Barbara Chicks
September 2020

Mission Moment  

Barbara and Dwight Bolick are engaged in the ministries of discipleship, education, and economic development in Chile and beyond. Their primary focus is on Mapuche Churches in southern Chile. The Mapuche are the indigenous people of Chile and Argentina. Most of them live on small farms in isolated rural communities called "Reductions." The Mapuche struggle with severe poverty, the lack of sustainable livelihoods, and the debilitating, culture-eroding effects of centuries of domination by others. 

The goals of the Bolick's' ministries with the Mapuche people, their churches, and their communities are: First, recovering their identity as a people made in the image of God. And second, discovering their vocation as productive stewards of God's creation. Barbara and Dwight, with the Mapuche churches, pursue these goals through various programs, including the return of using their native language – Mapudungun – in worship, evangelism, and service to others. Barbara and Dwight also provide entrepreneurship training based on a rural context, beginning with the production of traditional weavings and the sale of honey by beekeeping. There is also theological education. All of these programs are rooted in Bible study and Scripture, giving the Mapuche leaders who serve their communities through economic development both a way to fully integrated their proclamation of the Gospel to the people and to show how the Gospel brings hope to their culture and their day-to-day lives. 

The Bolicks also serve by equipping leaders among other churches served by the International Ministries (IM) Convention. The Bolicks do both teaching and preaching in churches from Santiago to the Chili's Lake District. Barbara also helps churches develop ministries to serve women and children, while Dwight focuses on stewardship to help churches create and sustain Christ-like ministries in their communities. 

Barbara writes: "This time of quarantine has brought challenges for all of us. Yet, amid these challenges, God has also brought many opportunities. The most relevant opportunity that we have been given is an extended amount of time to work with my colleague SInternation Ministriearah (Sarah) Nash, the IM Global Servant in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. She and I have been spending two hours together five days a week by Zoom for a couple of months. During our conversations we review the curriculum line by line, making any adaptations necessary to communicate the message of the Gospel to girls who live in Bolivia. Getting to know my outstanding colleague, her in-depth understanding and knowledge of the Talita-Cumi Girls’ Clubs program, and her plan to introduce the program in Bolivia has been an amazing experience.