VENEZUELA. A republic situated on the north coast of South America, bounded on the east by Guyana, on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the west by Colombia, and on the south by Brazil. It has an area of 352,143 square miles (912,050 square kilometers) and a population (1994) of more than 20 million. The inhabitants of Venezuela have descended from three racial stocks: European, Black, and Indian. Approximately 69 percent of the population is mixed (Spanish and Indian); 20 percent are of European extraction (such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Austrian); 9 percent are Black, and about 2 percent are pure Indian. More than 90 percent of the population is nominally Roman Catholic, though Muslims, Jews, and Protestants are granted liberty.

Venezuela, roughly triangular in shape, may be divided into three topographical areas: (1) the mountainous area of the north and northwest, (2) the lowlands of the Orinoco River, and (3) the Venezuela portion of the Guiana highlands. The mountains of the northern part of the country are part of the Andes Range and consist of parallel chains of mountains running roughly north and northwest, with fertile valleys between, which are intensively farmed. The lowlands of the Orinoco consist of a vast alluvial plain drained by the Orinoco and its tributaries and are covered by grass and forests. The Guiana highlands consist of a high plateau, in which is the highest known waterfall in the world—Angel Falls, 3,212 feet (1,000 meters) high.

The climate of Venezuela is largely tropical, the year being divided into two seasons, the rainy season from about April to about November and the dry season from about November to about April.

The economy is one of the strongest in Latin America, Venezuela being one of the few countries of the world with a budgetary surplus. About half of the country’s population is engaged in agriculture. Smaller segments of the population engage in oil and iron mining, forestry, and other pursuits.

Historical Background. Venezuela was the first part of the American mainland sighted by Columbus on his third voyage in 1498. In 1499 Alonzo de Ojeda, a Spaniard, possibly accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci, for whom the New World was named, entered the gulf of Maracaibo, and seeing the Indian villages built on piles over the water reminiscent of Venice, called the place Venezuela ("Little Venice"). The first settlement on the American mainland by Europeans (Spaniards) was made in 1520 at Cumana by Gonzalo de Ocampo. Diego de Losada and other Spaniards pushed inland and fought the Teques and other Indian tribes.

In 1528 Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, turned western Venezuela over to the Welsers of Augsburg, but in 1546 the contract with the Welsers was canceled and Venezuela came under Spanish rule again. This arrangement continued until 1717, when Venezuela became part of the viceroyalty of Granada. During the seventeenth century, English, French, and Dutch pirates attacked the Venezuelan coast, which was known to the English pirates as the Spanish Main.

The first important move toward independence was led by Francisco Miranda in 1806, but failed. However, as head of a junta he declared independence on July 5, 1811, but independence was short-lived, ending about a year later, when he surrendered to the Spanish army. The struggle for independence continued under Simón Bolívar, a member of Miranda’s staff, who escaped.

Independence was achieved in 1823, when the last Spanish stronghold capitulated. In 1829 Venezuela separated from the confederation known as Gran Colombia (comprising what is now Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador) and set up its own government under José Antonio Páez. A long internal struggle that followed Bolívar’s death in 1830 continued until recent years. At the present time (1993), the country is progressing under a democratic government.

Seventh-day Adventist Statistics. The territory of Venezuela is part of the Venezuela-Antilles Union Mission within the Inter-American Division and is divided into two conferences and two missions. Statistics (1992) for Venezuela: churches, 219; members, 55,185; church or elementary schools, 34; ordained ministers, 76; licensed ministers, 46; teachers, 374.

Statistics (1992) for the conferences and missions—Central Venezuela Conference: churches, 48; members, 15,358; church or elementary schools, 6; ordained ministers, 20; licensed ministers, 15; teachers, 66. Headquarters: Caracas. East Venezuela Mission: churches, 53; members, 13,591; church or elementary schools, 5; ordained ministers, 17; licensed ministers, 11; teachers, 65. Headquarters: Maturín. West Central Venezuela Conference: churches, 67; members, 13,776; church or elementary schools, 14; ordained ministers, 19; licensed ministers, 11; teachers, 138. Headquarters: Barquisimeto. West Venezuelan Mission: churches, 51; members, 12,104; church or elementary schools, 7; ordained ministers, 14; licensed ministers, 8; teachers, 61. Headquarters: Maracaibo.

Institutions. Barquisimeto Adventist Clinic; Richard Greenidge Academy; Venezuelan Adventist Ecclesiastical University.

Development of Seventh-day Adventist Work. Beginnings. The Adventist message was introduced into Venezuela about the beginning of the twentieth century, when unclaimed, unaddressed packages of Seventh-day Adventist publications were left at Venezuelan docks by trading ships that stopped along the basin of the Caribbean Sea. The extent of their influence is not known.

