Cristóbal Cerón

Santiago is a vibrant city: it has a population of over five and a half million, the average age is 30, and there are over thirty universities with hundreds of thousands of students. It is an exciting place to live and it is a very exciting place to be involved in a church plant. There is an urgent need for more evangelical Christian witness in downtown Santiago, and Cristóbal is seeking to meet that need. ‘Sent’ by La Trinidad Church, he has planted an Anglican church in Santiago city centre in order to reach students, young professionals and others with the gospel.

Brought up in Santiago, Cristóbal became a Christian as a student. He is a natural evangelist with a huge passion for serving God. A former Crosslinks BEST Study Partner (George Whitefield College 2004-7), he loves seeing young people taught the gospel and then equipped for ministry. This church plant is strategic for reaching the next generation of Chileans with the gospel. In order for it to succeed, Cristóbal and the church need support.

Christóbal is married to Alejandra, and has three children: Belén, Jacinta and Amanda.

The Project

Santiago, Chile is a bustling city centre. There is a vast young population with many thousands of people in higher education as well as workers and families. The city centre has hundreds of thousands of residents, and a further 2 million commute in for work or study each day. There are few churches seeking to reach people in this vast metropolis and there is a pressing need for more people to minister to this urban population.

For 18 months Cristóbal, Alejandra and a small team of others committed to reaching this downtown community met to pray, train and plan. They interviewed over 500 people, formed small Bible study groups and ran Club Preguntas (a Spanish course based on Christianity Explored). By May 2011 there were 30 people attending mid-week groups , and so Sunday meetings were begun and Iglesia Santiago Centre was formally planted.

Cristóbal is passionate about teaching the Bible and evangelism. Alongside leading Iglesia Santiago Centre he is in charge of National Gimnasio (a ministry training programme); teaches homiletics at the local Anglican Bible College; and leads Mouchile, a national evangelistic mission seeking to share the gospel with young people throughout Chile. God’s word is the heartbeat of all that he does.

Led by Cristóbal, this young church is passionate about the gospel, and reaching people in Santiago for Christ. They are strategically placed to reach many with the best news in the world, and determined to take every opportunity to proclaim the gospel in Santiago with a particular focus on reaching young Chileans studying or working in the capital.