Sending cross-cultural missionaries is something relatively new for the evangelical church in Chile. While an increasing number of pastors and congregations are responding to their growing understanding of mission, the majority are still unsure, uneasy, or simply haven’t understood that the call to send out is for all committed Christians, including them!

During the past 20 years, God has used many individuals and groups to birth mission initiatives in Chile. SIM’s Hans Ziefle, from Germany, has dedicated most of his 15 years in Chile to assisting the Church in sending out Chilean and other Latin American missionaries. He says, "It appears to me that the 'romantic period' of world missions that we sensed in the ‘90s, has ended in Latin America, and particularly in Chile. We are entering a new period in which there are more demands and greater expectations. A growing percentage of new candidates are young professionals who are less likely to be satisfied with unproven structures, arguments, and inefficient practices."

Slow but sure

Enter ProVisión, a new, national initiative aimed at improving opportunities for Chilean churches to send out their missionaries. ProVisión is not alone in this venture. Other organizations—with a longer history in Chile’s mission movement—include YWAM, OM, a few short-lived initiatives, and a handful of national denominations with varying degrees of commitment and success.

The growth of ProVisión has been lento pero seguro (slow but sure), as the local saying goes. In 2000, a small group of Christians in Santiago discussed how to effectively support missionaries sent out from their country. This group received encouragement from former SIM Chile Director Ray Morris, among others. And, in 2004 a legally constituted Chilean missions entity was established, which supported a number of missionaries over the next couple of years.

In 2006 Ziefle and Tim Sandvig, both involved in mobilizing mission in Chile through SIM, observed a limited infrastructure within the country to do just that. They approached ProVisión’s president, Marco Alvarado. Could ProVisión take the further step of becoming a sending entity?

Today ProVisión is in the early stages of processing its first Chilean missionary candidates. Working in collaboration with international and interdenominational organizations, their model is similar to that of the Costa Rican FEDEMEC and the German DMG. The initiative’s first executive president is former pastor Sergio Galaz.

Andrés and Betsy

ProVisión will seek to guide candidates, and their churches, in their training programs, and to second people to international service organizations (SIM and others) that are a “good fit” for them.

One young couple who have approached ProVisión are Andrés Vera and his fiancée Betsy Navarrete. After a week-long youth missions camp near Santiago in January 2008, Andrés served for two weeks on the Paraguayan-Brazilian border and was "hooked." An evangelist at heart, he knew he had to prepare and get more experience. He and Betsy are doing a missions training course in Santiago, applying to ProVisión, and sharing their vision with their church, which has no experience of cross-cultural mission.

Currently, ProVisión is renting office space on the property of an interdenominational Bible Institute in central Santiago, but is seeking the means to establish a more adequate official presence in the city. There is a vision to help send out at least 1,000 cross-cultural missionaries from Chile by the year 2020.

*Note: This article was originally published in Serving in Mission Together, Issue 126.