In December 1907 B. E. Connerly, apparently the first SDA minister to visit Venezuela, spent several months visiting the country and distributing SDA publications. He reported visiting several Indian villages besides various towns along the Orinoco River and urged that "this year [1908] . . . not pass before we have a representative here" (Review and Herald 85:15, Apr. 9, 1908). He concluded with the following appeal: "I found many persons with whom the Spirit of the Lord is working. I readily sold all the books that I had with me, and took subscriptions for El Centinela in all the towns, and distributed many tracts" (ibid.).

However, his hopes were not fulfilled until 1910. On Aug. 1, 1910, F. G. Lane and his wife arrived in La Guaira, the port city of Caracas. They were accompanied by R. E. Greenidge (Greenage), who was to open treatment rooms in Caracas, and thus start the medical work. After they had spent some time getting their luggage through customs, they journeyed by train to Caracas (ibid. 87:15, 16, Oct. 20, 1910). The Lanes began their work by holding evangelistic meetings, illustrating the lectures on the prophecies of Daniel with charts.

The first convert, Manuel Corro, was a carpenter who furnished the lumber for pews needed for the meeting hall. Reporting the story of how Corro became an SDA, Mrs. Lane wrote: "We had been here four months when one day a man came with some lumber. On passing through the house, his eyes fell upon the old prophetic chart, which we had hanging in a conspicuous place. He inquired, ‘What do these things mean?’ Elder Lane at once made an attempt, in broken Spanish, to explain to him, reading from the Spanish Bible.

"The man listened attentively, and, saying very little, went away. About two hours later he returned, bringing with him a second man to hear the story. My husband again explained as fully as possible the wonderful truths of God’s Word, impressing upon them the importance of studying to know for themselves. They then left, expressing their thanks for what they had heard. The following morning the second man returned with a third, who was anxious to see the wonderful chart, and hear the story" (ibid. 88:11, Feb. 8, 1911).

Corro, his mother, and nine others composed the first group to be baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They were baptized in 1911 in the Upper Anauco River, in the area known today as Cotiza, by Lane. The second baptism took place on Feb. 10, 1912. Reporting on SDA work in Venezuela at this time, U. Bender, an SDA minister who was visiting Venezuela, said: "Sabbath, February 10, seven candidates were baptized in a quiet pool of a mountain brook. This makes eighteen in all whom Elder Lane has baptized in Venezuela.

"A room fitted up for a chapel is used by the company for a meeting-place. Here we held services nearly every night. Elder Lane interpreted for me, and we had a good, profitable time. . . .

"Not only in Caracas are these [there?] interested ones, but from small villages miles away to the south people have sent word for the pastor to come to visit them. . . .

"Brother Greenage [Greenidge] and wife are making their living by giving treatments, and Sister Samuels conducts a school for the children" (ibid. 89:16, Apr. 11, 1912).

By 1915 the Lanes had left Venezuela and S. A. Oberg and his wife had taken over leadership of the work. A short time later Mrs. Oberg reported in the Review and Herald (92:11) of Feb. 25, 1915: "Thanks to the faithfulness of Brother and Sister R. E. Greenidge, our self-supporting medical missionaries here, in calling them together for worship, nearly all were in attendance [at the first meeting after the Obergs arrived]."

Soon after the arrival of the Obergs, persecution broke out. The evangelistic meetings were disturbed by missiles thrown through the windows of the meeting house, and when this failed to discourage the missionaries, pressure was brought to bear on the landlord, who expelled them from their rented meeting place (ibid.). Only a few months later, Mrs. Oberg contracted a tropical disease and was compelled to leave the country, but after a period of rest and treatment she was able to return to Venezuela (ibid. 92:14, Apr. 8, 1915). In spite of adverse circumstances, Oberg declared that the SDA message was "here to stay" (ibid. 90:10, 11, Sept. 2, 1915).

On Feb. 2, 1917, W. E. Baxter and his wife arrived in Caracas, where they found 10 faithful members. First attempts to secure a hall for holding meetings were unsuccessful, because of opposition from the established church, but after a time a hall was rented (ibid. 96:24, 25, July 10, 1919).

At the close of 1918 Baxter wrote: "[Venezuela has] now one ordained minister, one missionary secretary, and three canvassers. . . . The canvassers have done good work. Brother R. E. Greenidge began work in April, and in eight months has sold and delivered $1,500 worth of books. In August [1918], Rafael López and Angel Ojeda arrived from Puerto Rico, and their combined deliveries for three months amounted to a little more than $1,800, thus making our book sales for this brief period more than $3,300, gold. We are glad to see these truth-filled books going into the hands of the people and believe the seed thus sown will yield a harvest of souls. There are many inquiring about the truth and are desirous of studying, not only in Caracas where we recently baptized a promising young man, and where many others are studying, but in other parts as well" (SDA Yearbook [1919], pp. 257, 258).

