A delegation from the Rocky Mountain Region and Conference of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ provided a concrete expression of global solidarity and real partnership at a recent meeting with the Evangelical Pentecostal Union in Venezuela.

For more than forty years the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ in the United States and Canada) has had a partnership with the Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela (UEPV). During these four decades both churches have developed mutuality in mission that included the sharing of human, financial, educational, missiological, spiritual and theological resources. The journey has been very fruitful. Today the Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela is recognized, not only as a progressive Pentecostal denomination in Venezuela and in Latin America, but more importantly, as an agent of transformation actively involved in promoting justice, peace and reconciliation in marginalized and poor communities.

On August 18-21, 2005, the Evangelical Pentecostal Union held the annual meeting of its Administrative Board in Ospino, State of Portuguesa. During those days, pastors, delegates and visitors from local congregations came to examine, analyze, ponder and agree to formulate a strategic vision responding to the historical process-taking place in Venezuela. The theme, “The Mission of the Church in the State and in Society,” provided the framework to discuss key issues that included: the context in which the church is immersed, the role that the church should play in society, what the Bible teaches about the Church’s mission, and God’s reign as a vision and goal towards the future. The meeting concluded with a Pastoral Letter to the Nation reaffirming the commitment, hope and solidarity in working for a more just, fraternal and human society in Venezuela.

During those days, the presence of a delegation from the Rocky Mountain Region and Conference of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, represented by Rev. Ron Parker, Regional Minister of the Rocky Mountain Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Rev. Anne Kirg of the United Church of Christ Rocky Mountain Conference, provided a concrete expression of global solidarity and real partnership. These two churches have established a common global partnership with the Evangelical Pentecostal Union since 1999, and every year they send medical teams, youth groups and representatives to conventions and meetings that have strengthened this ecumenical relationship. On several occasions, the Evangelical Pentecostal Union has sent delegations to Regional Assemblies and Conferences of these two denominations in the Rocky Mountains.

Our sisters and brothers in Venezuela were inspired by the sermon preached on August 20^th by Rev. Ron Parker. He based that reflection on Mark 6:35-45. As he stressed the importance of the feeding of five thousand people and the miracle that Jesus performed with five loaves of bread and two fishes, he also called the attention of Venezuelan Pentecostals to a God that is manifested in the details of daily life, teaching us to trust God in order to continue to carry our mission in the world today. “God is still speaking today,” was a phrase that Rev. Anne Kirg shared with the assembly that conveyed an emphasis the United Church of Christ is making in the US these days. Our sisters and brothers of the Evangelical Pentecostal Union rejoiced in this unique ecumenical partnership with sister churches in the United States and Canada.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is a prophet-martyr admired and loved by the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. The people of Venezuela, and particularly the churches, have cherished his vision of peace, reconciliation and hope for a better future for the disenfranchised, marginalized and those excluded because of class, gender and race. That is why the National Assembly (Congress) of Venezuela decided to honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., commemorating the 42^nd anniversary of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in 1963 at the March on Washington. The National Assembly invited as a keynote speaker Rev. Jesse Jackson, President and founder of the Rainbow/Push Coalition and a close collaborator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his struggle for justice and dignity in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s in the US.

On August 28, 2005, Rev. Jesse Jackson delivered his speech, “The Dream: A Call for the Moral Imperatives” recognizing the legacy of Dr. King and calling for a joining of forces in the Americas to the moral imperatives of justice, peace, reconciliation and hope among the peoples of the continent, and particularly the people of the United States and Venezuela. He emphasized that,

We must not commercialize our faith and reduce it to the whims of culture. We must remain a challenging transformative Gospel that benefits the poor and those who are in life’s margins.

At the conclusion of that solemn session of the National Assembly of Venezuela, official representatives of all political parties, ministers of the executive cabinet, representatives from diverse religious groups and personalities of the cultural and academic world, gave a standing ovation to Rev. Jackson. The whole morning was full of Afro-Venezuelan, African-American music and traditional folk music and dance from Venezuela. At one point, Rev. Jackson joined the drummers and the singers.

A very important dimension worth mentioning is the fact that during that same week, August 22-28, the United States and Venezuela were shocked by the statements made by Rev. Pat Robertson, asking publicly on his TV station for the assassination of President Hugo Chávez. The wave of indignation spread all over Venezuela. A Network of Churches in the State of Zulia made a public statement denouncing the atrocity and terrorism of such a statement, and affirming that they are evangelical churches in Venezuela who respect the democratic and constitutional institutions of the country and live their faith with the people of Venezuela as they seek to be faithful to the Gospel in their mission. Public statements were also made condemning the statements made by Rev. Robertson by the Latin American Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches and many more ecumenical organizations.

The fact that Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Venezuela in times when Rev Pat Robertson made these dangerous and irresponsible comments was a coincidence that became a blessing. The meetings that Rev. Jackson requested during his visit with Afro-Venezuelan groups, religious leaders, including the Jewish community and marginalized communities, confirmed that the people of Venezuela do not hate the people of the United States, but want to convey that their dignity and value as human beings and as a country trying to reconstruct and build a better future is not to be compromised. In that sense, the churches also made it clear the kind of commitment they are making. In an Open Letter to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, delivered personally during a visit to Colorado by Rev. Ramón Castillo and Pastor Daniel Sevilla in July 2005, this clear position is taken:

The truth is something that we construct day by day amongst us all, taking into account our differences measured by that which makes us most viably human and makes our societies just.

Let us pray and hope that these two countries will construct bridges of dialogue and understanding. Let us pray and hope that these churches in the United States and the churches in Venezuela will continue to be active agents of transformation in the Americas–a dimension much needed in the whole hemisphere.

Carmelo Álvarez, Global Ministries Missionary to Venezuela