Tears, smiles, laughter and heartfelt thanks had a constant presence at Willowbrook Baptist Church, Huntsville, in Madison Baptist Association Nov. 12.
About 125 people gathered to bring to a close the Alabama Baptist State Convention’s six-year partnership with the National Baptist Convention of Venezuela. Leaders of both conventions, International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries, Alabamians and Venezuelans shared their testimonies of what the partnership has meant to them.
“This has been a wonderful partnership,” said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM). “Only eternity will be able to tell just how many people’s lives have been changed.”
The partnership, which began in January 2000, will draw to a close with a final celebration in Venezuela this February, Lance said, noting that he and Reggie Quimby, SBOM director of the office of global partnerships and volunteers in missions, plan to be there.
With tears in his eyes, Quimby told those assembled that they were tears of joy, brought on by seeing so many with whom he had worked during the partnership. “It affects your whole heart and life, and all you think about is Venezuela and carrying Christ to all Venezuela,” he said.
As Quimby presented a plaque commemorating the partnership to the president and other leaders of the Venezuela convention, he noted, “With these brothers, we have prayed; with these brothers, we have preached; with these brothers, we have planned to carry Christ to all the pueblos in Venezuela.”
In turn, Jacobo Garcia, executive director of the Venezuela convention’s division of missions and evangelization, presented a plaque to Quimby as a tribute to the sense of brotherhood that had grown between the leaders and Quimby because of the partnership.
Wilfredo Velasquez, president of the National Baptist Convention of Venezuela, also presented a large, 1.5-by-1-foot plaque to Lance as a representative of the state convention. Velasquez explained the plaque’s size, saying, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
And, he said, much has been given to Venezuela through this partnership — the fruits of which are still being realized. Velasquez, pastor of Faith Baptist Church, Maracaibo, said a mission church of Faith Baptist will constitute as a church Dec. 3 because of the work of Alabama Baptist volunteers.
“Venezuela has been impacted because of the dedication, work and effort of Alabama Baptists to reach the lost of Venezuela,” he said. “Many Venezuelans would like to do the same because of that impact.”
And many have been doing the same. As Alabama Baptists traveled to Venezuela to preach, witness, help start churches and work with the Venezuelan Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) groups, so, too, did Venezuelan Baptists travel to Alabama.
Some of the women came to help Alabama WMU groups reach out to the Hispanic women in their areas.
Venezuelan pastors helped Hispanic ministries in many parts of Alabama, preaching at Hispanic churches and missions, giving advice and participating in evangelism rallies and events.
IMB missionary Joe Powell, who works as an IMB missions mobilizer with his wife, Norma, in Caracas, Venezuela, noted that some of these “pastor swaps” have become permanent.
“You have evangelized Venezuela and started churches in Venezuela,” he said. “You have trained leadership and helped at the Baptist camp. You have taken some of the best pastors we have in Venezuela and brought them to Alabama.
“We’re glad it’s ending before you take more,” he said with a smile.
Venezuelan pastors such as Eduardo Torres and his wife, Luz, who are working in Center Point, and Adel and Yadira Robayna, who are working in Fort Payne, talked about their experiences and expressed their happiness to be working with Hispanics in Alabama.
“When we left (Venezuela in November 2004) to come here, we left one church, two missions and seven cell groups, and this is all because of the help and work and encouragement of people who came to help us in Maracaibo,” Eduardo Torres said. “The other part of that is that now we’re here (in Alabama).”
The Torreses are working with Carlos Gomez, senior pastor of the Hispanic congregation at First Baptist Church, Center Point, in Birmingham Baptist Association and are looking to start Hispanic churches in the Hueytown and Oneonta areas.
Luz Torres said she enjoyed working with the WMU groups, equipping them and training the leadership. “It’s been a great experience to get to be here in the States and work with our Hispanic brothers and sisters,” she said. “But all of this is thanks to everything that we learned from the partnership.”
Several Alabama Baptist churches also formed individual partnerships with churches in Venezuela, such as First Baptist Church, Geraldine, in DeKalb Baptist Association.
Mel Johnson, pastor of First, Geraldine, summarized his church’s partnership with First Baptist Church, Maracaibo.
“What a wonderful work God has done in First Baptist, Geraldine, as a result of the partnership with First Baptist Church, Maracaibo,” Johnson said. “We have experienced missions together. (First, Geraldine) went to bless the nation of Venezuela, but I do believe we have received the greater blessing.”
David Romero, first vice president of the Venezuelan Baptist convention and pastor of First, Maracaibo, expressed his thanks to the volunteers who came and helped begin a mission church in San Francisco, an area close to the city of Maracaibo.
“The fruit that has been produced through this partnership, we will not be able to count,” he said. “This partnership is not over. Our hearts are laced together because of this time.”
Partnership milestones
• Approximately 2,500 Alabama volunteers have participated in the partnership.
• There have been 78,000 professions of faith.
• More than 10,000 have been baptized.
• Approximately 125 partnership projects have been completed.
• 173 new churches have been started.
• 283 new missions have been started.
• 13 Venezuelans have been sent as missionaries to other countries including the United States, Spain and Africa.
• Cooperative Program giving in Venezuela has increased by 25 percent.
• The prayer network has grown to include 1,800 prayer warriors.
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