Not too long ago, at an associational-type meeting, where three of the six churches are Mapuche, the internal conflict many Mapuche Christians feel between their identity as Christians and their Mapuche identity came out into the open.They had been debating to what degree a Christian could participate in traditional Mapuche practices and activities.Some took a hard line and said it must all be left behind.Others were not convinced that is the response Jesus asks of them.Alfonso Coñoepan, a lay leader, stood up to say, "If I want my daughters to know about our history, and take them to witness a Ngillatun (the Mapuche ceremonies), are you going to condemn me"

In our walk with Mapuche churches we have always insisted that they, not us, do the theological reflection about what it means to be a Mapuche who is a follower of Jesus.We believe the gospel proclaimed and lived must be grounded in the culture and context of Mapuche life, not in imitation of Chilean or missionary traditions.We can stimulate and mentor this type of thinking, but we cannot tell them what to think.Unfortunately, the message most Mapuche evangelicos (the catch-all word for Protestant Christians, it practically refers to a subculture more than to disciples of Jesus) have internalized from the dominant evangelico culture is that their culture is worth preserving only as a museum piece.Any interest in the traditional practices and worldview of the Mapuche is viewed as flirting with the devil.Small wonder, then, that non-Christian Mapuches tell them that one cannot be Mapuche and evangelico.Mapuche churches live in a marginalized state where they are not completely assimilated or accepted into the dominant Chilean evangelico culture, while they have fled from most of the traditional practices and expressions of Mapuche identity.

Some, like Alfonso, are beginning to ask, "What would it mean for the gospel to be contextualized in the Mapuche culture?" What would it be like if there was a Mapuche church here, instead of a Chilean church inserted in the Mapuche area?What practices would a Mapuche disciple of Jesus have to abandon, after critical reflection, and what practices might be kept and transformed and thus able to express something about the faith that only Mapuche disciples could?

In March, Alfonso invited our family to attend a Ngillatun, the Mapuche prayer ceremonies that are held every 2-4 years.Alfonso also went as an outsider, because he had never attended one before.The Mapuche who organize the event usually do not permit a wingka, or a non-Mapuche to attend.Therefore, I had to wear a poncho and hat to disguise as much of my gringo features as possible, more out of respect than in any hope of being inconspicuous.Then we had to wait at the fence to be invited and escorted into the area.I could not take pictures.Once in, we were treated as honored guests, and several families invited us to eat with them in their booths.Families stay there for 2-3 days, cooking lamb or beef, and offering it with muday, a fermented grain-based drink, to their neighbors.It is as much about hospitality and sharing as it is about the prayers, dances, and sacrifices.

It was a fascinating experience and an honor to be extended such warm hospitality.More gratifying was the time talking with Alfonso and a few other evangelicos, who were there not as full-scale participants, but to show respect and love for Mapuche history and culture.They are beginning to wonder, what in this Ngillatun could Christians "baptize," as it were, and continue to practice, and what things, such as the sacrifice of animals, would they see as unnecessary, being completed in the sacrifice of Christ.For me, it was to move from academic textbooks about what is called "critical contextualization" by missiologists, to actually witnessing it.

The goals we have adopted in our ministry are to help the Mapuche churches and communities recover their identity as people made in the image of God, and discover their vocation as productive stewards of God's creation.The programs and projects we endeavor to carry out are not ends in themselves, but we want them to serve the strengthening of Mapuche churches for Christ-like service to their neighbors.

"Write the vision, and make it plain," the Lord told Habakuk.This is the vision and calling God has gripped us with.Now, let us bring you up to date with what has been happening here in pursuit of that calling.

