80% of the world’s evangelical Christians live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Over the last 50 years, God’s church has grown exponentially in these areas.

These regions have tremendous mission sending potential to help bring the gospel to unreached peoples, but they currently send only 20% of the world’s cross-cultural missionaries!

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Total Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges to UPGs

Regional Access to UPGs

Religious Freedom

Prosperity

Current Sending Abroad

Mobilization Potential

Custom Mobilization Potential

Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges

Strategic Access

Religious Freedoms

Current Sending

This infographic provides a visual score for seven data points ranked on a 0 to 100 scale. Faded icons show scores for other countries on the mobilization index. See below for actual scores and country-specific insights.

ADDITION

FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY

INACCESSIBLE

LIMITED MISSION FORCE

DISTANT AND FOREIGN MISSION FIELD

THE WORLD IS THE MISSION FIELD

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Divinely Set Up to Send and Mobilize

A Century of Growth in the Evangelical Church

Home to 3 million evangelicals, Chile is a predominantly Christian nation, with roughly 87% of its population identifying as Christian and approximately 18% as evangelical. [[1]]&nbsp;
The evangelical church in Chile has seen much growth in the past years, as it increases in size at an annual rate of 3.5%, surpassing the average rate of 2.6%. [[2]] With strong roots in Catholicism (in large part due to the Spanish colonization of the region), Chile began to see significant protestant growth only in the last hundred years. It is estimated that in 1920, less than 2% of the Chilean population. Today evangelicals make up over 18% of the country. [[3]]

Latin America Poised to Reach the Arab World

With an average Median Cultural Distance of 18.2, Chile shares many cultural similarities with the 30 UPG nations on our list. Their closest cultural neighbors are Thailand (4.5), Senegal (7), and Kuwait (9), with Nepal and Sierra Leone also being less than 10 median points of distance away. Most of Chile's closest cultural neighbors are majority Muslim or have a significant Muslim population. Chilean culture has a strong connection with the Islamic world, as their cultural values compare closely to those of the Muslim world.&nbsp;
Chile's low score in Individualism on the Geert Hofstede Cultural Values Index falls in line with other Latin American countries, meaning that the country is predominantly group and community-focused. The values and success of the group typically outweigh that of the individual. This is a solid connection to the community-focused Muslim world. Like other Latin American missionaries, Chileans are uniquely positioned to build cultural bridges with the hundreds of millions of Muslims in need of the gospel! These cultural bridges could lead to opportunities to quickly build gospel-focused relationships.

Low Access to Unreached Poses a Potential Mobilization Challenge

With an unreached population of 25,000 in-country and 814,000 regionally, Chile scores low in the Strategic Access. While there are still unreached tribes in the Amazon and a small number of unreached within the borders, the Chilean church has little regional access to significant populations of unreached peoples. If the average Chilean evangelical wants to have a meaningful relationship with an unreached person, they would be most likely need to leave the country for locations with greater access. Low Strategic Access could be a challenge for mission mobilization efforts that seek to raise up both awareness and passion for the Unreached.

Second Lowest Restrictions On the Index

According to Pew Research, Chile has the second-lowest religious restrictions and hostilities out of the 60 countries on the Mobilization Index. [[4]] Second to only Brazil, Chile has no governmental restrictions and relatively no social hostilities against religious expression or practice. Mission Mobilization and other Christian ministries are free to promote and carry out their work as they see fit. The Chilean constitution states that there is no official state religion, and individuals have freedom of worship as they see fit so long as it does not "oppose good morals or public order." [[5]] Chile emphasizes the separation of church and state, meaning that the government rarely interferes in the actions and life of the local church. This is excellent news for Chilean evangelicals, as they have the freedom to worship, meet, mobilize and raise support without fear of persecution.

