Maturin, Monagas, Venezuela…[Venezuela Antilles Union/IAD Staff]
Like most Inter-American Division union territories during the last five years, many have strived to aggressively train and certify local church elders and leaders to better serve their churches and aid in the responsibilities of the vast membership that ministers have to care for. The East Venezuela Mission, with more than 20,000 members, organized their second Elders and Women Congress in Maturin, Monagas, Venezuela, from June 17 to 19.
In attendance were 209 church elders and group directors, who, along with church leaders from the Mission, gathered for seminars on a variety of topics, including decision making within the church and how to utilize spouses and children to fulfill the will of God.
“Our concluding resolution was to put aside all of our weaknesses and work together in unity of spirit and action,” says Pastor Jairo Duarte, Ministerial Secretary for the church in the East Venezuela Mission. “The time is short and the mission that we have today is to live as Jesus and finish the task so that we can go live with Him.”
Special speakers at the event were Pastor Ivan Omaña, Ministerial Association Secretary for the church in Inter-America, and his wife Evelyn, Shepherdess International director for the church in Inter-America. Seminars taught included The Pastor and the Church Elder, The Unity of the Church, Strategies to Strengthen Marriage, The New Adventist Culture, The Woman and Her Control Over Her Emotions, and The Priorities of an Elder, among others.
