Who are the Baptists?
South America
Baptists are located in each of the countries and territories of Latin America, extending from Mexico to the southern tip of South America. In the mid-nineteenth century there were no Baptists in Latin America. Fifty years later in 1904 there were 5,500 Baptists in this area. Today there are around 1,775,000, including 275,000 in Middle America and around 1,500,000 in South America.
South America
The Portuguese-speaking country of Brazil has been the centre of Baptist expansion in South America, the only country on the continent where Baptists have experienced a mass movement. Baptist work in Spanish-speaking South America has been slower and more limited.
In 1871 American expatriates, who had left the South in the USA, established the first Baptist church in Brazil. Work among the native population began when Southern Baptists in the USA sent William and Anne Bagby in 1881. The Bagbys had long and notable careers; in addition, all five of their children became missionaries, four of them serving in Brazil. The first Baptist church for the native population was formed in 1882 in Salvador, Bahia. In 1907 Brazilian Baptists formed a convention, which in turn has sent missionaries to other lands. The convention is rapidly growing and numbers 900,000 in over 4,800 congregations. It is the second largest mainline Protestant body in the country but overshadowed by Pentecostal and indigenous bodies. Besides Southern Baptists, numerous other Baptist missions have also come. All Baptists in the country number over 1,100,000 in almost 7,000 congregations.
Except for a small English-speaking work on two Caribbean islands belonging to Colombia, which began in 1844, Baptist work did not begin in the Spanish-speaking nations of South America until after 1880. Between that date until just after the First World War, Baptists entered Argentina (1881), Chile (1892), Bolivia (1898), Uruguay (1911), Colombia (Spanish-speaking work) (1916), and Paraguay (1919).
In Argentina a French-Swiss, Paul Besson, began the first Baptist work, but the primary Baptist effort in the country is a product of the Southern Baptist mission which began in 1903. The Argentine Baptist Convention, formed in 1908, today has over 56,000 in over 400 churches.
Germans formed the first Baptist church in Chile in 1892. Another Baptist effort came from William MacDonald who arrived in Chile from Scotland in 1888 and, after working with other evangelicals but breaking with them, formed in 1908 the Evangelical Baptist Convention. Today it has 31,000 members in about 350 churches. Southern Baptists sent their first missionaries to the country in 1917. There are several other Baptist groups in the country, including the National Convention of Baptist Churches, a division from the Evangelical Baptist Convention in 1940.
In 1898 Canadian Baptists sent Archibald Reekie to Bolivia, the second Protestant body to send a resident missionary to the country. In 1936 a Bolivian Baptist Union was formed with 345 members; today it numbers 25,000 in almost 250 churches. Brazilian Baptists began a mission in 1946; its work produced the Bolivian Baptist Convention which today has 3,000 members and forty churches. Several other Baptist missions also have small works in the country.
Baptist work in Uruguay has always been small, contending against an entrenched secular society. Baptists began in 1911 as an extension of Southern Baptist work in Argentina. The Evangelical Baptist Convention of Uruguay today has 4,500 members in sixty churches. Baptist work in Paraguay began in 1919, also an extension of Baptist work in Argentina. Southern Baptists later took over responsibility for it. The Evangelical Baptist Convention of Paraguay, formed in 1956, has 8,000 members in 106 churches. In addition there are 2,100 Slavic Baptists in twelve churches.
Spanish-speaking work in Colombia did not begin until 1916. When the Southern Baptist mission entered the field in 1941, it found only a small group of Baptists. The Colombian Baptist Convention, formed in 1952, today has 15,000 members in 115 churches.
Baptists entered the other Spanish-speaking countries later in the century--Venezuela in 1924, Peru in 1927, and finally Ecuador in 1950. An independent missionary from Ohio, USA, O. R. Covault, began ministering in Venezuela in 1924 which resulted in a church of English-speaking blacks. In 1927 Baptist Mid-Missions in the USA accepted him as one of its missionaries and the work soon became Spanish-speaking. The mission formed a Conference of Baptist Churches of Delta, Monagas and Guayana which has 4,100 members in twenty-five churches. The Southern Baptist mission in Colombia began working in Venezuela in 1945. Southern Baptists in the USA sent missionaries in 1949. From this work Venezuelan Baptists formed in 1951 the National Baptist Convention, composed today of 25,000 members in 250 churches.
Although Baptists entered Peru rather late in comparison to a number of other Latin American countries, they are found today in many parts of the nation. Also numerous Baptist missions have been attracted here. The first was the Irish Baptist Foreign Mission Society in 1927, which resulted in the establishment of the Union of Baptist Churches of South Peru in 1952. It has 5,000 members and around 130 churches. Baptist Mid-Missions, starting in 1936, has extensive work in the country with 200 churches and 25,000 members. Southern Baptists did not enter until 1950. Their work produced in 1966 the Evangelical Baptist Convention of Peru, which today has over 13,000 members in 200 churches. Other Baptist missions from the USA are Baptist Faith Missions, Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, American Baptist Association, Baptist International Missions, and Baptist Bible Fellowship.
Southern Baptists entered Ecuador in 1950. In 1972 Baptists in the country formed the Baptist Convention of Ecuador, which has over 17,000 members in 220 churches. Independent Baptist missions from the USA, including the World Baptist Fellowship, Bible Baptist Fellowship, and Baptist Mid-Missions, have also entered the country and cooperate in a Baptist Mission Fellowship. By the early 1990s the independents had thirty-one churches and eighteen missions.
Most major Baptist bodies in Latin America are members of the Baptist World Alliance and also the Union of Baptists in Latin America, which is a regional organization of the Baptist World Alliance.