Convención de las Iglesias Evangélicas Chulupí
1953 Article
The Chulupí Indian Mission (Mennonite Brethren), located in the Mennonite Colony Fernheim in the Paraguayan Chaco, had its headquarters in 1953 in the town of Filadelfia of the same colony. The Chulupí (Nivacle), of medium height, tough and wiry, is usually a willing worker and generally considered more intelligent and temperamental than the neighboring Lengua (Enlhet) people. The Chulupí first came to Fernheim in 1934 from the Pilcomayo River area, southwest of the Mennonite settlement. As more Indigenous arrived the Fernheim churches felt the need for a mission to them and in 1946 the missionaries, Jakob and Helene Franz of Coaldale, Alberta, were sent to Fernheim by the Mennonite Brethren Board of Foreign Mission of North America, to assist the local churches in this undertaking. In 1949 two other missionaries, Kornelius Isaak and Gerhard Hein of Fernheim Colony, were added to the working staff. Especial difficulty was encountered by the staff in learning the unwritten Nivacle (Chulupí) language, and in the nomadic unstable habits of the tribe. There was no interference from the Catholic Church. The mission was supported by the Mennonite Brethren Board of Foreign Missions in cooperation with the churches in the Chaco -- JHFr
1987 Update
Convención de las Iglesias Evangélicas Chulupí (Chulupí Evangelical Conference), Paraguay. The Nivacle (Chulupí) tribe had its original base in the southern Chaco region of Paraguay and northern Chaco region of Argentina. Many of them lived along the banks of the Pilcomayo River, the boundary between Paraguay and Argentina. With the coming of the Mennonites to the Chaco, small groups of Nivacle soon found their way to the colonies in search of work and bread. A strong increase in migration to the colony area occurred 1940-1947. Mennonites were challenged to begin a new mission work among people whose language and culture was different from the Enlhet (Lengua) people with whom they had previously worked (Convención de las Iglesias Evangélicas de los Hermanos Lenguas). The work with the Nivacle was carried on primarily by Mennonite Brethren.
Intensive teaching and preaching led to the baptism of 21 members in 1958. By 1972 the five Nivacle congregations united to form the Convención de las Iglesias Evangélicas Chulupí. Its membership in 1987 was 1,450 in seven congregations.
Like the Enlhet (Lengua) conference, the Nivacle congregations also work autonomously in every respect, including evangelism and courses for the further education of congregational workers. Missionaries collaborate with these leaders and are available for counsel, the securing of materials needed, and other services. -- SSchär
Bibliography
Kraybill, Paul N., ed. Mennonite World Handbook. Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1978: 242-244.
Mennonite World Handbook Supplement. Strasbourg, France, and Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1984: 93.
| Author(s) | Jacob H. Franz |
|---|---|
| Sieghard Schärtner | |
| Date Published | 1987 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Franz, Jacob H. and Sieghard Schärtner. "Convención de las Iglesias Evangélicas Chulupí." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1987. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Convenci%C3%B3n_de_las_Iglesias_Evang%C3%A9licas_Chulup%C3%AD&oldid=174652.
APA style
Franz, Jacob H. and Sieghard Schärtner. (1987). Convención de las Iglesias Evangélicas Chulupí. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Convenci%C3%B3n_de_las_Iglesias_Evang%C3%A9licas_Chulup%C3%AD&oldid=174652.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 591, v. 5, p. 202. All rights reserved.
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