A Visit to Venezuela from Chile

Written by Ernest & Kaye Moore

We have remarked to others that the international news from Venezuela, which reaches Chile, generally concerns the political and economic situations in that country, which have been negative, in general. However, for over five weeks last year we were able to visit our dear brethren and sisters there, in twenty of the one-hundred-and-seventy plus assemblies in that country, almost all very conservative. We could appreciate their desire to receive "sound doctrine," in contrast to many other parts of Latin America. This reflects the sound basis laid by the early missionaries from Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, etc., and continued today by both foreign and national brethren. May the Lord preserve those testimonies to His Name.

Our travels to Venezuela began a year ago on September 28th with an overnight bus trip from Osorno, arriving in Santiago twelve hours later, at 6:30 a.m. Another bus took us to the airport where we checked in at the LAN Chile counter.

Following a change of planes in Lima, Peru, we flew northeast toward Caracas, finally arriving there eight hours after leaving Santiago. Our hosts, Jonathan and Nohemi Martinez, met us and drove us to their apartment in East Caracas. Due to heavy traffic, we did not arrive in time to attend the meeting at their assembly (called Petare), that night. However, the next night I began a very heavy schedule of meetings, starting with the conference in the Petare assembly in East Caracas. Normally, several commended brethren arrive to help, but on this occasion only one other commended brother, Ruben Mendoza, was able to be there for the whole conference. Each day the conference meetings began with a Bible study at 7:00 a.m. After the conference, I held a week of ministry meetings in that assembly.

We had planned next to visit an assembly near Puerto Cabello. However, since brother Martinez had to make a journey by car, we opted to travel with him to San Carlos, in the State of Cojedes, over five hours to the southwest. After the Lord's Day meetings at the central Hall in San Carlos, we continued with almost a week of nightly meetings in the large Los Colorados Hall, which seats about nine hundred. Christians from a number of area assemblies gathered and the Hall was quite full most nights. James and Ruth (Turkington) Walmsley were our hosts for the week but the local Christians were hospitable and we were invited out for dinner almost every day.

Then we continued further south by car with William Turkington and family to the home of his brother Alan, near Barrancas. (Alan and Sandra and family were on furlough but Antonio and Angelica Marquez, who were living in their home, received us "with open arms.") I held several nights of ministry in the Betania Hall, a relatively new assembly, located further south, in the city of Barinas (population about one million). We also visited three other assemblies in that area - Barrancas, Guamito (a country assembly) and Guanare. After the meeting in Guanare, we returned north to San Carlos with a young couple and their two baby daughters. The believers had served us refreshments after the meeting, so it was quite late (after 10:00 p.m.) when we began our two-hour trip.

As we neared San Carlos, we had a frightening experience. Two young men, with evil intentions, pursued us on their small motorcycle. We were thankful to the Lord that our chauffeur was able to escape from them at a high speed (soaring over speed bumps), eluding capture, robbery and possible death. Venezuela, with its twenty-eight million inhabitants, is plagued with vehicles, including thousands (maybe even a few million) of motorcycles. Woe to the driver who hits a motorcycle! No matter who might be at fault, we were told, suddenly one-hundred or more motorcyclists will appear to defend their colleague. (Since the police are corrupt, there is no benefit to be gained by contacting them.) Gasoline is unreasonably cheap, and most vehicles have large, powerful engines. The roads are dangerous, especially at night, and several believers have been killed in auto accidents, as well as holdups. Traffic lights are rare, and driving laws are flexible, perhaps made to be broken. At times the traffic jams (in Caracas, etc.) seem almost impossible!

From there we continued north to Puerto Cabello and made the Home for Elderly Believers our base for a week-and-a-half, travelling to a different assembly each day (up to 350 kms., even as far west as Coro, in Falcon State). Two young men, sons of Kenneth Turkington, willingly drove us to most of these meetings. One night we visited the assembly in San Felipe, where brother Joseph Milne and his wife and family lived and laboured. Our drivers allowed two hours for the trip but had not counted on extra traffic due to a basketball game in Puerto Cabello. We arrived late, and some of the brethren were standing in the street watching for us. The Hall was filled, with over five-hundred present from that assembly and others nearby. Afterwards they served an abundant "snack" to everyone present.

As we were leaving the Hall, a man on the street accosted me, asking about the meeting and seeking a donation. However, several believers came to my rescue as we made our departure for Puerto Cabello. The following night we travelled to Nirgua. Someone suggested to brother Turkington that we could take a "short cut," which turned out to be a very winding road (almost a pathway at times), which took us up and down hills and around myriad curves. We also arrived late but, again, our audience was waiting patiently. The Hall was full with more than two-hundred assembled to hear the Word. (Some of my Scripture notes remained behind on the pulpit there, but a young sister from Chile retrieved them on a subsequent visit.)

We then visited the city of Valencia for meetings in two assemblies (staying with Sidney and Ruth Turkington), before returning to Puerto Cabello for the monthly ministry meeting in the Valle Seco assembly. The work has prospered greatly in the state of Carabobo (which includes Valencia, Puerto Cabello and Moron) and there are at least forty-five assemblies, several quite large. In all, we were able to visit twenty assemblies, with three or more meetings in seven of them, plus the daily devotional at the Home for Elderly Saints. Besides the conference in Petare, Caracas, I preached at two one-day conferences, and at the opening meeting of the annual Elder's Conference, two hours west of Petare. We flew back to Chile in November, spiritually refreshed but quite exhausted from the activity and heat of Venezuela.

Despite the many dangers in Venezuela, the only robbery we experienced on our trip was at the bus terminal in Santiago, Chile, while awaiting our late night bus, south. The terminal was overcrowded, with no place to sit down. While I inquired about the possibility of traveling south on an earlier bus, a woman asked Kay a question about using a public phone. While Kay was momentarily distracted, the woman's "accomplice" stole the bag containing my Bible and many Scripture notes which I had not sorted. We spoke to some policemen and they commiserated with us but indicated it was very unlikely we would see that bag again. However, miracles still do occur, and two nights later a young woman phoned us from Santiago. She had found the bag thrown under her car, then discovered a paper with our phone number. Later she sent the bag down to Osorno by cargo bus and, to our great joy, the Bible and all the notes were still there. Only two small electronic items (of limited value), plus a little Venezuelan currency were missing.