8 chapels were built by 250 young people who, during these winter holidays, chose to give of themselves to others for thousands of Chileans living in remote rural areas.

Students and alumni of Cumbres, Everest, San Isidro, La Cruz, Highlands, and Santa Teresita schools built 8 chapels in rural areas of the parish of Combarbalá, belonging to the Diocese of La Serena. In the villages of La Cuadra, La Colorada, Paclas, Jarillas, Litipampa, La Cantera, El Rodeo, and Tinajas, which previously had no chapels, families will now be able to gather in a church to celebrate the Eucharist, liturgy, or Sunday Assembly, even in the absence of the Priest.

Father Rafael Rojas, parish priest of Combarbalá, said emotionally, “the people of those villages really wanted to have a church. In some places, they had been waiting 14 years to have a chapel, they had made efforts, saved some money for this purpose, and when these brothers came to offer this service, it was like a gift from heaven, as the people told us, because in seven days they were able to fulfill a dream of many years and have a church. It’s impressive to see that in just one week, from having nothing, there are 8 new constructions,” Father Rafael recounted with emotion.

Father Pablo de Juan (LC), chaplain of Cruzadas, states, “this human, Christian, and social experience is very profound for everyone. Besides building the chapels, workshops were held, missions were carried out, and people were engaged in fellowship,” which was well received by the various communities. He adds that this is an apostolate that we have been doing for 11 years with high school students and also alumni from schools of our congregation, dedicated exclusively to building chapels in rural areas, and we have already built about one hundred chapels across Chile through 16 Cruzadas missions.

“After the blessing of the new churches, Father Rafael Rojas, as parish priest of Combarbalá, said that ‘they hope to continue serving or start serving, at least with the Eucharist once a month. And also, as people said, it’s a place where they can gather for personal prayer, pray the Month of Mary, and celebrate other events,’”