The past few months have been some of the most gratifying, hope-bearing times of our lives.In these next journal entries we want to give you a glimpse of God's transforming mission in this part of His world.

Imagine that the word used to describe the situation of your people in the nation is "reduced" and your communities are called "reductions."Your ancestors´ land was taken from them through deceit, fraud, robbery, and conquest, and your people were pushed onto smaller, isolated, less productive plots of land.Reduced.

This is a glimpse of what being Mapuche in 21st century Chile is like.

Our heart's desire is to be servants of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, as Paul put it.Our specific calling is Christian ministry through economic development with the Mapuche people of Chile.

"Development" can be a hard word to define.We prefer to think of it as the biblical vision of "seeking the shalom " or "seeking first the Kingdom of God" with the people we are called to accompany.

We found a good description of a biblical vision of development in a recent book by Bryant Myers, a World Vision strategist.In Walking with the Poor, he says that the goal of development should be transformation.Its goals are the:

Recovery of identity as people made in the image of God, which imparts dignity, and the, Rediscovery of vocation as productive stewards of creation.

More and more, we are focusing our presence here on these two foundational goals.

What Your Mission Giving Makes Possible
This is not all that is happening here, but these are certainly highlights:

vRecovery of identity by strengthening the Mapuche church promoting the native language in the worship and mission of the Mapuche church.

vDiscovery of vocationas productive stewards of their natural resourceswith honey-production micro enterprises in two communities.

vTheMapuche women´s weaving group providing training to increase the skills of the weavers is a fine example of the exchangeof knowledge between regions and increases the marketability of their products.

vHealthy cooking based on traditional foods reduces vulnerability to preventable diseases and increases capacity for income.

The development of these activities always springs from our relationships and Bible study with the Mapuche churches and our mutual reflection on the transforming power of the Gospel in the context of the Mapuche culture.

Mapudungun Project --- Equipping the Mapuche Church for Mission
"Each one heard them speaking in his own language."(Acts 2:6)Isn't that how it should be?

Imagine being punished at school and ridiculed in society for speaking your native language.

Imagine being told that God does not hear prayers in your native language, even though it is a beautifully complex language, according to linguists; even though it means "language of the earth."

Imagine leaving your identity at the door of the church and adopting foreign ways of doing church as the norm.

The eyes of our friends in Curihue and Llongahue light up when we greet them and try to hold simple conversations with them in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche.In the area where we work, well over 65% of the people speak Mapudungun.The majority, except for some of the older people, is literate in Spanish.Mapudungun is the "heart language" of their home, especially for those over 40 years old.

Unfortunately, most Mapuche churches do not currently use Mapudungun for three reasons:(1) The New Testament in Mapudungun is not distributed widely enough,(2) the reading of Mapudungun was not promoted in schools until recently, and, most of all, (3) it takes tremendous energy to turn away from the dominant culture of shame and resist the principalities and powers that would mute their language.For generations, Mapuche who spoke their language publicly were demeaned, and at the same time, they were ridiculed if they spoke Spanish incorrectly.This has had an incalculably damaging impact on the Mapuche´s self-image. (In what to us is an indication of the viability of the Mapuche language, yesterday Microsoft announced it will produce a version of Windows in Mapudungun !)

Dwight´s tutor in Mapudungun, Antonio Canio, offered to accompany him to Curihue to do a 5-day workshop teaching the Mapuche to read their language with ease, and stimulate them to read the New Testament, pray, preach and sing in the Mapuche language.

Spanish is Antonio´s second language.Antonio´s church is one of the rare ones that use Mapudungun exclusively.He says,"Aren´t we Mapuche, people of the Mapudungun language?"

What happened in those five days was transformation.Before, they would not have dared try to read publicly the New Testament, even in Mapudungun, which they speak fluently, for fear of making a mistake.After the workshop, in the words of Alfonso Coñoepan, they had "recovered something that was theirs."Now, they are singing from a Mapudungun hymnal, and reading from the New Testament in their native language.Other churches have started to ask for the same workshop in their area.

Why is recovering Mapudungun a priority?A Mapuche church, secure and strong in its identity as a people made in the image of God and not ashamed, is prepared for the work of Christ-like ministry among the Mapuche and beyond.This ministry has already begun through the Mapudungun New Testament cassette project.

Mapudungun New Testament Cassette Sets
We believe God honored the native languages of all peoples at Pentecost."In our own languages we hear them speaking about God´s deeds of power." (Acts 2:6)We believe God is still about making it possible for people to hear the Gospel, receive it, and learn about following Jesus in their native language.It empowers them for mission.

Claudio Collinao, the young man for whom we asked you to pray, is now working with five churches in this area.He rides his bike or takes a bus to visit these churches once a month when they gather to listen to the tapes of the New Testament in Mapudungun.Then they discuss what they heard.

Many of the people listening to these tapes were raised speaking Mapudungun in their homes and did not learn Spanish until age 8 to 15.Some cannot read.Now they can hear the Word of God in their "heart" language.

Thank you so much for your generous participation in the World Mission Offering.It makes you direct partners in God´s mission in Chile.We feel privileged to represent you here, and now, more than ever; your continued strong support through the WMO makes these ministries possible.

We will be on U.S./Puerto Rico assignment beginning in February 2004.We look forward to being able to visit many of you in your churches in 2004.If you would like to arrange for us to visit your church, please contact the Minister of Mission Support (http://www.abcusamissions.org/contact/mms.cfm) in your region soon.

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Dwight & Barbara Bolick
Temuco, Chile