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Countries
|
Christians
|
Roman
Catholics
|
Other
Christians
|
No religion
(atheists and agnostics)
|
Argentina
|
88 %
|
77 %
|
11 %
|
11 %
|
Bolivia
|
96 %
|
74 %
|
22 %
|
4 %
|
Brazil
|
87 %
|
65 %
|
22 %
|
8 %
|
Chile
|
70 %
|
57 %
|
13 %
|
25 %
|
Colombia
|
92 %
|
80 %
|
12 %
|
7 %
|
Ecuador
|
93 %
|
81 %
|
12 %
|
4 %
|
Paraguay
|
95 %
|
85 %
|
10 %
|
2 %
|
Perú
|
94 %
|
81 %
|
13 %
|
3 %
|
Surinam
|
51 %
|
29 %
|
22 %
|
5 %
|
Uruguay
|
58 %
|
47 %
|
11 %
|
41 %
|
Venezuela
|
88 %
|
71 %
|
17 %
|
8 %
|
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives 91.9% of the South American population is Christian, although
less than half of them are practicing.
Catholicism
Except for Suriname and Uruguay, the more professed
religion in the South American countries is the Catholic
religion. While countries such as Paraguay, Peru, Colombia and Argentina more than three quarters of the population is
Catholic, in Chile is 57%.
Catholicism was the only religion allowed in the colonial
era, the indigenous were forced to abandon their beliefs, although many did
not abandon it at all, for example, countries with predominantly Amerindian
population such as Bolivia and Peru
there is a syncretism between indigenous religions and the Catholic religion, that has occurred since
colonial times. In Brazil or Colombia,
Catholicism was mixed with certain African
rituals.
Protestantism
Protestantism has been around since the nineteenth century, as a
minority, but has had a strong increase since the 1980s. The majority of Latin
American Protestants in general are Pentecostals. Brazil today is the most evangelical country in South
America, where 89% of Brazilians evangelicals are Pentecostals, in Chile represents 79% of the total evangelicals in that
country, 69% in Argentina and 59% in Colombia. On the
other part, in Uruguay 66% of evangelicals are Methodists, while
only 20% are Pentecostal.
10 For the
Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And he called his ten
servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
And he called ten servants of his, and gave them
ten pounds, and said unto them, Trade ye
herewith till I come.
So
he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
Verse 10 points to the heart of Jesus’ mission here
on earth. This is also our mission too as His disciples, to seek.
Part of our seeking to save is praying for the
continent of South America.
Prayer:
Even though with the statistics, it seems that
Christianity is high in this region but our prayer is that the full gospel is
preached in the continent of South America, majority of the Christians are
Catholics.
·
Lord, let the hearts of the “Christians” be open to
the True Gospel.
·
Break the hold of sin and untrue gospel from the
hearts of your children.
·
Father, please reveal Yourself unto Your children.
·
Open their eyes to see You O Lord.
For
areas prone to disaster like South America, a lot of emergency responders such
as people, governments and organisations respond to affected areas.
·
Let
us pray that the Lord will touch the hearts of the responders on ground so that
the impact on the lives of these vulnerable people will be turned over to the
Lord.
· Lord,
please reveal Yourself unto the responders so that they would have the correct
and lasting impact on the lives in South America.
· Lord
strengthen them to do the right thing, O God; sharing the gospel boldly.
·
As
aids are being given; let Your word be passed on as well.
Turn thee unto me, and
have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and
afflicted.
For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy
truth unto the clouds.
Part
of South America has recently been hit with the Zika virus; currently, there is no vaccine or medication to stop
Zika. The only way to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the
infection. The bigger health threat though is believed to be in pregnancy, to
the unborn child.
·
Let
us pray for God’s mercy for the land.
·
Lord,
we seek Your mercy for Your children in the areas that have been affected by
the Zika virus.
