Global Ministries

A delegation of three church leaders from Cuba, Canada, and the United States visited Venezuela as part of an international, ecumenical campaign in solidarity with the Venezuelan people and churches. Joel Ortega Dopico, Executive Secretary of the Cuban Council of Churches and ACT Alliance Board Member; Jim Hodgson, Program Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Church of Canada, and Angel Luis Rivera-Agosto, Area Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean of Global Ministries were welcomed by Gamaliel Lugo and Eseario Sosa, General Bishop and Deputy General Bishop, respectively, of the Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela. In their visit, the church leaders had the opportunity to engage in dialogue regarding human rights, economic sanctions, constitutional and legal matters with government officials and non-governmental organization leaders. They also had the opportunity to meet a vast number of church leaders from both traditional denominations and grass-roots congregations in Caracas.

Venezuela: Intervention and the Politicization of International Aid  

International focus has turned to Venezuela in recent months as the U.S. has very publicly backed self-proclaimed president Jean Guaidó in challenging Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and much-needed humanitarian aid has been leveraged as a political tool in support of regime change.

Two nongovernmental organizations (Demand Progress and Just Foreign Policy) are seeking organizational co-signers on a letter to leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives to urge support of Rep. Cicilline's HR1004, the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military action in Venezuela Act. The letter addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed their request of support for the bipartisan measure, H.R.1004 - Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act, introduced by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island. They asked that any floor consideration of legislation addressing the crisis in Venezuela include H.R. 1004, a critical safeguard against unconstitutional U.S. military action. They expressed the need to make it explicit in the first step of developing and adopting legislation on Venezuela that Congress will serve as an effective counterweight to the militaristic and anti-refugee policies of the Trump Administration.

This webinar occurred on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 11:00 AM 

Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ has been engaged in a relationship of solidarity and accompaniment with the Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela for more than 60 years. Now we watch with deep concern the recent talk of United States military intervention in that country.

February 6, 2019

Donald J. Trump, President
United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27, NRSV).

Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ, shared a recent reflection titled “Follow me” where she invited the people to be “allies” on their own effort to follow Jesus. She said that “the organizing skills of Jesus remind us that true movements of liberation are best led by those who are being oppressed.” And the invitation Reverend Blackmon made on her reflection, regarding the role of those “allies” is “to follow the leadership of those who are at the center of the pain,” to support the narrative of the ones who own the story, avoiding the temptation “to lead or to fix.” She said that “the ally holds the story and amplifies the voice of the storyteller.”

The Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela (UEPV, acronym in Spanish) celebrated its 61st anniversary and held its Assembly from November 15 to 18, 2018 at the Bender Center in Barquisimeto, Lara State, Venezuela. PENTECOSTALISM, ECUMENISM AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION was the theme of the Assembly, which provides the basis for their anniversary. Through this Assembly, the UEPV received lectures from Rev. Dr. Carmelo Álvarez, Global Ministries Long-Term Volunteer working as UEPV´s Theological Adviser, and Rev. Roger Cabezas, President of Faith and Sanctity Pentecostal Church of Costa Rica.  

My experience and relationship to the Church

I was born and raised in a Disciples of Christ congregation in Puerto Rico. My whole life has been nurtured, shaped and formed in a close relationship to the Disciples of Christ ethos and church life. My parents were leaders in the denomination and early on I learned to appreciate and love serving the Church in all its manifestations.

Lectionary Selection: John 6:51-58

Prayers for Venezuela:

Oh, God our creator and giver of life, we pray for the people and the churches of Venezuela. They are passing through critical times. As they face a serious economic, social, and political situation, we call upon your mercy and kindness to provide a vision of peace and justice, to create a national consensus, and to construct a real process of reconciliation.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, your son, incarnated in our history, as a giver of life. Amen.