History of the Church of God in Chile
Author unknown, ca. 1969
The past few years have
witnessed remarkable growth in all areas of God's Work. The Spanish branch of the Work is no
exception.
The past few years have introduced "La Pura Verdad" magazine (the Spanish PLAIN TRUTH) to the Spanish-speaking world. Starting with an initial circulation of less than 4,000, the magazine's mailing list has blossomed to almost 60,000 copies monthly in less than 18 months.
During the last two years
Mr. Pablo Gonzales was added to the staff.
His invaluable help has rejuvenated the Spanish broadcast; he has
stirred great interest in thousands who, before his arrival, were hearing
three, four and five-time re-runs of Dr. Benjamin Rea's old tapes. But perhaps the most remarkable fruit in the
recent history of the Spanish Work has been the contact we have had with the
Church in Chile.
This report is a
chronological account of our relationship with the various groups comprising
the Church in Chile. Included are
translated excerpts from letters we have received from them as well as
information communicated to us verbally.
At the end of this report the reader will find a map focusing on the
area of Chile where these people are most heavily concentrated.
In Dugger and Dodd's A History of the True Religion, we find
a very interesting section describing the activities of the Church,
headquartered at Stanberry, Missouri, during the late 1800's. Notice this carefully:
"As time went on, work was opened up in foreign fields and the
precious truth found its way into many countries, and islands of the
sea. Hundreds of thousands of tracts
were printed and distributed together with many books, and for a period of 72
years from 1861 to 1933 the church continued to send forth the true
doctrine" (page 297, emphasis
mine.)
To see just how extensive this propagation of the gospel was, as
understood then, notice now this excerpt from The Bible Advocate published by the Church at Salem, Oregon,
November 6, 1933.
"Several weeks prior to November 4th, a call was sent to many
countries for prayer that God would again choose men to lead His church as in
the former time. These countries were;
Jerusalem, South Africa, Australia, Egypt, England, Norway, Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad, Guam,
Canada, Nova Scotia, Liberia, Barbados, Venezuela, Syria, Madagascar,
Burma, Newfoundland, and Mexico."
The
countries I have underlined illustrate that the Church made several inroads
into the Caribbean area, Central America, and, most importantly for this
report, --South America!
For many years, while the
Spanish Work was headquartered in England, we corresponded very frequently with
an individual in Lima, Peru, named Jose Loje.
In fact, to this day Sr. Loje is still on our mailing list. How Sr. Loje initially contacted us is not
known at this late date. He probably
first came to us via our Spanish broadcast on "La Cronica," a radio
station in Lima. In any case, it turned
out that Sr. Loje was the president of a small group of Peruvians who literally
believed themselves to be of full-blooded Jewish descent. This group still exists in Peru, Mexico, and
elsewhere. Sr. Loje's group practises
circumcision (in fact, they also teach that you cannot be saved unless you are
circumcised.) Every year the group
observes the same Festivals the Jews
do, on the same days and in much the same manner that orthodox Jews worship. The teachings of this group are a peculiar
mixture of Old Testament ritual (they
still practice sacrifices, although without the use of a temple) and New
Testament phraseology. They claim
Christ as their Saviour yet very much practice "salvation by works."
On occasion, newspaper
articles have been written, somewhat mockingly, about this group of "Christ
Believing Jews" who build huts during the Tabernacle season and dwell in
them during a week long session of sermons, sacrifices, religious instructions,
etc.
Sr. Loje often liked to
point to similarities between his teaching and ours (ie. Sabbath observance,
Festival observance, clean and unclean meats etc.) yet also enjoyed writing
lengthy, sprawling treatises on why we were wrong on this or that
doctrine. He did this on and off every
few months for several years.
Interestingly, it was through this man that God led the Chilean group to
us. Following now is a translation of
the first letter we received from a member of the group in Chile. It was sent to us in one of our return
addressed envelopes which the writer got from Sr. Loje.
"Dear Brother in Christ'
I am very pleased to address this letter to you and all your fellow labourers in the Work of God. During a recent trip to Peru in order to study various doctrines and Bible prophecies with the members of the 'Asociacion Israelita Evengelica del Nuevo Pacto' (Evangelical Israelite Association of the New Covenant), I learned from Sr. Jose Alfredo Loje, the president of this group, that he had various booklets and Bible courses which you had sent him. During my stay I had the opportunity to read several of these.
