August 13, 2010 – Caracas, Venezuela…Libna Stevens/IAD
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists across Venezuela celebrated 100 years of Adventist heritage during a two-day event which gathered top church leaders and attracted tens of thousands in the cities of Caracas and Barquisimeto on Aug. 8-9, 2010. Hundreds of churches throughout the country served as live satellite broadcast centers of the celebration events.
More than 13,000 packed the Caracas Polyhedron for the historic event which honored the work of Adventist pioneers and early church leaders, showcased the growth of the church, and challenged the new generation of church members to continue fulfilling the mission of the church in Venezuela.
The event was broadcast live across Venezuela and around the world through Esperanza TV, the internet and more than a dozen radio stations.
“I commend the government for preserving religious liberty in Venezuela,” expressed Pastor Ted N. C. Wilson, Adventist World Church president, as he addressed the crowd during his keynote address. “We praise God on how he has guarded the church for so many years in this country.”
Pastor Wilson went on to say how the Adventist Church continues today to hold high its beliefs and its identity as a church with an important mission.
“We are a people of hope, a hope on the coming of the Lord, people with a prophetic message to prepare the world. People called to proclaim, to preach the message of the three angels message. We are a people who believe that God is creator of all mankind; that he created this world in six days, that we are a people who accept the gift of Spirit of Prophecy, a people who understand that when we die we go to the grave. We are a people seeking revival and reform, a people who are waiting to be transformed. My brothers and sisters, we are waiting for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit. We have a great opportunity to serve the last days,” affirmed Pastor Wilson.
In his first visit to Venezuela and first trip outside of North America after being elected as Adventist World Church president in June, Pastor Wilson praised the work of the church and challenged every believer to become the best citizen of the country by serving others and moving into action for Christ.
“You are celebrating 100 years of the work of the church, and it is wonderful to look back to hear testimonies and reports of your pioneers,” he said. “But my brothers and sisters in Venezuela, we now need to look forward, to expand God’s work in a dynamic way in Venezuela.”
Expanding God’s work is first on Venezuelan church leaders’ lists of things to do as they harness the momentum of the centennial celebrations and begin to strategize for greater church growth.
“For us this [100-year celebration] means a turning point for the church in Venezuela,” said Pastor Josney Rodriguez, president of the recently approved church union in East Venezuela. “There is a new generation of believers who weren’t born in the church or do not know the history, and must learn of the sacrifice of those who brought the gospel and sowed the seed for the work of the church here in Venezuela.”
“This celebration highlights our gratitude to God for what He has done for His church here, through men and women used by Him and to tell the new generation what it meant to get to this point, and the challenge to move forward and finish the work the pioneers began, ” explained Pastor Rodriguez.
For many decades, the church in Venezuela was part of the the Colombia-Venezuela Union, headquartered in Colombia. In 1989, when the Venezuela Antilles Union was established, the church was comprised of three conferences and missions and some 43,000 members. Today, the church boasts 12 conferences and missions and nearly 250,000 members. The East Venezuela Union was recently organized to look after the growing membership in the eastern part of the country, which includes Caracas, the capital of the country and its largest city with a population of over two million..
“We wanted to use this event as a launching pad to let Venezuela know more of what the Adventist Church is all about and our commitment to contributing to a better society and spreading the gospel,” added Pastor Rodriguez.
Leaders in East Venezuela are committing 50 percent of their evangelism budget to television, radio, and publishing to reach more unbelievers, especially in Caracas.
“We have purchased equipment and have already trained 143 of our members in television production so that we can penetrate Caracas,” said Pastor Rodriguez. “It’s not enough to evangelize [Caracas] through our small group ministry.”
Pastor Rodriguez said it is a bold move which seeks to significantly increase the number of church members in Caracas, which currently stands at nearly 20,000.
With more than 830 colporteurs and 650 evangelists, the church in East Venezuela is also preparing for a larger impact through publishing.
“We want to use the media to promote the church in Venezuela and what it is doing in the communities,” said Pastor Rodriguez. “It needs to be the rain that prepares for the seed of God’s Word, so that when a colporteur knocks on the door, the resident will have already heard about us.”
Organizing the event at Caracas Polyhedron was also part of promoting the church, as the church had never had the finances to hold such a large event in Caracas, said Pastor Rodriguez. He explained that finances were possible thanks to special offerings collected throughout hundreds of churches in Caracas and the rest of the eastern region of Venezuela.
Outside the Caracas Polyhedron, some 100 new believers were baptized as Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America pronounced the baptismal prayer. More than 1,000 baptisms took place in the weeks leading up to the centennial celebration.
As Pastor Leito congratulated leaders and laypeople during the event for their efforts in spreading the gospel, he encouraged the church to strive harder to reach out to non-believers.
“In these 100 years of the work of the church, millions of Venezuelan lives have been transformed, many homes were saved, much violence was prevented, marriages were strengthened, we have dozens of religious and educational institutions and the gospel has benefited the society in the nation” said Pastor Leito.
“We want Christ to come soon but until then you must continue preaching faithfully more than ever,” said Pastor Leito, “We must finish the work that the pioneers worked so hard to build and continue proclaiming the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Julio Palacio, president of the church in the Venezuela Antilles Union, also took part in the centennial celebration and was joined by church leaders and members from the west part of the country as well as a delegation from its Curacao and Aruba church territory.
