During the annual meeting of Nazarene Bible Seminary's Administrative Board, held November 16 at the seminary headquarters in Santiago, Chile, Oscar Varas Ruiz was re-elected seminary rector for a period of two years, 2016 to 2017.

He was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene and has a long ministerial career as pastor of the Iquique Church of the Nazarene and also as superintendent of the North District of Chile.

He earned a bachelor’s in theology from Nazarene Bible Seminary and a degree in theology from the Southern Cone Nazarene Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is currently a student in the master’s program at Nazarene Seminary of the Americas in Costa Rica.

Varas is married to Maria Paz del Canto. They have two children, Oscar Jr. and Barbara.

The Nazarene Biblical Seminary is approved by the Church of the Nazarene's International Board of Education and serves the four Chilean districts through the certification program and bachelor’s in theology program. There are 87 students in six theological education by extension centers throughout the country.

--Church of the Nazarene South America Region