In Venezuela, Adventist Pastor Spreads Hope in Public Plazas, Communities, and Prisons

For more than a year now, Pastor Edgar Mongua leads the Give Them Something to Eat initiative and social assistance programs in public squares and prisons in Ocumare del Tuy and Yare, Miranda, Venezuela.

Give Them Something to Eat, which occurs specifically in the Uveritos de la Pica and Guillermo García neighborhoods in Yare, includes distributing 30–60 arepas one day a week to children, single mothers, and seniors.

Church members distribute arepas and juice at a public park as part of the initiative. [Photo: Courtesy of Edgar Mongua]

Likewise, five-to-ten food bags are distributed among low-income families. Leaders also organize other activities to benefit the community, including haircuts, free consultations with a dentist, and blood pressure check-ups. Volunteers also distribute clothing, shoes, and hot meals to those who need them.

“We also organize games and sport activities for children, the youth, and teens,” said Mongua. “On Friday afternoons, these kids and young people meet with us to listen to a message from God’s Word.”

A group of Adventist volunteers also visit a public square in Ocumare del Tuy every Friday morning to meet the physical and spiritual needs of those who are there.

Pastor Edgar Mongoa speaks to a group of children in a poor community teaching them values as they receive an arepa. [Photo: Courtesy of Edgar Mongua]

“We sing, we pray, we study the Bible with a group of approximately 60 people (most of them senior citizens), and then we share a tasty breakfast with them,” shared Mongua. “We also organize health and social assistance special days, which again, include offering free haircuts and dental services.”

The initiative has resulted in many new regular visitors to local congregations. Among those who were assisted included 20 who had studied the Bible and requested to be baptized.

The outreach has also moved from public places to benefit those who are detained or in prison. Every Tuesday morning, Adventist volunteers offer physical and spiritual support at the Ocumare del Tuy Police Station. The church’s initiatives have benefited prisoners and police agents.

A group of homeless point to heaven after listening to a bible study on a public plaza in Miranda, Venezuela. [Photo: Courtesy of Edgar Mongua]

“Every Tuesday is a different experience. We have seen how the Lord has touched and transformed hearts,” said Wilma, Pastor Mongua’s wife. She added that so far, 12 people have been baptized as a direct result of this prison ministries initiative.

Among them, Wilma shared the story of Miguel and Gerly, a man and a woman who had been living as enemies of God. “My husband preached about the need to ask the Lord to change them and made an altar call. They didn’t accept it right away, but after visiting and [continually] praying for them, they asked for forgiveness for their past sins and decided to be baptized [in] a special ceremony in January. That very same day, a police agent and an officer of the Justice Department accepted to study a Bible course about ‘Transformed Women.’”

Two police officers at a prison facility hold up their gifted church’s Priorities missionary magazine and pamphlet next to Pastor Edgar Mongua (right). [Photo: Courtesy of Edgar Mongua]

Mongua, in charge of five churches and two groups in Yare, is not new to the work of outreach ministries. In his 15 years as a minister, he has introduced outreach initiatives in every district he served. “Even before becoming a pastor, I would go out with my daughter down the streets of Caracas to share breakfast with the homeless on Sunday mornings,” he shared.

Mongua explained that he feels a burden for meeting the needs of those who most need it, such as senior citizens, the homeless, those with special needs, children, and single mothers.

“I like to feel useful in God’s hands, witness how people’s faces brighten up, and receive a hug of gratitude,” said Mongua. And volunteers work intently, he emphasized. “Our goal is that people may come to the point of surrendering their lives to Jesus, and plant churches in places with no Adventist presence.”

Pastor Mongua prays for four new believers at the nearby prison facility before they are baptized in a small pool. [Photo: Courtesy of Edgar Mongua]

Thanks to the support of local church boards and the funds provided by kind church members, the various ministries led by Pastor Mongua distribute 680 breakfasts, 240 hot lunches, and 12 food bags with seven basic food items every month.

According to Mongua, close to 15,000 people have already benefited from their initiatives in the last 12 months.

“Our goal is to double those figures, so we are now praying and inviting other volunteers to help and add their support to our project,” said Mongua.

The pastor also shared that a more encompassing challenge and dream is to build a permanent Adventist feeding center in Ocumare del Tuy. “We would also like to create work opportunities for our members,” he said.
The original version of this story was posted by the Inter-American Division website.