I've found your literature to be remarkable. I'm very impressed by your full knowledge of the Bible, its doctrines and prophecies. Maybe I'm particularly impressed because I am a member of an old, although small, religious group in Chile called 'Iglesia Israelita del Nuevo Pacto' (Israelite Church of the New Covenant.) I was told by some of our elderly members that our group was started by a missionary named Zegers, at the turn of the century or thereabouts.
We number about 20 churches and several groups throughout the region encompassed by the port of Valparaiso in the north, and the city of Osorno in the south. (Note: this is a distance of approximately 500 miles.) We practice God's Laws, Commandments, and Statutes, just as God has promised in the New Covenant to write them in our hearts.
By prophecy we have understood that God would in the latter days begin a Work that has stamped it out by the feet of her false prophets. We believe that if we're faithful to the light God has already given us, He will give us more and more truth so that we can form a part of this world-wide Work foretold in Bible prophecy (Acts 3:21, Matt 24:12). Please send me the same literature you've been sending Sr. Loje. I'd like to take it back to our churches in Santiago, Chile.
Regards
to all,
Sergio
Guerrero
Dec
25 1967."
This particular individual visited the Big Sandy
campus in Nov. 1968. In conversation he
mentioned that when he noticed Sr. Loje did not appreciate his interest in our
literature, he secretly copied our address and left Sr. Loje's home with our
return addressed envelope.
After this initial contact
with a member of the Chile group, names began to trickle in. For a time it
appeared that the Chile organization was an off-shoot of Sr. Loje's group in
Peru rather than distinct and separately organised. Happily, they are not a part of the Peruvian group.
In mid-June of 1968, after
having sent quite a bit of our literature to the person on our file belonging
to the Chile organization, we received the following letter from an individual
named Manuel Carrido. It was the first
fully descriptive letter we received from him regarding the Chilean
people. Sr. Garrido eventually, and to
this day, has proved to be a very valuable link to the Chile group. This is his letter, dated June 18 1968:
"Dear Friends,
Thank you very much for the literature I've just received! I'm just thrilled that God has brought me in
contact with you. The booklets are a
great blessing to my family. My wife
and I read them over and over again, especially 'La PURA VERDAD. As I mentioned in my first letter to you, we
have been practising all these things for several years. But, after reading your booklets on God's
Holy Days, I find a few differences with your understanding. We had been using the Jewish Calendar and
following their observances. Please
continue sending us your literature so that one day we can become one
body.
The church to which I belong in Chile has been here for about 80 years,
although I don't know exactly the date of when it started. Some of the older members say that a
gentleman named either Shegezel or Seguesel came here from a distant
country (either England or North
America- -I forget) and started
preaching among the Seventh Day Adventists.
Only one person believed what he said.
A man named Manuel Ovalos who then continued Seguesel's work after he
returned to his homeland. Ovalos
understood only about there being three festivals: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Several people then left the Adventists and other sects and
started what came to be called the 'Israelite Church of the New Covenant.' Although we all assumed that elsewhere on
earth there were others believing as we do, it was only recently that we have
contacted other congregations in other countries with the same beliefs.
And now, miraculously, we have come in contact with you. We are not a
very numerous body of people. There are
about 1000 of us in Chile and a similar amount in Argentina. Please
forgive me for writing such a long letter. It’s just that I'm so happy God has
led me to you."
It was about this time we
became aware of Pope Paul VI's planned visit to Colombia to preside at a
Eucharistic Conference. There was no
doubt that our Latin American readership would be interested in reading about
his visit in "La PURA VERDAD."
And any coverage for La PURA VERDAD" could easily be adapted for
the English and foreign language PT'S.
At the same time we also knew that a trip to Colombia would place us in
a position to visit Chile at comparatively little additional cost. With these two objectives, covering the
Pope's visit for the PLAIN TRUTH and its foreign language editions, and to
visit the newly interested group in Chile, Dr. Charles Dorothy and Mr. Pablo
Gonzalez left the United States en route for South America.
