Here are photos from the February 2018 visit to our partners in the emerging Mennonite Community in Venezuela.
Here is a summary of the 2017 Ecuador and Venezuela Partnership Meetings.
For the full report on Ecuador meeting, click here.
For the full report on Venezuela meeting, click here.
See pictures and videos from the 2017 Partnership Meetings in Ecuador and Venezuela:
For the full report on Ecuador meeting, click here.
For the full report on Venezuela meeting, click here.
See pictures and videos from the 2017 Partnership Meetings in Ecuador and Venezuela:
Ecuador Pictures
Venezuela Pictures
Highlighted pages of the work in Ecuador and Venezuela from Mennonite Mission Network:
Venezuela Partnership
Partner: Central Plains Mennonite Conference
Venezuelan Mennonites look toward future amidst scarcity
Venezuela Partnership
Partner: Central Plains Mennonite Conference
Venezuelan Mennonites look toward future amidst scarcity
June 2015 Report to Central Plains Delegates
God has blessed us greatly over the years as we have partnered with Mennonite Mission Network and the Colombian Mennonite Church and our brothers and sisters in Ecuador and now Venezuela. As we look back to the beginnings, where we had one couple answering a call from the indigenous churches for Bible teaching and leadership development to the many ministries that are happening today, we thank God for his faithfulness. Not all of these ministries are supported financially by CPMC, but they do owe a large part of the existence to the partnership.
The churches in Ecuador continue to grow and mature. They have formed a national organization called “Iglesias Cristanas Anabautistas Menonitas de Ecuador” (Christian Anabaptist Mennonite Churches of Ecuador) and it is known by its acronym ICAME. This organization now has official legal status and can now obtain legal documents for workers and own property. ICAME can now begin the process of buying a property, which has been their desire for many years. The estimated cost for this may be around $200,000. ICAME is in the process of applying for a grant of $100,000 from Mennonite Mission Network and there is ongoing discernment to find a location and raise the rest of the funds needed. Read about each ministry and its leaders....
God has blessed us greatly over the years as we have partnered with Mennonite Mission Network and the Colombian Mennonite Church and our brothers and sisters in Ecuador and now Venezuela. As we look back to the beginnings, where we had one couple answering a call from the indigenous churches for Bible teaching and leadership development to the many ministries that are happening today, we thank God for his faithfulness. Not all of these ministries are supported financially by CPMC, but they do owe a large part of the existence to the partnership.
The churches in Ecuador continue to grow and mature. They have formed a national organization called “Iglesias Cristanas Anabautistas Menonitas de Ecuador” (Christian Anabaptist Mennonite Churches of Ecuador) and it is known by its acronym ICAME. This organization now has official legal status and can now obtain legal documents for workers and own property. ICAME can now begin the process of buying a property, which has been their desire for many years. The estimated cost for this may be around $200,000. ICAME is in the process of applying for a grant of $100,000 from Mennonite Mission Network and there is ongoing discernment to find a location and raise the rest of the funds needed. Read about each ministry and its leaders....
Report from the Latest Fellowship and Learning Tour (Don Kempf)
Miguel Rodriguez, Santiago Gomes, Carolyn and Dennis Peters, Cathy Wismer, Mark Epp, Don and Shirley Kempf, Gerald and Joetta Schlabach
As I reflect on the recent Fellowship and Learning Tour to Ecuador, I am very grateful for the ways that I have seen God at work. We were very impressed with the maturity of the congregation in Quito as we observed the end of their process to choose a new pastor. Last summer when I first saw the qualifications that they had specified for the job, my first reaction was that they will never find someone of that caliber. They also had a timeline set up for each part of the process and again I was skeptical that this would happen. However, God always has a way of surprising us in Ecuador. Everything went as planned and Luis Tapia was voted in as their pastor while we were there in the end of January. He has most, if not all, of the qualifications for which they had asked. Read more….
Miguel Rodriguez, Santiago Gomes, Carolyn and Dennis Peters, Cathy Wismer, Mark Epp, Don and Shirley Kempf, Gerald and Joetta Schlabach
As I reflect on the recent Fellowship and Learning Tour to Ecuador, I am very grateful for the ways that I have seen God at work. We were very impressed with the maturity of the congregation in Quito as we observed the end of their process to choose a new pastor. Last summer when I first saw the qualifications that they had specified for the job, my first reaction was that they will never find someone of that caliber. They also had a timeline set up for each part of the process and again I was skeptical that this would happen. However, God always has a way of surprising us in Ecuador. Everything went as planned and Luis Tapia was voted in as their pastor while we were there in the end of January. He has most, if not all, of the qualifications for which they had asked. Read more….