Most Prosperous Nation in Latin America

With a ranking of 36, Chile scores relatively high on the Legatum Prosperity Index compared to other Mobilization Index countries. Compared to the other twenty-two Central and South American countries on the Index, Chile ranks first in Prosperity.&nbsp;
Chile ranks highest in Infrastructure &amp; Market Access, Personal Freedom and lowest in Safety &amp; Security.&nbsp;
Overall, Prosperity in Chile has remained relatively stable for the past ten years. While there has not been any significant growth in Prosperity, it is still good news that the country's economy has remained solid and consistent, not fluctuating with highs and lows. Chile's stable and prosperous economy is excellent news for the church as new missionaries are mobilized, raise financial support, and launch to the unreached.&nbsp;
Praise God for the provision in Chile and its economy! Ask that He would make known to the Chilean church the most strategic way to use this gift to further God's gospel among the unreached.

Low Sending Numbers with Great Potential to Send More

Chile currently sends approximately 140 missionaries in-country and another 140 out of the country. &nbsp;&nbsp;
One prayer goal of the Mobilization Index is to see 0.1%, or 1 in every 1,000, of a nation&rsquo;s evangelicals, mobilized for missions to the unreached. That means that with 140 missionaries going abroad, only 0.0000002% of the Chilean evangelical church has been mobilized to frontier missions. Imagine what it could look like to see 3,000 or more Chileans going to places such as Turkey, Iraq, or Bangladesh, where the Gospel is hardly known! Pray that the Lord would double or triple that sending number so that Chilean evangelicals could spur the next worldwide missions movement!

High Potential to Take His Name to the Unreached

The Chilean church is well-positioned to send to the unreached. If just 0.1%, or 1 in 1000 evangelicals, were to be mobilized to go to the unreached, the Lord's harvest would see 3,000 new missionaries sent out! Coupled with Chile's close cultural proximity to many UPG nations, Chileans are primed now more than ever for mobilization. However, their geographical distance from UPG nations could make mobilization that focuses on the unreached more difficult.&nbsp;
When considering the religious freedom in Chile, its cultural connections with the Arab world, and its healthy and stable economic prosperity, we rank its mobilization potential as high.&nbsp;
Additionally, at 48%, Chile's generosity score is encouraging. [[136]] With a generous nation backing the church's mission efforts, Chilean evangelicals could have an easier time raising financial support and sending missionaries to the unreached.&nbsp;
Chile is a strategic and powerful country that can play a crucial role in completing the Great Commission!

Obstacles:
<ul>
<li>Like many Latin American nations, Chile is often viewed as a country that receives rather than sends missionaries when it should be viewed as a mission force.</li>
<li>Chile is geographically far from most large populations of unreached people groups.</li>
</ul>
Opportunities:
<ul>
<li>Chile scores second-highest on the Mobilization Index in terms of religious freedoms, allowing churches and ministries to mobilize and send workers to the unreached with no restrictions!</li>
<li>The cultural similarities between Chile and the Muslim world offer opportunities for Chilean missionaries to build cultural bridges with the hundreds of millions of Muslims in need of the gospel!</li>
</ul>

Prayer:
<ul>
<li>Pray that the Chilean church would mobilize and send 1 in 1,000 believers from their country, resulting in 3,000 new cross-cultural laborers!</li>
<li>Ask that the Lord would create a culture within the Chilean church of supporting and sending and that they might find joy in giving to and sending out their members to the mission field.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Praises:
<ul>
<li>Praise God for the above-average growth within the Evangelical Church in Chile over the past 100 years.</li>
<li>Praise the Lord that the government allows the free practice of religion so that the church can mobilize and send out missionaries without government or societal hostilities!</li>
</ul>

PEW religious restriction numbers Myanmar

Official Country Name:The Republic of Chile

Population:18,952,000

Region:Latin America

Government:Democratic Republic

Official Languages:Spanish

Religious Demographics:Christian ±87%, Evangelical ±18%, Ethnoreligious ±2%, Non-religious ±9%

Chile