Argentina's economic and political struggles over many years have created a great spiritual hunger for truth and meaning. That spiritual hunger is prevalent still today.
More than 40 million people live in Argentina...the second largest country in South America in terms of land mass. It is considered a strategic country in the evangelical Latin American world because many renowned evangelical leaders come from Argentina.
After World War II, a long period of authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. After seven years of state-sponsored violence against Argentine citizenry killing tens of thousands of people, democracy returned in 1983 (CIA World Factbook).
Deep recession
A deep recession foreshadowed economic collapse in 2001, and by 2003 a recovery was under way. It is now a key economic and industrial market in South America, and a leader in many important industries-including lead, copper, and uranium.
As a leader in several industries, Argentina is also heavily influential in the development of many surrounding underdeveloped nations. This influence affects political, economic, social, and spiritual movements. As the Argentine people are reached with the Gospel message, their spiritual influence, too, will spread-impacting not only Argentina, but surrounding underdeveloped nations in South America.
Great need for Gospel
According to Operation World , there are nearly 3 million evangelical Christians in the country. However, this is less than 10 percent of Argentina's 40 million-plus population. The majority of Argentinians are Roman Catholic. There are approximately 500,000 Muslims, 488,000 Jewish Argentinians, and 20,000 following eastern religions. Roman Catholicism has state support, and there is freedom of religion and considerable respect for evangelicals—though not all legal discrimination against religious minorities has ended.
Bible-centered discipleship
"Like most of the Latin American countries, the evangelical movement in Argentina has been formed by the converts from Catholicism in the lower classes. And this has not always been accompanied by proper Bible-centered discipleship. There is a severe need for proper leadership development and training.
