Northeast Colombian Conference

The Northeast Colombian Conference is an administrative unit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Colombia. Established in 2008, it is part of the North Colombian Union Conference within the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Its headquarters is located in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia.

Territory and Statistics

The Northeast Colombian Conference includes the departments of Arauca, Norte de Santander, Vichada, and the municipalities of Cubará in the department of Boacá and Río de Oro and González in the department of Cesar. Its headquarters is at 0-53 20^th Street, Blanco Barrio, in the city of San José de Cúcuta, Norte de Santander department. Its activities are governed by a constitution based on the model given by the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. As of June 2024, it had 179 organized churches and a membership of 25,003.¹ The conference has 19 ordained pastors, eight licensed ministers, and eight ministers on a special plan; these serve in seven zones comprised of 33 districts.²

Institutions

Adventist Institute of Cúcuta is located in the city that carries its name at 13-55 15a Street, La Libertad. Currently, it provides preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. It teaches basketball and music and has a band.

Bethel Adventist School is located in the municipality of Saravena, Arauca, at 22-01 17^th Street, Barrio Universitario. It offers preschool, elementary, and secondary levels.

Adventist School Libertad is located in the municipality of Tame, Arauca, 19-50 14^th Street, Barrio el Cielo. It offers preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. after an evaluation by the government of Colombia, this school was awarded the highest academic level of all public or private schools in the department of Arauca.

Puerto Jordan Adventist School is located in Porvenir Barrio, Araguaney Way, municipality of Arauquita. It offers preschool, elementary, and secondary levels.

Maranatha Adventist School, Arauca, is located at 18-11 23^rd Street in the Córdoba Barrio in Arauca. It currently provides preschool and elementary levels and the basic secondary level.

Juan Ríos Adventist Recreational Center is located in the hamlet of Juan Frío in the municipality of Villa de Rosario, a suburb of the city of Cúcuta. This beautiful place is the location for most of the conference’s youth gatherings.

Tame Adventist Recreational Center is located on a property called “El Manzano” on Angosturas Road in Tame, Arauca.³

Origins of Work in the Territory

At the end of World War I in 1918, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists sent the first colporteur, John Holder, to Colombia. The sale of books on health and other topics opened the doors of many homes throughout Colombia to receive the Adventist message.⁴

Halfway through 1919, John Holder met up with Pastor Max Trummer and his wife, Nohema, in Panama City. These missionaries established the Adventist work in Barranquilla with the baptism of José Antonio Redondo Bonilla, his wife, Ana María Camacho, and their oldest daughter, Carmen. The pastoral family dedicated their time, talents, and resources to organizing Colombia’s first and only mission. Trummer was its superintendent with Louis V. Cleaves as secretary.⁵

Unlike the Adventist work in the United States and other countries, the work in Colombia was an enormous challenge; the preaching and acceptance of the gospel took the lives of pastors, men, women, and children. The gospel entered Colombia through the Caribbean as the leader of the Adventist church in Barranquilla was the ex-Presbyterian pastor, José Antonio Redondo Bonilla, with his family. It is true that already, by 1901, Adventism had been preached in the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia, which had resulted in some baptisms.⁶

Evangelism continued through Trummer’s missionary work in Bogotá, who baptized the brothers Carlos and Eugenio Plata and Francisco Hernández.⁷ Max and Nohema Trummer traveled throughout the territory and preached the gospel. They arrived in Bucaramanga and Norte de Santander, regions that were known for their harsh opposition to Adventist missionaries and converts, especially in the cities of Tolima and Cúcuta.⁸ The first martyr was Luis Murcia, a young student, who was beaten to death at a roadside stop near the border to Venezuela. Mardoqueo Prada and his wife were among the persecuted Adventists.⁹

Many lives were lost, and the properties belonging to many of our fellow believers were sacked and burned. Nevertheless, the faith of the believers was strong, and amid these occurrences, the gathering of believers in Cúcuta was nurtured and grew to such an extent that, in 1948, Pastor William E. Baxter bought a property on which to build the first church.¹⁰

