The Country of Chile
Chile is a long narrow country which extends down the west coast of South America. It is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. From north to south, Chile extends 2,653 miles, yet is only 217 miles at its widest point, and averages just 110 miles east to west. Chile is the 38th largest country in the world based on land size alone.
The current population of Chile is approximately 19.6 million people, with approximately one-third of the population (six million people) living in or near Santiago. Chile’s population has more than doubled since 1950, when there were only six million people living there. Now, approximately one out of every 400 people in the world live in Chile.
Chile averages one birth every eleven minutes and one death every nineteen minutes. With the estimated continued migration to Chile from other countries, Chile’s population increases by one person approximately every two hours.
According to the Encuesta Nacional Bicentenario (2021), an estimated 42% of Chileans declared to be part of the Catholic Church while only 14% declared to be members of Protestant or Evangelical churches. Approximately 6% of the population adhere to “other religions.” The remaining 38% of the population declared to be religiously unaffiliated.
In the same 2021 study, it was also revealed that only 70% of Chileans claimed to believe in the existence of God, declining from 94% in 2006. According to a Pew Research Center poll, It is believed that roughly two-thirds of all Protestants in Chile are either Pentecostal or charismatic, making Chile one of the most "pentecostalised" countries in Latin America.
Punta Arenas, Chile
The City at the Bottom of the World
The Lord has called my family to the city of Punta Arenas, a city of approximately 140,000 souls and with only one new independent Baptist church plant. The next closest independent Baptist church in Chile is over 500 miles to the North, located in the city of Coyhaique.
Punta Arenas is a city near the tip of Chile's southernmost Patagonia region. It is located on the Strait of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Punta Arenas has a large Chilean military presence because of its strategic location at the southern tip of South America. There are also many tourists that pass through the area because Punta Arenas is used as a base for excursions to the surrounding wilderness of Patagonia and Antarctica. Punta Arenas is approximately 750 miles north of the main Antarctic base, Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva Antarctica. That is closer than New York City is from Atlanta, Georgia.
With only a small, single church plant and with an abundance of opportunities to live in sin, this area is in desperate need of another Bible preaching church and witness for Jesus Christ. Lord willing, we will plant that church and spread the Gospel to this city.
