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A propos de l'auteur
Dr. Helland graduated from the Graduate School of Theology at Oral Roberts University in 1969. After pastoring for three years in Oakland, California, he went to Chile with his wife and their two young children in 1975 to work with the large indigenous church movement which had taken root there. Helland was authorized to write this book in 1981 by the Annual Conference of the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile. In that capacity, he traveled throughout the nation gathering anecdotes from eye-witnesses and family members. He haunted the archives of the National Libraries and compared notes with other church historians. Chilean Protestantism is mostly Pentecostal, primarily the result of the work of two missionaries, David Trumbull during the 19th Century and Willis C. Hoover, whose ministry overlapped the 19th and 20th Centuries. A mighty revival started in 1909 in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Valparaíso, which was pastored by Hoover. It resulted in a rupture in the two large Methodist Episcopal Churches in Santiago and then spread throughout Chile. It impacted all other Christian denominations including the Roman Catholic Church. This new denomination was organized in 1910 under the name of The Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile. It was incorporated officially in 1929. The dramatic events of each stage are chronologically documented and explained, beginning from the time of Chile's Independence from Spain in 1818 until 1984. The book was finally published in Spanish in Chile in 1987. It was first published in two volumes as "La Iglesia Metodista Pentecostal--Ayer y Hoy" (The Methodist Pentecostal Church--Yesterday and Today). It details developments occurring during its evolution, including details of church divisions, times of persecution, moral failings of church leaders, and handling difficult negotiations with governments, the launching of foreign missionary outreaches and the fraternal relationship it has established with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church in the United States. This is an important book especially useful for use in seminaries and Bible Schools, showing the impact of American missionary outreach and positive results which are forthcoming. This is illustrated when considering nearly all aspects of modern life in Chile, including the fact that it is the most economically advanced country in Latin America today. After nearly 30 years of extensive editing and translation effort, this attractive easy-to-read book, containing over 40 photos and an extensive bibliography, is now available for the English-speaking world both in this soft-cover edition and as an eBook.