In addition to recognizing families of the early pioneers and early and current church leaders, a moment of silence was observed for those who dedicated their lives to the work of the church in Venezuela.
Pastor Ivan Omana, first and former president of the Venezuela Antilles Union from 1989 to 2000 and grandson of the first ordained Venezuelan minister, was among the leaders honored for his committed service to the church there.
“I am so filled with emotion that this dream of a fast growing church has become a reality,” said Pastor Omana, who said there were many challenges and few workers available when the church was being established. “My vision was to see a growing church, filled with professionals because the potential was so great back then. It is certainly amazing to see how the Lord has blessed the church in my country.”
Pastor Omana was among three relatives of pioneers who handed the replica of the large traveling Bible to a new young generation of Adventists during a special closing ceremony. The youth were challenged with the task of evangelizing the rest of the country.
Videos highlighting the history of early missionaries like Frank Lewis Lane and Richard Greenidge, as well native Indian Tribe Chief Raku of La Gran Sabana region who received a revelation of the Bible truths, were also broadcast.
Hundreds of Adventists from across the country joined in a massive choir and orchestra, as well as a 300-member drum corps which performed during the special program.
Several leaders from other church denominations spoke at the event and congratulated the Adventist Church for its growth, influence, and unswerving commitment to upholding Bible truths.
Representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Venezuela praised the work of the Adventist Church and its Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) for its program and initiatives in benefiting needy communities in the country and requested the continued support of ADRA and its volunteers to partner with new projects this year.
Day two of the centennial celebration took place at Feria Bicentenario Center in Barquisimeto on Sunday, Aug. 8. More than 7,000 gathered for the day’s celebration in music and thanksgiving. There was also special recognition to the work of pioneers and church leaders in West Venezuela, home to the Venezuela Antilles Union.
Thousands more online viewers tuned into the webcast of the program.
As the keynote speaker, Pastor Ted N.C. Wilson echoed his message of a church committed to upholding the Adventist message of the Bible and encouraged every believer to represent God at all times.
“In the last work of salvation, my brothers and sisters today, as you celebrate 100 years of God’s blessings, God is calling you to march forward to beyond 100 years and be ambassadors for Christ,” said Pastor Wilson. “You see we know what will happen, Jesus viene pronto [Jesus is coming soon]. We must prepare for Jesus to come, we must prepare others for Jesus to come. I appeal to you that each of you follow Jesus in a powerful way, that you will understand that He wants you to be his ambassadors and that you will accept his challenge.”
As president of the church in Venezuela Antilles Union since the year 2000, Pastor Julio Palacio, was joined by Pastor Rodriguez, and talked about the growth of the church in Venezuela and revisited church history. Pastor Palacio promoted a new book available detailing the history of the Adventist Church in Venezuela.
With more than 130,000 church members in the Venezuela Antilles Union, which includes Aruba and Curacao, Pastor Palacio said that the church will soon add four more additional local fields in four different states in the union’s region. But he said there are still areas that have not yet been penetrated by the message.
“This is one of our challenges that we will focus on,” said Pastor Palacio. “We have been working with the government for a few years to open new radio stations and there are several projects underway to reach those impenetrable areas in our territory.”
In addition, the union is finishing a television production studio which will create programs tailored to women, children, young people, and the community at large.
“We are also focusing on strengthening our publishing ministry by training some 600 colporteurs this month throughout our local fields and continue entering new areas with the message of hope,” Pastor Palacio said.
For Rodny Emmons, age 30, born to Adventist leaders and now working as the treasurer for the East Venezuela Mission in Maturin, being part of a church and a celebration of a rich heritage brings a real responsibility.
“I feel like my generation has a real challenge and responsibility to reach out to even more people in our country,” said Emmons. “We live in a time when we have to be part of a force that can adapt the message to reach out through the means of communication, through social networks, to present the truth so our generation and the one coming can finish the work.” Emmons and his wife are expecting their first child.
For Irais de Moyetones of the East Adventist Church in Barquisimeto, being part of the event brings a lot of excitement.
“I feel so honored to be part of this church,” she said. “I am so excited for this great party as we make history today, it’s a great incentive, as Venezuelans, with the responsibility we have to our country,” said Moyetones, a Seventh-day Adventist of 12 years and mother of three young children. As a layperson who serves in the children’s, communication, and health departments of her church, Moyetones is aware there is work yet to be done.
“We have to really find a way to reach the masses, so we are praying that our radio stations can reach large areas in our country, so that we can finish our task here,” she added.
Finishing the task remains in the hands of the church in Venezuela, said Pastor Leito, as he spoke in Barquisimeto. “I encourage you as you celebrate the past, the pioneers, the victories won, the institutions established here, I challenge you to fill the country with the message of life, of the soon coming of the Lord,” he said.
Located in the northern part of South America, Venezuela has nearly 250,000 church members worshipping in 849 churches and congregations today. The Adventist Church operates, a university, several clinics, and dozens of schools in the country.
For more information on the church in Venezuela, visit:
East Venezuela Union’s website http://unionvenezolanaoriental.interamerica.org/cien
Venezuela Antilles Union’s website:
http://unionvenezolana.interamerica.org/
View photos of the event at centennial celebration at
http://flickr.com/photos/interamerica/