The Central Cúcuta Church was organized on July 31, 1949, and construction on the church building began in 1952. Many pioneer families were baptized by Pastor Fernon Retzer: Andrés Silva Jones and his wife, Cristina Galvis; Elisa de Alarcón; Rodrigo Duarte; Irma Slas; Pablo Saray; and María Monsalve de Duarte were some of these families. This period in the church’s history was of tremendous persecution in Colombia.¹¹ The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists set March 30, 1957, as a day of prayer for the church members in Colombia. After prayers from Adventist members around the world, an ecclesiastic authority in Colombia exhorted his members to not bother the Adventists any longer.¹²

Missionary families of the 1960s, including Josefina and Juan Becerra; Arturo Duarte; Eloy Pico and his son, Gonzalo; Hugo Santander; Pedro Álvarez and his family; Victor Manuel Cáceres, his wife, his children, and some of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and others formed part of the church membership in Cúcuta.¹³

In 1952, Bethel Adventist School began operations in the Sabbath school rooms of Central Church in Cúcuta Carola González as teacher. Rubén Arévalo came the following year, and the two teachers taught all the elementary level grades. Motivated by the opportunity provided by the Norte de Santander Education department, they obtained the necessary school permits from the secretary of Education.¹⁴ In 1953, the secretary of Education, who was familiar with the school’s work, prevented the school’s closure, and the school was permitted to continue operations. Now, the school is called the Adventist Institute of Cúcuta.¹⁵

Northeast Colombian Conference pastors, Guillermo Arévlo, Luis Flórez, José Manuel Martínez, and Victor Urbina, and their families were the missionaries who, through sacrifice and self-denial, devoted their lives to the Adventist work in Norte de Santander. Today, together with the departments of Arauca and Vichada, Northeast Colombian Conference continues to grow.¹⁶

Development of the Conference

The Northeast Colombian Region was established by a vote in December 2002 in Bucaramanga during the regular Quadrennial Session of the East Colombian Conference held in the Adventist Coliseum. The new church administrative unit included the departments of Arauca, Norte de Santander, and Vichada, and the northern part of the departments of Casanare and Boyacá with limits set by the Pauto River, an area that until that moment was a part of the East Colombian Conference.¹⁷ The new field began its activities on January 1, 2003, with 13,803 members, 14 workers, 54 churches, and 64 groups.

This area functioned as a region under the East Colombian Conference until December 2005; the region was led by Pastor Gustavo Pérez Sepúlveda, who was its coordinator first and its president later with Brother Clodomiro Merchán Quintero as secretary-treasurer, Pastor Joel Jaimes Carrero as a departmental head, and Sister Yolanda Parra as accountant. In June 2006, Pastor Joel Jaimes Carrero became secretary, and Brother Clodomiro Merchán continued as treasurer.¹⁸

On January 13 and 14, 2008, the Northeast Colombian Region celebrated its first regular Quadrennial Session with 118 delegates and was elevated to conference status, an unprecedented event in the Inter-American Division.¹⁹

Outlook for the Development of the Conference

The Northeast Colombian Conference has the clear mission of giving hope to every home in its territory. To this end, missionary magazines have been handed out in all 33 districts, sowing the seeds of the gospel. The radio station, La Voz Internacional de Venezuela, broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Thanks to the impactful programs implemented in the main cities of the conference, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has gained recognition from local governing authorities. The Church has built a strong reputation in Colombia through its community outreach initiatives, including programs on preventive health, counseling, family seminars, and support for victims of domestic abuse. However, there are also significant challenges, such as unemployment among church members and the influx of Venezuelan migrants seeking refuge in the cities of Cúcuta and Arauca. While immigration remains a temporary challenge, new programs are being introduced to address this issue as part of the conference's mission.

