A Chilean Street Demonstration

I found myself in the middle of a Chilean street demonstration today in the city of Temuco just a few hundred kilometers south of Santiago. It certainly wasn't your traditional demonstration, though this one did stretch for a couple of Temucan city blocks and consisted of about a thousand people waving balloons and carrying flags (I'll post a picture later). The demonstrators were Chilean Baptists who had gathered in Temuco to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Union of Baptists in Chile, established in 1908 by 5 churches in the Temuco region.

As far as I could tell, the demonstration was arranged by university and perhaps high school students within the Convention's churches who wanted to showcase the Baptist presence in Chile and to bring the love of Christ to folks along the way who seemed stunned by such a large group parading in the middle of the day along the 3 kilometer route from the Baptist College to the central Plaza Anibal Pinto. The students wore clown faces and encouraged us to move along quickly in an effort to keep down the incessant horn-blowing of buses, trucks and taxis. In front were the flags of Chile and of the Christian faith. And lagging behind were my colleague Bernie Moraga and myself. Bernie kept encouraging me to blend into the crowd and then laughing uproariously at the prospect that my prominent 6' 4" frame and pink skin could ever accomplish the feat.

It was a great moment for the Baptists of Chile who have lived in the shadow of the Catholic church throughout the first century of their existence and who made the most of this opportunity to celebrate all that they have achieved since that first meeting in 1908. I felt an intense solidarity with them as a global Baptist myself. I couldn't help but think of those early Baptists in England who emerged out of the English Separatist movement and who experienced relative obscurity themselves in light of the power of the established church. I wondered if John Smyth and Thomas Helwys (among the earliest Baptists) ever imagined that Baptists in a country on the other side of the world that didn't even exist in the days of Smyth and Helwsy would some 400 years later parade a thousand strong down the central streets of a city like Temuco and celebrate their Baptist identity and heritage.

We arrived at the Plaza Anibal Pinto and I watched as the Chilean and Christian flags paraded in front of the La Auracania Monument (depicting the clash between the Mapuche people and the Spanish forces that, ultimately, the Mapuche lost). Music filled the square. We celebrated. Some of the students danced. And I just experienced it all.

I'm in Temuco at the invitation of Dra. Raquel Contreras, President of the Baptist Union of Chile. I've been to a traditional Chilean asado or barbeque of beef and lamb which lasted a full afternoon. I've listened to a magnificent performance by Baptist choirs and orchestra of Handel's Messiah. I've had good conversation about connections between the church in Chile and in the US. I've brought greetings in very poor Spanish to my brothers and sisters in Chile. And I've demonstrated, not about politics, but about faith and about the love of Christ that transcends the barriers that we're often all too quick to raise. I'm glad to report that religious freedom is alive and well in Chile.

Vaya con dios, la Union Bautista de Chile--and please know that your brothers and sisters in the rest of the world celebrate together with you! You give hope to all of us to fight the good fight of faith with confidence and courage.