Victor is a typical Indian campesino from the Bolivian highlands. His native tongue is Quichua, though he speaks some Spanish. Like his many neighbors, he supplements his income from farming by selling goods in the city market, and he participates in most community activities. But Victor is also atypical. He no longer participates in native religious festivals or pays homage to Catholic saints; now he considers such activities idolatrous. He has even stopped drinking alcohol.
Instead, Victor takes part in Indian Christian festivals. These celebrations are like the old ones in form—but not in content: Participants worship God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Despite the tensions his new-found faith creates, Victor is careful to maintain good relationships with local friends and family. But he also has an entirely new set of relatives: brothers and sisters in villages throughout the region.
They are part of a rapidly growing community of faith in Latin America known as los evangélicos. This community includes rural Indians and affluent urbanites, poor and rich, young and old. And it is cutting across virtually all of Latin America’s ethnic and geographic lines.
The term most often used to describe these believers is evangelical and is often used interchangeably with the term Protestant. The movement encompasses a large, diverse group of non-Catholic Christians who range from Pentecostals to Protestants.
Evangelicalism has become even more diverse in recent years. While the movement made its first inroads among urban and rural poor, increasing numbers of middle-class families have begun to convert, particularly in the large urban centers, such as Mexico City, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. Evangelicals are planting churches even in wealthier neighborhoods.
Though each evangelical group has its own organizational and liturgical structure, all hold certain beliefs and practices in common: a high view of Scripture, a belief in salvation by faith, a desire to spread the gospel, a belief that all believers should participate in the mission of the church, and a growing conviction that Christians must act as the “salt and light” in the transformation of their societies. Like evangelicals in North America, the evangélicos emphasize the spiritual dimensions of the gospel. But unlike many of their North American counterparts, they place strong emphasis on the gospel’s social dimensions.
Evangelicals in Peru, for example, are using the church as a front line in a war against poverty. They convert church buildings into soup kitchens and prepare meals for hungry families. They tutor and care for orphans and other needy children, and combat human-rights violations.
The evangelical church’s reverence for Scripture has an unintended social benefit, creating a strong incentive for members to learn to read. Many evangelical families urge their children to complete their primary, high-school, and university educations.
The Pentecostal Communities
Three out of five evangelicals in Latin America are Pentecostal. Like non-Pentecostal evangelicals, they highly regard Scripture. But they also emphasize fasting, praise, and the power of the Holy Spirit; they believe in supernatural healing and in speaking in tongues. And for them, personal and public evangelism is a way of life.
In many areas, Pentecostal groups are more indigenous than other evangelical groups. They rely on native forms of worship and are less dependent on outside-help.
Some criticize Pentecostals for caring only for the soul and spirit, to the neglect of the region’s social and physical needs. Whether the criticism is justified or not, Pentecostalism has made deep inroads among the poorest sectors in the region. While society usually marginalizes the poor, the church has embraced them. It offers them not only a place for worship but a place of refuge.
That was the case for 16-year-old Maria. When she moved to Lima from the countryside, her father arranged for her to live with the Perezes, an urban Pentecostal family. He knew they would provide her a loving, Christian atmosphere. In exchange for room and board, Maria helps the family with chores. She attends church regularly and her faith is growing. Like many migrants, Maria hopes to complete high school through night classes.
For the typical Pentecostal family, the church becomes an extension of the home. The family attends meetings several times a week. During services, members actively participate through singing, praying, and sometimes offering personal testimonies. Services are usually freeform in structure and last several hours; on Sundays, the family spends most of the day in church.
Their song lyrics emphasize such themes as redemption through Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, joy and strength amid struggles, and the hope of the future.
Evangelism is a central part of their lives. On Sundays, the whole congregation participates in outreaches, in which members pass out tracts, invite passersby to church, and sometimes hold open-air services.
Since the family is usually poor, the healing ministry of the church is especially important. When one of its members gets sick, the family does not always go to a doctor or pharmacist first. Rather, they will ask their pastor to pray for healing.
Latin America’S Congregations
One of Brazil’s largest churches is the 40,000-member Pentecostal church pastored by Manoel de Mello, in São Paulo. Brasil para Cristo meets weekly in a large coliseum for worship, Bible study, and healing. People also meet during the week in homes throughout the city.
Medium-sized churches, such as those of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Lima, hold close to 2,000 members. In addition to the many weekly events at these churches, there are numerous home meetings in the surrounding area. There, smaller groups meet for prayer, Bible study, and evangelism.
Small churches usually have from 50 to 100 members and are scattered throughout the region—sometimes in the remotest areas. In Peru, Shining Path terrorism has forced Peruvian officials, the Catholic church, and other institutions out of many parts of the countryside. In many such places, the only group that remains is the evangelical church. In situations like these, the church remains faithful to the words of the Spanish chorus, la iglesia sigue caminando (the church perseveres).
