Barbara and Dwight serve in Chile with the Convention of Baptist Churches-Chilean Mission in ministries of economic and leadership development.
Their primary focus is with Mapuche churches in southern Chile. The Mapuche are the indigenous people of Chile and Argentina . Most of them live on small farms in isolated rural communities called "reductions." They struggle with severe poverty, lack of sustainable livelihoods, and the debilitating, culture-eroding effects of centuries of domination. Their vision is to see Mapuche churches that are strong in their identity, not ashamed of their culture, much less of the gospel, and so better equipped to do Christ-like ministry in the Mapuche way.

Barbara recently wrote: Last November we were thrilled to receive a short-term mission team from Pennsylvania who came to work with our weavers.   Two members were Betty and Liz Drusendum, mother/daughter owners of The Lamb’s Wool, a natural fibers store, specializing in yarns and weaving.  They came to spend a week touring each of the weaving groups.  They brought with them a mountain of knowledge, twenty-two pounds of cochineal, the original organic red dye of the Mapuche people, supplies and much more. They brought resources to provide 30 spinning wheels that will expedite yarn production for the weavings and launch a new project for our non-weavers, exporting handspun organically dyed wool to the U.S.

The spinning wheels were designed and built by a pastor from the small town of Lanco, Tomás Vivanco, who is a highly skilled craftsman.   After many trials, he has developed a beautiful wheel and already has orders from the local community now that the 30 wheels are completed.   Our weaving group in Lanco received the first 10 wheels in a special ceremony asking God’s blessing on their efforts.  Tomás invested his earnings in a woodworking machine that will allow him to offer more services to his customers. 
•    Please pray for him as he launches this micro-enterprise.

While Liz and Betty were working with the weavers, other team members visited the local schools attended by the children of our weavers. They did fluoride treatments and crafts, took a picture of each child as a gift to their families and most importantly, shared the love of Christ. This project has had a long term impact on our work, opening doors for our churches to minister to the broader community.

In the rural Curihue school, the director now enthusiastically supports two mission endeavors of the Curihue church.  (1) The Girls’ Club project now is working there, led by a member of the church, using Barb’s materials and coaching.  (2) Children in the school now study their native language, Mapudungun, and the teacher is Alfonso Coñoepan, a leader in the grass-roots endeavor to recover the use of Mapudungun in the life and work of the church community. 
•    Pray for Barbara and Dwight as they minister in the name of Jesus among the Mapuche people of Chile.
•    Pray also for their children Jack (9) and Will (4).