After him was a Sr. Pulgar
Barriga (the father of the lady whose
letter is quoted previously.) We have
been told that Sr. Pulgar Barriga died in 1948. The only two other individuals we have record of are Sr. Julio
Labrin and Sr. Jose Zambrano. Of all
these persons, only Sr Zambrano is still alive. He is 97 years old.
Because of the
enthusiastic response expressed by so many of the Chilean members of the
Church, Dr. Dorothy invited two of their number to attend the 1968 Feast of
Tabernacles in Big Sandy. The purpose
was so that they could return to Chile with the visual impact of seeing so many
people coming under the government of God's Church to observe the Festival.
Both Dr. Dorothy and Mr.
Gonzales were struck by the obvious lack of Church government (or any real government, for that
matter) in Chile's Church. Individual
ministers have titles like "evangelist" and "pastor" but
not the authority. What government
there is seems to be dependent more on the individual's influence than his rank
or title. The churches appear to be
governed very much on a seniority basis -- those that have been around the
longest tend to have the higher positions.
Dr Dorothy chose Sr. Manuel Garrido to attend the Festival at Big
Sandy. Sr. Zamora is a pastor in the
Chilean Church, Sr Garrido a lay member.
Both were very, very favourably impressed by the Festival, the
government at the Festival, the College, etc. etc. Sr. Garrido seemed to be, at the outset of the Feast, the more
dependable of the two because he seemed to be more "with us." He was already almost, if not actually,
convinced that we are the true Church of God.
Sr. Zamora, however, was more reticent about this and tended to give a
more cautious appearance. We took this
as perfectly understandable since he does have more responsibility than Sr.
Garrido, having a church to pastor. By
the time both men left on their return for Chile, Sr. Zamora had apparently
come a long way. He seemed to be, and
said he was, absolutely convinced. Both
men were returning to Chile to declare throughout the churches that this was
indeed the Church of God! Sr. Zamora
mentioned that since it was their custom to have a ministerial conference every
two years, he would present our literature to the ministers who would meet at
Temuco, Chile, during January. We gave
them a tape recorder and several tapes of the Spanish broadcast to play to the
congregations they would contact. In
his enthusiasm, Sr. Zamora visited a local radio station in Santiago and
obtained information regarding the cost of obtaining radio time. The nominal cost of $60 a month for four 15
minute broadcasts a month was quoted to us.
We're still hopeful that eventually, in order to serve these people and
others in Chile, we will be able to purchase radio time in this area.
At the Temuco ministerial
conference, Sr. Zamora discussed our teachings, played several of our broadcast
tapes, and brought up the subject of unification. Naturally we do not expect a wholesale union of the "Israel
Pact Church" with our Church
Here is a section from Sr.
Zamora's report dated January 16, 1969:
"During the ministerial conference which began January third and
ended the seventh, there were about 35 ministers and delegates present. There was a very favourable feeling for the
unity we need. There were a few against
the idea at first, but after they came to understand, there was no opposition."
We had received from Sr.
Rosamel Zuniga and Sr. Emisael Palma, President and Secretary of the group, a
formal invitation to attend their conference.
However, as we were not sure at the time just how many of these
individuals did recognize us as the true church, we decided to let them conduct
their conference as they had originally planned it, without any of us being
present. Above everything else, we did
not want any "confrontation" at so early a stage in our dealings with
this group. And if there were to be
outright opposition to us, the presence of one of our people could have
resulted in an immediate split in the group, with the majority of the people
naturally siding with their ministers.
After all, the people were used to their ministers, had known them for
years and had built up a measure of confidence in them. We were "new' and untried. For all these reasons, we did not
participate in their Temuco conference.
During the conference we
received an urgent phone call from Sr. Garrido. He told us that several of the ministers had held a meeting, to
which he had not been invited, in which the ministers decided that Sr. Garrido
was not a suitable representative of their group. (Both Sr. Zamora and Sr. Garrido had planned to take news of the
Festival here in Big Sandy and the existence of God's Church in general to
various groups in Argentina...we offered to help with some of their
expenses.) The ministers at this
somewhat clandestine meeting held that Sr. Garrido should not go to Argentina
with Sr. Zamora. They held that a more
suitable person would be an individual known as Santiago Garcia. We had no objection to Sr. Santiago Garcia
going along; our immediate objection
was regarding why they were taking it upon themselves to drop Sr. Garrido from
the trip when we were helping them pay for the trip. Sr. Garrido then told us the reason. Self-righteously, the ministry in the church had taken it upon
itself to proclaim a problem of his to virtually all its membership in both
Argentina and Chile. Consequently, Sr.
