Yaracuy Venezuela Mission

Yaracuy Venezuela Mission is part of the West Venezuela Union Mission. Yaracuy Venezuela Mission encompasses the entire state of Yaracuy. Yaracuy is one of the 23 states that, along with the Capital District and the Federal Dependencies, make up the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Yaracuy is located in the Central-Western Region of Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón to the north, Cojedes and Carabobo to the east, Portuguesa and Cojedes to the south, and Lara to the west.¹

As of 2024, Yaracuy Venezuela Mission had 55 churches and 12,653 members in a population of 674,099. Its headquarters are located at Avenida Alberto Ravell in San Felipe, Yaracuy, Venezuela.²

Origins of the Adventist Work in the Territory

The Bolívar municipality is one of the 14 municipalities of the state of Yaracuy, with a small population of 25,926 as of 2001. Its capital is Aroa.³ Aroa was once a prominent locality due to the discovery of gold and copper deposits in the early 1600s. This eventually led to the establishment of the first railroad in Aroa in 1877.⁴ Its streets were lit with electricity while even the capital city of Caracas was only lit by carbon dioxide. By 1910, Aroa had twice the number of inhabitants of La Guaira.

The Adventist Church in Yaracuy began and prospered in Aroa. In approximately the year 1925, Julio García Díaz, a prosperous businessman who had been baptized in the town of Camaguán in Guárico, resigned from his commercial activities to accept the call to be a Bible worker. He was sent to serve numerous groups, including the one in Aroa.⁵

In 1927, Ernestina Moreno, who had embraced the Adventist message through the ministry of colporteur Francisco Cabrera, was baptized in Los Chorros, Caracas, by Pastor Barrowdale, president of Venezuelan Mission. She moved from Caracas to Aroa where she opened a humble sewing workshop, driven by the desire to win souls for Jesus.

During church meetings in Caracas, Ernestina heard the pastors and laypeople’s reports and was saddened because she had no report of her own. She told the Lord that she would make any sacrifice if only she could attend the next General Session and give a good report of her work. Inspired with this holy purpose, Ernestina established a small Sabbath School shorly after this. Although she was not well prepared, she conducted meetings on Sunday nights. By 1930, her voice breaking with emotion, she reported that she had seven candidates for baptism, a good Sabbath School, and about 26 participants in her Sunday night meetings.⁶

In 1939, the first Adventist church was organized in Aroa. Church members met in the home of Tomasa Mendoza de García. In 1943, Nicolas Herrera began the construction of the first Adventist church in Yaracuy. The church was inaugurated in 1945 and became the second Adventist church in Venezuela.⁷ Currently, there are four organized churches in Aroa that are part of the 80 congregations that make up Yaracuy Venezuela Mission.

The Vocational Institute of Venezuela was created in 1966, soon after the Adventist Secondary School of Venezuela in El Limón, Aragua, was transferred to Nirgua, Yaracuy.⁸ The first church of Nirgua, Yaracuy, was established there. Its first meetings were held where the Alimentos Venepan dining room is currently, and the baptistry was in the roundabout where the institute’s prayer garden is currently.⁹ Among the first members of this newly established congregation were Víctor Reyes, Mr. and Mrs. Cárdenas, and Eugenio Sierra. These were the pioneers of this new territory.¹⁰

Following the establishment of the church at the Vocational Institute of Venezuela, the church in Salom and the church in Nirgua were organized.¹¹ The church in Nirgua was inaugurated on May 22, 1976, and its first pastor was Tirso Escandon.¹²

Inauguration in 1983 of Three Church Buildings

Iglesia Central de Nirgua

In 1967, soon after the Vocational Institute of Venezuela was established in the area, worship and Bible studies were held in the Yuncosa family’s home. Because of the group’s continued growth, renting a meeting place became necessary in 1969. One rented location was in the Avenida Bolivar in front of a Venezuelan bank. In 1972, Sabbath worship was held in a room in a house on 3^rd Avenida in Nirgua which was prepared by Víctor Reyes and Luis Yuncosa. In 1983, the Iglesia Central de Nirgua was inaugurated and dedicated by Pastor José Vizcaya at this location.

