Yettsy and her husband Israel are from Calabozo, Venezuela. Moved by their passion and love for God, they decided to move to San Felipe to study at the seminary. The couple explains that their plans were to prepare themselves to be able to better serve in their church. When they arrived at the seminary, they did not imagine that they were going to be challenged to plant churches.

“Part of the seminary’s studies is to do one year of applicable ministry and that is to plant a church,” says Yettsy. The seminary had partnered with Multiplication Network Ministries (MNM) to provide the practical training for their seminarians to help them put what they were learning into action.

 “From the beginning, our vision has been to work with families,” Yettsy says. “We wanted it to be something integral where the church not only cared about the issue of preaching the gospel but also cared for the health of the families. We didn’t have an idea for a structure to do this, but little by little we were acquiring these tools through MNM’s training.”

For Israel, it was vital to get to know the community more deeply and to do a field study. “Perhaps there were things that we knew but we couldn’t find how to connect all of it. Thanks to MNM’s program, we have a clearer structure of what we want to do,” he says.

The vision God had put on their hearts of reaching the families was vital. Once they knew the area where they wanted to work, they realized that although many people were nominally religious, the families were open to hearing what they had to say in order to restore peace in their homes. In this way, they had an idea to care for the emotional needs of the people of the community, especially the kids. There is much child neglect and abandonment by parents that has only increased with more economic issues.

With Yettsy and Israel’s ministry, the people not only find physical nourishment and care but also in the midst of despair, they receive hope through the love of Christ that their church is showing. Yettsy and Israel’s work has opened the door to the gospel and many of the people who didn’t want to hear about God are coming because of their kids. The people see the care that their children are receiving and they can approach Yettsy and Israel in search of advice.

Yettsy and Israel thank God for the blessings He has already given their ministry. They ask you to join them in prayer for their church plant, especially their children’s ministry. Yettsy and Israel also ask God for health and that He will continue to guide their plans.