We are asking God for a growing and sustainable gospel movement among each of the Quechua tribal groups in South America ― in our generation. This initiative works with Quechua leaders and others to reach out to the Quechua people groups where the gospel has not found a strong foothold. Our prayer is that we will see gospel movements grow in these spiritual needy areas.
THE PLACE
The Quechua people are an Indigenous people in the Andes area of South America who speak the Quechua language, which includes a variety of dialects. The approximately 8 million Quechua people primarily live in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, with small pockets of the people also living in Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
The People
The Quechua are descendents of the Incas, who once reigned in South America. After the Spanish Conquest, the Quechua became marginalized and tend to live in more rural areas. They often depend on farming for their sustenance. However, many Quechua people also live in large metropolitan areas. The majority of Quechua people groups are considered least reached (less than 4% of the population are evangelical Christians). People widely embrace traditional religious practices – the Quechua have blended Christian beliefs into their practices, leading to a highy syncretistic belief system. They also share a common spiritual system with other people in the Andean region, including a belief in Mother Earth and mountain spirits. The Bible has been translated into several Quechua-language dialects, but there are few communities of Christ followers.
THE IMPACT
Converge International Ministries has established the Quechua Initiative to reach the Quechua people with the gospel. Initiatives are significant, cross-cultural endeavors that target a geographic area, a people group, a religious background or a large urban center. Each initiative includes local gospel endeavors called projects that contribute to the larger gospel initiative.
Our vision is to:
- Identify Quechua leaders who God is raising up and resourcing them so that they can accomplish their God-sized vision.
- Develop teams who will serve among all major Quechua people groups.
- Provide training on church planting movements among evangelical Quechua leaders.
- Mobilize existing churches to raise up church planters to plant churches in their cultural group or a similar cultural group and help those churches become more outreach- and evangelistic-oriented.
- Initiate community development projects so that Quechua people are cared for and loved holistically. These projects will serve as platforms for bettering the lives of Quechua people and open doors to share the gospel with them.
