Church Planting in the Midst of a National Crisis
Little is much when God is in it

By Julio Velasquez

After working as a missionary for 22 years, I realize that serving the Lord brings many victories. It is never easy to work with people because of the sin nature. But again, with the Lord’s help, we are always on the winning side.

I am a church planting missionary, and my desire is to reach the lost for Christ. God put this desire into my heart, so I will continue with it. Working 14 years in Spain was not easy, but God helped us to reach the lost there. And now the church has a new building.

We moved to Venezuela in 1997. At the present time, we are the only independent fundamental Baptist missionaries working in the city of Valencia, a city of over two million souls. Today, Venezuela is facing a great crisis in many ways. The daily national strike keeps escalating. The Venezuelan economy is disastrous due to the work stoppage. The nation is losing 40 million dollars daily. The price of gasoline, for example, was raised ten times the original price during the last month. Corruption, violence, moral decay and poverty are growing at an astounding rate.

We are in the midst of this national crisis. Should we leave the country and relocate in a better place – NO! We, as missionaries, are not on the losing side; we are on the winning side because we serve a great Lord. He is all that we need. His love and protection are great.

When we arrived in Valencia in 1997, we did not know a single soul. But today we have a church – a congregation of brothers and sisters in Christ. I know that there are many problems in Venezuela and many times our own lives are in danger, but we need to keep on going for the cause of Christ. The Lord gave us the command to establish a church, and now it is a wonderful reality. We are growing slowly but with a good foundation. “Little is much when God is in it.”

I know that every missionary on the field wants to have a successful, growing church, with many members; but it takes time, it takes patience, it takes much prayer, and it takes many sorrows and tears. With the Lord’s command to establish a church, He also gave us a vision. Yes, we have a church, but we do not have a building yet. We are still meeting in our own crowded home where we have been for the past six years. Nevertheless, we want to share with you what God has miraculously done for a strategic location for our new church building. The Lord has already provided $30,000 for the building project, and we are trusting Him to supply the additional $40,000 needed to finish the project for His glory.

I know it is God’s will to finish what we have started. The vision God gave me must become reality. I do not want to lose this opportunity. We would like this building, the Emmanuel Baptist Church, to be completed by the sixth anniversary of the church in October of this year. The architect is already working with the official plans. The Lord willing, we want to begin construction as soon as possible.

Will you please help us? LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT!

Please pray for us to fulfill God’s command and God’s vision to reach many souls in Venezuela.