Garrido's standing in the Church, no matter where he went, was very low. Certainly he had personal friends in the
church who liked and admired him - but church-wise he held, and to this day
still holds, a very poor reputation among the people in these areas. That Sr. Garrido had long since repented,
was ignored.
Because Sr. Garrido had
been very loyal to us, and was an eyewitness of the Festival in Big Sandy, we
definitely wanted him to go along on the trip.
We were eventually able to contact Sr. Zamora about this. He held with their decision that Sr. Garrido
should not go. In time and with some
coaxing from us, we were however, able to convince him that to reconcile both
our positions, we felt it best to send both Sr. Garrido and Sr. Garcia to
Argentina with Sr. Zamora. This they
eventually agreed to do.
While Sr Zamora and Sr.
Garrido were with us in Texas during the Festival, we had given Sr. Garrido
sufficient money to help with their expenses in touring several of the Churches
in Chile and Argentina. After they had
toured the Chilean churches, they realized that they did not have sufficient
time for their planned visit to Argentina.
Neither did they have enough time to visit Argentina prior to the
January conference, at which time we would send enough money for the trip. However, after the ministers decided not to
let Sr. Garrido visit Argentina and instead wanted Sr. Garcia in his place, we
told Sres. Zamora and Garrido to postpone the trip until a later date. Finally we agreed, as mentioned above, to
have all three men go to Argentina.
It was at this time that
Sr. Garrido reported that the money he had left after the Chile excursion,
approximately $70, was stolen from him.
As he had been in disfavour in the ministers' sight for so long, many
accused him of stealing the money. For
the sake of the journey, Sr. Garrido decided it would be best if he did not go
to Argentina after all.
The trip did finally
materialise this past June. Here are
excerpts from Sr. Garcia's letter thanking Dr. Dorothy for the opportunity to
visit Argentina.
"In our estimation the trip was an undeniable success. Let me take this opportunity to than you for
having the confidence in me to permit me to take this trip with Sr.
Zamora. Thank you Dr. Dorothy! The trip
itself took 21 days. We left Chile on
the fourth of June and returned on the 24th.
Here are a few details of our meeting with the brethren in Argentina.
Starting with Buenos Aires:
There are two groups in the vicinity of Ezeiza. One is pastored by Sr. Ruperto Cordova. This group consists of about 80
persons. Sr. Cordova is very zealous
towards the Law of God. He well
remembers you. He said he'll pray for
you and asks that you pass through Argentina while in South America. Another congregation nearby is pastored by
Sr. Armando Soto. Here the membership
is about 35. A little south of Buenos
Aires in the small town of Monte Grande is a group directed by Sr Atolin
Cuevas. These brethren number about 40.
In Monte Grande there is another group of about 35 members. I have my doubts about whether they'll come
along with us because of certain actions by their pastor, Sr. Manuel
Molina. In Bahia Blanca there is a
group of 40 persons led by Sr. Adrian Sanchez.
Further south, in the area of Neuquen
(practically on the Chile-Argentina border), there is another group of
about 40 persons directed by Sr. Juan Diaz.
There is another group in Huergo.
We did not pass by there since Sr. Cordova had told us that we would
meet the pastor anyway in the city of Centenario within a few days. These churches that we visited received us
as true brethren in Christ. This is in
spite of the fact that several letters had been sent in advance from Chile
warning the people of our arrival. These were sent by "negative
elements"..."negative" to the Work of God. Dr. Dorothy, you will soon meet them.
Everyone was thrilled by the news of the archaeological dig in
Jerusalem. We have to thank God for the
privilege of letting Ambassador College participate in this historic
effort."
Santiago
Garcia
Santiago,
Chile. June 25 1969.
About the time this letter
was received, we learned of Sr. Zamora's return from Argentina. We are now awaiting his full report as well
as listing of all the people in Argentina he met so they may be added onto the PURA
VERDAD mailing list.
While the trip was in
progress, we received several letters from persons whom Sres. Zamora and Garcia
had contacted. One of these was Sr.