• Weavings----The Lake Weavers Group continues to take orders for high-quality traditional weavings and ship them, largely to church members in the U.S.Patty Coñoepan, the leader, is going to a nearby community, Lanco, to train a new group of Mapuche women to produce weavings that meet the same quality standards.
• Beekeeping---This Saturday we begin training a new group in a different Mapuche community, on the Isla Huapi.They live on land around a large saltwater lake only a few hundred yards from the seacoast.The special gifts many of you have made to this project enable us to provide the startup equipment and bees for a new cohort of beekeepers.Johannes, our Austrian missionary/beekeeper colleague is doing the training.It will be a two-year program, and at the end the beekeepers will own the beehives, but they must donate back to the program a colony of bees.
• Mapudungun language literacy --- Due to popular demand, we are presenting Mapudungun literacy workshops in the three communities of Curihue, Llongahue, and Pilinhue, beginning in July.The goal is to increase readership and the use in church of the New Testament in Mapudungun.It also provides an excellent form of outreach and service to the communities. We are grateful for our Missionary Partnership Network churches in Indiana which have generously provided the financial support for this project.

Most of the youth did not learn Mapudungun.Their parents' generation was punished in school and humiliated in public for speaking it, so most parents did not encourage their children to speak it.Now, they are telling us how it feels like something is missing in their identity.So, we are asking our Mapudungun tutor to start a semester long, once a week class introducing the basics of Mapudungun grammar and conversation to this younger generation that missed learning to speak their native language.

We are going to use some teaching methods I have read about that have been successful in recovering the use of indigenous languages among some North American Native American peoples.

• Entrepreneurship contextualized--- Our approach is to be careful not to simply duplicate what the government is doing in development.We look for areas where something is missing.Therefore, Dwight is beginning in July an intensive mentoring program, to work with a select group of Mapuche people, to help them create viable business ideas for a rural context.He will work one-on-one with them on the steps of creating a realistic, simple business plans for sustainable rural enterprises.Then, one of our Missionary Partnership Network churches plans to invest in the startup of a revolving loan fund or village bank that will provide the startup capital, micro-loans for these businesses.We also will network with the several commercial banks and NGO's in Chile that also have microcredit programs.
• Barbara is coordinating The First United Congress of Baptist Women in Chile, to take place in May, 2007.This will be the first time the Women's Unions from the two main Baptist conventions have planned a project together.At this conference, women from these two historically divided Baptist conventions will gather to consider the call of Jesus Christ to unite our resources for ministry to a world in need.They will examine six social issues that our women are confronting as they seek to be the presence of Christ in their communities:Poverty, Violence, Sexual Abuse, Racism, Drug / Alcohol Abuse and Endangered Adolescence.The objective of the conference is to equip each woman with the biblical vision and the tools to create Christ-like ministries in their home churches.
• Barbara is invited regularly to speak to our area's Baptist women groups.In the next couple of weeks she will speak to three groups.She has presented studies on stewardship, and now she is finding Dan Buttry's Bible studies on conflict resolution to be a tremendous resource.
• Dwight has been preaching or leading a Bible study in our Temuco area churches every week.He and our ministerial student friend, Raul, are responsible for two weekly Bible studies at our Temuco church each month.Last month they taught on using the Psalms in prayer, and this month they are studying James.Last month, he spoke about the origins of the modern missionary movement at our associational meeting, and the lessons and models our Chilean partner convention could derive from it, encouraging them to realize that today mission is, in Samuel Escobar's words, "from everywhere to everyone."
• U.S. Church Groups—In January we hosted a group from Indiana churches who came to visit some of the churches and people we work with.They stayed in homes and enjoyed good fellowship and worship with our friends here, and learned first-hand about some of the ministries here.

In February, a group from the First Baptist Church of Loveland, CO came and presented Vacation Bible Schools, workshops on conflict resolution, overcoming self-defeating financial habits, and dealing with trauma for three urban churches and in the Mapuche areas of Curihue and Llongahue.It was a rich time of fellowship and ministry for everyone, and we look forward to enjoying their partnership with us here next year.

Our purpose here in Chile is to exhort, encourage and equip our Chilean partners, Mapuche and wingka alike, to go out from their churches in Christ-like mission to their neighbors near and far.

"For there is still a vision for the appointed time," says Habakuk 2:3.Our prayer is that this vision inform and shape all that we do to "seek first the Kingdom of God" in this beautiful, uttermost part of God's good earth.We count it a blessing to be in partnership with you.

Grace and peace,

Dwight Bolick