica that reaches all the way to the South Pole! As a coastal country, Chile’s western border stretches into Oceania, enveloping certain Pacific islands such as Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe Island. Located along the Ring of Fire, Chile’s Andes Mountains include over 600 active volcanoes!

The People

Because of the expansive longitude of Chile and because of its reaches into Oceania, a variety of cultural subgroups can be found. However, the mainland hub of Chile, Santiago, houses over 6 million of the country’s 15 million inhabitants, and those living on the mainland share a dominant, common culture. For example, there are two things held dearly to the hearts of Chileans—soccer and dancing! Music and sports play a major role in cultural unity countrywide (or perhaps country-long?). Despite the wide longitudinal distances between them, those living in the northernmost and southernmost stretches of Chile even share a nearly identical Spanish dialect.

The Missions Work

As is common with Latin American countries, Chile is predominantly Roman Catholic. However, unique among Latin American countries is Chile’s percentages of Christian Protestant and religiously non-affiliated people. Recently, the Chilean government has allowed its citizens to homeschool their children, widening the door for the influence of Christian education in the country. In Santiago, several Christian schools exist to serve the needs of high-risk children that desperately need to hear the Gospel. As students—the future leaders of Chile—are reached for Christ, they are able to bring the Gospel to their families at home, allowing the Holy Spirit opportunity to work in the individual hearts and lives of the Chilean people.