Rumilio Godoy, whom Dr. Dorothy had contacted during his trip last year. Sr. Godoy sent us an excerpt from a letter
he had received from Sr. Rupert Cordova, the minister of the group in Buenos
Aires. This is what Sr. Cordova wrote
Sr. Godoy:
"Brother Godoy, the message which our brethren bring us, that of
unity with the Worldwide Church of God, should really be listened to. We know that they speak the truth and our
teachings art the same on virtually everything. So that the Church of God may be one in all the world we
should with joy accept unification.
These three groups in Ezoiza (near Buenos Aires) are in complete accord
with this. All we need to discuss are
certain small details, which I hope can be done when brother Dorothy visits in
August."
Sr. Godoy goes on to
write: "Referring to unification;
I've discussed this with Brother Zamora.
We know some are going to be opposed; but these are those who don't want
God's ways. They will be crucifying
Christ anew."
Well over 100 letters have
been received in the course of the past year from the Chilean group. Many are emotion-packed, virtually
tear-filled. One man sprawled an S.O.S.
on his letter, asking us to be sure to visit him. Sr. Garrido wrote to us just a few days ago a very inspiring
letter. Here's a particularly
interesting analogy included in it.
"Oh how I wish you people were here ! Believe me, some of us here are so anxious for your visit we can
hardly eat ! The "Iglesia
Israelita del Nuevo Pacto" no longer satisfies me. It's as if you were to go to the bakery you
normally go to and be sold stale, distasteful bread: And you have to eat this bread even though you are fully aware of
a bakery a little further away where you can eat real good bread. You just have no way of physically getting
to the second bakery. The Church of
God is that second bakery !"
We have received, as it
were, a "Macedonian Call," from these people. Knowing that God id definitely calling some
persons into the Worldwide Church of God from this group in Chile, we have
endeavoured to be extremely careful to consider all circumstances and possible
consequences.
Our dealings with these
people are still at a very early stage.
In order to help them, we
have distributed among their number thousands of pieces of literature. All of them are taking the Bible Correspondence Course. As mentioned earlier in this report, we have
over 550 names from this group receiving "LA PURA VERDAD'.
So that Dr. Dorothy's and
Mr. Flores' trip this summer might have maximum benefit among the people, we
sent them all copies of the Correspondence Course lessons 19-22. These lessons deal principally with the
power of God's Spirit, the experience of repentance, and "this present
evil world."
We bear no false optimism
about the fruits of our labor in Chile.
We expect the majority of the people to not fully repent and to not
enter the Philadelphia era of God's Church.
Yet at the same time, we know some will be converted and eventually
become a nucleus around which there may be real eventual growth for God's
Church in Chile.
Fortunately the people are
accessible. As will be seen by the map
on the following page, most of the congregations are either on or very near the
main highway in Chile, indicated by the darkest line running north to
south. Additional information of the
local congregations, their pastors and some of the leading personalities
follows in subsequent pages.
The following information
should be of assistance in dealing with the leadership of the Chilean churches.
Church Minister
in Charge
Quillota Vincente
General
Valparaiso Fernando
Reynoso
Santiago
San
Ramon Sr. Iturra
Santa
Rosa Federico Martinez II
Castrina Manuel,
Zamora, Sr. Garcia
Cumpeo Roberto
Oyarzun
San
Carlos Jose
Alfaro
Chillan Juan
Garay
Concepcion Pedro
Barrientos
Talcahuano Sr.
Salazar
Renaico Guillermo
Ynostroza
Curacauton Emisael Palma
Cherquenco Sr. Chavez
Temuco Luis
Segura
Padres
Las Casas Gonzalo
Toledo
Cunco Rosamel Zuniga
Huichahue Rosamel Zuniga
Melipueco Humberto
Soto
Santa
Maria de Llaima Humberto
Soto
Lastarria Sr.
Aguero
Quitratue Santos
Carrasco
Tolten Santos
Carrasco
Boroa
Sur Santos
Carrasco
Queule Santos
Carrasco
Puren Santos
Carrasco
Trovolhue Nazareno
Urrutia
LINE OF ORDINATION:
Shegerse (minister from U.S. who visited Chile in
1896)
Avalos
Pulgar
Labrin
Zambrano (Elderly man - 97 years old)