Report from the Latest Fellowship and Learning Tour (Joetta Schlabach)
January 17-28, 2014
by Joetta Schlabach
Gerald and I were privileged to participate in the January 2014 Learning and Fellowship Tour in Ecuador. We traveled with three other couples from Central Plains Mennonite Conference (Don & Shirley Kempf, tour leaders, from Shickley, NE; Mark Epp and Cathy Wismer from Henderson, NE; and Dennis and Carolyn Peters from Lincoln, NE) and two young men from the Colombian Mennonite Church (Santiago Marin and Miguel Basabe). Elaine Kauffman from Mountain Lake, MN joined us in Ecuador.
Schedule
January 17: Arrival in Quito and overnight in Hotel Capital Inn
January 18-22: Travelled south 3.5 hours to Riobamba, where we stayed in homes of church families. The local Mennonite church gave us a welcome that included a history of the congregation and several testimonies of members. read more...
January 17-28, 2014
by Joetta Schlabach
Gerald and I were privileged to participate in the January 2014 Learning and Fellowship Tour in Ecuador. We traveled with three other couples from Central Plains Mennonite Conference (Don & Shirley Kempf, tour leaders, from Shickley, NE; Mark Epp and Cathy Wismer from Henderson, NE; and Dennis and Carolyn Peters from Lincoln, NE) and two young men from the Colombian Mennonite Church (Santiago Marin and Miguel Basabe). Elaine Kauffman from Mountain Lake, MN joined us in Ecuador.
Schedule
January 17: Arrival in Quito and overnight in Hotel Capital Inn
January 18-22: Travelled south 3.5 hours to Riobamba, where we stayed in homes of church families. The local Mennonite church gave us a welcome that included a history of the congregation and several testimonies of members. read more...
New Pastor for Quito Mennonite church
Luiz Tapia has been chosen to be the new pastor for Quito Mennonite Church. Luiz and his wife Jennifer are an answer to prayer in a process which was very deliberate with very specific qualifications. Luiz and Jennifer are from Chile although Jennifer spent many of her childhood years in Quito, as the daughter of a Baptist pastor. Luiz became acquainted with Anabaptism at the Baptist Seminary in Santiago, Chile, where he studied under Omar Cortes, a worker for Witness Canada and Mennonite Mission Network in past years. In addition to pastoral experience, Luiz has studied theology and recently graduated with a master’s degree in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile. Jennifer is a psychologist.
It was a privilege for the 2014 Fellowship and Learning Tour members to be present as Luiz preached his second sermon as a pastoral candidate and then the members of the congregation voted almost unanimously to accept him has their pastor. A comment from one of the members was that “I have never been part of a process where I could vote to decide who my pastor would be”.
Luiz and his wife Jennifer accompanied the tour in Quito and they made quite a favorable impression on the group. It was quite rewarding to become acquainted with this young couple who have a solid understanding of Anabaptist theology and are also very articulate in expressing it. We expect that the congregation in Quito will receive many blessings as they receive the gifts that Luis and Jennifer bring to them.
It was a privilege for the 2014 Fellowship and Learning Tour members to be present as Luiz preached his second sermon as a pastoral candidate and then the members of the congregation voted almost unanimously to accept him has their pastor. A comment from one of the members was that “I have never been part of a process where I could vote to decide who my pastor would be”.
Luiz and his wife Jennifer accompanied the tour in Quito and they made quite a favorable impression on the group. It was quite rewarding to become acquainted with this young couple who have a solid understanding of Anabaptist theology and are also very articulate in expressing it. We expect that the congregation in Quito will receive many blessings as they receive the gifts that Luis and Jennifer bring to them.
Newest Church Plant in Jardines del Inca, Report from Alyssa Rodriguez
Recent Pictures from the Partnership Meetings including photos from Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela
2013 Ecuador Fellowship and Learning Tour
Members of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference delegation for the Fellowship and Learning tour to Ecuador met together at the international airport in Houston, Texas in the afternoon of January 24. We had some time to visit and get acquainted with each other before boarding the plane for our 5 ½ hour flight in to Quito. We are: Margie Mejia-Caraballo from Moline IL, Don, Shirley and Jonathan Kempf from Shickley NE, Shawn Nolt from Shickley NE, and Lois Janzen Preheim from Freeman SD. Everyone’s flights went well and all of our luggage arrived with us in the late evening there. We arrived at the Rumipamba Hotel near the church and bedded down for the night about midnight.
We all ate breakfast together there at the hotel in the morning where we were joined by read more...
Members of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference delegation for the Fellowship and Learning tour to Ecuador met together at the international airport in Houston, Texas in the afternoon of January 24. We had some time to visit and get acquainted with each other before boarding the plane for our 5 ½ hour flight in to Quito. We are: Margie Mejia-Caraballo from Moline IL, Don, Shirley and Jonathan Kempf from Shickley NE, Shawn Nolt from Shickley NE, and Lois Janzen Preheim from Freeman SD. Everyone’s flights went well and all of our luggage arrived with us in the late evening there. We arrived at the Rumipamba Hotel near the church and bedded down for the night about midnight.
We all ate breakfast together there at the hotel in the morning where we were joined by read more...