The MB Conference in Uruguay began more than 70 years ago with German immigrants who established congregations in the interior and capital. In the 1960s, the conference opened its doors to native-born Uruguayans. The work among Uruguayans began in Peñarol, Montevideo with a Bible school for children in a working-class area made up of traditional families. From there, it spread to nearby neighborhoods in Piedras Blancas, Colón and Sayago.
CCHMU has experienced ups and downs. However, God’s faithfulness has enabled the work to continue. Today, the conference is focused on forming a new generation of leaders and on children.
After three years of supporting a process of preparing, forming and deep discipleship of a new generation of leaders, they are now entering a second phase: introducing and integrating new leaders into ministry spaces, particularly pastoral ministry.
The vision of reaching children with the gospel in a holistic way has not waned throughout the years. Workers emerge from all congregations for this service, which is carried out locally and nationally. “We understand that winning a child means winning an entire life,” says Gabriela Piña, CCHMU representative. “To strengthen this space, we promote national meetings of Bible school teachers and leaders; children’s meetings for fellowship, teaching and recreational activities; pedagogical training and refresher courses; and camps.
“We are very aware of the risk our children face,” she says. “Secular state education is designed to permanently rob them of their faith in a single class. Thirty percent of our children are medicalized from the earliest grades. The collapse of society, the fracture of families as the foundation of society, unlimited internet access and the repeated removal of parental rights over children through laws and decrees have become an enormous challenge for the church in Uruguay.
Even so, CCHMU continues forward with faith and hope in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit to reach all the lost with salvation, that Uruguay may definitively cease to be known in the Christian world as “the missionary cemetery.”
Prayer requests:
- For a supernatural move of God that turns the hearts of Uruguayans toward God and the heart of the church toward the lost.
- For new leaders who are taking on the challenges of ministry as older leaders pass on responsibilities.
- For networks of deep discipleship.
- For children and youth and the focus of state ideologies and policies, whether secular, progressive or humanist.
Did you know?
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Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America. Its land area is 176,215 km and its coastline measures approximately 672 kilometers.
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Uruguay has a population of 3,338,081 people and is declining. It has the lowest birth rate in South America, a fertility rate of 1.2, which complicates the replacement rate. This results in an aging population (30,000 births in 2024).
• In 1919, Uruguay consolidated its identity as a secular country by adopting a Constitution that formalized the separation of Church and State. Since then, no religious manifestations have been permitted in any state sphere (government, health, education, etc.). All religious holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, have been secularized.
• The literacy rate was 99.1 percent in 2022; for men, the average was 99.4 percent; and 98.9 percent in women.
• A pioneer in the enactment of laws in Latin America, Uruguay was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013 and has also been a leader in the legalization of abortion. In 2023 alone, 10,898 abortions were performed at the woman’s discretion, 4 due to rape, 2 due to risks to the mother’s health, and 2 due to fetal abnormalities.
• 18.9 percent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty.
• It has the longest National Anthem in the world and the longest Carnival in the world.
• Uruguay hosted the first FIFA World Cup in 1930. Soccer is the national sport par excellence and the passion of the masses.
• Uruguayan meats are known throughout the world. You can’t visit Uruguay without eating a delicious asado (barbecue), tortas fritas (fried cakes) and dulce de leche (sweet milk).
• 5.2 percent are evangelicals, including groups from all backgrounds – biblical and non-biblical.
• A Uruguayan must hear the Gospel on average 10 times before paying attention to it, so that it enters their reasoning and they understand what it is about.
• Although the church is not persecuted by physically violent means, the Christian faith is ridiculed in sectors with middle and high educational levels, which has led to a great deal of silence on the part of the church in general.
Facts provided by Gabriela Piña, Uruguay representative to ICOMB.
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
