Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela 

The Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela (UEPV) is a grassroots Pentecostal church which was established in 1958.  It was originally founded by leaders from the Assemblies of God and members of the Pentecostal movement.  The UEPV, based in Maracaibo, Venezuela, has been in partnership with Global Ministries for over 40 years.

The UEPV's multi-purpose building in Maracaibo is used for the church's pastoral and ecumenical education.  The building was acquired in 1993 with the help of the UEPV staff, members, and ecumenical partners.  Little by little, the library, kitchen, and classrooms have been extended and improved through volunteers, the contributions of UPEV members, and other united efforts like those of the churches of the Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ in Colorado.

Now the UEPV building needs more significant improvements made, including the construction of a main fellowship hall.  The goal, also, is to improve the usable space through the construction of a dormitory and extending the kitchen and library.  The building is a site for many gatherings including ecumenical meetings, national workshops, teachers' meetings, and hosting of delegations from the United States. 

This construction plan would strengthen the pastoral and educational goals of UPEV in several ways.  The educational program brings students from other areas of Venezuela and international students.  It would serve as accommodations for students and delegations at a very low cost compared to the hotels in the city.  This use of housing space would also generate some financial resources for UEPV program development.  On average, four delegations come to Venezuela annually through the Global Ministries partnership.  The resources that they pay in hotels when they are in Maracaibo could come in support to the church if it offers this service at a low cost. 

In addition to the fellowship hall, UPEV also needs to update the Center's kitchen and library.  The library has been an important resource for church development but the current building was not built with a place for a library.  The current one was constructed by taking a space from another room and the library has outgrown the space. 

Likewise, the kitchen helps support the work of the UEPV by being a space for food preparation for meetings and other gatherings.  It is much less expensive to prepare food in the building than to pay for food to be delivered.  The current kitchen is small which makes it difficult to serve large groups of people.  The kitchen needs to be expanded in order to increase its capacity. 

UPEV estimates the cost for materials for the fellowship hall to be $25,000 with an additional $10,000 in labor.  UPEV has received a commitment for about 50 percent of the amount needed to come from a partner church Europe, which will match gifts from others such as Global Ministries.