Strategic Plans for the Conference

The conference is fulfilling its mission through several key initiatives. It provides leadership training for lay members, pastors, children’s division teachers, and women involved in missionary work. Evangelistic campaigns are organized to share the biblical teachings. Additionally, the conference engages in community activities focused on health, such as the Day without Stress program and Passport to Health. Missionary couples are also deployed for evangelism, while Youth Ministries and Mission Transform offer opportunities for young people to engage in service activities and preaching, both of which help strengthen their spiritual experience.

Recent Happenings

The conference is focused on ministerial development to foster the growth of vibrant pastoral teams that are constantly engaged in learning. It also highlights the faithfulness of its members, with church programs that teach about tithes and offerings, their uses, and how they contribute to the conference’s growth. Additionally, the impact of educational institutions on the broader community is evident through the increasing number of non-Adventist students enrolled in the Adventist schools, who appreciate an education grounded in values. Despite the economic and social challenges, the growing faith of Adventist members remains a source of strength, enabling them to continue advancing the mission.

To fulfill its mission, the Northeast Colombian Conference needs to focus on several key objectives. First, it must find ways to retain the youth and adolescents within the churches. Additionally, there is a need to establish a health center to serve both members and interested individuals who require medical services, as healthcare in Colombia can be expensive, and appointment wait times are often long. Another priority is to build a representative church in the city of Cúcuta. Lastly, the conference must expand its efforts into the municipalities of Norte de Santander.

List of Presidents

Gustavo Pérez Sepúlveda (2003-2010); Joel Jaimes Carrero (2010-2018); Edilberto Ortiz Cubides (2018- ).

Sources

“Adventistas en Colombia.” Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día: Filadelfia. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://filadelfiaiasd.interamerica.org/adventistas-en-colombia.

Northeast Colombian Conference First Quadrennial Session. January 13-14, 2008. Accessed June 26, 2024. Northeast Colombian Conference Archives, Cucuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia.

Northeast Colombian Conference Quadrennial Session. December 2-4, 2002. Accessed September 25, 2023. Northeast Colombian Conference Archives, Cucuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia.

“Northeast Colombian Conference.” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=31774.

Northeast Colombian Conference Secretary’s Statistical Report. 2023. Accessed June 26, 2024. Secretariat archives, Cucuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia.

Northeast Colombian Region Secretary’s Statistical Report. 2006. Accessed June 26, 2024. Secretariat archives, Cucuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia.

Ross Westphal, Wilma. Soldados de la cruz: emocionante historia de los comienzos de la obra adventista en Colombia. Mountain View, California: Publicaciones Interamericanas, 1976.

Notes

1. “Northeast Colombian Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed September 26, 2024, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=31774.↩

2. Northeast Colombian Conference Secretary’s Statistical Report, 2023, accessed June 26, 2024, secretariat archives.↩

3. Ibid.↩

4. Wilma Ross Westphal, Soldados de la cruz: emocionante historia de los comienzos de la obra adventista en Colombia (Mountain View, California: Publicaciones Interamericanas, 1976), 34, 35.↩

5. “Adventistas en Colombia,” Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día: Filadelfia, accessed June 26, 2024, https://filadelfiaiasd.interamerica.org/adventistas-en-colombia.↩

6. Westphal, 42.↩

7. Ibid., 41.↩

8. Ibid., 71, 78.↩

9. Ibid., 92, 119.↩

10. Alfonso Rincón, interview by author, Cúcuta, Colombia, March 15, 2018.↩

11. Ibid.↩

12. Westphal, 126.↩

13. Alfonso Rincón, interview by author, Cúcuta, Colombia, March 15, 2018.↩

14. Ibid.↩

15. Ibid.↩

16. Pantaleón Ortega, interview by author, Cúcuta, Colombia, June 17, 2018.↩

17. Northeast Colombian Conference Quadrennial Session, December 2-4, 2002, 31, accessed September 25, 2023, Northeast Colombian Conference Archives.↩

18. Northeast Colombian Region Secretary’s Statistical Report, 2006, accessed June 26, 2024, secretariat archives.↩

19. Northeast Colombian Conference First Quadrennial Session, January 13-14, 2008, 148, accessed June 26, 2024, Northeast Colombian Conference Archives.↩