Asociación Civil Red de Misiones Menonita de Venezuela -a conference of Mennonite churches established in 2009 on Isla Margarita also includes study centers and a church on the mainland of Venezuela.
In 1979 Eastern Mennonite Missions planted a church in Caracas. A young man from this church, Erwin Mirabal, participated in a 1987 workshop led by John Driver in Colombia on his book Contra Corriente (Against the Current). Although Erwin said he didn’t fully understand the theological perspective at the time, it stuck with him. The Caracas church plant didn’t develop as planned, and in 1994 Erwin moved to Isla Margarita where he gradually began to gather people together to study the Bible and theology. In 2009 a cluster of new congregations on the island registered as Iglesia Evangélica Menonita de Oriente.
Biblical and theological formation has always been an important part of their church life and with the help of the Seminario Menonita Bíblico de Colombia (SBMC) they formed Seminario Menonita Bíblico de Venezuela. Two distinct characteristics of this seminary program are that students who have not made a commitment to Christ or the church join the classes to learn more about the Bible, and the seminary also offers courses in churches of other denominations. Their openness in both cases has brought good results.
The churches on Isla Margarita are actively involved in their communities, working with cooperative games and nonviolence in the schools, relating with people struggling with addictions and organizing projects with children. Work on the mainland began with study centers and moved into the development of churches. An expanded geographical area led to changing their registration to: Asociación Civil Red de Misiones Menonita de Venezuela.
Through their seminary Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Colombia had been involved in Venezuela for over a decade. As ministry grew beyond education and after an invitation from Venezuela and a joint visit in 2013, the Colombian church invited Central Plains Mennonite Conference and Mission Network to form a partnership with them in 2014 in support of ministry in Venezuela. In the years since then the partnership has accompanied the churches in their ministries of compassion and hope in the midst of very difficult circumstances, and grieves with the churches in the death of Caracas pastor and church president Erwin Mirabal in August 2020 of Covid-19.
