Latest News

The church in Osorno commemorated International Women’s Day in March this year with a beautifully organised and thought out activity.

Our long term partners in Chile, Gerd and Rosi Bergmann, work very hard in their ministry of training and resourcing those in ministry in Chile – pastors to the pastors. One of the resources they make available is a flat for pastors to stay in on retreat, but the building needs work to make it more weatherproof.

Our balcony fills up with water if the rain comes with wind, which it does. That water than finds its way to the inner wall of our living room below. So the solution will be to put windows in which would keep all the dust out as well as the rain. That is the easy project as part of waterproofing!

The more difficult and challenging part is to put cladding on our entire north front and on one side. So we are talking 2 storeys and 20 metres long. The winter rain comes with strong winds that push the water through every nook and cranny. We have covered it with silicone but through the heat and the salt in the air it wears off every year.

Gerd Bergmann

Adding the windows will cost about £400 but the cladding will cost a further £2250 including a discount of 25% given by a trusted Christian friend who is a carpenter. They are hoping to complete the project between March and May before the winter rain comes, but they could use some extra help finding the funding for this. If you are able to help, please go to our donations page.

We are very pleased to have been able to support YoungLife pastor Gabriel. Along with his wife Daniela and their two small children they were able to attend one of the Encounter for Transformational Leadership courses organised by our partners Gerd and Rosi Bergmann. The course itself was just over the border in Argentina but Gabriel and Daniela will be working with young people in Chile, helping to bring a new generation to the Lord.

We have received news from Pastor Jose Canipane Sagredo in Valparaíso. You will remember that we were appealing for funds to help him replace his house and the church building which were both destroyed by forest fire over a year ago. We have just received a letter from Pastor Canipane saying that his house has been rebuilt and that he and Adela are now living in it.

They have also started construction of the church building. You can see the white tent in the background, which what they have been using as a temporary church.

The Pavement Project has arrived in Chile!

Chile for Christ is supporting the Pavement Project, helping street children in Chile. We have just received this report on the most recent activities there.

Although it is one of the most developed countries in South America, Chile has a child population facing tough situations. Unicef surveys from 2017 say that 24% of the Chilean population is between the age of 0 and 17 years, more than 4 million. Out of this group, 8.7% is indigenous, a group that has the highest rates of vulnerability in the country. Of the total under 17 years, 29.5% are below the poverty line; 6.6% perform some child labour; 71% of them claim to have been the victim of some kind of abuse. Many organizations and churches have held a responsible and committed work to help these children and teenagers to have their rights guaranteed. To support the work of these organisations that Pavement Project has recently been implemented in the country.

In October 2018 the first group of workers was trained in the city of Temuco, to use the green bag app, bring restoration, and hope to hundreds of children and teenagers. 12 workers were trained, and they act in various activities within their organisations: Pepe Network, Colégio Bautista de Temuco, Colegio José Giordano, Colégio Clara Brincefield, Escuela Juvencio Valle, Coorporación Educacional Sociedad Evangélica, Iglesia Bautista Aposento Alto, Iglesia Bautista Manantial de Vida e Associación de Iglesias Bautistas de Atacama, from 5 different cities: Temuco, Padre las Casas, Nueva Imperial, Teodoro Schmidt and Vallenar.

These are some of the testimonies given by the workers:

Pavement Project (Proyecto Calzada in Spanish) and its possibilities of use give a fascinating result, especially for the centrality of the Bible, as few programs that I have ever met. Noemí Zapata

After this wonderful time of training to use the green bag app I feel like a torch that can take light to children and young people with whom I work. Now I am ready to perform my job better and be a better daughter of God. Edith Concha

I thank God for giving me the privilege to take part in this training and be able to have this new tool at the service of his Kingdom. I am already thinking about the many children who I will be able to help, through the Holy Spirit, to experience a new life. Marisol Benavides

This new tool of restoration was an answer to prayer because I did not know how to help children to share their pain and use the Bible to bring comfort, even being a psychologist, and now I can help them more deeply. Carlos Figueroa

During the counselling, we assess how the children are receiving the biblical message and ask them to choose an object, an animal or something from nature to express how they see themselves in the context of the traumatic situation they have experienced. Imagine how wonderful it was to see their hearts healed, their sadness turned into joy, the rejection giving room to welcome Jesus, the shame becoming relief, anxiety turning into calm … it was what they said they felt after hearing the Bible stories.

Changes in self-image and self-esteem were striking. For instance, a girl who was very sad about the death of her grandfather said she saw herself as a sad girl who is waking the dead body of her grandfather. At the end of the meeting, this girl became a happy girl that plays with her friend; another child said she saw herself as a sad cat, because her brother always beats her. At the end of the session, she said she now felt like a butterfly, happy and free; another child said she looked like an Eagle who wants to fly away, always when her schoolmates call her fat and provoke her to fight. Knowing that Jesus loves her made her compare herself to a happy doll. These are just a few of the testimonies about what the Lord did in the lives of children during the counselling sessions with the Green Bag app.

We thank all the partners who have made possible our trip to Chile, especially the coordination of PEPE Network Chile.

Cleisse Andrade
Pavement Project Latin America Coordinator

It is great to receive photographs from our contacts in Chile. These are of the Te Deum thanksgiving service, attended by representatives of the authorities, to pray for Chile.

In photograph No 7 they are from left to right: Senator of Republic Mr. Ivan Moreira, Deputy of Republic Mr Javier Hernandez, Pastor Miguel Pérez and the Mayor of Osorno Mr Jaime Bertin.