The first colporteur institute in Venezuela was held in the city of Caracas from May 9 to 28, 1919. C. E. Knight, the superintendent of the East Caribbean missions, was present at this institute and assisted in promoting the colporteur work (Review and Herald 96:29, Sept. 18, 1919).

G. D. Raff served as the mission publishing leader from 1917 until he was succeeded by B. E. Wagner in 1921 or 1922. The colporteurs not only sold books but also gave medical aid whenever there were opportunities to do so. Sometimes they walked, at other times they rode muleback through muddy plains and almost impassable mountain roads, transporting their luggage and boxes of books to seemingly inaccessible regions. One colporteur, Rafael López, was murdered May 15, 1922, while traveling muleback on a deserted mountain road in El Cobre, state of Táchira, in western Venezuela.

From 1911 to 1919 Venezuela was part of the South Caribbean Conference. In 1919 it was organized into a separate mission, with W. E. Baxter as director and treasurer. The one church in Caracas had 16 members. The next year saw marked progress in the new mission. The D. D. Fitch and Byrd Bullard families arrived in Caracas to assist in the work, the Bullards taking over the burden of the office management, and the Fitches, with the help of the Bullards, conducting a daily Bible school, which attracted many young people to the SDA church. Three young Spanish ladies, Amelia Correa, Clara Luisa Robayna, and Blanca Orta, who were trained in this school, became Bible instructors. Several young men, among them Carlos Alberto Robayna, Juan Porras, Alejandro Zamaro, Alberto Acosta, Rafael Fleitas, Julio García, Pedro Ramón González, Teodoro Rodríguez Vázquez, who also began Bible training about that time, later became SDA workers in Venezuela.

In 1921 several families in widely separated areas began the observance of the Sabbath as the result of reading literature or receiving studies from colporteurs. This work extended to the interior—to the plains of Guárico and Apure, and to Barquisimeto and San Cristóbal in the Andes Mountains. As a result of the colporteur work of Rafael López, Baxter baptized 21 converts at Camaguán, in the state of Guárico, on Apr. 22, 1921, and organized a church. Among those baptized were José Antonio Lamas, who was a Lebanese businessman, and Julio García, both of whom became workers in Venezuela. In early 1922 an institution known as the Camaguán Training School was opened in Camaguán under the leadership of Richard Greenidge and his wife. This school, situated on the Portuguesa River in the Venezuelan plains, provided Christian education for a generation of SDA young people, many of whom became denominational workers. In 1935 Greenidge died in the United States, and for a time his son Luis directed the school. He was followed by Juan Porras, and then Lowell Johnston. The school was closed about 1937 or 1938.

In 1936 a church school was organized in Caracas and still operates under the name of Richard Greenidge School. José Lamas donated the land for the Venezuela Secondary School (Colegio Secundario Venezolano), which was opened Oct. 1, 1962, in El Limón, Maracay.

In 1927 the Venezuela Mission was transferred from the Caribbean Union Mission to the newly organized Colombia-Venezuela Union Mission, comprising Venezuela, Colombia, and the Netherlands Antilles. In 1950, during the administration of Charles R. Beeler, the Venezuela Mission was divided into two missions: East Venezuela Mission, with headquarters in Caracas; and West Venezuela Mission, with headquarters in Barquisimeto. At the close of 1952, the two missions reported a combined membership of 1,031, distributed among 11 churches. By the end of 1956, the two missions had a combined membership of 1,858 and 22 churches. Since then, the work in Venezuela has made excellent progress. As a result of this, in 1989 it was organized as the Venezuela-Antilles Union Mission. In 1992 the West Venezuela Conference was divided into two fields.

On Oct. 12, 1940, the Caracas Adventist Dispensary was opened as an institution of the East Venezuela Mission. Medical work is also carried on at Barquisimeto.

In 1963 the educational work in Venezuela was represented by the Venezuela Secondary School (Instituto Vocacional de Venezuela), situated at Nirgua, Venezuela, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of Caracas, which offered work on the high school level—bachillerato. It was upgraded in 1966 with new and modern facilities including dormitories, classroom building, and an orange farm on 125 acres (50 hectares) of flat land. The institution has become part of the Venezuelan Adventist Ecclesiástical University, which offers a B.A. in theology and an A.A. in business administration and in computer. The school is operated by the Venezuela-Antilles Union.

(From the SDA Encyclopedia)