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Venezuela STORY

From Fellowship to a Community of Faith

When an established congregation in La Puerta closed, Methodist leaders recognized both a need and an opportunity. What began with weekly worship soon became a growing community of faith, calling for new local leaders to help guide its future.

In the small Andean community of La Puerta, the Methodist Christian Community of Venezuela (CCMV) had established a mission with limited staff and resources. Because a Baptist congregation was already serving the neighborhood, Methodist leaders made an intentional decision not to establish another church. Instead, they worked alongside their Baptist neighbors in diakonia—Christian service—with particular attention to holistic health.

Then the situation changed. The Baptist church closed, and its members began attending a congregation elsewhere. A community that had once had a local place for worship was left without that presence.

CCMV recognized both the need and the opportunity. The question was not simply whether to start another congregation, but how to nurture a community of faith that could worship, serve, and eventually sustain its own ministry. In a community with limited resources, that would require more than opening a place for worship. It would require developing local leaders equipped for discipleship and service and creating ministries that could engage women, youth, and children in the life of the community.

[Photo caption. Photo: Photographer/Source.]

Methodist Children in Venezuela practicing before worship.  Photo:  UMCOR.

Faced with the closing of the Baptist congregation, the Methodist Christian Community of Venezuela chose to respond. CCMV established a place for weekly worship, with the vision of nurturing a new community of faith in La Puerta. The response was encouraging: the project report describes participation as increasing as people began gathering regularly for worship.

But gathering people was only the beginning. For this emerging community to grow into a sustainable ministry, local leaders needed to be equipped for discipleship and diakonia—Christian service. Leadership development therefore became central to the ministry, helping people move from simply participating in the new community toward taking responsibility for its life and mission.

The vision also extended beyond weekly worship. Working in the missionary areas of San Pedro and Las Malvinas, CCMV pursued what it described as integral evangelization: sharing the Gospel while responding to the needs of the whole person and community. Particular attention was given to women, youth, and children through weekly activities, camps, recreational programs, and holistic health ministries.

What emerged was more than a new worship service. A community was beginning to discover how worship, discipleship, leadership, and service could come together as the foundations of a new community of faith.

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From Gathering to Growing

The first sign of transformation was simple but significant: people began coming. The project report describes increasing participation in the weekly worship services established by the Methodist Christian Community of Venezuela. In a place where a local congregation had closed, a new worshiping community was beginning to emerge.

As participation grew, the ministry’s focus expanded from gathering people to forming people for discipleship and service. CCMV recognized that the future of the new community could not depend solely on outside leadership. Local people needed opportunities to develop the gifts and skills necessary to participate in the church’s ministry and help shape its future. Leadership formation therefore became an essential part of building the new community of faith.

The emerging ministry also connected worship with service to the wider community. In the missionary areas of San Pedro and Las Malvinas, CCMV emphasized integral evangelization, particularly among women, youth, and children. Worship and discipleship were joined with ministries addressing health, recreation, and community life.

The transformation was still unfolding when the project was documented, so the record does not give us final membership numbers or describe a formally established congregation. What it does show is meaningful change: a community that had lost a local place of worship was gathering again, participation was increasing, and new leadership was being developed to carry the ministry forward.

encounter with Christ

Partnership Makes Ministry Possible

Encounter with Christ provided a $10,000 grant to the Methodist Christian Community of Venezuela to help develop local leadership and strengthen the emerging community of faith in La Puerta. The funding supported a ministry already underway—one shaped by local leaders who understood their community, recognized a changing need, and responded.

The grant helped CCMV move beyond simply gathering people for weekly worship toward developing the leadership needed for discipleship and diakonia, or Christian service. It also supported the church’s broader vision of integral evangelization in San Pedro and Las Malvinas, with particular attention to women, youth, and children through community-based ministries.

This is the partnership at the heart of Encounter with Christ: local Methodist communities discern where God is calling them to serve, and partners provide resources that help make that response possible. In La Puerta, that partnership helped an emerging worshiping community begin building the leadership and ministry needed for its future.

Help Make Transformation Like This Possible

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