Iglesia Universitaria

The second place of worship inaugurated in 1983 was on the Iglesia Universitaria on the campus of the Seminario Teológico Adventista de Venezuela in Nirgua, Yaracuy. Its dedication ceremony was conducted by Pastor Renato Mejías.¹³

Iglesia Central de San Felipe

This church dates back to 1947, when a literature evangelist planted the seed of the Adventist message in the Sanoja family’s home. Eight years later, Francisca Sanoja and her daughter Elena were baptized in the Iglesia Central de Barquisimeto. From that moment on, Sabbath services were held in their humble home on 5^th Avenida at the intersection of Calle 26 and Calle 27. With the arrival of laypeople and literature evangelists, the group grew. By 1950, it had more than 45 new members. By 1970, the Adventist work expanded and was consolidated in several groups in Yumare, San José, and Guayabo, among others. This congregation’s first pastor was Rafael Rodríguez, who helped to acquire land on Avenida Veroes at the corner of Avenida La Patria. The Iglesia Central de San Felipe was built on this plot of land.¹⁴ On March 19, 1983, Pastor Leopoldo Peinado presided over the inauguration and dedication of Iglesia Central de San Felipe.¹⁵

Organizational history of the Yaracuy Venezuela Mission

Yaracuy Venezuela Mission’s church members were originally part of the West Venezuela Mission in 1950. They were considered members of the West Venezuela Conference up until 1990. They were then part of West Central Venezuela Conference up to 1992.¹⁶ They became part of North Central Venezuela Mission in 2003. Finally, they became part of North Central Venezuela Conference until 2015.

On July 3, 2014, the board of directors of North Central Venezuela Conference requested that the West Venezuela Union Mission create a new mission in Yaracuy. This petition was presented, studied, and approved at the Inter-American Division board of directors’ year-end meeting in October 2014.

On August 17, 2015, Yaracuy Venezuela Mission was inaugurated as the ninth field of the West Venezuela Union Mission. It was established with 12,731 members, 44 organized churches, 20 groups, three educational institutions, a radio station, and 61 employees. Its first administrators were Carlos F. Martín as president, Neptalí Chiquillo as secretary, and Román Morales as treasurer.

List of Presidents

Carlos F. Martín (2015-2016); Neptalí Chiquillo (2017-2020); Daniel Hernández (2021- ).

Sources

“Aroa mines.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed April 3, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroa_mines.

“Bolívar Municipality, Yaracuy.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed April 3, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolívar_Municipality,_Yaracuy.

Schupnik Fleitas, Carlos Rafael. Aquí Obro Dios. Nirgua, Yaracuy, Venezuela: Instituto Universitario Adventista de Venezuela, 2010.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

“Yaracuy.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed April 3, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaracuy.

Notes

1. “Yaracuy,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed April 3, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaracuy.↩

2. “Yaracuy Venezuela Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, accessed April 3, 2025, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=53263.↩

3. “Bolívar Municipality, Yaracuy,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed April 3, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolívar_Municipality,_Yaracuy.↩

4. “Aroa mines,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed April 3, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroa_mines.↩

5. Carlos Rafael Schupnik Fleitas, Aquí Obró Dios (Nirgua, Yaracuy, Venezuela: Instituto Universitario Adventista de Venezuela, 2010), 51.↩

6. Ibid, 64-65.↩

7. Daniel García, interview by the author, Aroa, Venezuela, May 4, 2021.↩

8. Schupnik Fleitas, 65.↩

9. Edgar Brito, interview by the author, Nirgua, Venezuela, May 11, 2021.↩

10. Cipriana Sánchez, interview by the author, Nirgua, Venezuela, June 13, 2021.↩

11. Edgar Brito, interview by the author, Nirgua, Venezuela, May 11, 2021.↩

12. Cipriana Sánchez, interview by the author, Nirgua, Venezuela, June 13, 2021.↩

13. Edgar Brito, interview by the author, Nirgua, Venezuela, May 11, 2021.↩

14. Yamel Salazar de Yovera, interview by the author, San Felipe, Venezuela, June 18, 2021.↩

15. Fanny Salazar de Ochoa, interview by the author, San Felipe, Venezuela, July 10, 2021.↩

16. Schupnik Fleitas, 130-131.↩