Venezuela

Source: CIA World Factbook

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Introduction

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is located on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Its roughly 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi) northern coastline includes numerous islands in the Caribbean Sea, and in the northeast borders the northern Atlantic Ocean. Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Curaçao, Aruba and the Leeward Antilles lie near the Venezuelan coast. The total area of the country is 916,445 km² (353,841 square miles).

The estimated population of Venezuela in July 2009 was 26,814,843. According to estimates, some 60% of the population are Mestizo, defined as a mixture of European and Amerindian; approximately 30% are European, mostly of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Lebanese, and German descent. Other important groups include Afro-Venezuelans, Asians, and members of indigenous tribes (about 1% of the population).

According to government estimates, 92% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic, and the remaining 8% are Protestant, or a member of another religion. The Venezuelan Evangelical Council estimates that Evangelical Protestants constitute 10% of the population.

Mennonite Mission Work

Unlike a number of other South American countries, Venezuela has never been colonized by any Mennonite group. The Brethren in Christ Church has carried out mission work in Venezuela since 1945. The Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (MC) sent the José Santiago family to Caracas in November 1978 to establish new fellowships of believers. The first congregation was organized in 1979 with 32 believers. Eventually, the Concilio de las Iglesias Evangélicas Menonitas en Venezuela (Council of Mennonite Evangelical Churches in Venezuela) was formed. In 1980 the Evangelical Mennonite Church (now Fellowship of Evangelical Churches) began missionary work in Venezuela. In 1990 the Pacific Grace MB Church in Vancouver began doing mission work with Chinese immigrants in Venezuela. The church sent associate pastor Miller Zhuang to Venezuela, eventually establishing two congregations.

2020 Update

In 2020 the following Anabaptist denominations were active in Venezuela:

Denomination	Congregations in 2000	Members in 2000	Congregations in 2009	Members in 2009	Congregations in 2020	Members in 2020
Asociación de Iglesias Evangélicas Hermanos en Cristo de Venezuela	5	180	4	188	5	184
Asociacion Venezolana de Iglesias Bíblicas	5	110	5	110	5	110
Associación Civil Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Shalom	1	82	1	150
Casa de Restauracion y Vida Shalom					1	120
Concilio de Iglesias Evangélica Menonitas en Venezuela	4	190
Iglesia Evangélica China de los Hermanos Menonitas 'La Cruz'	1	25	1	30	1	30
Iglesia Evangelica China 'Gracia de Dios'	1	32	1	60	1	30
Red de Misiones Menonitas de Venezuela					4	60
Total	17	619	12	538	17	534

Bibliography

Mennonite World Conference. "2000 Caribbean, Central & South America Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches." Web. 11 November 2010. [Broken Link].

Mennonite World Conference. "2003 Caribbean, Central & South America Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches." Web. 11 November 2010. [Broken Link].

Mennonite World Conference. "Global Map: Venezuela." Mennonite World Conference. Web. 12 April 2021. https://mwc-cmm.org/global-map.

Mennonite World Conference. "Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches Worldwide, 2009: Latin America & The Caribbean." 2010. Web. 8 November 2010. [Broken Link].

Mennonite World Conference. "MWC - 2006 Caribbean, Central and South American Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches." Web. 20 October 2008. [Broken Link].

Mennonite World Conference. World Directory = Directorio mundial = Répertoire mondial 2012: Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Related Churches = Iglesias Menonitas, de los Hermanos en Cristo y afines = Églises Mennonites, Frères en Christ et Apparentées. Kitchener, ON: Mennonite World Conference, 2012: 27.

Wikipedia. "Venezuela." Web. 10 November 2010. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela.

Author(s)	Richard D Thiessen
Date Published	May 2014

Cite This Article

MLA style

Thiessen, Richard D. "Venezuela." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2014. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Venezuela&oldid=171247.

APA style

Thiessen, Richard D. (May 2014). Venezuela. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Venezuela&oldid=171247.

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