The Work of the Chilean Alliance to Evangelize the Mapuche People

The Christian and Missionary Alliance of Chile advances in rural work and in strengthening the faith of the brothers of the Mapuche community, so that they themselves continue to reach their own people with the gospel.

The Mapuche people lived in family clans in the countryside of Chile, and they sustained themselves by small farms and livestock. Although the Spanish arrived to conquer them, the Mapuche resisted for more than 300 years.

One hundred years later, in 1641, after constant confrontations, the Mapuche reached the Quilín (or Quillem) agreement in what is the current region of La Araucanía. The treaty showed their capacity and willingness to dialogue. It contemplated a Mapuche nation from the Bío-Bío (south-central region of Chile) to present-day Valdivia, an extensive territory that allowed Spaniards and Mapuches to live in relative peace for more than 200 years until the independence of Chile in 1818.

The Mapuches maintained their own religion some of which was consistent with the gospel. This allowed the Chilean church to find points of approach with them and the God of the Bible. It was the arrival of the first missionaries in Talcahuano in 1897 – particularly Henry Weiss, the founder of the C&MA of Chile, and his wife Catalina – that opened the possibility of the existence of the church among the Mapuche, a result of the prayers for those people.

Today in Chile there are about two million Mapuches. Some 350,000 of them live in the La Araucanía region. A large number also live in the capital Santiago for work reasons. Evangelical Christians account for approximately 34%, as a result of the work carried out with sister denominations.

Currently, the C&MA of Chile has 30 congregations in 30 Mapuche communities in La Araucanía.

The Ministry of Rural Advancement of the C&MA of Chile has the challenge of strengthening the faith of the Mapuches to continue reaching their own people with the gospel. They focus on children, youth and adults while also integrating their rural brothers and sisters into the body of Christ.

In recent years, the possibility has opened to train leaders of these rural congregations in a special program through the Theological Seminary, so that these brothers pastor their own congregations under the supervision of the local church.

The Mapuche story is emerging in terms of the development of small agriculture, livestock and more education. The new generations have more access to scholarships, and they feel a duty to promote Christian education in each congregation, strengthening what is working. Their goal is for each family to be responsible for Christian teaching in their own homes.

Let us join in prayer so that the C&MA of Chile can fulfill its great challenge: “The gospel for each person, a church for each community and a trained leader for each church.”