Name: Pato and Dagmar Oyarzún (Rocio, Estela)
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
Work: Pato will work as an Assistant Minister, helping with church planting at Viña del Mar's San Pedro church - the first Chilean national to lead there. He will also lecture part-time at Santiago's new Anglican training college, the Centro de Estudios Pastorales (CEP, Centre for Pastoral Studies).
The Oyarzúns have been studying at Moore College as bursars sponsored by CMS for the last five years, and once back in Chile will be CMS's first International Ministry Partners. They will receive a grant from CMS hoping to build a self-sufficient ministry.
Snapshot: " Of 100 congregations [in Chile's Anglican Church], there are only three people with training equivalent to any Sydney clergy. That's the same numbers as in the parish where I've been working in Sydney." He says that a key need for the Chilean church is a deep knowledge of the Scriptures.
How are you seeing God working in Chile? "We finally have a Bible college for people going on to fulltime ministry. When I left, there was not an option to be trained in Chile."
Pray for this year: For our family: reverse cultural shock will be a significant thing. A lot has changed for us since we left: we are parents now, so pray that we'll adjust, and have patience and depending on God.
